130 The Carnivora. 
on it, and to carry it in my hand for a few minutes; then, 
asking the friend to hold the dog and cover his eyes, I 
would throw the stone fifty or sixty yards along the beach, 
and send him for it, merely waving my hand in the direc- 
tion. He would then quarter the ground carefully, and 
very seldom failed to bring back the stone in few minutes. 
It is not too much to say that I have made this experi- 
ment hundreds of times with both Carlo I. and Carlo IL, 
and among the small proportion of failures they never at- 
tempted to bring me any other stone in substitution for 
that I had thrown. The scent communicated by my hand 
was almost always sufficient to enable them to pick out that 
particular pebble from the tens of thousands of closely similar 
rounded flints lying about. 
Those who are acquainted with the delightful suburb of 
Hampstead will also be familiar with Church Row, at the 
end of which stands the ivy-clad parish church. Some years 
ago, when living within a few steps of the pleasant church- 
yard, in which I have so often listened to the nightingale, 
I used to take Carlo I. out at night, pick up a stone, re- 
tain it a few seconds in my hand, and throw it over the 
wall among the tombstones. I then sent him for it; and he 
would jump the wall, hunt about, and usually retrieve it, 
though this could have ‘been no easy matter on ground 
covered closely by graves, many of which were surrounded 
by’ low railings. Light could not possibly have aided him 
here in any way. 
In Church Row, too, he helped me to train another re- 
triever to find stones. My plan was first to send the older 
dog three or four times for the stone while holding the 
younger one by the collar, to let him understand what was 
wanted. Then, holding up the older dog, I would throw 
the stone, at first only a few yards, to encourage the be- 
ginner, gradually increasing the distance. Whenever the pupil 
seemed at all discouraged or disinclined to work perse- ° 
veringly, letting the older dog go stimulated his faculties 
