has to enter into the calculations of a successful breeder. For instance, a dog may seem to comply with all the conditions here laid down, and yet be a worthless idiot at the very work for which the Pointer is bred; and as the mental qualities and capacities of the dog are transmitted from parents to offspring, it is imperative in breeding to take pains to fix in one's strain nose, and brain, and endurance.

As much difference exists between Pointers in their working powers as in their appearance, and most sportsmen know well enough

how to appreciate the qualities that make a dog a good performer in the field. Still, it may be as well, in writing on this subject, to define briefly those natural endowments that are of such primary importance in the breed.

Figs. 56 and 57 represent Champions Seabreeze and Sandbank, the property of the writer of this article. The latter is a winner of many cups and prizes at both field trials and shows; the former is also a big winner at shows, but has never run at trials.

First, then, it is very desirable that Pointers should have a good nose, to enable them to scent game at a distance--the farther off

the better, provided that they are possessed of sufficient discrimination in using it to prevent their false pointing; in short, good noses without good brains are useless.

Next in order must be placed the natural love of hunting, without which no dog ever attains to perfection; though with it many dogs, weak in other points, become, by practice, tolerably useful. Those that frequently require the words of encouragement, "Hold up," are very troublesome to break, and when broken often turn out lazy, or display a lack of energy that is painful to witness. From their nervousness and want of heart they are unable to use to advantage any other good qualities they may possess.

It is a lively, high spirited, kindly dispositioned dog that is wanted-one with plenty of pluck, and yet not headstrong or reckless. Many dogs from their self-will, although possessing other admirable qualities, become very difficult to manage, and nothing but regular and hard work will keep them under control. Such dogs are never wholly reliable, and this is especially felt when using them in braces. A good dog that is trying to do his best may be tempted into doing wrong by the provocation received from his reckless companion.

Many otherwise good dogs turn out useless because of their defective temper; and, therefore, it is an important matter to get hold of a good-tempered dog for sporting purposes. In his work he has so continually to hold in check his natural impulses that, unless he have a good temper, he is continually forgetting his previous training. To train a dog that is thoroughly self-willed is, at best, a tiresome undertaking, and not worth the trouble it entails. When a dog of this temperament ranges a little farther than usual from his master, he as a rule gets into trouble by some wilful fault, and in addition the close attention necessary for working him destroys half the pleasure the sport should afford.

Dogs with a jealous disposition are very disagreeable. They are difficult to deal with when worked in braces, because they are not to be depended upon as "backers," and, when opportunity serves them, will steal the other dog's point-a most serious fault. This same failing makes them reckless in their range; for they will sometimes play at follow-the-leader, instead of taking up an independent beat, and will always be liable to commit faults (amongst others, that of "flushing"), not from want of nose-but from giving too much attention to what the other dog is doing, instead of minding their own work.

To sum up the qualities of a first-rate Pointer he must have a good nose, plenty of pace, and a level, sweeping stride that will enable him to hunt a lot of ground without distressing himself, and a natural love of hunting, to make him anxious to find game, with sufficient perseverance to keep him continually on the quest, even

where birds are scarce: he must also have a bright, kindly temperament, plenty of courage without being headstrong, and must tolerate a co-worker, despite his desire to undertake all the work: he must stand correction for a fault, without getting sulky and skulking, being honest, bold, and dutiful: he must carry his head well up, and never stoop to ground scent: he must have sufficient brains to make the best use of the wind in quartering the ground, and must merrily lash his tail as an earnest of his good intentions. When a sportsman has succeeded in breeding or obtaining Pointers possessed of the qualities above enumerated, he will be naturally very reluctant to part with them.

At the present time it is probable that America possesses quite as many handsome English Pointers as England; and several of the continental countries of Europe show excellent dogs in great quantities, notably Russia, Belgium, France, Sweden-while Italy, Spain, Finland, Denmark are not far behind. In fact, the dogs of some of these countries show a higher degree of average merit than those of Great Britain; owing to the foreigners having been less led away by love of Foxhound type, and their shows occurring too seldom to make the cultivation of the professional show-dog a commercial possibility. But it is safe to say that the bestlooking individuals, like the finest workers of all, are still to be met with in the land of their origin. With trial-workers, however, certain of the continental countries, notably Belgium and France, where they run their dogs under precisely similar conditions and rules, are close on our heels.

