36 British War Dogs 



owing to new roads being made, and the country opened 

 up generally, the criminal began to be much more an iso- 

 lated individual, which made pursuit more difficult, as, 

 naturally, one man was more difficult to pursue than a 

 band, and also the fact of so many high roads, with steadily- 

 growing traffic along them, presented bad surfaces for 

 scent, so different from the soft, moist mosses of the wilder 

 and uncultivated period. Nevertheless, bloodhounds con- 

 tinued their work with the various bodies on whom 

 devolved the duties of preserving order in the country, 

 until fairly modern times, when, however, they fell to a 

 ( great extent into disuse. 



In spite of many difficulties presented by present-day 

 conditions, as mentioned above, however, they have even 

 so done good work. At the present day, one of the obstacles 

 to be encountered, (and overcome as well as may be), by 

 the owner and worker of tracking hounds in this country, 

 is the attitude of mind of the people of our nation towards 

 any new device to which they have not been accustomed. 

 There is generally suspicion and reluctance to make use of 

 it, simply on the ground that it is new. This statement 

 applies to a certain extent to the police, who, when a crime 

 occurs, prefer to unravel the mystery as far as they can 

 without extraneous assistance. When at length the blood- 

 hounds are eventually asked for, as they sometimes are, 

 owing to civilian pressure, or to a sudden conviction that 

 the police themselves do not feel confident of success, it 

 is generally after too long a time has elapsed. When the 

 \vner arrives with the hounds at the scene of the crime, 

 even if his task is made as easy as possible by the Chief 

 Constable of the district, he has frequently to meet covert 

 hostility from the local constables, who resent outside 

 interference, especially as represented by dogs, which aid 



