Natural History.

Otago Witness, Issue 1584, 1 April 1882, Page 28

Natural History.

NOTES FOR THE YOUNG.-DOG 3. (Continued.)

By Unole David.

The Sheep Dog.— Every boy and girl jte so well acquainted with this animal, that it will be useless for me to describe it. The > only thing that may be worth mentioning is that its body is in build somewhat light, strength and activity being combined. The head is well developed, and its intelligence extraordinary. My young friends who attend school, or who are fond of reading, will have read many interesting stories of this dog. It may not have occurred to many of you, however, that this animal was formerly not a preserver, but a destroyer of sheep. Like all other dogs, it is carnivorous, and Nature prepared it to devour. But education has affected its instinct so much that this naturally devouring and destroying dog has become of incalculable value to the shepherd in guarding and managing his innocent flock. Dogs of the shepherd breed not infrequently are kept by farmers, who' call them cattle or collie dogs. Some years ago a farmer had one of the true breed of these dogs. During the summer he grazed a large herd of cows, which were in several fields that communicated with each other. Morning and evening this dog would go to the fields and gently drive home the large herd. If, when it had driven them some distance, it discovered one of them a-missing, it would run back and search the fields till it met the cow, which it would conduct to the herd, and then drive the whole to the milkingplace. Sir William Jardine says : — ' We ,have witnessed the care which these dogs take of their charge, and with what readiness they chastise those that molest them, — in the case of a cur biting a sheep in rear of the flock, and unseen by the shepherd., This assault was committed by a tailor's dog, but not unmarked by the shepherd's dog, which immediately siezed the delinquent, and dragging it into a puddle, while holding its ear, kept dabbling it in the mud with exemplary gravity. The cur yelled, the tailor came with nis goose to the rescue, and having flung it at the sheep dog, and missed it, stood by gaping, not venturing to fetch it back till the castigation was over; and the dog had followed the flock.' The sheep-dog has proved of so much service that men have ever been anxious to preserve its species. No dog can render such a variety of services, and no one can discharge its trust mdre faithfully. It watches its master's eye, andnotes every word that is spoken. At a word he drives the sheep to and from the pasture. If one be pointed out on a distant hill, it will set off for it with its utmost speed and soon return with the wanderer. These dogs drive the sheep entirely by the voice, never biting or employing force except in cases of need. They are always obedient to their master's directions when awake, and when they lie down they choose a spot near his wallet and preserve it from plunder. James Hogg, the Lttric Shepherd, has given us more interesting particulars of thia animal than any other writer. He remarks ;— ' Without the shepherd's dog the whole of the mountainous land in Scotland would not be worth a sixpence ! It would require more hands to manage a stock: of sheep, gather them from the hills, foroa them into houses and folds, and drive them to market, than the profits of the whole stock would be capable of maintaining. Well may the shepherd feel an interest in his dog ; he it is, indeed, that earns the family's bread of which he is himself content with the smallest morsel— always grateful and always ready to exert its utmost abilities in its master's interest. Neither_ fatigue, hunger, nor the worst treatment will drive it from its master's side ; it will follow him through awy hardship, without murmuring or repining, till it literally drops down dead at his fee,t, s Mr Hogg had a collie which he desoribod as beyond all comparison the best he ever saw. He had a rather surly and unsociablo temper ; disdaining all flattery, and refusing to be caressed ; * but his attention to my commands,' says Mr Hogg, ' will never again be equalled by any of_ the canine race.' When Mr Hogg first saw him, a drover was leading him with a rope. He was lean and hungry, and quite an ugly-looking creature ; he was almost black, with a grim face striped with dark brown. The Etfcric Shepherd fancied the dog, despite his appearance, and bought him. He called the dog Sirrah ; and you may road for yourselves a very interesting story of this faithful animal m the Fourth Royal Reader— a book in use in our common schools. Another of his dogs called Hector, though not, perhaps, so valuable as Sirrah, was fa.r more interesting. One fact, as narrated by his master, shows that, he carried fidelity to an extreme. One night, it being very dark, Hector wj?s unable to see wh.eth.er the lambs which were in the fold were securely shut in on every side, so he persisted in guarding the place. On going to the fold at daybreak, the faithful creature was found

sitting m the very middle of the fold door, with his eyes fixed keenly on the lambs. He had been bo hardly set with them after it grew dark, that he durst not for his life leave them though hungry, cold, and fatigued. Though" the night had been a perfect deluge of rain he had not so much as lain down, for only the small spot on which he sat was dry ; and there he had kept watch all night. One winter Hock? told his mother he was going to Bowerhope for a fortnight, adding, 'But I shall not take Hector with me, for he is constantly quarrelling with other dogs.' Next morning being very wet, Hogg did not start till after breakfast • but when the time came for tying up Hector' he was missing. « I will wager/ said Hogg! that he heard what we were saying yester night— and has gone off for Bowerhope as soon as the door was opened this morning ' This surmise proved to be correct, for on drawing near, Hogg espied his truant sitting 'like a drookit hen ' on a hillock at the end of tha house, waiting his master's arrival with much impatience. No wonder he wrote in after years, when Hector looked as if he feared a loss of favour because his head was turning grey : • Ah me ! 0 fashion, self an' pride, Mankind hae read me sic a lecture I But yet it's a' in part repaid By thee, my faithful, grateful Hector ! • O'er pa9fc imprudence oft; alane I've shed the saut an' silent tear ; Then, sharin' a' my grief an' pain My poor auld friend came snoosin' near. • Wi waesome face an' hingin' head, Thou wad'st hae pressed thee to my kneo ; While I thy looks as weel could read, As thou had'st said in words to mo :' 1 0, my dear master, dinna greet, What hae I evor done to vex thee? See hero I'm cow'in' at thy feet, Just tak' my life, if I perplex thee. ' For a' my toil, my wee drap meat Is a' tho wage I ask o' thee ; For whilk I'm oft obliged to wait Wi' hungry wame, an' patient e'o. ' Whatever wayward course ye steer ; ' Whatever sad mischance o'ertake yo • Man, here is ane will haud ye dear? ' Man, here is ane will ne'er forsake ye !' • Yes, my puir boast, though friends me scorn, Whom mair than life I valued dear An' thraw me out to fight forlorn Wi' ilia my heart do hardly bear ; 1 While I hae thco to bear a part, My scaith, my plaid, an' b-ezle rung— I'll scorn th' unfeelin' haughty heart, The saucy look, an' sland'roua tongue. • For He who feeds tho ravens' young Lets nothin? pass He disna see ; He'll sometime judge o1o 1 right an' wrong, An' aye provide for you an' me.' There are so many interesting anecdotes re^ lated of these dogs that I will continue the subject in my next letter,