232 



POINTERS AT SCHOOL ON THE MOORS. 

 Photograph by C. Rciil, Wishaw. 



■ • • CHAPTER XXIII. 



:.. . THE POINTER. 



BY G. S. LOWE. 



" Sporlsman, sir ? " asked Mr. Jingle, abruptly titrmng to Mr. Winkle. 

 " A little, sir," replied that gentleman. 

 " Fine pursuit, sir, fine pursuit. Dogs, sir ? " 

 " Not just now," said Mr. Winkle. 



" Ah ! you should keep dogs — fine animals—sagacious creatures— dog of my own once— 

 Pointer— surprising instinct." Pickwick Papers. 



IT has never been made quite clear in 

 history why the Spaniards had a dog 

 that was very remarkable for pointing 

 all kinds of game. They have always been 

 a pleasure-loving people, certainly, but 

 more inclined to bull-fighting than field- 

 craft, and yet as early as 1600 they must 

 have had a better dog for game-finding 

 than could have been found in any other 

 part of the world. Singularly enough, too, 

 the most esteemed breeds in many countries 

 can be traced from the same source, such 

 as the Russian Pointer, the German Pointer, 

 the French double-nosed Griffon, and, far 

 more important still, the English Pointer. 

 A view has been taken that the Spanish 



double-nosed Pointer was introduced into 

 England about two hundred years ago, 

 when fire-arms were beginning to be popular 

 for fowling purposes. Setters and Spaniels 

 had been used to find and drive birds into 

 nets, but as the Spanish Pointer became 

 known it was apparently considered that 

 he alone had the capacity to find game for 

 the gun. This must have been towards the 

 end of the seventeenth century, and for the 

 next fifty years at least something very 

 slow was wanted to meet the necessities of 

 the old-fashioned flintlock gun, which 

 occupied many minutes in loading and 

 getting into position. Improvements came 

 by degrees, until they set in very rapidly, 



