The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-01 00:00:00

TILLERYMEN'S DOG.
luals wh have risen to eminence,
7hood of "Dan Tucker" is buried
mcst diligent research has been
whether Portsmouth, Portsea,
indport, or Southsea, can claim the honour o
Aug the place of his birth. The first authentic
trace of him which can be found is at Fort Cum-
berland, where he appeared about three years age.
Through some kindness shown to him by a few of the
Marine Artillery at that station, he conceived a most
remarkable predilection fur the corps, an attachment
which he continues to maintain to the present day,
with the most unswerving fidelity. When the men
to whom he had become attached were ordered to
Portsmouth, " Tucker" followed his benefactors, and
speedily became as great a favourite at the head-
quarters of the corp as he had been at the fbrt. lie
first brought himself into notice by the penchant
which he displayed for Eccompanying• large b aiies
of men, a practice which he soon carried to such a
height that not a drill squad could leave the barracks
without Tucker in company. When the .corps
went to church Tucker marched at its head, his usual
sportiveness gone, and grave and stately as a drum •
major. Arrived at the garrison chapel, he entered
the sacred precincts along with the men, and behaved
with as much decorum during sermon as Burns'
celebrated dog, whose
"Locket lettered brew brass collar,
£h:,wed him the gentleman and scholar,"
could possibly have done. Service being over he re-
sumed his place at the head of the column, marched
back into barracks, and saw it properly haulted and
dismissed before he left the parade. Such conduct
endeared him to both officers and men, while his
abilities as a rat- hunter made him 14 -prime favourite
with the commanding officer. He used regularly to
visit the barrack room at the dinner hour, with a view,
it is said, of ascertaining, by personal inspection, that
the men's provisions were of a proper quality. Nomercenary motive can be imputed to him for this habit ;
but, on the contrary, a most zealous desire to perform
his duty, for it is stated and avowed as a positive fact,
that when he visits the guard-room (which be also con-
siders a part of his daily duty) he uniformly refuses to
receive any portion of a married man's provisions,
from a conscientious feeling that they should be re-
served for other purposes. Ile evinces a most critical
knowledge of the various trumpet calls ; if " the
assembly" sounds,iTucker instantly makes his appear-
ance in his accustomed station, but all the other calls
he treats with the most supreme indifference, with,
perhaps, the exception of the dinner one. He is
eminently a soldier's dog ; let a civilian attempt to
make friends with him, and he will show his teeth in
a manner not to be mistaken. The only fault which
can be imputed to him is, that he allows his preju-
dices to carry bim too far in this respect, especially if
the civilian should be of a shabby exterior, for when
such present themselves in barracks, he immediately
attacks them vigorously to drive them out, which
plainly demonstrates that he has a great repugnance
to low company.
Last summer, during the heat of the dog-days, a
proclamation was issued by the mayor, as is usual
at that sea-on, that all dogs should be muzzled: poor
Tucker, being uprovided with that most annoying
piece of apparel, a muzzle, was seized by a " blue-
bottle," while making his usual perambulation to the
guard house, and carried off, nolens rolens, to the
public office ; of course, protesting indignantly, in
his own peculiar style, against such ungentlemanly
usage. The intelligence was brought to the barracks
that Tucker was in the hands of the Philistines. The
excitement was immense. What was to be done ?
Every one was in confusion, and, consequently, no
plan of action could be decided upon, although
hundred voices proposed a hundred different schemes
for his recovery. At length it was resolved to start
a subscription, which was immediately carried into
effect, and the necessary funds for his release were
forthcoming on the spot. A deputation then started
for the police-office, who became bail for Daniel
Tucker, and bore him off in triumph.
I3ut even with all his amiable qualities, and still
snore amiable prejudices, poor Tucker managed to
wake a most uncompromising foe, and that, too, in
the marine artillery. Ile got shut, accidentally, into
the premises occupied as a barber's shop, ard not
relishing such close quarters, he made his exit by
bolting through a pane of glass in one of the windows.
This was sufficient to awaken the most determined
hostility on the part of the barber, which manifested
itself in sundry kicks and curses whenever oppor-
tunity occurred. At length, in an unwary moment,
Tucker again entered the sanctum of the barber
and thvt merciless fellow, seizing a poker, dealt him a
blow that broke his leg. The news flew through the
barracks like wildfire ; public indignation was at
the boiling point— some proposed to "hang the
barber," but that was instantly rejected, as being too
lenient ; tt aring to pieces by steam-engines, or boil-
ing in the wash• house coppers, were among the
mildest proposal. that could be listened to. A report
of the circumstance was made to the commanding.
officer, who, viewing the delinquent's conduct with
the utmost horror, suspended his judgment until he
should consider of some punishment adequate to the
enormity of the offence. In the meantime poor
Tucker's leg had been humanely set by the surgeon ;
he is wrapped in a couple of great coats, placed by
the fire in one of ths. barrack rooms, and considered
as an outpatient of the But even now,
when " the assembly "sounds, poor Dan will hop out
upon three legs, and take his accustomed station,
although he can hardly yet be considered a conva-
lescent.—lianipshire Telegraph

NOVEL SPORT -A GOAT HUNT.

