e situated where you can get much of
this delightful shooting, and _you are an enthusiast in training_, it may
be worth your while to consider whether there would not be an advantage in
making the dogs perfect in the "down charge," as they would then cease
swimming the instant you fired. But this long digression about spaniels
has led us away from your pup, which we assumed--3--to be a pointer, or
setter.

FOOTNOTES:

[17] But when the moors are covered with snow, poachers, who emerge in
bands from the mines, often put a shirt over their clothes, and manage to
approach grouse at a time when a fair sportsman cannot get a shot; but
this is the only occasion on which one uniform color could be
advantageous. A mass of _any_ single color always catches, and arrests the
eye. Nature tells us this; animals that browse, elephants, buffaloes, and
large deer, as well as those which can escape from their enemies by speed,
are mostly of one color. On the contrary, the tiger kind, snakes, and all
that lie in wait for, and seize their prey by stealth, wear a garment of
many colors, so do the smaller animals and most birds, which are saved
from capture by the inability of their foes to distinguish them from the
surrounding foliage or herbage. The uniform of our rifle corps is too much
of one hue.

CHAPTER IV.

LESSONS IN "FETCHING."--RETRIEVERS.

86. Though you may not wish your young pointer (or setter) to perform the
duties of a regular retriever (292), still you would do well to teach him,
whilst he is a puppy, to fetch and deliver into your hand anything soft
you may occasionally throw for him, or leave behind you in some place
where he will have observed you deposit it, while he is following at your
heels. In a little time you can drop something _without_ letting him see
you, and afterwards send him back for it. A dog thus made, who is your
intimate companion, becomes so conversant with every article of your
apparel, and with whatever you usually carry about you, that, should you
accidentally drop anything, the observant animal will be almost certain to
recover it. On receiving your order to "be off and find" he will
accurately retrace your footsteps for miles and miles, diligently hunting
every yard of the ground. Of course the distances to which you at first
send your dog will be inconsiderable, and you should carefully avoid
persevering too long a time, lest he get sick of the lesson. Indeed, in
all his lessons--a