being less sagacious than other dogs--outside his own sphere of sport, wherein he is peculiarly cunning and adept. I remember hinting this to a lady-fancier, and being crushed with the retort, "Stupid! Not a bit of it! My hound knows its name quite well!" Subsequently, a confession was made that the hound in question was a little rash in the risks it ran of getting run over, and was safer on a lead than when allowed to wander unattached. I trust I am unintentionally unjust to the borzoi, whom I have no desire to libel; but I must confess I retain the conviction that, mentally speaking, it is not a brilliantly witted hound.

But, as I have said, in its own sphere the borzoi is neither lacking in sense nor spirit, and perchance any dog, translated from such outlandish climes as the wilds of Russia to our busy centres of dog-showing, might not be able to adapt itself to its new surroundings and conditions for a generation or two. But the borzoi is being quickly anglicised; it has already ceased to be rare, and has increased marvellously within the last few years. This is reflected in the entries at the Kennel Club Show, which leaped from fifteen in 1900 to sixtytwo, fifty-three, and seventy-two in the last three years. An even better proof is afforded by the advertisement columns in the dog-press. Picking up a paper at random I observe a column of borzoi advertisements, with a host of reputed champion-bred stock offered at prices which old fanciers of the breed would doubtless consider scandalous compared with prices current ten years ago, when, in the first blush of its invasion and the sunshine of Royal patronage, to possess a borzoi was to be in the first flight of fashion as regards dogs. Even now, when they are comparatively common, a borzoi at heel invests the owner with a certain distinguished air, which no other breed can do, and I

remember an audible remark overheard at a fashionable sea-side parade in reference to a very meagre specimen that was rather dejectedly following a somewhat seedylooking individual, "Look! that's one of the Queen's dogs!"

It is probably due to Her Majesty's interest in the breed that it has achieved this high tone. But, on the other hand, its lovers may insist that its fame is all its own, and due to its undoubted grace and beauty, which must ever continue to attract attention and command admiration. And one fact certainly cannot be denied the borzoi is one of the most striking-looking dogs in our canine repository, and once seen is more easily recognised than any other. And if there is a certain want of quick intelligence in its glance, a certain languor in its action, these are merged and lost in its harmonious outline and its aristocratic mien, which enable it to comport itself with a lofty indifference to surroundings that is in itself a sort of acme of superiority!

The Russian wolf-hound has the advantage of justifying its name in its own country, where it is still employed in the chase of the wolf, being used in much the same way as the Anglo-Indian uses his Rampur hound or greyhound for jackal hunting, and as Irish wolf-hounds were utilised in the good old days. That is to say, it is essentially a coursing and killing houndnot a hunting one. The actual dislodging of the wolves from their cover is done by a commoner and less aristocratic dog. The borzoi is stationed at a suitable point outside to deal with the quarry after it has been hunted out. When the wolf has been driven into the open, sighted, and allowed a suitable start,-a hundred or two hundred yards, according to the ground and the proximity of the next cover,-then, and not till then, are the

borzois slipped, generally in couples, though with noted "fliers" a single hound may be allowed to show itself off. When a couple are employed they approach the wolf from different sides, and on overtaking it await their opportunity until one or the other is able to pin it by the neck just below the ear. The next moment hound and wolf are on the ground, head over heels,—all in a muddle, so to speak. And it is here that the marvellous ability of the hound to hold on comes into play; it never lets go of the wolf; once fixed it is a permanency, until the keeper comes up, who proceeds to slip a muzzle on the wolf, the capture of which alive is the scheme of the chase. If, however, there is any delay the borzoi is quite capable of giving the wolf the coup-de-grace, and has frequently done so, for its hold is the hold of death. And it is a striking fact that the hound rarely if ever gets a scratch in the encounter. The best borzois can, and often do, kill a wolf without assistance, though, as I have said, the design is to take the animal alive in order to utilise it to enter young hounds for the sport. An ordinary adjunct of these wolf-courses is a cage on wheels, in which the captured wolves are carried from the field to provide tuition and entertainment in much the same way as our bagged badgers do. The speed with which the borzoi can travel in pursuit of the wolf requires to be seen to be appreciated, and is second only to that of a good English coursing greyhound.

