768 
* 
FOREST AND STREAM 
ing articles commencing at the first page. ‘ ‘ Three Weeks 
in the Rocky Mountains ” was especially good. 
The weather here is terrible. I guess we won’t have 
half an average crop; so we will depend upon you for our 
“ porridge meal,” Gordon Stables, M., D,, R. N. 
INSTINCT AS 
ALLIED TO 
DOGS. 
REASON IN 
(No. 2.) 
I N my first contribution upon this subject, 1 have de¬ 
scribed more or less fully the qualities of three poin¬ 
ter dogs of (hose which I have owned and controlled. 
This chapter shall tell of her, who to them, was as a 
giant among pigmies, a whale amongst minnows. I think 
it quite possible that 1 may antagonize the advocates of 
the setter, but I feel quite confident that 1 can defend and 
uphold the cause of my favorite, and it is quite time, Mr. 
Editor, that somebody took up the cudgels for Ponto. 
•• Frank Forester” has done him great injustice, and set 
a fashion which lias been blindly followed by Ida admir¬ 
ers and partisans. As an entertaining writer upon sport¬ 
ing subjects, a master of idiomatic, vigorous English, a 
narrator of charming (fictitious though), stirring adven¬ 
tures by flood and field, and as an exquisite word painter 
of sylvan scenes, 1 yield to no one in my admiration of 
Henry W. Herbert: and I frequently take up his books 
now as amusing and entertaining reading. I know of no 
one but our own Elliot who equals him in this respect. 
But surely Herbert is poor authority upon many of the 
subjects of which he treats, Take almost any chapter, 
upon any subject-, in any of his books, which professes to 
teach, and you will find plenty of strong and extreme 
statements, and much of unmeasured denunciation of 
those who differ with him ; but, Clod bless you, heresies 
innumerable, heresies that are now known arid recognised 
by all well informed .sportsmen. My own opinion is that 
one chapter of either “ Stonehenge ” or “ Hallock’s Gaz¬ 
etteer" upon any subject you please, is as authority worth 
all that Mr. Herbert ever wrote. His opposition to the 
poiliter is unreasoning and unreasonable. He is especially 
like two of my friends who used to promulgate extraordi¬ 
nary theories of their own, and shape the facts to suit 
them. 1 do not disparage the setter, but simply say that 
ia my experience, a well bred, well trained pointer can, 
does, and will hold his own against any setter that ever 
was whelped. In England, “Stonehenge" has held the 
scales with just well balanced hands, but in America 
there seems a disposition to shove the pointer to the 
wall. Sappho, Jr., was the first puppy I ever attempted 
to train. She was reared, from three, weeks old till able 
to take care of herself, in a box, lined with cotton, which 
stood in a small room adjoining our ordinary sitting- 
room, and was nursed assiduously and successfully. All 
that a puppy could learn she was taught, and an apter 
scholar I cannot imagine. Her intelligence was seldom 
at fault, and by the time she was one year old, a tone no 
louder than ordinarily used to a child or servant, sufficed 
to insure her obedience. When she was nine months old, 
a friend and I rode about ten miles from town and spent 
the day shooting. Two old dogs were along : but the 
puppy hunted them off their legs. In the dusk, when re¬ 
turning home, at every pause in our canter she would run 
out on three legs and hunt the hedges alongside the road. 
I have seen bold swimmers, but never saw her equal. 
Time and again here, when giving her her daily swim, I 
made her plunge into a mill race not twenty feet below 
the wheel; the seething raging water would at first whirl 
her round like a chip, but ere long she steadied herself, 
and never failed to bring surely to land the object slie was 
sent for. I have in York Co., carried her out on a cold 
December morning, and as soon as we readied the banks 
of the beautiful Catawba, its margius ail frozen, she 
would plunge iu and swim for pleasure before lier work 
commenced. 
Could the pencil of the artist adequately picture, instead 
of merely suggesting action, 1 would give much to have 
Sappho’s likeness retrieving a right and left duck in a re- 
seiwe, where neither sin min ing nor wading alone were 
possible. Her style was unsurpassable. The very poetry 
of motion. Wonderful strength was suggested without 
a hint ot clumsiness. Courage she had that was daunt¬ 
less, for of fear she was unconscious. A dog, m short, as 
nearly ideal as possible. 
