324 THE HOUND. 



escapes they had from those of their various ene- 

 mies. 



The distinguishing features of the English blood- 

 hound are, long, smooth, and pendulous ears, with 

 a wide forehead, obtuse nose, expansive nostrils, 

 deep flewed, with an awfully deep but highly so- 

 norous tongue. The prevailing colour is a reddish 

 tan, darkening to the upper part, often with a mix- 

 ture of black upon the back. In short, the deep- 

 flewed southern hare-hound, now almost extinct in 

 England, very nearly resembles the English blood- 

 hound in form and colour ; and a person may pic- 

 ture to himself the latter, by supposing an animal 

 considerably larger than the old southern hound. 

 In height he is from twenty-six to twenty-eight 

 inches, and sometimes more. The blood-hound of 

 the West Indies is also about the same height, but 

 differs much in form. He has small, erect ears, 

 the nose more pointed, and the hair and skin hard. 

 His countenance is ill-featured and ferocious ; and 

 although not so heavy as the English blood-hound, 

 he is quite as muscular, and very active. 



The distinguishing property of the blood-hound 

 in chase, consists in his never changing from the 

 scent on which he is first laid ; and he will hunt by 

 the shed blood of a wounded or dead animal as 

 truly as he will by the foot, which rendered him so 

 useful in pursuit of the deer or sheep-stealer. 



The English stag-hound, now nearly gone, is 

 little more than a mongrel blood-hound ; at least it 

 is reasonable to conclude, that the cross which pro- 

 duced him was directly from the English blood- 



