Isle of Dogs

“ Probably this accounts for so many lady exhibitors in England preferring them to the other varieties of Setters. We have to go over to its native country, however, to find the breed most highly esteemed as a sporting dog for actual work, and there it is naturally first favourite; in fact, very few of either of the other varieties are to be met with from one end of the Green Isle to the other. It has been suggested that all Irish Setters are too headstrong to make really high-class field trial dogs. ”

“ At the Friendly Isles they live gregarious by several hundreds, and some of them are seen flying about the whole day. The Society Isles alone are fortunate enough to possess both the domestic quadrupeds, the dog and the hog. New Zealand and the low islands must be content with dogs alone; the Marquesas, Friendly Isles, and New Hebrides, have only hogs; and Easter Island and New Caledonia are destitute of both. There is only one tame species of birds, properly speaking, in the tropical isles of the South Sea, viz. ”

“ They are, in general, fed and left to herd with the hogs; and I do not recollect one instance in which a dog was made a companion, in the manner we do in Europe. Indeed, the custom of eating them is an insuperable bar to their admission into society; and, as there are neither beasts of prey in the island, nor objects of chace, it is probable, that the social qualities of the dog, its fidelity, attachment, and sagacity, will remain unknown to the natives.
110The number of dogs in these islands did not appear to be nearly equal, in proportion, to those in Otaheite. ”

“ In Tasmania, the island province off the main Australian continent, there is some hunting with properly constituted and maintained packs of hounds. In this lovely 120country, noted for its apples and the matchless complexions of its pretty women, they hunt deer and hare. In New Zealand there is a good deal of hunting, and harriers are principally in use. There is a fine open country, and that in the North Island will remind the hunting man of some of the shires of England. ”

“ A visitor returning to New York after a summer on the coast wrote as follows: "One of my lasting remembrances of Battle Harbour will be the dreadful dogs. The Mission team were on an island far removed, but there [290] were a number of settlers' dogs which delighted in making the nights hideous. Never before have I seen dogs stand up like men and grapple with each other in a fight, and when made to move on, renew the battle round the corner." ”

“ The dogs at Battle Harbour live up to the name of the settlement. Like all other “huskies,” they are ready to fight on slight provocation, and the night is made vocal with their long-drawn ululations. Their appetite is insatiable—they devour with enthusiasm whatsoever things are thrown out at the kitchen door—they even ate a towel that went astray—and when nothing better offers they will wade into the water in quest of caplin, or cods’ heads. In their enthusiasm for food the dogs will dig through boards to get at cattle and pigs, and cows and chickens seldom live where the dogs are numerous. ”

“ The dog, swine, goat and sheep were alone found upon the island by the Spanish conquerors: The race of large dogs which is supposed to have given a name to the islands has been long extinct. A single skeleton has been found, which is deposited in one of the museums at Paris. The ferret, rabbit, cat, rat, mouse and two kinds of bat have become naturalized. The ornithology is more interesting, on account at once of the birds native to the islands, and the stragglers from the African coast, which are chiefly brought over in winter, when the wind has blown for some time from the east. ”

“ Even the wolfish Esquimo dogs were remembered in this general planning. A nice dog house, cozy and near, was made for them on Butler Island. But the dogs had notions of their own about their quarters. Though so savage at all times as to be willing to eat their masters if not kept in abject fear, yet they refused to sleep out of the sound of their voices. They would leave their comfortable quarters on the island and huddle together in the snow, exposed to the severest cold, to be within the sound of human voices. So they had to be indulged with kennels on deck. ”

“ Here we see a dog brought for the first time from Newfoundland, and who can scarcely be said to have put his feet on ground in England, not only finding his way through a crowded city to the banks of the river, but also finding the ship he wanted in that river, and in which he evidently thought he should discover his lost master. It is an instance of sense of so peculiar a kind that it is difficult to define it, or the faculty which enables animals to find their way to a place over ground which they had not previously traversed. ”

“ The word 'Bran,' the name given to Fingal's noble hound, employed by others than Ossian, is Celtic, and signifies 'Mountain Torrent,' implying that impetuosity of course and headlong courage which the dog possessed. I have said that many assert the Irish wolf-dog to be no longer in existence. I have ventured a denial of this, and refer to the wolf-dog or deer-dog of the Highlands of Scotland, as his actual and faithful living representative. ”

“ But it is now evident that there are dogs on the island. At a short distance from where they were seen we found a dead seal calf, which they had evidently killed; so it appears that they subsist partly on seals' meat. We find that there is another small four-footed animal an inhabitant of this island also; this animal burrows, and undoubtedly only comes out at night. We have set snares, but have failed to catch them: their footmarks are similar to those of a pig. We catch small fish in the creek, which are delicious eating; they resemble the trout, but are very small. ”

“ There are seats on this mound, whence people can watch the bathing; and we often saw a remarkable feat performed from it as well. A race of wonderful water-dogs—said to be a cross between the Newfoundland and the French poodle—is bred at St. Jean de Luz, eight miles from Biarritz. One of their uses is to drive the fish into the nets, and for this purpose one is taken in every boat that puts to sea. The method is extremely simple. As soon as the net surrounds a shoal, the dog is put in the centre, and by beating the water with his paws he effectually drives the finny creatures into the meshes. ”

“ The captain of a vessel informed me that he had once picked up a dog in mid-channel between Brighton and Calais, swimming boldly and strongly towards the French coast. If this dog was endeavouring to make his way back to a beloved master, it was an extraordinary instance of affection.
A few years ago some hounds were embarked at Liverpool for Ireland, and were safely delivered at a kennel far up in that country. ”

