The servants of a gentleman, who had a house near the river’s side, opposite to a little island in the river Thames (which is said from this circumstance to have been named the Isle of Dogs), observed that a dog came constantly every day to them to be fed, and, as soon as his wants were satisfied, took to the water and swam away.

On relating this to their master, the gentleman requested them to take a boat and follow the dog  the next time he came. They did so —and the dog at their landing expressed great pleasure, and made use of all the means in his power to invite them to follow him, which they continued to do, till he stopped, and scratched with his foot upon the ground; and from that spot he would not move.

Either that day, or the next, they dug up the earth in that place, and found the body of a man, but it was impossible to discover who it was, and after every requisite step had been taken to find the murderer, the corpse was buried, and the dog discontinued his visits to the island. The gentleman, pleased with a creature which had shown such uncommon sagacity, and attachment to his former master, caressed him greatly, and made him the frequent companion of his walks.

When he had been in possession of the faithful animal some time, he was going aboard a boat at one of the stairs in London, when the Dog, which had never before been known to do such a thing, seized one of the watermen. The gentleman immediately thought that this fellow might be the murderer of the Dog’s master, and quizzed him about it;  the waterman confessed and was taken into custody. Soon after he was hanged for the crime.