f 



The Bloodhound. 



ness." He likewise describes them as being run 

 in a leash which is held in the hand of the man 

 in charge of the dogs. This was to enable the 

 huntsman, shall I call him, to be up with the hounds 

 when his services would be required. It seems from 

 the same writer, that, in addition to hunting the foot- 

 steps of the felon, these dogs were also trained to 

 hunt the cattle that might have been stolen, a 

 purpose for which he says they were much used on 

 the borders. This may have been so or not, most 

 likely the latter, for a drove of stolen cattle would be 

 easy enough to track without the aid of a keen 

 scenting " slough dog," though he might be able to 

 be of assistance, should the thief be ambitious to try 

 the strength and powers of his would-be captor. 



From that period down to the present time, the 

 bloodhound was mostly kept as a companion, and 

 only occasionally has he been trained to " man- 

 hunting," to the terror of the poacher and the evil- 

 doer. For the latter purpose, he has repeatedly 

 proved of great service, and many stones are told of 

 the extraordinary power a skilful hound may possess, 

 in its faculty for sticking to the old scent, however 

 it may have been crossed and re-crossed by either 

 man or beast. Colonel Huldman mentions the 

 capture of some poachers through the instru- 

 mentality of bloodhounds, who hunted the men fully 



