40 DOGS 



one was the bearer of the medal. As the party descended 

 from the Hospice, they were suddenly overwhelmed by 

 two avalanches; and the same destruction awaited the 

 family of the courier, who were making their way up to 

 the Hospice to obtain some news of him who was so dear 

 to them. They all perished.' 



There is also an anecdote related by Miss Hales of a 

 St. Bernard dog named Thunder, who was brought from 

 the Mount when a few months old. She says: 'He is 

 so exceedingly good-natured, and has so much of the real 

 Mount St. Bernard disposition, that he has been frequently 

 seen saving little chickens which had fallen into his pan 

 of water, which is very deep, and instead of taking them 

 into his mouth to lift them out he puts his nose under 

 them and lifts them out most quietly. 



' I have often seen him doing this, and sometimes when 

 I have passed his kennel and stopped to notice him 1 have 

 observed him looking at me and then at something on the 

 ground to attract my attention, and I have found it to be 

 a poor little chicken half drowned, which he had just saved 

 from his pan, and which he was anxious I should take up 

 and dry. He always allows the chickens to help them- 

 selves to his food before he takes it himself, but when he 

 thinks it is time he should have some, instead of frightening 

 the chickens away he takes the can l^y its handle and 

 walks inside his kennel with it.' 



The Schipper-ke, or Dog of Flanders 



This is a small black dog, without a tail, which weighs 

 eight to eleven pounds. The colour is dense black 

 with no white in it ; the hair hard and wiry, with a fringe 

 of longer hair on the thighs and a ruff round the neck ; 

 the head foxy with pointed muzzle and erect pointed ears ; 

 eyes extremely bright and keen, hind quarters round with 

 a total absence of tail, feet small, straight strong legs. 

 Some are born absolutely without a tail, and in other cases 

 it is removed at a very early stage of their existence. 