It is more difficult to gauge the comparative merit of the American and Russian trial dogs with ours, as the work required of them is so different. Indeed, on the vast prairies of the New World, both judges and breakers are on horseback, and all methodical quartering of the ground is literally "thrown to the winds"; while the Russians require the dog to be worked in thick scrub, where he is lost to sight, and has to return to his master to "report" a find, instead of remaining firmly at the point.

CHAPTER XXV

THE ENGLISH SETTER

THE origin of the Setter is involved in hopeless mystery, and it would not be particularly interesting or of any great importance to endeavour to penetrate it by giving the various and irreconcilable opinions of many writers, both ancient and modern, who have given us their views on the subject. Suffice it to say that the general opinion that the Setter was the improved and selected offspring of the Springer Spaniel does not seem as probable as its converse.

There is no doubt but that the Setter was first used for hawking, and it seems far more probable that a pointing dog, rather than a flushing one, should have been acceptable for this purpose. Besides, the word Spaniel, or Spaynel, indicates Spain, as in an old book, said to be written by a son of Edward III. in 1402, it is stated: "The nature of him comes from Spain."

What appears most probable is that the Setter is the oldest of British dogs, that it was probably introduced by the Romans, and that, when in later times the Spaniel and Pointer were imported from Spain, crosses between these and the original English dog produced respectively the more modern Setter and the many different strains of Spaniels now so well known among us.

Between the old Springer and the modern Setter there is a strong family likeness, as may be seen by many plates of this dog published in old books. Setters and Pointers too were of course broken to the net long before guns were invented. Wood says: "The first person who broke a setting dog to the net was Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, in 1535"; and as late as 1818 we hear of pointing dogs being used for this purpose, and to the writer's certain knowledge they have been employed by poachers very much later than that. For this purpose the Setter appears to have been preferred to the Pointer on account of his natural crouching attitude.

Perhaps there are very few sportsmen or dog lovers of the present day who would not agree with the opinion that the Setter is the most beautiful in appearance, as well as the most affectionate in disposition, of any sporting dog. Whether the beauty of the breed, as well as its sterling sporting qualities, has been improved

in the last hundred years is an exceedingly doubtful matter. The writer inclines to a medium opinion-viz. that a hundred years ago there were a great many more really handsome dogs than there are now, and also a great many more really useful and dependable for shooting purposes, but that there are a select few to be found at the present day vastly superior certainly in beauty, possibly in working qualities, to their ancestors. His own recollection of the ancient Setter, which goes back to the year 1853, is that he distinctly remembers at that time three, if not four, distinctly different-looking dogs.

There were a great number of Setters in those days, mostly lemon-and-whites, in the South and West of England-great upstanding dogs with fine shoulders and hindquarters and exuberant feather. These may be taken as the pure breed. Again, there was another sort shorter in the leg, with heads broader and more massive, and coats inclined to be curly; these had no doubt been crossed with the Irish Water Spaniel. There was a third sort, of which the writer has seen but very few specimens, a short, stout dog with a short, broad nose, and as slow as a man; this may be taken as a recent cross with the Spaniel.

The fourth sort was a small, fine-limbed, beautifully feathered, straight-coated dog, with a finely cut head, generally black-andwhite. Mr. Hiles, the agent for Lady Bowden, in Herefordshire, had a strain of these. The writer bought one himself from him early in the fifties, and he was one of the best in the field he ever saw and as handsome as a picture.

Now, it is a common idea that there are a great many more Setters, and Pointers too, in these days than there were fifty years ago. The writer does not believe a word of it.

There are, we know, in the present day very large kennels of both breeds, chiefly kept for show and field-trial purposes; but these are, after all, few and far between, while now, alas! even on the Scotch moors dogs are rarely used, and for partridge shooting we may almost say never. In the old days every man who shot had one or two dogs-no one ever shot without them-and some had fairly large kennels. Not only that fast-declining race the old English gentleman had his Setters or Pointers or both, but every sporting farmer likewise.

The writer has a vivid remembrance of a Setter belonging to a man of this then most worthy class, and with whom as a boy he had many a good day's sport. The dog was a huge black-andwhite, nearly as big as a Newfoundland, with a massive Pointer head and a curly coat. He was very slow but exceedingly sure, and if you gave him plenty of time, he would range every inch of a field and find everything in it. His master was a fine fellow of 6ft. 3in., big in proportion, and immensely powerful, he was