Part 11 (1/2)
The breed has since been crossed by stag and blood hounds and the present is a magnificent animal of great power and n.o.ble character. The ancient breed was brindled yellow and black, the present is usually deeper or lighter buff with-dark muzzle and ears. The mastiff is sometimes twenty-nine or thirty inches in height at the shoulder.
The Mastiff's Fidelity.
The Mastiff is the best of watch dogs, for he brings an intelligence to bear upon his duty which is in the highest degree surprising. He has been known to walk by the side of an intending thief ”forbidding his laying hands upon any article, yet abstaining from doing him any bodily harm, and suffering his escape over the walls,” but leaving his master's property intact. A mastiff who had been left by his master, who was a sweep, in charge of his bag of soot in a narrow street in Southampton, refused to leave it either for coaxings or threats, and rather than desert his duty allowed himself to be run over and killed.
The Mastiff's Discrimination.
The mastiff has a powerful scent, and remarkable skill in discovering the lost property of his master. Captain Brown gives the following extract from a letter from St. Germains: ”An English gentleman some time ago came to our Vauxhall with a large mastiff, which was refused admittance, and the gentleman left him in the care of the body-guards, who are placed there. The Englishman, some time after he had entered, returned to the gate and informed the guards that he had lost his watch, telling the sergeant, that if he would permit him to take in the dog, he would soon discover the thief. His request being granted, the gentleman made motions to the dog of what he had lost, which immediately ran about amongst the company, and traversed the gardens, till at last he laid hold of a man. The gentleman insisted that this person had got his watch; and on being searched, not only his watch, but six others, were discovered in his pockets. What is more remarkable, the dog possessed such a perfection of instinct as to take his master's watch from the other six, and carry it to him.”
The Mastiff as Protector.
Mr. Jesse gives the following story which he reprinted from a contemporary newspaper:
”A most extraordinary circ.u.mstance has just occurred at the Hawick toll-bar, which is kept by two old women. It appears that they had a sum of money in the house, and were extremely alarmed lest they should be robbed of it. Their fears prevailed to such an extent, that, when a carrier whom they knew was pa.s.sing by, they urgently requested him to remain with them all night, which, however, his duties would not permit him to do; but, in consideration of the alarm of the women, he consented to leave with them a large mastiff dog. In the night the women were disturbed by the uneasiness of the dog, and heard a noise apparently like an attempt to force an entrance into the premises, upon which they escaped by the back-door, and ran to a neighbouring house, which happened to be a blacksmith's shop. They knocked at the door, and were answered from within by the smith's wife. She said her husband was absent, but that she was willing to accompany the terrified women to their home. On reaching the house, they heard a savage but half-stifled growling from the dog. On entering they saw the body of a man hanging half in and half out of their little window, whom the dog had seized by the throat, and was still worrying. On examination, the man proved to be their neighbour the blacksmith, dreadfully torn about the throat, and quite dead.”
The Bull-Dog.
The Bull-dog (_Canis Anglicus_), is said to be an original English breed, and Colonel Smith suggests that this dog rather than the mastiff was the one which flourished in England in Roman times. Not indeed the breed as it at present exists, but ”one little inferior to the mastiff,”
”but with the peculiar features of the bull form more strongly marked.”
”The bull-dog,” says Colonel Smith, ”differs from all others, even from the mastiff, in giving no warning of his attack by his barking, he grapples his opponents without in the least estimating their comparative weight and powers. We have seen one pinning an American Bison and holding his nose down till the animal gradually brought forward its hind feet and crus.h.i.+ng the dog to death tore his muzzle out of the fangs, most dreadfully mangled. We have known another hallooed on to attack a disabled eagle; the bird unable to escape, threw himself on the back, and as the dog sprang at his throat, struck him with his claws, one of which penetrating the skull, killed him instantly, and caused his master the loss of a valued animal and one hundred dollars in the wager.” ”The bull-dog is possessed of less sagacity and less attachment than any of the hound tribe; he is therefore less favoured, and more rarely bred with care, excepting by professed amateurs of sports and feelings little creditable to humanity. He is of moderate size, but entirely moulded for strength and elasticity.” He never leaves his hold, when once he has got it, while life lasts, hence he has become the type of obstinate pertinacity; and unflinching courage.
The Poodle Dog.
