34 The Hunting Field With Horse and Hound 



good horsemanship. The whole question, as a rule, begins and 

 ends with the hunting quaUfications of the hounds. 



It does not seem to matter much which end of the dog the 

 tail is on, so long as it does not interfere with his nose, liis 

 tongue, or his staying qualities. He may not have meat 

 enovigh on his bones to keep them from rattling ; he may have 

 a chronic case of the mange, and a flea for every hair ; but as 

 long as he does not stop to scratch the one or hunt the other 

 when once he strikes a trail, no matter. As may be imagined, 

 there has been developed or evolved in the Southern States a 

 race of dogs — one can hardly call them hounds — that for pure 

 hunting quahties and endurance have no equal in any country. 

 There are a few careful breeders, who have a little regard for 

 type or family characteristics, but as a rule there is the greatest 

 diversity among southern dogs that go under the name of 

 "American hounds." 



What the southern sportsman dwells on mostly is the 

 fact that his hound can start a fox in the morning, "trail" 

 him, as the expression is, all day and all night, come home to 

 breakfast the next morning with the pads of his feet worn 

 through, have something to eat, take a nap behind the kitchen 

 stove, then start out again of his own accord to "trail" for 

 another day and night. This is the Icind of animal they are all 

 striving after, that seems to be the simi total of excellence in 

 the so-called American hound. It is not at all strange, there- 

 fore, that in the question of nose and endurance these dogs have 

 no equals. 



Nor is it any wonder that a dog whose ancestors have been 

 brought up in tliis particular school should hunt or trail all 

 around the best Enghsh bred foxhounds, who usually make 

 a sorry display of themselves when put to a similar test. 



The writer saw in a fox hunting pilgrimage through the 

 Smmy South many dogs that did not have a thing about them 

 to distinguish them from common mongrels. "Hunts herself 



