DOGS I HAVE KNOWN 77 



nests and gave him one occasionally, he would trot 

 along with you as happily as possible. Another 

 curious habit of his was, that he would never get 

 out of the way for anyone. When he was trotting 

 along he never moved from his line if he saw 

 anyone coming ; but if he saw they did not intend 

 to move, would begin to growl and look so savage 

 that people usually made haste out of his way. 

 When he happened to be running down a hill, he 

 did not growl, but merely ran against people if they 

 did not clear out — his great weight usually upsetting 

 them, of which he took not the slightest notice. A 

 great friendship arose between this dog and a fine 

 cat we had, and it was very amusing to see them 

 together. He would walk up to the cat and begin 

 to lick her all over, and then she would rub all 

 round him, purring, and seeming to be very fond of 

 him — when all of a sudden she would stop, look up 

 in his face and spit at him, at the same time giving 

 him two or three sharp scratches, the only notice of 

 which that he took was to close his eyes, so that 

 they might not be hurt. Poor dog, as I said before, 

 he suffered from skin disease, and the medicine that 

 you could give another dog with impunity would 

 nearly kill him, and it was the same with any out- 

 ward application. At length when, on one occasion, 

 he was suffering very much, I took him to the hunts- 



