their camps to feed, or on moonlight nights, they will creep up in a circle to within twenty yards of the sleeper, and stare at the strange object, as though lost in wonder not unmixed with dread. If the cracking of a stick happens to rouse one, the ghostly forms may be seen dimly and silently advancing through the forest until they stand in a serried rank around the sleeper. To the tyro, who suddenly wakes and finds himself thus the object of attention on the part of a hundred or so of wild cattle, the situation is almost alarming. But no thought of aggression is passing in their minds. They are simply attracted by the unknown and, to them, therefore, the terrible, while their nerves are strung to the highest pitch. An amusing scene may be created now by the man in the blanket suddenly rolling himself towards their ranks. The thing they have been watching has become endowed with life! They swing round in the utmost terror and confusion, dashing against each other in their hurry to escape from the awesome creature, and for the next few minutes the forest resounds with the thunder of retreating hoofs.

Carlo I. was perfectly familiar with these experiences, and would simply raise his head, look at the cattle, and curl himself up again without uttering a sound. Frequently, too, the thud, thud of a kangaroo leaping may be heard; but the dog would pay no more attention to the movements of these and other animals than to those of cattle.

Camping out one night in company with him, he roused me a little before daylight, in his usual manner, by pawing my shoulder, and, looking steadily in one direction, gave a low growl. I reached for my revolver under the saddle, and, lying at full length, fired a shot low at a clump of wattles, where a native might have concealed himself; however, there was no apparent result; but if the enemy were about, they would take that as a significant warning. I watched until dawn, the dog meanwhile evincing continued uneasiness, for which I cannot but think he had sufficient justification; for,

on continuing my journey, about a mile from my camp I found the temporary bark shelters, where a considerable number of natives had passed the night, with smoke still rising from the ashes of their fires. There can be little doubt that some of these people had been prowling about in the early morning, and perhaps, approached me with anything but friendly intention; if so, the keen ear of the dog had enabled him to detect so faint a sound, quite inaudible to me, as the footstep of a barefooted man, and to discriminate between this and the sounds made by animals, with which he never concerned himself further than merely to notice them, but gave no warning sign.

During one particular week of my bush life I could not aver that I had slept uninterruptedly for two hours. All around the neighbourhood the blacks had been spearing cattle and raiding on sheep. Their numbers and the shorthanded condition of all the sheep runs emboldened them to an unusual extent. At one of the far outlying huts they had murdered an old shepherd, and made havoc of his flock. To this hut I was sent with a flock of strong wethers, as all the grass nearer home was needed for the lambing season then close at hand. Extreme caution when out with the sheep was necessary, but in the monotony of the occupation -the ration carrier being the only white man likely to be seen in the course of a week, or, possibly, a stray stockman on his rounds-the feeling of insecurity gradually wore off. One hot day, while the sheep were taking their siesta at noon, I sat down at the foot of a tree with the double barrelled gun across my lap and the dog beside me, and fell asleep. Men naturally sleep lightly when they know that they may wake only to find a spear in them, and an angry growl from the dog brought me to my senses. Jumping to my feet, and, following the direction of his eye, I noticed a slight movement of the grass at some little distance, Concluding it to be a dingo making for the sheep I fired a charge of heavy shot at the spot, and, much to my astonishment, a

black fellow sprang up, ran a few yards, and then fell. Until then I had never seen a black skin since I took the hut, but when least expected the enemy was upon me. He had managed his approach with excellent judgment, coming from the side where there were no sheep, which he would have disturbed. Here was a great blunder on my part. Before relaxing my vigilance I ought to have seen that there were sheep all round me, so that any movement on their part would have put me on my guard. It is needless to say that I gathered the flock together at once and made for home, avoiding the direction in which the native had come, as he would probably have several companions, who, however, would be chary of showing themselves at least, in open aggression, after that lesson.

