by Alfred Elwes
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THE
ADVENTURES OF A DOG,
AND A GOOD DOG TOO
BY ALFRED ELWES
Cover]
A FAMILY PARTY]
THE
ADVENTURES OF A DOG,
AND A GOOD DOG TOO.
BY ALFRED ELWES,
AUTHOR OF "THE ADVENTURES OF A BEAR," "OCEAN AND HER RULERS," ETC., ETC.
WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY HARRISON WEIR.
LONDON: GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND CO., FARRINGDON STREET, AND 18, BEEKMAN STREET, NEW YORK.
1857.
LONDON: THOMAS HARRILD, PRINTER, 11, SALISBURY SQUARE, FLEET STREET.
CONTENTS.
PAGE INTRODUCTION BY MISS MINETTE GATTINA 7 EARLY DAYS 12 CHANGES 18 UPS AND DOWNS 25 THE INUNDATION 37 PAINS AND PLEASURES 46 DUTY 55
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE A FAMILY PARTY (FRONTISPIECE) 8 LADY BULL 17 GOOD DOG! 22 A CANINE BUTCHER 36 AFLOAT 45 A WORTHY SUBJECT 54 A SEVERE BLOW 60 CONSOLATION 62
PREFACE.
I love dogs. Who does not? It is a natural feeling to love those who loveus; and dogs were always fond of me. Thousands can say the same; and Ishall therefore find plenty of sympathy while unfolding my dog's tale.
This attachment of mine to the canine family in general, and theiraffection towards myself, have induced me, like the Vizier in the"Arabian Nights," of happy memory, to devote some time to the study oftheir language. Its idiom is not so difficult as many would suppose.There is a simplicity about it that often shames the dialects of man;which have been so altered and refined that we discover people oftensaying one thing when they mean exactly the reverse. Nothing of the sortis visible in the great canine tongue. Whether the tone in which it isuttered be gruff or polished, sharp or insinuating, it is at leastsincere. Mankind would often be puzzled how to use it.
Like many others, its meaning is assisted by gestures of the body, and,above all, by the expression of the eye. If ever language had its seat inthat organ, as phrenologists pretend, it lies in the eye of the dog. Yet,a good portion finds its way to his tail. The motion of that eloquentmember is full of meaning. There is the slow wag of anger; the gentle wagof contentment; the brisker wag of joy: and what can be more mutelyexpressive than the limp states of sorrow, humility, and fear?
If the tongue of the dog present such distinctive traits, the qualitiesof the animal himself are not less striking. Although the dispositions ofdogs are as various as their forms--although education, connections, thesociety they keep, have all their influence--to the credit of their namebe it said, a dog never sullies his mouth with an untruth. His emotionsof pleasure are genuine, never forced. His grief is not the semblance ofwoe, but comes from the heart. His devotion is unmixed with otherfeelings. It is single, unselfish, profound. Prosperity affects it not;adversity cannot make it swerve. Ingratitude, that saddest of humanvices, is unknown to the dog. He does not forget past favours, but, whenattached by benefits received, his love endures through life. But I shallhave never done with reciting the praises of this noble animal; thesubject is inexhaustible. My purpose now has narrower limits.
From the archives of the city of Caneville, I lately drew the materialsof a Bear's Biography. From the same source I now derive my "Adventuresof a Dog." My task has been less that of a composer than a translator,for a feline editoress, a Miss Minette Gattina, had already performed herpart. This latter animal appears, however, to have been so learned acat--one may say so deep a puss--that she had furnished more notes thanthere was original matter. Another peculiarity which distinguished herlabours was the obscurity of her style; I call it a peculiarity, and nota defect, because I am not quite certain whether the difficulty ofgetting at her meaning lay in her mode of expressing herself or mydeficiency in the delicacies of her language. I think myself a tolerablelinguist, yet have too great a respect for puss to say that any fault isattributable to her.
The same feeling has, naturally, made me careful in rendering thoseportions which were exclusively her own. I have preferred letting hersay little to allowing her to express anything she did not intend. Hernotes, which, doubtless, drew many a purr of approval from her ownbreast, and many a wag of approbation from the tails of her choiceacquaintance, I have preferred leaving out altogether; and I have socurtailed the labours of her paw, and the workings of her brain, as tocondense into half-a-dozen pages her little volume of introduction. Theautobiography itself, most luckily, required no alteration. It is thework of a simple mind, detailing the events of a simple but notuneventful life. Whether I have succeeded in conveying to my readers'intelligence the impression which this Dog's Adventures made on mine,they alone can decide.
A. E.
LYNDHURST ROAD, PECKHAM.