THE BLOOD-HOUND. 135 



which the old southern-hound, the stag-hound, the fox-hound, 

 the harrier, and the beagle, have been successively derived. 

 " Whether this be the case or not cannot now be ascertained ; 

 but there is no doubt that it is of very ancient use in England, 

 and was probably the Talbot of olden time, though that name 

 appears to have been afterwards indiscriminately applied to 

 hounds of other breeds also. The qualities for which it has 

 acquired so high a reputation, are the acuteness and certainty 

 of its scent, and the pertinacity and sagacity with which it will 

 track any object it has been trained to pursue. This propensity, 

 originally made subservient only to the usual objects of the 

 chase, has, in subsequent ages, been applied to the purpose of 

 tracking felons and other persons. In this occupation, the 

 acuteness, sagacity, and perseverance which these animals dis- 

 played were almost incredible ; and many instances are recorded 

 in which, after the lapse of a considerable time, the hound, being 

 put upon the scent, followed the fugitive for hours, and even 

 days, with a searching and unflinching pertinacity, which at 

 length overcame all impediments, and ensured the capture of 

 his unhappy quarry. At various times, and in every part of the 

 United Kingdom ; in the clan feuds of Scotland, in the border 

 contests of the debatable land of the two kingdoms, and in the 

 unhappy Irish rebellion, its extraordinary powers have been 

 taken advantage of without much regard to the claims either 

 of justice or of mercy."* 



Somerville has minutely described the conduct of the blood- 

 hound when pursuing a felon : 



" Soon as the morn 



Reveals his wrongs, with ghastly visage wan 

 The plunder'd owner stands, and from his lips 



* Bell's British Quadrupeds (1837), p. 207. The blood-hounds which the 

 Spaniards introduced into the South American continent and islands, to hunt 

 the poor Indians, were perhaps distinct from the British blood-hounds. For 

 very interesting but dreadful accounts of this inhuman misuse of the dog the c j 

 reader is, therefore, referred to Bartholomew de Las Casas' B^revissima Relation 

 de la Detruycion de las Indias (1552) ; the History of the Buccaneers of America 

 (third edit. 1704), p. 25; Herrara's History of the American Continent and 

 Islands (1740) ; and Irving's Life and Voyages of Columbus (1828). 



