FOREIGN NOX-SPORTIXG AND UTILITY BREEDS. 509 



ia the arena, whose forequarters were one 

 mass of scars received from dogs he had 

 fought ^\■ith or from bears he had baited. 

 The same gentleman also brought home 

 with him. from Paris, a bitch named Cora. 

 Mr. Brooke purchased a red bitch named 

 Dragonnc, afterwards known as Amazone de 

 Bordeaux, and the black masked red dog 

 Tristran. 



In the same year a separate class for 

 Dogues de Bordeaux 

 was pro\-ided at the 

 Chow Chow show held 

 at the Aquarium, 

 when Mr. G. R. Krelil 

 judged. Mr. H. C. 

 Brooke, who has 

 kindly supplied the 

 information I am 

 using, became enthu- 

 siastic over the breed 

 and soon owned many 

 examples, including 

 Sans-Peur, Diane, 

 Bart, and a fawTi red- 

 masked dog with a 

 wonderful head cov- 

 ered with great ropes 

 of wrinkle, who was 

 transferred to Mr. 

 Haslam, and was ex- 

 hibited successfully 

 under the name of 

 Brutus. These dogs 



were all of the same t\^pe as the magnifi- 

 cent pair Sultana and Buffalo, shov\-n some 

 years previously at the Tuileries, and 

 acknowledged b\- judges of all nationalities 

 to be perfect. 



Wishing to possess a dog of the real 

 fighting strain, Mr. Brooke imported from 

 Bordeaux a young fawn dog of gladiatorial 

 lineage. This dog. Matador du Midi, had 

 among its ancestors the celebrated Caporal, 

 for se\en years champion of the Pyrenees, 

 who weighed 108 pounds, and stood nearly 

 25 inches at the shoulder, and had a skull 

 circumference of 26 inches ; Megere, a bitch 

 who had been pitted against wolf, bear and 

 hyaena ; and Hercules, who was finally 

 killed by a jaguar in a terrific battle in San 



Francisco. Matador du Midi had already 

 had what in the old bear-baiting days was 

 called a " jump " at a bear, and Mr. Brooke 

 tried him when eighteen months old at a 

 large Russian bear which stood six feet 

 high on his hind legs. " The dog showed 

 great science in keeping his body as much 

 sideways as possible, to avoid the bear's 

 hug, and threw the bear fairly and squarely 

 on the grass three times." 



THE TYPICAL DOGUES DE BORDEAUX SANSPEUR AND LA GOULUE. 

 FORMERLY THE PROP&RTY OF MR. H. 0. BROOKE, 

 Photograph by A. R. Dresser. 



With these materials considerable pro- 

 gress was made in bringing the Dogue de 

 Bordeaux to the knowledge of English 

 fanciers. A club was formed, and Mr. 

 Brooke in conjunction with M. Megnin, of 

 VEleveur, Dr. Wiart, and other authorities 

 in France, drew up a description of the 

 breed which is still the accepted standard. 

 Classes were being provided at many shows, 

 and all was looking rosy when the anti- 

 cropping regulation of the Kennel Club put 

 a sudden period to all enthusiasm. A 

 Dogue de Bordeaux with his natural ears 

 is not to be admired, and all efforts to 

 popularise the breed in England abruptly 

 ceased. 



Some of the more notable specimens 