Doubtless you and many of your readers know well the 
ugly fences, which so generally mar the landscapes in our 
Southern lands, and which in the farmer’s vernacular are 
boasted of as “ bull strong, horse high, and pig tight; ” 
many of them measuring seven feet. A et till she was 
ten years old I never saw Sappho the Second clamber over 
one' she would take them in her stride, touch the top 
rail lightly, and alight upon the further side with un¬ 
broken speed. One. day I took her down town with me 
for exercise, and stopping in at a friend’s who had just 
imported two dogs, pointer and setter, which were cer¬ 
tainly fair to look upon, I said : “ Henry, Sappho looks 
undersized alongside of your beauties, does she not ? ” 
ii yes rattier ” “Have you a tape line? lend it me,” 
when’lo. the undersized bitch outmensured both dogs 
around chest and loin. „ .. 
During our recent civil war my family were refugees 
in the upper part of the State, and Sapphohelped to guard 
them. Occasionally 1, who was serving upon the coast, 
would get a ‘ 1 leave ” and visi t them. Sappho was always 
at nmht on the back piazza, and, of course, could not know 
when 1 would come: the train arrived at the nearest de¬ 
pot about one o’clock a.m.. and I would walk home by a 
short cut. through the fields. Always before I reached 
the back gate, one hundred yards from the house, f could 
hear her beat a tattoo oi ! welcome, and ere the gate was 
opened there slie was to greet me. This was doubtless 
only instinct, but it was pleasant to be so loved. 
One day, during one of my visits, I took her, walked 
out into tlie front field after dinner to kill a few birds ; 
they proved scarce, and making a detour I passed around 
the house enclosure to try the back fields. Arriving at a 
gate in the rear, I remembered I had not had my after¬ 
noon smoke, and sent a negro laborer who was working 
near by to tho house for pipe and tobacco bag. He, with 
the dilatoriousnesa of his race, tarried veiy long, and I, 
leaning ray gun against the fence, alongside of the dog, 
started to hurry him up. Someth mg called my attention 
back after 1 had walked perhaps fifty yards on the way 
home Sappho had left the gun and started to join me ; 
I had not said a word or made a motion to her, when she 
suddenly paused, louked back at the gun, and returning 
laid down by it till I came back. No one could persuade 
me that this was not the mental process which prompted 
her action : “ He has left liis gun and will return; my 
place is to stay here and guard it.” 
Two of the following anecdotes were reported to me 
by my father and my wife, and corroborated by the tes¬ 
timony of two other witnesses who are still alive; the 
third was vouched for by the whole household of refuges, 
white and black, I alone, being absent. 
One night father, who had just retired, was prevented 
from sleeping by the barking which Sappho continnally 
kept up. The moon was shining brightly, and raising up 
a window in liis bedroom on the second story, he could 
see her seated upon her haunches, vociferously protest¬ 
ing against something she thought wrong, Reproof 
availed naught to quiet her, and bark she did till the 
wrong was redressed. What was it? One of the win¬ 
dows of the dining-room, the sill of which was about 
eight feet from the ground, had been aceidentlly left 
open. The old gentleman came down, candle in hand, 
discovered the trouble, closed and bolted the window. 
Sappho was satisfied, and hied her to her rest, doubtless 
with the Bweet consciousnnss that *' she had done her 
part” to protect the household which ever cared so ten¬ 
derly for her. 
Again, my wife, nurse and child occupied two rooms 
in one wing of the house upon the first floor. Sappho's 
night quarter’s, as 1 have said above, were in the back 
piazza, upon which the hall door opened. One night, 
while preparing for bed, Mrs. B. was disturbed by per¬ 
sistent loud barking. She opened her chamber door 
slightly, and called to Sappho, but to no purpose, and 
then taking a light, went into the entry, and saw the 
back door open, and the dog sitting in the piazza just in 
front of it, barking to attract attention. Now, Mr. 
Editor, if there be a person in tin’s world intensely uuro- 
m antic, and sometimes provokingly matter-of-fact, it 
is tins same little Mrs. B., who, as I write this, sits 
within a few feet of my chair. Sixteen years have 
elapsed since Sappho warned her of the open door, but 
the fact is fresh in her memory yet, and other witnesses, 
too, are to the fore to prove that the dog “ made night 
hideous” till that door was locked, and then lay quiet. 
Tlie third anecdote is peculiarly characteristic, show¬ 
ing, as it does, not merely the idiosyncracy of the pointer, 
but the discrimination of the reasoning animal. Since 
their earliest childhood my sister’s children have lived 
with mo and been my wards, and I think my bitterest 
enemy would hesitate to say that he ever saw me dis¬ 
tinguish between them and my own children. They 
have rode my horses, shot my guns, rowed and sailed my 
boats, hunted my dogs, and been freely allowed every 
privilege in my power to accord. 
