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"Go and seek, good dog Trompette!' said the old lady when she had entered this creek. The dog started off, hunting in all directions. In a quarter of a minute he stopped at one of the little lumps, and began to scratch and whine like a terrier at a rat-hole. See! he has one,' said the woman, as she ran towards the dog, brandishing her pick-axe. When she reached the place, she looked which way the hole ran, and then began tearing up the sand, which rose in lumps at every blow. After eight or ten strokes out tumbled a conger-eel about the same size as those in her basket; the dog and his mistress made a dash at it; the biped got it; the woman flung it with great force on the hard sand, and then quietly put it in her basket with the rest of her load, shouting, 'Seek again, Trompette!' Trompette obeyed, and in this way, within five minutes after entering the creek, the dog found, and the mistress dug up and basketed, three of these eels.

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Being asked if there was much difficulty in breaking these dogs to hunt eels, she replied, 'None at all; we take a young dog out with an old one once or twice, and we let them worry the eel, or perhaps eat one, and then they will hunt quite well; but some of them have finer noses than others, and of course these are the best.'

"And is this talent confined to the famille Trompette, or are there other dogs that do the same?'

"Other dogs are taught,' said the old lady, but my dog's family do it at once;' and then continued her way, followed by her dog."

A dog which, some years ago, was at the White Hart Inn at

Salisbury, took his daily walk round the canal surrounding the Close, in search of minnows, which he seized with wonderful avidity. When few or none were visible he scratched up the gravel for a considerable extent, and then patiently took his station till some unfortunate gudgeon came in sight, on whom he pounced with all the ferocity of a hawk secure of its prey.1

In the decoys in the fens of Essex, dogs are always employed to aid in the capture of the wild-fowl. Tame ducks are made use of to entice the wild birds into the tunnel nets. The least noise would scare away those vigilant and wary denizens of the pool and mere, consequently, call, or whistle, are out of question. The decoy birds, being always fed in the dog's company, no sooner perceive him in front of the reed screen, where he comes to attract their notice, than they rise from the pool, and winging their way to him are followed by the others. The dog is most alert for fear of being seen and rousing the suspicions of the wild ducks. He is over the low part of the fence and round to the next opening instantly, giving only a momentary view. Those about Maldon resemble the colly.

Once a Week,' No. 220, contains a clever paper on Truffle Hunting. It is there stated that the truffle hunters, acute and quick men though they are, could never be successful without their peculiar breed of small well-trained dogs. These scent the hidden truffle even at twenty yards off, and rush to the spot straight as a dart.

The truffle is found in loamy soil, and sought after

1 Sporting Magazine.

the harvest, in wet and damp weather under the dripping branches, and around the mossy boles and decaying roots of old beeches, oaks, and limes. Trudging through parks, woods, and plantations, beauteous in autumnal tints; along fields and meadows, for long distances; forcing his way among branches and underwood, often wet to the knees, or soaked to his skin with rain, the village-truffle hunter is preceded by his little dogs, who, active and keen, are unwearied in the pursuit. On their busy noses catching scent of the buried prize they fly eagerly to the place and point and scratch till the epicurean dainty is dug up by their pleased master.

It appears the dog tax weighs heavily on the trufflehunters of Hampshire and its adjoining counties; at least they are said to think so; but perhaps it operates in their favour by preventing competition.

These dogs are descended from Spanish dogs in some instances, but in general from the French Poodle, and are stated to have no scenting powers for anything but the truffle. The latter may be doubted. Though very fond of the truffle, it is never eaten by them any more than by their masters. A bit of bread is their reward. The following is the description given of the truffle-hunter's ally:

"He whistled as he spoke, and up trotted his dog with a very friendly air, and was introduced to me by the name of 'Nelly.' He assured me she was one of the cleverest of her race, and was never known to fail, and certainly she had an intelligent, clever face, with bright black eyes looking all ways at once, and sharp-pointed ears always on the alert, and never quiet for one moment. The nose was sharp

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pointed, and the whole face reminded me of the expression of a small quick terrier, only far more gentle and clever. I remarked on the clean-made limbs, and the long paws, which seemed made for scratching, and was assured of her strength and unwearied zeal in hunting for this peculiar kind of game. This dog was smooth-coated, white, with liver-coloured spots; but the generality have rather curly hair, a remnant of the poodle, from which these dogs are said to have been bred. We entered a shrubbery, and drew near to trees which my guide declared to be 'friendly' to the truffle. We then left the path, and made our way through bushes and underwood, until we came to a hedge on one side, and the trunks of fine beeches on the other. I was so much occupied in forcing my way through thorny brambles and opposing branches, and also in observing how the brilliant rays of an August sun lighted the massive boles of the beeches, and then lost themselves in the hazel thickets, or the sombre foliage of the yews, that I was hardly aware that our dog was running before us with her nose to the ground, as keen and eager as a terrier after a rat. Suddenly she completely aroused me from my reverie by appearing to have gone out of her dog's mind; as, merely encouraged by a whistle from her master, or a 'here, Nell! here then!' she rushed through some bushes so quickly that I could hardly keep her in sight, and stopping all at once close to a beech tree, began, without a moment's hesitation, not only to push up the earth with her nose, but to scratch it up with her fore-paws as hard as she could.

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"What is the dog about?' I asked, half-bewildered; but I was answered directly by the man stooping down, and picking up something, whilst he said :-

"Well done, Nell,' and at the same moment he placed in my hand a real English truffle, smelling strongly, according to its peculiar nature.

"The dog was off again directly, and found four more within ten minutes of the first, and one or two rather deeper down in the soil, so that it required a little help from my companion's stick to get them up. I afterwards found that they carry a little spade with them, which the truffler uses when his dog is unable to scratch up this curious fungus with his paws.

"All the time that the hunt lasted, Nelly was extremely excited and agitated, now smelling them out with unerring instinct, then scratching them up with the greatest delight, which she showed by wagging violently her short tail, and by fetching and carrying them at the bidding of her master. She glided through the thick bushes and underwood in a marvellous manner, and as every truffle dog has his tail docked when a puppy,' to prevent any impediment in their hunting through bushes, little Nell was able to agitate hers as violently as she liked, without any fear of being caught by it in the boughs.

"The most wonderful proof of her sagacity was in her scenting out and scratching up two of the red truffles, which were so tiny that, unless she had carried them in her mouth to her master, we should not have remarked them, though the place was pointed out to us by her scratching. Whilst

1 A senseless practice arising from fashion and whim, soon, it is to be hoped, to be generally condemned in regard to the canine, as it has already been respecting the equine race, who also, a generation back, often had their tails docked and nicked in a barbarous manner.

"God never made his work, for Man tɔ mend."