دو

It is difficult to attribute this warning of the dog to any sense but that of hearing. Redolent as the Australian native is when you are to leeward of him, in that hot, dry, still, mid-day air he would give out little scent likely to reach the nose of the dog. Sight is out of the question altogether. The native's method of stalking-and no savage in the world excels him in this never permits him to be seen. Wherever there is grass enough to hide him at all he crawls along with his spear grasped firmly between the great toe and the next, and his "nullah-nullah' or club in his hand. Reaching a tree he stands up to rest and pick the ground for a further advance. Should you happen to look straight at that tree, round which onehalf of his face is showing, it will present the appearance only of a knob on the trunk, and will not attract notice, and there it will remain motionless as long as you look. Thus warily moving, the native is able to stalk even right into the midst of a mob of kangaroos, whose first intimation of his presence is the fall of one of their number to his spear or club. Stalking a drowsy shepherd is obviously a far easier task, unless he is protected, as in that' instance I fortunately was, by the vigilance of a dog whose

perceptions so far transcend those of man in sensibility and discrimination.

The intimate physiological association of the sense of taste with that of smell renders it uncertain, in some instances, which of the two is in operation at any given moment. Everyone, however, must have noticed the extreme fastidiousness of taste in the dog, and there can be no doubt of his power of detecting minute quantities of substances which are disagreeable to him. I have experimented with various substances, both harmless and more or less dangerous, and have invariably found him capable of discovering their presence, even when diluted. to an extreme degree, and when the human palate was unable to detect any trace of the substance. One day in the summer I took Carlo II. and his companion, Hector, my second retriever, for a long walk, and on their return, when suffering much from thirst, dropped ten drops of ordinary Kinahan's whisky into their basin containing a quart of fresh water, and secured the thorough mixture of the spirit by agitating the water for some time. On placing the vessel on the floor they both made a rush at it, took a few eager laps, and turned away in disgust. No coaxing availed to persuade them to touch it again. I then emptied the basin, rinsed it out, filled it with fresh water, and placed it before them. They clearly understood that some change had been effected-for I was in the habit of replenishing it when it had stood some hours and become a little stale-and approached it, though somewhat suspiciously, and, after tasting it, and being satisfied of its purity, took a hearty drink. Thus, it appeared, they were able to detect the presence of the spirit in so minute a proportion as about one drop to a thousand. I have tried various essential oils, petroleum, Condy's Fluid, &c., with much the same results, but the degrees of perception have varied. Carbolic acid seems to be specially objectionable. Neither beef tea nor strong meat broth suffices to mask the peculiar flavour of that acid. Even so negative a substance

as

a

small quantity of powdered sulphur introduced into a mess of soft food, and thoroughly mixed with it, will often be detected by a dog unaccustomed to it. This is impressed upon my memory by the difficulty I experienced in training a retriever to take this most useful alterative, which should, I think, be given at least once a week to the extent of a thimbleful to every dog weighing 50lb. or more, even if his health be good, with half that quantity to smaller animals. The dog in question did not overcome his repugnance to the sulphur in the smallest dose for months. Salt may be tolerated in much larger quantities than other substances, though a few grains will suffice to make my retriever refuse his water, unless very thirsty, which indicates his consciousness of its presence.

Veterinary authorities no doubt rightly consider that salt in any form whatever should never be given to the dog. I know one singular instance, however, of no evil result of frequently drinking salt water. We used to take a pointer to the shores of Moreton Bay, on the north-east coast of Australia, to work the quail and "squatter" pigeons in the rough grass round the salt swamps-birds in which my retriever, Carlo I., took no professional interest at that time, his mind being wholly devoted to water fowl and snipe. Even in winter the temperature of this latitude (28deg. N.) is little, if any, less during the day than that of an English Midsummer, while that of the autumn is considerably higher. My diary gives records of 84deg., 90deg., and 75deg. as the temperature in the shade on days in May, and of 70deg. frequently in the months of June and July, when it may be considered cool. Thus, during the best shooting months the heat is distressing to dogs, and particularly so to pointers. Carlo I., having been bred in the country, heavy-coated as he was, always worked without much apparent discomfort, and often accompanied me over Taylor's Range on the hottest days, sharing only the contents of a small flask carried on my belt, out of which he learned to drink as I poured