Sappho, though, discovered a difference of some sort— 
God knows how. My eldest boy was then about four ; two 
of his boy cousins three and.two years older respectively, 
and the girl just about his own age. I played with and 
petted all alike, and you, I think, could riot have told 
which were mine and which not. The dog evidently 
knew, for one day during my absence, impatient, I sup¬ 
pose, at her long deprivation of field sports, she went out 
hunting upon her own account, and after a while was 
seen leisurely trotting back with a live partridge in her 
month. 
The house servants and older children tried to catch 
her and take the bird away, but were no matches for her 
cat-like actions ; no one could touch her, and she rested 
not till she had found my own little boy, and into his 
hand safely delivered Perctrix (not “ Or tyx,” may it 
please your excellency). Yet this dog was never known 
to “ flush” iu the field. Perhaps she knew she had been 
sinning against my rules by hunting alone, and knew, 
too, I would hear of her fault upon my return home, and 
thought to propitiate my wrath by the present to my boy. 
Who can tell? 
But all joking apart, her Action under the circum¬ 
stances was remarkable, for all the children played with 
and petted her, and she was gentle with all. 
1 have had the strain to which she belonged for nearly 
twenty-five years, and most of them have been bold and 
fearless watch-dogs—no respecters of strangers, but very 
kind at home, in proof of Which I can cite the good 
nature with which they will submit to be harnessed up 
by the little ones to their toy carts, and the patience with 
which they will drag them about, and their evident en¬ 
joyment of tlie fun and frolic. To-day I have one of 
Sappho’s descendants of the fifth generation, and in many 
respects Flirt is almost as remarkable as her ancestor. 
I have seen her stand close alonside of a garden fenoe 
which is three and a half feet high, and jump, like a 
goat, upon and over it, in the afternoon, and that night 
give birth to thirteen puppies, only one of which died. 
Both she and her son, a puppy of.fourteen months old, 
will hunt any hedge through from end to end. At least 
I have yet to see the covert which will dauuther courage. 
Sappho Jr., with all her virtues, however, was not fault¬ 
less, and were I asked to name her besetting sin, would 
say a restless, insatiable curiosity, which made her some¬ 
times a very uncomfortable companion in a buggy or 
small boat. In both she would look out and see what 
vas going on, despite all reproof and even p un is hm ent. 
In a buggy she would, if allowed, sit up upon her 
haunches, arid resting her paws upon the dashboard, peer 
in every direction. Pulled down from there, ere long her 
front feet would be on the side step, not usually more 
than three to four inches across, as you well know, and 
her nose in air, sniffing up, down and across the road. 
More than once a friend with whom I have shot a great 
deal, and myself have seen her jump from the vehicle 
while the horse was in full trot, and come to a point on 
the side of the road, and where she pointed there was— 
not had been —game. No stock that ever I saw more 
faithfully perpetuated their characteristics from genera¬ 
tion to generation. 
A puppy of hers, by her grandson, given to the same 
friend just mentioned, turned out, too, an A1 dog— 
the best’partridge dog, by the way, I ever saw; but bis 
education had been greatly neglected, and he Was 
chiefly what nature made him. Him I have known 
trotting under the buggy in winch his owner and I were 
driving at the rate of eight miles an hour, stop short in 
the road and point. Upon reining up and jumping out 
a fine covey, to be sure, were not twenty feet from the 
roadside, , 
The cleverest dog I ever saw, to whom I have chiefly 
devoted this paper, lived a useful life till she was thir¬ 
teen. Then, hunting her one raw, wet day in January, 
about twelve miles from town, for the first time in her 
life she commenced to flag, and, stranger still, to shirk 
the water, of which she usually was so fond, I called her 
in and took her home, and all of us nursed her tenderly 
four weeks ; but pheumonia had marked her for its own, 
and after lingering that long, one morning she dragged 
herself into the breakfast-room, licked my hands, lay 
down at my feet, and died in a moment afterwards—to 
me faithful, loving, tender and true to the end. We 
buried her in the garden, marked her grave, and fear 
“ we ne’er shall look upon the like again.” Her value 
was scarcely to be measured by money. I will close this 
article with the following anecdotes, written out at my 
request by a friend, who had related them verbally to me. 
He was an officer of the United States army, and during 
the civil war occupied a high position in one of tho 
largest “departments” of the Confederate service. His 
name is the synonym of lofty integrity and unimpeach¬ 
able veracity, and bis intelligence and culture are unex¬ 
ceptional. To explain the facts he records seems impos¬ 
sible, but they are, nevertheless, tqje ; and surely he is a 
very unreasonable man who refuses to believe everything 
bo cannot account for. 