Entered to such savage sport, it is not strange to learn that the borzoi in its native land is accounted a savage animal, and has a reputation of being a terrible fighter in the kennel. The greater its prowess, the more redoubtable its exploits, the more is it prized, and a considerable jealousy exists amongst those who own it, chiefly nobles and persons of rank and wealth, as to

the relative merits of their respective strains, which are as keenly fostered and kept pure as are the occupants of noted sporting and hunting kennels in England. Not only the Czar, but many of the Imperial princes of Russia are fanciers of the borzoi, and their strains are the crème de la crème. Mr. Rousseau gave the Queen, when she was Princess of Wales, the famous borzoi Alex, which in 1900 divided honours for the Kennel Club championship. The present borzoi, Gatchina, owned by Her Majesty, and the dam of the several winners, came from the Czar's kennels.

Contrary to the popular belief, it is the smooth coated borzoi which is the most common in England. The Duchess of Newcastle is my authority for saying that the rough borzoi (Goustopsovy), even in Russia, is scarcer than the smooth (Psovy); both come in the same litter at times. A real rough coat, as seen on the imported hound Kaissack, is almost an unknown thing in England, and those who did not see this specimen cannot realise in the least what it was like. The imported hound Korotai also had a very heavy coat, but it was not so good in mixture, being coarser. Kaissack, however, never grew so good a coat as the one he landed with. The same applies to Sverkay, a dog at present in the Clumber kennels. He landed with a coat the equal of Kaissack's, but now, although good, it is not what it was. The heaviest coated specimens that have been bred in this country have been sired by Kaissack or Korotai or their descendants.

The average height of our show-bench borzoi is about 30 inches, though one gigantic specimen, Caspian, measured 34 inches. The colours are white, splashed with lemon, red, fawn, grey, and occasionally darker shades, but black and tan is tabooed. Expatriation has decidedly improved the borzoi's disposition, and it

cannot be regarded as anything but a very docile creature in its English domicile, though it retains its inveterate habit of chasing anything that appears to it to be of the nature of a warrantable quarry, and for this reason requires looking after in its walks abroad.

Before recapitulating the criticisms on the type of the breed as it exists in England to-day, I will reproduce two descriptions of "ideal dogs," so that a mental picture may be represented to my readers' eyes of the exceedingly beautiful subject of this sketch.

THE DUCHESS OF NEWCASTLE'S IDEAL BORZO1.-A perfect borzoi should show substance combined with quality. A long head, rather Roman-nosed; dark, almond-shaped eyes, soft and expressive, set half-way between occiput and point of nose; small ears, set on high, but not prick; a strong neck, which should appear rather short in proportion to the size of the hound; well set-back shoulders, sloping to the points; well sprung ribs (but not round, like a barrel); deep chest, arched loin, stern set low. Very strong muscular quarters, so that, standing behind, they appear the widest part of the hound; hocks well bent and let down; stern long and carried low; long, silky coat, white, and should curl slightly on neck; legs straight and well feathered ; the bone and muscle on legs should not appear round, but flat. Feet rather long, with not too much bridge to the toes. Height from 29 to 32 inches.

MISS HELEN ARNOLD'S IDEAL BORZOI.-My ideal only exists in fancy at present, but some day I hope to exhibit him to the public. He shall be about 33 inches high, with a lovely, long, curly, silky coat, waving up round his ears with quite a Queen Elizabeth ruffle, to set off a head 13 inches long, with a skull 16 inches in circumference, flat on top, and oval to the sides. The skin on his head will be so thin and the hair so fine that his veins will be perceptible all down his aristocratic "Wellington " nose. His eyes will be very dark and penetrating; his ears small, thin, and always alert when exercising, but tightly folded back when at ease. When he is fully furnished his chest will measure 3 inches more in circumference than his height; his ribs will not resemble a "weather-board,” but he will be "fishsided." There will be room for his heart to beat and his lungs to expand, so that I may not lose this dream of years (when I