The Poodle dog while possessing many natural qualities which endear it to its owner, is capable of great cultivation and is for this reason much affected by those who train dogs for public performances. Of the clever tricks the poodle has been trained to perform many stories are told, among which the following from M. Blaze's ”History of the Dog,” as quoted in Mr. Jesse's ”Anecdotes of Dogs,” is one of the most amusing.
”A shoe-black on the Pont Neuf at Paris had a poodle dog, whose sagacity brought no small profit to his master. If the dog saw a person with well-polished boots go across the bridge, he contrived to dirty them, by having first rolled himself in the mud of the Seine. His master was then employed to clean them. An English gentleman, who had suffered more than once from the annoyance of having his boots dirtied by a dog, was at last induced to watch his proceedings, and thus detected the tricks he was playing for his master's benefit. He was so much pleased with the animal's sagacity, that he purchased him at a high price and conveyed him to London. On arriving there, he was confined to the house till he appeared perfectly satisfied with his new master and his new situation.
He at last, however, contrived to escape, and made his way back to Paris, where he rejoined his old master, and resumed his former occupation.”
Weasels, Otters and Badgers.
We come next to the family of the Mustelidae which includes Weasels, Otters and Badgers, which we take as the heads of the three sub-families into which it is divided. The first of these includes the Pine Marten, occasionally found in Ireland and Scotland but more commonly in different parts of Europe; the Sable, which belongs to northern Europe and Asia; the American Sable, which supplies the English market with hundreds of thousands of skins annually; the Ermine or Stoat, still to be found in Great-Britain and familiar in the northern parts of Europe, Africa and America; the Weasel which has much the same _locale_ as the Ermine; the Ferret which hails from Africa and which is cultivated in England for its use in the destruction of vermin; and the Glutton (_Gulo luscus_) which is found princ.i.p.ally in North America. The Polecat is also a member of this family. It is about seventeen inches long and in form resembles the weasel. Its colour is deep chocolate. It generally lives in the neighbourhood of houses on hares, rabbits, and birds. When pinched for food it will also catch and eat fish. It is remarkable for an insufferably fetid odour.
The Weasel.
The weasel though thought by some to be incapable of domestication has, like most other animals who have had the chance, shown itself amenable to kindly treatment. Mdlle. de Laistre possessed one which she kept in her chamber, dispelling its strong odours by perfumes. This weasel displayed towards her extravagant evidence of affection. ”If the servant sets it at liberty before I am up in the morning,” she writes, ”after a thousand gambols, it comes into my bed, and reposes in my hand or on my bosom. If I am up before it is let out, it will fly to me in rapture, and spend half an hour in caressing me. The curiosity of this little pet is unbounded, for it is impossible to open a drawer or box, without its roving through every part of it; if even a piece of paper or a book is looked at, it will also examine it with attention.” This weasel lived on friendly terms with both a cat and a dog who shared his mistress'
favours. That the weasel can defend himself when attacked is shown by the following incident told by Mr. Bell: ”As a gentleman was riding over his grounds, he saw, at a short distance from him, a kite pounce on some object on the ground, and rise with it in his talons. In a few moments, however, the kite began to show signs of great uneasiness, rising rapidly in the air, or as quickly falling, and wheeling irregularly round, whilst evidently endeavouring to free himself from some obnoxious thing with his feet. After a short but sharp contest, the kite fell suddenly to the earth. The gentleman instantly rode up to the spot, when a weasel ran away from the kite, apparently unhurt, leaving the bird dead, with a hole eaten through the skin under the wing, and the large blood-vessels of the part torn through.” The length of the common weasel is about eight inches.
The Common Otter.
There are several genera of Otters. The common otter (_Lutra vulgaris_) is known throughout Europe and is not uncommon in Great Britain. The otter lives on fish, for the hunting of which he is admirably fitted. He is web-footed and has a body of great flexibility and short but remarkably muscular legs. The Otter was looked upon as a friend by the peasants living near salmon preserves years ago, for after landing his prey he was content with but a small portion for himself, and left the rest which the peasants readily appropriated.
”Otters,” says Mr. St. John, ”are very affectionate animals; the young anxiously seek their mother if she should be killed; and if the young are injured, the parent hovers near them till she is herself destroyed.
If one of a pair be killed, the one that is left will hunt for its mate with untiring perseverance; and if one be caught in a trap, its companion will run round and round, endeavouring to set it free, on which occasions, though so quiet at other times, they make a snorting and blowing like a horse.”