fought with the king of the beasts should never after fight with any inferior creature.' The following anecdote will show, that the Mastiff, conscious of its superior strength, knows how to chastise the impertinence of an inferior :- A large Dog of this kind, belonging to a gentleman near Newcastle, being frequently molested by a mongrel, and teased by its continual barking, at last took it up in its mouth by the back, and, with great composure, dropped it over the quay into the river, without doing any further injury to an enemy so much its inferior. Is much less than the mastiff, but the fiercest of all the Dog kind, and is probably the most courageous creature in the world. His short neck adds to his strength. Those of a brindled colour are accounted the best of the kind; they will run at and seize the fiercest bull without barking, making directly at his head, sometimes catch hold of his nose, pin the animal to the ground, and make him roar in a most tremendous manner, nor can they without difficulty be made to quit their hold. Some years since, at a bull-baiting in the north of England, when this barbarous custom was very common, a young man, confident of the spirit of his Dog, laid a wager that he would, at separate times, cut off all the animal's feet, and that he would continue to attack the bull after each amputation. The experiment was tried, and the brutal wretch won his wager. Is well known at present, and was formerly held in such estimation, that he was the peculiar companion of a gentleman, who, in ancient times, was known by his horse, his hawk, and his Greyhound: it was formerly penal by the law of the land, for any person below the rank of a gentleman to keep a Dog of this kind. He is the fleetest of all Dogs, and can outrun every animal of the chase. He has a long body, and is of an elegant shape; his head is neat and sharp, with a full eye, a good mouth, sharp and very white teeth; his tail is long, and curls round above its hind part. He courses more by sight than by scent, and is said to outlive all kinds of Dogs. There are several varieties; as the Italian Greyhound, Oriental Greyhound, &c. Is produced in most countries, and varies much in size and colour. In Muscovy some are white, some red, and others black. His abode is generally on the skirt of a wood, in a hole which some other animal has either voluntarily left or been driven from. Nature, who endowed him with sagacity, craft, and cunning, has not, however, allotted him a long life; being classed by her among the dog kind, the duration of his existence does not exceed twelve or fifteen years. His bite is tenacious and dangerous, as the severest blows cannot make him quit his hold; his eye is most significant, and expressive of every passion, as love, fear, hatred, &c. The Fox is the greatest enemy to the poultryyard, which he depopulates often in the course of one night. But when his choice food, the chicken flesh, is not accessible, then he devours animal food of all kinds, even serpents, lizards, frogs, toads; and if his habitation is near the water, he even contents himself with shellfish. In France and Italy he does a great deal of damage in vineyards, being very fond of grapes, and spoiling many for the choice of one bunch: his stratagems are well known, and need not to be related here. The Fox produces but once a year, and seldom has more than four or five cubs at a litter. WHEN hungry, is an undaunted and most ferocious inhabitant of the woods, but a coward when the stimulus of appetite is no longer in action; he delights to roam in mountainous countries, and is a great enemy to sheep and goats; the watchfulness of dogs can hardly prevent his dilapidations, and he often dares to visit the haunts of men, howling at the gates of cities and towns. His head and neck are of a cinereous colour, and the rest of a pale yellowish brown. He commonly lives to the age of fifteen or twenty years, and possesses a most exquisite power of smelling his prey at a great distance. Wolves are found nearly every where, except in England, where this noxious race has been entirely destroyed. King Edgar first attempted to effect this by remitting the punishment of certain crimes on producing a number of Wolves' tongues; and in Wales, the tax of gold and silver was commuted for an annual tribute of Wolves' heads. In the reign of Athelstan, Wolves abounded so much in Yorkshire, that a retreat was built at Flixton, to defend passengers from their attacks. They infested Ireland many centuries after their extinction in England; the last presentment for killing Wolves was made in the county of Cork about the year 1710. They abound in the immense forests of Germany; and so great is the general detestation of this destructive creature, that all wild animals endeavour to avoid it. The language of the poet is beautifully descriptive of this creature's insatiable fury: "By wintry famine roused, from all the tract COMMONLY called the lion's provider, is not much larger than the fox, whom he resembles in the appearance of the fore part of his body. His skin is of a bright yellow colour. The Jackalls often unite to attack their prey, and make a most hideous noise, which, rousing the king of the forest from his slumbers, brings him to the place of food and plunder: at his arrival, the petty thieves, awed by the greater strength of their new messmate, retire to a distance; and hence the fabulous story of their attendance on the lion, to provide for his food. These animals are always seen in large flocks E |