MANY VOYAGES

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 217, 11 June 1935, Page 8

MANY VOYAGES

Bob, the Seafaring Terrier

Fourteen years of practically continuous seagoing is the unusual record of Bob, a crossbred terrier, the property of Captain A. Camp, master of the British motor-ship Aldiugham Court, which arrived at Wellington yesterday from New York, via Auckland. A cross between a rough-haired fox terrier and a Sealyhatn, Bob is now in his old fige, as dogs go. It is said that his mother was a pedigree fox terrier whose pups commanded as high a price as live guineas. Witli Bob’s father a Sealyham, however, the value of the litter slumped and Captain Camp bought Bob for 18/6. “Bob has been round the world many times, and there are not many parts that he has not seen;” said Captain Camp. “He has been with me in this ship since she started on her maiden voyage six years ago.” If there is one thing that Bob Hies better than a sea voyage it is a rat hunt ashore, and when he was more active than he is to-day his master often had difficulty in getting him back to tlie ship. Once he was lost in a Canadian port for several hours, being eventually found hunting for muskrats in a swamp on the outskirts of the town. It Is to Bob’s credit, however, that he has never, missed his passage in the ship. Regulations in force in New Zealand and Australia forbid Bob to be taken ashore, so that there is little chance that he will be lost during the present voyage of the Aldington Court. As a matter of fact the dog has probably lost any desire to wander away from his ever-moving home, for he is now so old In years, so poor in sight and so fat that he prefers to stay on board in port and enjoy the unfailing comforts of chip-life. Moreover, be has a companion in a little yellow dog of uncertain forebears that went on board the ship in a Canadian lumber port twelve months ago, and, liking the life, decided to remain a seafarer.