The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

668 'J he Highland Monthly.
THROUGH DARKEST INVERNESS-SHIRE
BY RAIL AND ROAD.
ON
II.
the outskirts of this kraal were several small-sized
huts, evidently intended to accommodate a couple
of men, though the chances were that some half-dozen
found shelter under each roof One of them was apparently
left in charge of a dog, which advanced wuth a show of
great ferocity. My knowledge of Natural History enabled
me to identify it as a variety of collie. This class of dog I
am very familiar with. One feature in the character of
every member of this particular species is, that notwith-
standing the wolfish and alarming appearance of their
attack, they quickly change their attitude to that of the
intensest and most abject humility, by the adoption of a
simple ruse ; hence it was that I advanced to this ferocious-
looking brute with a degree of confidence and an equability
of pulse which less keen observers of the instincts of collies
would have been amazed at. When I judged that I had
got near enough, I put my ruse into practice. Briefly
explained, it consisted merely in making a quick motion to
the ground, as if to secure a stone or some such missile to
throw at it. The animal is then expected to desist from
asserting itself in any sense, and to retire ignominiously
with its tail between its legs. This particular collie did
nothing of the kind ;
its attitude became even more alarm-
ing than before ; its short mane bristled so that every
individual hair stood on end ;
it showed its teeth—and a
particularly fine set they were—with a completeness and
an evident desire for applying them practically, which
could leave no doubt on the mind ; its language, too, was
most emphatic, most unmistakeable. Imminent danger, it