THE SKETCHER.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 981, 11 June 1879, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE SKETCHER.

TENACITY OF LIFE IN SHEEP DOGS. (From the Dumfries Courier.) Not long ago a well-known flockmaster in Upper Annandal e liacl occasion to send a number of slieep to Hawick by railway. The flock was under the charge of a shepherd, who was accompanied by a valuable sheep dog. This animal submitted for some time with patience to the novelties and worries of railway travelling, but at Riccarton : junction, on the North British Line, he seems to have suddenly yielded to the conviction that this mode of locomotion was no longer endurable, and accordingly, watching Ms opportunity, he left the van in which his master was seated, and, turning tail upon the railway, took to the hills, possibly in the hope of being able to find his way home—though this was many .miles distant. The shepherd, on missing, his dog, advertised in: the Hawick paper and made inquiries in; every direction, but, to his great regret, could hear nothing of the animal, which had been much prized for his activity and sagacity. Week succeeded week and month followed month, but no , tidings were, .received of the missing - collie;: at length the shepherd heard that a dog answering the description, he had caused to/be published had , been s&en among the hills of Tebiothead, the wildest', and., most mountainous part;. of , Roxburghshire, ap.d without jdelay. -he, started for, Hawick, and there, hired' a. vehicle in. which he drove a distance of twenty miles to the place . where; he : expected to find his dog. His expectations wei'e'realisedhe found and recognised his,dog,,but ;±he : hot recognise, his,, master-7--the truth being. tha!t/the. animal. was in a half-wild state - and apparently famished with hunger. - He ■refused to respond -his master's whistle or call; and-would approach nobody ; at length'a device was resorted'to which brought the. dog to a neighboring; farm-' house, wh ere ha was secured. . - He went quietly iaway: with.his master, but gave of previous acquaintance with him until he reached home, when he indicated in the most*' exuberant canine fashion his delight at 1 finding himself "once more "amohg old sceires and familiar faces. ] The curious part of the story is. this : the dog-wasabsent v for seven • months, and' during the/whole of that period had been -wandering among the hills of Tpviothead, wherte. he was seenby many pedple; but it had' never been , known /t© .visit a,ny of. the farm-houses within, a wide range, and nothing, could : induce it. to approach a dwellixig-house,' ! although food was frequently offered to : 'and-left out for it. Babbits ; and hares, j are very scarce in ttialt quaker'-"the i dog, it seems, had ' scraped' a/hole bes- i neath a solitary birch/on 'the mountain ) side, where /fie;

nights, andit was ia this place that he ■was found by his master, but no bones of anything to indicate that he had been living on game of any kind was found in his burrow, and! he could not have taken to sheep worrying - , because no sheep in the neighborhood were-missing or injured. How the poor animal managed to- support existence remains, and is likely to remain a mystery.—A still more singular incident of recent occurrence relating to a sheep dog lias been communicated to us by a gentleman who furnished us with the. foregoing particulars. A young gentleman, the sou of a farmer in Upper Annandale. went out shooting rabbits, and had with-him a very fine, aud valuable sheep dog. which appeared to be much excited with tlie sport. A-rabbit appearing at the mouth of a hole, the gnu was raised and fired, but the dog running in at that very instant, received the shot in the neck, and foil bleeding and insensible to the ground. His owner was greatly distressed at the occurrence, but seeing that the animal was nob quite dead, though- to all appearance mortally wounded, lie thought lie would tcrmisia ti* its agonies by throwing it into thenearest river, and this he accordingly did. The poor animal was carried away by the water, and though it was seen with its head above the surface, it was not supposed possible that it could live. Keen was the regret expressed at home: for the loss of the faithful collie, and correspondingly great the surprise and pleasure when on opening the housedoor the next morning about seven o'clock the dog was found lying outside, apparently not much the worse of the mishap that had befallen it. It is supposed that it had been more stunned than injured in any vital part by the shot, and that the sudden immersion in the water had not only revived consciousness, but staunched the flow of blood from the neck. Be this as it may, under kindly care and attention the animal soon recovered, and is now as useful and conscientious as ever in the discharge of his responsible duties.