322 General Notes. [March, 
noise remained by my side until the first duck was dropped, 
which was in time nearly half an hour, and the duck fell in the 
open water seventy-five yards away. 
The ice was not quite strong enough te hold up the dog and 
in his struggles to get through about fifty yards of the ice before 
reaching the open water he had a very tedious time of it. At last 
he reached the duck and taking it in his mouth, swam first towards 
the broken ice which he had made and then turning to one side 
broke a new path away, but not in the direction of where I was 
standing, but in a direct line for the shore, deviating only as forced 
to evade a too heavy growth of rushes. Arriving upon shore he 
placed the duck alongside of some ammunition sacks I had left 
near a log, and upon the log and overcoat, thinking that perhaps 
this would have a tendency to drive the ducks and other birds 
coming up near the bank to shear off towards my blind in the 
rushes. His desire to get to this log in as short a way as possible 
was evident, for as soon as he dropped his duck, he at once 
pulled the coat off the log, but to the east side and, lying down 
upon it kept only his head exposed to the piercing north-west 
wind as it struck the right side of the log which lay almost par- 
allel with the points of the compass north and south. This he con- 
tinued during my shooting for the forenoon, only changing when 
I shot a duck, when he would at once run as rapidly as he could 
to the channel he had made—swim out to where the duck had 
dropped, pick it up and return to place it with the first and then 
to again resume his position behind the log, with his head above 
on the lookout. 
Even as he grew in years his good nature of puppyhood did 
not forsake him; in the kennel he was the popular dog. All the 
female dogs and puppies, liked him and it seemed to him the 
greatest pleasure when a puppy was being hurt to rush up and 
chase the abuser away. He was also given to particular fancies. 
Some men he did not like, while others instead he was particularly 
fond of. 
_ Asa companion he was with me going down the Arkansas 
river, in the winter and spring of 1882; to Labrador, in the sum- 
mer of the same year and many other nearly similar trips. Dif- 
ferent from most dogs I have observed; while he at times was as 
jealous as any, at others he was quite indifferent. His human ac- 
quaintances named him the “ noble dog,” and this must have been 
a like opinion among his canine friends. 
In the kennel where he was kept for a considerable time were 
quite a number of dogs and bitches, and scarcely at any time but 
that there were a number of puppies there also.. In this kennel 
was one highly bred pointer of large size, a powerful animal, but 
_ with a very miserable disposition. 
It was an almost continuous occurrence for Barney to play 
~ with one or more of the puppies, permitting them to pull hi 
a arrest i pu is ears, 
oy tail and other parts of the body ; sometimes when three or four of 
