THE MOLOSSIAN GROUP. 735 



lowed it with indomitable perseverance, hour after hour, nay, 

 it is said, day after day. When once upon the scent, nothing 

 could divert him from his purpose. Unravelling every maze 

 of the hunted wretch, he uttered, from time to time, the deep 

 and solemn bay which announced to those who followed that 

 he was upon the fatal scent. It is said, that when he came 

 up to his victim he did not seek to shed his blood, but held 

 him fast until the pursuers arrived. It is amazing to what 

 extent the use of this dangerous instrument was carried in a 

 former age in these Islands. By a law of the Scottish Par- 

 liament, it was declared that no one should " perturbe or 

 slay" the Sleuth-hound, or those who were with him, when 

 in pursuit of malefactors ; and by the Border laws, an impost 

 was levied for the keeping of blood-hounds, of which any one 

 was entitled to claim the use for the discovery of stolen goods. 

 With the employment of fire-arms, and the establishment 

 of settled government, the use of the Blood-hound passed 

 away, and the race almost ceased to be anywhere reared. A 

 few of them are still kept, for the discovery, it is said, of 

 deer-stealers, but they are rarely so pure as to present the 

 uniform characters distinctive of a true breed. But what is 

 worthy of note, they still retain the acquired instincts of their 

 race, and can be taught, with the utmost facility, to follow 

 the footsteps of human beings. 



It can scarcely be desired that a race of dogs that may be 

 applied to purposes so dangerous should be preserved ; and 

 yet the faculties of which it is possessed are worthy of our 

 admiration. The Blood-hound that has been instructed to 

 make prey of man follows, we may be assured, no instinct of 

 nature, but merely yields to the power which is exercised 

 over him. The same faculties which enable him to pursue 

 the footsteps of the midnight felon, could be employed, as in 

 the case of the noble dogs of St Bernard, to trace the path 

 of the lonely traveller, and rescue him from destruction. 