On the Ist inst. the echoes of " the beetling cliffs
of Gamrie Head" were waked up by the baying of
dogs, the firing of guns, and all the excitement of a
regular hunt. From an early hour in the morning
till nearly dusk upwards of a score of men might be
seen scrambling along the rocks overhanging the sea,
and every now and then a flash was visible, as a gun
went off with the muzzle pointed against a group of
horned and bearded quadrupeds, which scampered
about and capered from rock to rock at the discharge
of the firearms. The animals shot at were a herd of
goats, which inhabit the locality, and which, having
been allowed to roam about for years on the almost
inaccessible cliffs which there stem the tides of the
Moray Frith, on the scanty herbage of which they
manage to feed, have become wild. The first pair,
e believe, were brought to the district some ten years
ago, by Mr. Fordyce, one of the tenants on the estate
of ►Vhitehills, and being suffered to feed among the
rocks, they have increased to such a number, and have
become so wild in their habits that they frequently make
a descent, during the night, upon the farms in the
neighbourhood,committing extensive ravages in the corn
and turnip fields, and making off to the fastnesses on
being disturbed, or on the approach of morning.
A nnoytd at the frequency and destructive nature of
these visits, a party assembled on the morning above-
mentioned, resolved on checking the ravages of the
invaders, by thinning their numbers. The party
mustered twelve guns, and had several dogs, and,
commencing operations about ten o'clock in the fore-
noon, kept up the sport till four in the afternoon,
when it was found that they had brought down eight
goats. To any one acquainted with the locality, it is
scarcely necessary to say that the sport was of the
most exciting character. The party had riot only to
exhibit the utmost watchfulness in order to come upon
the animals, but they had to exercise the utmost care
that they themselves did not miss their footing, and
thereby make a plunge-bath of the Moray Frith,
which washed the rocks over which they clambered.
Notwithstanding the number killed on this occasion,
the herd still remains in great force, and should any
of our southern friends be anxious for a day's sport, of
a much more exciting nature than grouse shooting or
deer stalking, we think we may safely promise them
a cordial welcome, unless, indeed, in the interim, a
Bill be introduced and passed through the Legisla-
ture, declaring goats to be game, and ranking them
in the same category with " woodcocks,snipes, quails,
landrails, wild ducks, or conies."—Banffshire Journal.

LIYERPOOL..--TH 13 THREATENED OUP
readers are aware that during the last week or two ex-
pectation has been on tiptoe in reference to a flood which
had been predicted by a professor of mathematics at
Lymington, as a necessary consequence of the sun and
moon being coincidentally in a position such u would
originate a great tidal wave of unusual height about
this date. Throughout the country alarm has been
general; and, although. astronomers royal and re-
nowned, including Mr. Airy, Professor Nichol!, and Sir
W. A. Hamilton, endeavoured to dispel the presumption
established in the public mind, yet many refused to
be cpmforted. In some quarters bordering on the sea-
coast, and on the banks of rivers, precautions were very
generally instituted ; and almost all refused to sur-
render their minds to incredulity touching the flood.
Curiosity was at least excited to unusual li.iine BS, the
m.)re especially as the stormy and perturbed character
of atmospheric phenomena seemed to forebode some un-
usual movement in the domain of nature. The sensation
in Liverpool was not less strong than elsewhere, we be-
lieve; and on Saturday numbers sought the piers to gau
upon the river, only, however, to meet with disappoint-
ment. The food ran high, and its bosom rol:ed and
heaved wildly before the force of a swift and strong wind
from the north-east; but the piers were lot submerged,
the leviathan landing•stage did not drag its anchors, nor,
when the waves had ebbed, was it found, like the ark on
Ararat, perched upon the top of the George's Baths. In
short, the Mersey was as quiet and as orderly as could
be desired by those whose property lay upon its banks.
Still, however, the springs of the two succeeding days
have yet to be encountered; and certainly their estimated
level is higher than that of past tides.—Liverpool
THE EXPECTED NIGH TIDES.-BRISTOL, MON'
DIY.-It had been predicted that this morning's tide
would have been the highest on rscord in this locality;
such, however, has not proved to be the fact. The tides
yesterday and to day have been higher certainly than
ord:nary, but higher tides have been known at
Cumberland-basin. The tide yesterday (Sunday)
morning was higher than it was this morning.