THE DOG ; AND HOW TO BREAK HIM. 29 



THE WATER SPANIEL. 



The dog passing under the name of water spaniel 

 is covered all over the body T\'ith soft curly hair ; 

 the curls not extending to the face^ the hair upon 

 which is short and smooth. A white stripe down 

 the forehead and face is one of the characteristics 

 of a breed not so often seen now as formerly; and 

 the prevailing colour is brown^ or liver colour. 

 The water spaniel is possessed of an excellent nose, 

 but is headstrong and unruly when encouraged to 

 hunt — I should have said suffered to hunt ; for 

 he requires no encouragement. He takes to the 

 water naturally^ and in bygone times was a good 

 deal used as a retriever, but has gone out of 

 fashion since the more tractable and more saga- 

 cious Newfoundland has been introduced. 



In some districts of England hunting the moor- 

 hen is a favourite diversion with the rural popula- 

 tion j and for this pursuit the water spaniel is ad- 

 mirably calculated, inasmuch as he is able to bear 

 exposure to cold and wet for a considerable time 

 without any ill effect. I am not aware that I 

 ever saw the mode of hunting the moor-lien de- 

 scribed, nor will I waste many words on the 

 subject. I have often assisted at the diversion, 

 when a boy. 



The moor-hen is found in ponds which are 



