THE BLOODHOUND IN THE VALE. 153 



that rough country Is said to have answered 

 well. 



Mr Holford's hounds were well known, and his 

 Diligent and Matchless were among the best 

 specimens of their day. Another famous breeder 

 was Mr Brough, whose kennel has had a long 

 series of show successes. 



Unfortunately the bloodhound has not been 

 exempt from the dangers of a show career. When- 

 ever the competition in a breed becomes close, 

 there is a tendency for small and unimportant 

 points to turn the scale. In process of time some 

 of the show-bench hounds became a sort of canine 

 tadpole — all head. Legs and feet, back and loins, 

 and all that propelling power without which a 

 hound is not worthy of the name, were neglected 

 as matters of small importance compared to an 

 exaggerated wrinkle, a narrow high-peaked head, 

 a deeply sunken eye, and a disproportionate length 

 of ear. The bloodhound indeed was apparently 

 doomed, because the extreme views of the fanciers 

 would leave him neither the power to hunt nor 

 the brains to be a companion. 



Then came the happy idea of making him again 

 an instrument of sport, in the direction to which 

 his hereditary qualities seemed to point. The 

 leading bloodhound -owners trained their hounds 

 to hunt the clean boot, Mrs Oliphant of Shrewton 

 being, I believe, the first to do so, and when the 

 first trials were arranged, very general interest 

 was excited. There is now every chance that 



