74 BRITISH DOGS 



tinguish the footsteps of a number of men who had come out 

 of a turnip field. They had separated, some going in one 

 direction, others in another. The hound was put upon the tracks, 

 and with nose to the ground she hunted them across two fields, 

 going straight up to sundry bags of game which had been hidden 

 in a hedgerow. So far so good; but the constable was not yet 

 satisfied, and he took his hound back to where she had originally 

 been laid on the line. This time she went off in another direction, 

 and soon left the policeman far behind. He, following up, however, 

 ultimately found her standing at another hedgerow, where more 

 bags of game were found concealed. These were secretly watched 

 all day, but the poachers must have "smelled a rat," for none of 

 themselves or their families came near. This is rather to be won- 

 dered at, for the bags were numerous and their contents valuable. 

 At night the constable and the lessee of the shooting concealed 

 themselves near the place where the first lot of game was discovered. 

 Now they had not long to wait, for in about half an hour there 

 came a sound of approaching footsteps, and two men appeared, who 

 immediately appropriated the bags and their contents, which in- 

 cluded nets and the usual poachers' paraphernalia. These were at 

 once recognised, and, the spoil taken from them, were allowed to 

 go. Summonses followed in due course, and when the case was 

 heard a plea was set up that they had not taken the game them- 

 selves, but had been sent for it by their mates. Fines of 40^. and 

 costs were imposed, or, failing the payment, a month's imprisonment. 



Now, in the above case a comparatively untrained puppy was 

 found to be of great use ; and had it not been for her the two men 

 would never have been caught. There is no doubt they were 

 members of the original gang, and had taken part in the capture 

 of the game for which they were convicted. 



The hound in question is one of our ordinary Bloodhounds such 

 as win prizes on the show-bench. She is by Chaucer ex Crony. 

 Chaucer is by Champion Bono, from Beppa by Beckford out of 

 Bianca. Crony is by Dictator out of Dainty. Chaucer was bred by 

 the writer, and Crony by Mr. T. W. Markland, whilst Mr. R. E. S. 

 Cooper, of Hillrnorton Paddocks, near Rugby, bred the bitch who 

 was the heroine of the adventure. 



In the Southern States of America it was customary to hunt 

 escaped slaves with hounds and to call those hounds Bloodhounds. 

 It is not wise to make sweeping assertions, and no doubt each district 

 had its special strain of man-hunters, but whatever else these might 

 be, they were not Bloodhounds. They were mainly the Foxhound 

 of the country originally imported from England, but bred on 

 different lines. Some slave-owners claimed to have crossed their 

 hounds with the Cuban Bloodhound, or Cuban Mastiff, as it was 

 sometimes called, It is doubtful whether the Cuban ever attained 



