38 
THE DOG. 
licitude, courage, and ingenuity, in the 
servation of human life. These wonderf" 
dogs, which have been trained to their ben^ 
ficent occupation by the monks of the convei' 
situated near the top of the mountain call^ 
the Great St. Bernard, not far from one of tk 
most dangerous passes between SwitzerlaO'' 
and Savoy, belong, strictly speaking, to th' 
subdivision of spaniels, which embraces ah‘ 
the shepherd’s dog, the Esquimaux, and tb'' 
other varieties most distinguished for intelli' 
gence and fidelity. 
In that dreary region the traveller is liab^ 
to be surprised by sudden snow-storms, or 
avalanches, which are loosened masses of sno^^ 
and ice that fall from the crests of the moufl' 
tains, and bury every thing in their cours«' 
The benevolent monks, with their dogs, are in' 
cessantly in search of sufferers by such acci' 
dents of Nature. Though the perishing man< 
benumbed with cold, and his senses yielding 
