THE FLORIDA I>.\NTni:R 



43 



.X'^^W^ J'i 



'*»-»*■ 



J. - -*-•' 



eleven o'clock we usually returned to camp. Later than that, unless 

 the day was cloudy, no dog could follow a trail on sandv soil in 

 the hot, dry w^eather of Southern Florida. Sometimes thj panther 

 would make a trail late in the morning, and then of course it could 

 be followed until 

 afternoon, but usu- 

 ally the trails were 

 made early at night, 

 and became too 

 " cold" to be fol- 

 lowed after the sun 

 had been shining 

 on them for several 

 hours. It was easy 

 enough to follow 

 through the grass 

 where the ground 

 was still moist, but 

 upon coming out 

 upon high, sandv, 

 spruce ridges the 

 hounds w^ould lose 

 the scent and 

 wander aimlesslv 

 about trying to re- 

 cover it. 



In such cases we 

 could sometimes 

 assist them where 

 the tracks were dis- 

 cernible in the soft 

 sand, but in many 

 places the ground was just hard enough so that it was im- 

 possible to see signs of the trail except at long intervals, and the 

 time occupied in attempting to follow it across one of those 



JOHN I>A.\IS. 



