CH. XXXIII. BLOODHOUNDS. ^ 211 



scent displayed by this dog in following wounded 

 animals have come under my observation, some of 

 which would appear incredible. 



A bloodhound is easily taught to follow the track 

 of any stranger whose path he may come across on 

 the mountain or elsewhere. This faculty alone 

 makes this dog worthy of far more pains than are 

 ever bestowed on him. Keepers seem to think that 

 because he is called a bloodhound, and because 

 bloodhounds, in former days, were used for tracking 

 robbers and fugitives, that he requires no teaching 

 to enable him to follow any track which he is set 

 upon ; and masters generally leave these things to 

 their keepers, trusting implicitly to their verdict as 

 to the capabilities of the dog. But this opinion is 

 altogether erroneous. The bloodhound, to perform 

 his duty perfectly, requires education, like every 

 other dog. With a due degree of care, and fre- 

 quent practice when young, a well-bred blood- 

 hound will soon learn to track a man with unerring 

 correctness. 



An extraordinary instance of this faculty in a 

 young bloodhound occurred some fifteen or sixteen 

 years back in Worcestershire, for the truth of which 

 I can vouch. At the house of a lady in the country, 

 where a young, full-grown bloodhound was kept, 

 the harness-room was robbed during the night. 



