wten there was not the least apprehension of any mischief, 

 went up to an old woman who was sitting attending a pot, in 

 which she was preparing a mess. The dog smeUed at it and 

 was troublesome ; this provoked her ; she took np a stick and 

 began to beat him, on which he seized her by the throat, which 

 te would not leave till his head was severed from his body by 

 his master." 



THE STAGHOUND. 



This now rare hound is said to derive its origin from the 

 bloodhound and the greyhound — a mixture resulting in the 

 most exquisite scent combined with great endurance. Of late 

 years the sport of stag-chasing has in a great measure given 

 place to fox-hunting; and even where the royal and ancient 

 sport is stUl followed, the dogs employed are generally a large 

 and powerful species of foxhound. These dogs, of which men- 

 tion will be found in another page, rank among the swift and 

 most enduring dogs in the world. They have been known to 

 maintain, without flagging, a stag-chase of fifty miles' duration, 

 and in old sporting chronicles may be found an account of a 

 hur>t of so protracted a nature that the whole pack of dcgs 

 excepting two fell off the traU, and that at last the huntsmen 

 came up to their game dead from sheer exhaustion, and the two 

 hounds within a short space dead too. 



It is said, however, that the modern substitute, although 

 equal in fleetness and strength to the old English staghotmd, 

 is not its match for courage. It would seem at first sight 

 that no particular amount of bravery was requisite to face the 