“ By some authorities it is suggested that it was the dog which we now know as the Great Dane. Others hold that as there were rough-coated Greyhounds in Ireland, it is this dog, under another name, which is now accepted. But probably the late Captain Graham was nearer the truth when he gave the opinion that the Irish hound that was kept to hunt wolves has never become extinct at all, but is now represented in the Scottish Deerhound, only altered a little in size and strength to suit the easier work required of it—that of hunting the deer. ”

“ The principal use of this animal in Newfoundland, in addition to his qualities as a good watch-dog and a faithful companion, is to assist in fetching from the woods the lumber intended either for repairing the fish stages, or for fuel; and this is done by dragging it on the snow or ice, or else on sledges, the dog being tackled to it.
These animals bark only when strongly provoked. They are not quarrelsome, but treat the smaller species with a great degree of patience and forbearance. They will defend their masters on seeing the least appearance of an attack on his person. ”

“ This was a joyous time for the landsmen. They pitched a tent on shore, had a boat at their command, and passed their time merrily in rambling about the island, and coasting along the shores, shooting sea-lions, seals, foxes, geese, ducks, and penguins. None were keener in pursuit of this kind of game than M'Dougal and David Stuart; the latter was reminded of aquatic sports on the coast of Labrador, and his hunting exploits in the northwest. ”

“ I suppose the Newfoundland has more rescues of drowning persons to 112 his credit than any other breed, and it's a shame to see him go. The breed originated on the island of Newfoundland a hundred years ago, and you will still see a dog's head on the Newfoundland postage stamps.
"The Newfoundland has a waterproof coat and is a wonderful swimmer, so that a good many of the anecdotes told about dogs of this breed have to do with their exploits in the water. For example, there is one of a man who fell off a narrow foot-bridge into a swift mill stream. ”

“ It is a beautiful place when once the tourist is able to land there, but the wharf arrangements are not so good as they might be. Once landed, the visitor usually first proceeds to solve the great zoological problem the island has long presented to the outer world, and finds that the Isle of Man does really possess a breed of tailless cats, whose caudal extremity is either altogether wanting or at most is reduced to a merely rudimental substitute. ”

“ Newfoundlands.—There are few of the non-sporting breeds which have received more notice in the newspapers than the Newfoundland dog, being so often associated with saving of life on the sea coasts, or on the banks of some of our rivers, and I think there are few, if any, dogs so really and naturally fond of the water, and being possessed of strength and courage, they are often able to render valuable aid. At one time I feared they were becoming almost extinct, and I think the many and very beautiful specimens we now see at our shows, are mainly due to my old friend, Mr. ”

“ Among his friends—such as declined to resent the insults which he put upon their dogs—there was a consensus of opinion that the animal which would satisfy him would not be born—allowing a reasonable time for the various processes of evolution—for at least a thousand years, and then, taking into consideration the growth of radical ideas, and the decay of the English sport, there would be little or no demand for a first-class dog in the British Islands. ”

“ The dogs of Newfoundland, such as Doctor Grenfell uses in his winter journeys in going out from St. Anthony to visit patients, are still a different type. These are usually big lop-eared kindly fellows, and just as friendly as any dog in the world. The laws of Newfoundland provide a heavy fine upon any one bringing upon the island a Labrador dog that is related even remotely to the husky wolf dog.
The leader of the dog team is the best disciplined dog in the team but not always by any means the "boss" dog, or bully, of the pack. ”

“ As they pass along the village street other men join them, some carrying spears and some heavy muskets, and also leading more sad-faced dogs. Black-haired, oval-faced women and girls come to the doors of the houses and look indolently at the hunters, but they neither speak nor smile, for it is not the nature of the Strong's Islanders to speak when there is no necessity for words. ”

“ In France, Belgium, Norway, and especially in Russia this handsome sporting dog is a far greater favourite than it is in Great Britain, not only for work with the gun, but as a companion, and it is a fact that at many a Continental dog show more specimens of the breed are exhibited than could be gathered together in the whole of the United Kingdom. ”

“ Dogs were splashing about in the shallows of the lagoon, seeking their own supper of fish. They are a strange breed, the dogs of the atolls, like no other that I have ever seen, a mixture of all breeds one would think, a weird blending of good blood and bad. The peculiar environment and the strange diet have altered them so that they hardly seem dogs at all, but, rather, semiamphibious animals, more at home in the sea than on land. They are gentle-mannered with their masters and with strangers, but fierce fighters among themselves. ”

“ Newfoundland dogs may readily be taught to rescue drowning persons. In France, this forms a part of their education, and they are now kept in readiness on the banks of the Seine, where they form a sort of Humane Society Corps. By throwing the stuffed figure of a man into a river, and requiring the dog to fetch it out, he is soon taught to do so when necessary, and thus he is able to rescue drowning persons. This hint might not be thrown away on our own excellent Humane Society.
Many dogs are called of the Newfoundland breed who have but small relationship with that sensible animal. ”

“ M'Intyre, patent-mangle manufacturer, Regent Bridge, Edinburgh, has a dog of the Newfoundland breed, crossed with some other, named Dandie, whose sagacious qualifications are truly astonishing and almost incredible. As the animal continues daily to give the most striking proofs of his powers, he is well known in the neighbourhood, and any person may satisfy himself of the reality of those feats, many of which the writer has himself had the pleasure to witness. ”

“ We were surprised to find the time of high-water here nearly two hours earlier than at Three Hummock Island; the flood-stream came from the southward.
Of the number of wild dogs that we had heard of as being on this island, we saw only two. From the bones we found of others it is more than probable that they live upon each other at the seasons of the year when the mutton birds having departed; they would otherwise have to depend solely for subsistence on the few shellfish adhering to the rocks. This reminded me of what I once witnessed on an island off the eastern coast of Patagonia. ”