266 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 
the bones from those of other animals by their remarkable 
red colour.” 
This species does not appear to inhabit as far north as the 
regions visited by Dr. Richardson, as that gentleman does 
not mention it in his work: in all probability it is to be 
found much further east than the Missouri, and been mis- 
taken for a large specimen of the common Grey Squirrel, 
with which it would be readily confounded by a casual ob- 
server. 
ANECDOTES OF THE SHEPHERD’S DOG. 
Bv Me. Hogg. 
There is no species of animals so varied in their natures 
and propensities as the shepherd’s dog, and these propen- 
sities are preserved inviolate in the same breed from gene- 
ration to generation. One kind will manage sheep about 
hand, about a bught, shedding, or fold, almost naturally; 
and those that excel most in this kind of service, are always 
the least tractable at a distance ; others will gather sheep 
from the hills, or turn them this way as they are command- 
ed, as far as they can hear their master’s voice, or note the 
signals made by his hand, and yet can never be taught to 
command sheep close around him. Some excel again in a 
kind of social intercourse. They understand all that is said 
to them, or of them, in the family; and often a good deal 
that is said of sheep, and of other dogs, their comrades. 
One kind will bite the legs of cattle, and no species of cor- 
rection or disapprobation will restrain them, or ever make 
them give it up; another kind bays at the head of cattle, and 
neither precept nor example will ever induce them to attack 
a beast behind, or bite its legs. 
My uncle Hoy’s kind were held in estimation over the 
whole country for their docility in gathering sheep at a dis- 
tance, but they were never very good at commanding sheep 
about hand. Often have I stood with astonishment at see- 
ing him standing on the top of one hill, and the Tub, as he 
called an excellent snow-white bitch that he had, gathering 
all the sheep from another with great care and caution. I 
once saw her gathering the head of a hope, or glen, quite out 
of her master’s sight, while all that she heard of him was 
now and then the echo of his voice or whistle from another 
hill, yet, from the direction of that echo, she gathered the 
sheep with perfect acuteness and punctuality. 
I have often heard him tell another anecdote of Nimble; 
that one drifty day in the seventy-four , after gathering the 
ewes of Chapel-hope, he found that he wanted about an hun- 
dred of them. He again betook him to the heights, and 
sought for them the whole day without being able to find 
them, and began to suspect that they were covered over 
with snow in some ravine. Towards the evening it cleared 
up a little, and as a last resource, he sent away Nimble. 
She had found the scent of them on the hill while her master 
was looking for them; but not having received orders to 
bring them, she had not the means of communicating the 
knowledge she possessed. But as soon as John gave her 
the gathering word, she went away, he said, like an arrow 
out of a bow, and in less than five minutes he beheld her at 
about a mile’s distance, bringing them round a hill, called 
The Middle , cocking her tail behind them, and apparently 
very happy at having got the opportunity of terminating her 
master’s disquietude with so much ease. 
I once witnessed another very singular feat performed by 
a dog belonging to John Graham, late tenant in Ashiesteel. 
A neighbour came to his house after it was dark, and told 
him that he had lost a sheep on his farm, and that if he 
(Graham) did not secure her in the morning early, she 
would be lost, as he had brought her far. John said, he 
could not possibly get to the hill next morning, but if he 
would take him to the very spot where he lost the sheep, 
perhaps his dog Chieftain would find her that night. On 
that they went away with all expedition, lest the traces of 
the feet should cool; and I, then a boy, being in the house,, 
went with them. The night was pitch dark, which had 
been the cause of the man losing his ewe; and at length he 
pointed out a place to John, by the side of the water, where 
he had lost her. “ Chieftain, fetch that,” said John, “bring 
her back, sir.” The dog jumped around and around, and 
reared himself up on end, but not being able to see any 
thing, evidently misapprehended his master; on which John 
fell a cursing and swearing at the dog, calling him a great 
many blackguard names. He at last told the man, that he 
must point out the very track that the sheep went, other- 
wise he had no chance of recovering it. The man led him 
to a grey stone, and said, he was sure she took the brae 
within a yard of that., “Chieftain, come hither to my foot, 
you great numb’d whelp,” said John. Chieftain came. 
John pointed with his finger to the ground, “Fetch that, I 
say, sir, you stupid idiot — bring that back away.” The 
dog scented slowly about on the ground for some seconds, 
but soon began to mend his pace, and vanished in the dark- 
ness. “Bring her back away, you great calf,” vociferated 
John, with a voice of exultation, as the dog broke to the 
hill; and as all these good dogs perform their work in per- 
fect silence, we neither saw nor heard any more for a long 
time. I think, if I remember right, we waited there about 
half an hour; during which time, all the conversation was 
about the small chance that the dog had to find the ewe, for 