A widow with two little children had the misfortune 
to be living at Society Hill, just in the track of Sherman's 
army in their march from the mountains to the sea. The 
house contained after their departure nothing but tlie 
owners and a few pieces of broken furniture. The lady 
betook herself, according to her own account, to tears and 
prayers. Before she and her children realized aclual 
starvation, a pet dog came into the house bringing a rab¬ 
bit in his mouth, which lie laid at her feet. This self- 
taught hunter repeated this performance for thirteen con¬ 
secutive days, and furnished, with the scattered corn loft 
by the cavalry, and which was carefully gathered, the 
only food for the family during this period. When relief 
came the dog ceased his visits to the woods. 
The above occurrence is ascribed by the lady inter¬ 
ested to a direct answer to prayer. It was canvassed 
widely by the religious press of the South, and furnished 
a text for many a sermon against Mr. Tyndall and his 
philosophy. Some doubted the truth of ‘the story alto¬ 
gether, but the Religious Herald of Richmond, Va., es¬ 
tablished the fact beyond cavil, and the living testimony 
remains unassailable to-day. 
Again : The writer’s fa mil y were refugees in Spartan¬ 
burg during the war, and near its close shared all the 
privation and discomfort of the times. A little girl, a 
pet in the family, sickened, and an eruption which made 
its appearance on her body, was ascribed by the physician 
to tlie constant diet of salt meat. How to remedy this 
was anxiously discussed by the females, who alone com¬ 
posed the family at the time. The neighborhood could 
not supply even a chicken. “ A cur of low degree,” be¬ 
tween whom and the child there existed a love that was 
wonderful, “ passing the love of women,” comprehended 
tlie situation. Twice in three days he came to where the 
ehildlay, dragging a rabbit to her. A regular supply of 
kid was obtained at this time, and the dog ceased to do 
what he had never done before nor ever attempted after¬ 
wards. 
The child is now a mother, and tells her four-year-old 
boy of what her dog, Rattler, did when she was a sick 
little girl, 
I have written at greater length than I intended, and 
very possibly have failed to interest jour readers. The 
trouble, wlien treating of such subjects, is not poverty, 
but excess of material, and the art is to know what not to 
say. 
Should my poor contributions have met with any favor, 
there are many subjects I could suggest for discussion in 
your enjoyable paper. AV, B. B. 
j |ed mid J? ivet[ fishing. 
FISH IN SEASON IN NOVEMBER. 
FRESH WATER. 
Black Bass, Microplenui sal mo- I Pike or Pickerel, Esox lueim s 
ides; AT. nigricans. I Y’ellowPorch, Pereaflai'csccm . 
Muskalonne, L'sar nobllior. | 
SATT WATER. 
Sea Bass, Sciwnnps ocellntm. I Cero, Qyliium regale. 
Striped Bass, Boccus lirieatus. Bonito, Sarrta, petamya. 
Weakflsb, OynoseUm regalia. I Kingflsh, Mcniicirnw nehuloms. 
Blueflsh, Pomatomus saltatrix. 
Blue-Back Trout.— We have received from F. W. 
Messenger, of the Bromfield House, Boston, several dozen 
fine blue-back trout from the Rangeley Lakes, Me. These 
fish are peculiar to the Rangeley waters; are caught only 
in October, and are esteemed a great delicacy. 
—The latest advices from Newfoundland report that 
the fishery may he considered over. The shore catch is 
better than last year, but not as good as the average. The 
Labrador catch is large and will fully make up the de¬ 
ficiency. 
The King of Niagara.— Mr. Geo. Barker, a photo¬ 
grapher of Niagara Falls, N, Y., sends us a genu ine 
novelty in the shape of a sun-picture of a black bass, 
caught by Mr. M. W. Woodbery, near the Cave of the 
AVinds, Niagara Falls, Oct. 15th, 1879. The fish weighed 
6 lb 3 . 1 oz. The impression was taken by laying the 
bass on a sheet of photograph paper and then exposing 
to the sunlight. This gives the exact size and shape, 
and makes a very curious bit of fish painting, 
A Large Terrapin.— We noticed on the stand of Mid¬ 
dleton, Carman &Co„ at Fulton Market the other day the 
largest terrapin ever received at New York. It was a 
Chesapeake diamond back terrapin, and weighed seven 
and one-half pounds. Whereas terrapin generally weigh 
but from two to four pounds. 
