The contention of those who say the original breed did not stand more than about 25in. at the shoulder is greatly discounted by references to the size and dignified appearance of the dog by older writers; and although climate and good care do much, I cannot think their effects would be so immediate and so great as to make a 30in. dog out of a pup which, left at home, would only have grown to 25in., or that that result would follow except after a considerable number of years of careful breeding; but we have seen that by the extract from the "Sportsman's Cabinet," nearly seventy years before "Index " wrote in the "Field,' and his dictum as to height was accepted by "Stonehenge," the dog was valued for his great size.

There is certainly a dignity of demeanour, a noble bearing, and a sense of strength and power, though softened by the serenity of his countenance and deeply sagacious look which cannot be disassociated from great size, and no better illustration of this could be found than Mr. Howard Mapplebeck's Leo, and these were among the good qualities which have always commended him to public favour. The Newfoundland's good qualities, however, do not rest here; he is of a strongly emulative disposition, extremely sensitive to praise or censure, and should therefore, especially when young, be managed with great care and circumspection; he is never so well satisfied as when employed either for the pleasure or advantage of his master, and his strong propensity to fetch and carry develops itself naturally at an early age. One that I trained when a boy, and that afterwards became famous in the Postmaster General's service (although not on the pay list), by carrying the letter bags between a village office and the Carlisle and Glasgow Mail Coach, when quite a puppy would bring a small log from the woodhouse for the kitchen fire at the word of command, and indeed often without, for I have seen him, for his own amusement, bring quite a pile of them in, which he would take back one by one when told.

As a water dog he has no equal - he delights in it, will almost live in it - and his high courage and great swimming powers enable him to face, and do service in such a sea as I believe no other land animal can successfully encounter.

Knowing and admiring the wonderful faculty he possesses, suggested to me, when viewing the sea from the site of Portsmouth Dog Show in 1875, the advisability of instituting water trials as a means of keeping up and developing this wonderful and useful natural power, that his great abilities as a life-saver might be made the best of for the benefit of man, for it cannot be denied that without such aids public or private dog shows may do serious harm, giving, as they properly do, prominence to the finest developed animal. But if prize winners, however grand in appearance, are uneducated, their instincts and natural powers undeveloped and indeed checked, are continuously bred from, we shall soon have lost sterling qualities and get, in return, mere good looks.

But the two things - fine physical development, with high cultivation of those instincts, and natural powers - are not incompatible, and should, I think, be simultaneously encouraged by dog show promoters, just as the Kennel Club does for pointers and setters by their field trials.

Chiefly at my instigation, water trials of Newfoundlands took place at Maidstone Show, May, 1876, and were repeated at Portsmouth later in the same year, and, although neither could be pronounced as a brilliant success, they were each of them in many respects interesting, and proved that with more experience, and well carried out, such competitive trials might become more than interesting - highly useful.

I would be the last to advocate again reducing this or any breed to a beast of burden, but I cannot but think and here repeat what I have so often written, that the Newfoundland's extraordinary natural power as a water dog, his wonderful sagacity and intense desire to serve should be systematically developed and utilised, and I can see no reason why one or more trained dogs should not be attached to every lifeboat station and at every popular bathing resort around our coasts.

I must here render praise to Mr. C. Marshall for the excellent rules he drew up for the conduct of the first public water trial of dogs. As a basis for others who may wish to institute similar competitions, I append the tests adopted at Maidstone.

Tests for Water Bogs.

1st. Courage displayed in jumping into the water from a height to recover an object. The effigy of a man is the most suitable thing.

2nd. The quickness displayed in bringing the object ashore.

3rd. Intelligence and speed in bringing a boat to shore - the boat must of course, be adrift, and the painter have a piece of white wood attached to keep it afloat, mark its position, and facilitate the dog's work.

4th. To carry a rope from shore to a boat with a stranger, not the master, in it.

5th. Swimming races, to show speed and power against stream or tide.

6th. Diving. A common flag basket, with a stone in the bottom of it to sink it, answers well, as it is white enough to be seen and soft enough to the dog's mouth.

In regard to the points of this dog I adopt without alteration those of "Stonehenge," because of their excellence, and also because I think, although one may differ in minor points, it is most undesirable to set up or attempt to set up a variety of standards scarcely differing from each other except in the language in which they are set forth. I therefore give the following verbatim, adding a few comments for the acceptance or not of readers, as they think fit.

"The head is very broad, and nearly flat on the top in each direction, exhibiting a well-marked occipital protuberance, and also a considerable brow over the eye, often rising three-quarters of an inch from the line of the nose, as is well shown in the case of my present illustration, Mr. Mapplebeck's Leo, in which it exists to a greater extent than usual. The Labrador shows the brow also, but not nearly in so marked a manner. There is a slight furrow down the middle of the top of the head, but nothing approaching to a stop. The skin on the forehead is slightly wrinkled, and the coat on the face and top of the head is short, but not so much so as in the curly retriever. Nose wide in all directions, but of average length, and moderately square at the end, with open nostrils; the whole of the jaws covered with short hair.