BLOOD HOUND. 185 



to go in search of persons who have lost their way in 

 those unfrequented regions. They are every morn- 

 ing sent out with an apparatus fastened to their col- 

 lars, containing refreshments, and written directions 

 to the travellers to follow these sagacious animals to 

 the convent, where they are hospitably entertained. 

 By this singular and humane practice, we are assured 

 that many lives are frequently preserved. 



In all the Mahometan countries, dogs are excluded 

 from the habitations of men; while cats, on the other 

 hand, are held in the highest esteem, and indulgently 

 treated in every family. The dogs, therefore, wan- 

 der about at random in the villages, or streets of great 

 cities, without any owner. The Mahometans, how- 

 ever, are remarkable for their humanity to the brute 

 creation 5 and if they have an abhorrence for these 

 animals, they at least refrain from doing them any in- 

 jury, and feed them with offals of victuals, which they 

 throw to them into the street. This humanity is, in- 

 deed, carried to. a very great height in some places, 

 especially in Egypt, where dogs are perhaps more 

 numerous than in any other part of the~ world, and ex- 

 ceedingly useful in destroying a variety of vermin, 

 and devouring the carrion which, in so sultry a cli- 

 mate, soon putrifies. A certain portion of provision 

 is sometimes given them at the public expence ; and 

 instances have been met with of wealthy individuals, 

 who have by will oequcathed a sum of money to b 

 appropriated to the support of these animals. 



Although neither the utility nor agreeable qualifi- 

 cations of the dog can be called in question, it must 

 be acknowledged that, to the^ it unites some mis- 

 chievous propensities. If we consider the numberless 

 misfortunes caused by dogs in every part of this island, 

 and that there are many country villages through 

 which a person can scarcely either \\alk or ride in 

 safety, unless he take great care to avoid being lacer- 

 ated by their teeth, or thrown, from his horse in con- 

 sequence of their barking; as well as the dreadful 

 effects of canine madness, of which every year fur- 



