Among the animals that are domesticated with mankind there are many
circumstances that are deserving of being known: among these there are
more particularly that most faithful friend of man, the dog, and the
horse. We have an account of a dog that fought against a band of
robbers in defending its master; and altho it was pierced with wounds,
still it would not leave the body, from which it drove away all birds
and beasts. Another dog, in Epirus, recognized the murderer of its
master in the midst of an assemblage of people, and, by biting and
barking at him, extorted from him a confession of his crime. A king of
the Garamantes,[87] also, was brought back from exile by two hundred
dogs, which maintained the combat against all his opponents. The
people of Colophon[88] and Castabala[89] kept troops of dogs for the
purposes of war; and these used to fight in the front rank and never
retreat; they were the most faithful of auxiliaries, and yet required
no pay. After the defeat of the Cimbri[90] their dogs defended their
movable houses, which were carried upon wagons. Jason, the Lycian,
having been slain, his dog refused to take food, and died of famine. A
dog, to which Darius gives the name of Hyrcanus, upon the funeral pile
of King Lysimachus being lighted, threw itself into the flames; and
the dog of King Hiero[91] did the same. Philistus also gives a similar
account of Pyrrhus, the dog of the tyrant Gelon; and it is said also,
that the dog of Nicomedes, King of Bithynia[92], tore Consingis, the
wife of that king, in consequence of her wanton behavior, when toying
with her husband.
Dogs are the only animals that are sure to know their masters, and if
they suddenly meet him as a stranger, they will instantly recognize
him. They are the only animals that will answer to their names, and
recognize the voices of the family. They recollect a road along which
they have passed, however long it may be. Next to man there is no
living creature whose memory is so retentive. By sitting down on the
ground we may arrest their most impetuous attack, even when prompted
by the most violent rage.
In daily life, we have discovered many other valuable qualities in
this animal; but its intelligence and sagacity are more especially
shown in the chase. It discovers and traces out the tracks of the
animal, leading by the leash the sportsman who accompanies it straight
up to the prey; and as soon as ever it has perceived it, how silent it
is, and how secret but significant is the indication which it gives,
first by the tail and afterward by the nose!
When Alexander the Great was on his Indian expedition, he was
presented by the King of Albania with a dog of unusual size; being
greatly delighted with its noble appearance, he ordered bears, and
after them wild boars, and then deer, to be let loose before it; but
the dog lay down and regarded them with a kind of immovable contempt.
The noble spirit of the general became irritated by the sluggishness
thus manifested by an animal of such vast bulk, and he ordered it to
be killed. The report of this reached the king, who accordingly sent
another dog, and at the same time sent word that its powers were to be
tried, not upon small animals, but upon the lion or the elephant;
adding, that he had originally but two, and that if this one were put
to death, the race would be extinct. Alexander, without delay,
procured a lion, which in his presence was instantly torn to pieces.
He then ordered an elephant to be brought, and never was he more
delighted with any spectacle; for the dog, bristling up its hair all
over the body, began by thundering forth a loud barking, and then
attacked the animal, leaping at it first on the one side and then on
the other, attacking it in the most skilful manner, and then again
retreating at the opportune moment, until at last the elephant, being
rendered quite giddy by turning round and round, fell to the earth,
and made it quite reecho with its fall.