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CHAPTER XIV.

THE MALTESE.

SOMETIMES this charming little dog is called a terrier, on other occasions a spaniel, whilst in many quarters it has been known as the Lion dog of Malta. Sir Edwin Landseer painted it as the latter about 1838, from a specimen stated to be the last of the race. This picture does not appear to be very well known, but as representing a typical Maltese of the present day it must be noticed here. The Maltese "Lion dog" is reclining on a table, upon which a hound is resting its head, the latter no doubt introduced by the great artist to show the diminutiveness of the principal object in the picture, which it undoubtedly does most satisfactorily. The original painting was, I believe, the property of the late Duchess of Kent.

Whatever doubt there may be as to whether the Maltese dog is a terrier or a spaniel (I do not consider it either), there is no question whatever as to its being by far the oldest of our toy dogs, as it is

the rarest at the present time, and, Landseer notwithstanding, the day of the last of the race has not yet been reached. Two thousand years ago and more the dainty creature was nestled in the laps of the ladies of Greece and Rome, where he was said to divide attention with the dandies and bucks of that day, or, as they were then called, "puppies," a name which still clings to them as occasion requires.

Many early writers have mentioned these little dogs of Malta. Aristotle did, and he died 322 B.C., whilst the elder Callimachus, who was almost his contemporary, likewise alludes to them, and has something to say as to hounds and dogs generally in his poem to Diana. No doubt those Canes Melitæi were pretty much identical with the long-haired, white little dog which is the Maltese of the present day, and that he was of an ancient race even then is evident from the fact that there appears to be some confusion as from whence he came. There are two islands bearing the name of Melita, from either of which this dog may have been originally introduced.

The one island was Melita in the Adriatic, near Dalmatia; the other Melita in the Mediterranean, near Sicily, and the Malta of to-day. Callimachus, already alluded to, and who was undoubtedly an authority on dogs in his day, says the little animal originally came from the Melita in the Adriatic, and

the learned Bochart, in his "Hierozoicon," quotes him as likely to be right in his statement. Others have said the dog first came from Melita in the Mediterranean, which island is at the present time generally acknowledged, though I believe wrongly, to be the native country of the Maltese toy dog.

However, the most complete record of the early history of the Maltese dog is to be found in the Natural History of Ulysses Aldrovandus, who died in 1607. His great work, which was in Latin, was published after his death. He says there are two varieties of this Maltese dog, one of which was comparatively short in its coat, the other long; and as he was unable to say which was correct, he gave us illustrations of each. Both are identical, excepting so far as coat is concerned, that with the longer jacket being pretty much the same dog as we find to-day. The second is the smaller of the two, and, although by no means short-coated, is not so long in the jacket as the other. Aldrovandus quotes pretty freely from other writers, especially as to the origin of this little dog, Blondus ascribing it to Spain, and Gesner to Lyons. However, we must be contented that it came from Malta. In the seventeenth century we are told the best colours were white and red (? fawn), but some were black and white. The smaller they were the better and more valuable they

became, although they bore the reputation of being ferocious and ill-natured. The Italians sometimes called them botoli, because, though small, they were ferocious and bad-tempered, botolo being an old Italian word meaning a quarrelsome little cur, or a worthless, degenerate little dog.

The value of a good specimen of this animal was such that Aldrovandus says he had seen one sold for £400! This was, probably, at Bologna, during our Elizabethan period. But the value of money at that time and in that place is no criterion as to its value in English money at that date or now.

The same author also furnishes us with some interesting little pieces of information as to the breeding and rearing of these diminutive creatures, giving an insight into the arts of the dog fancier of that day, which appeared to be plied with as much care and skill as is the custom at the present time, the Kennel Club notwithstanding.

In the first place it is said that owing to the smallness of the best Maltese dogs, they could with difficulty be induced to breed, and when such was the case they were fed on hot foods. Then the bitches often died during pupping, and care was taken in breeding that only the very tiniest dogs were used to bigger animals of the opposite sex. A quaint idea was in vogue that when the bitch, in whelp,

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