THE FLORIDA PANTHER. 43 
eleven o’clock we usually returned tocamp. Later than that, unless 
the day was cloudy, no dog could follow a trail on sandy soil in 
the hot, dry weather of Southern Florida. Sometimes the panther 
would make a trail late in the morning, and then.of course it could 
be followed until 
afternoon, but usu- 
ally the trails were 
made early at night, 
and became too 
“©cold” to be fol- 
lowed after the sun 
had been shining 
on them for several 
hours. It was easy 
enough to follow 
through the grass 
where the ground 
was still moist, but 
upon coming out 
upon high, sandy, 
spruce ridges the 
hounds would lose 
the scent and 
wander aimlessly 
about trying to re- 
cover it. 
In such cases we 
could sometimes 
assist them where 
the tracks were dis- 
cernible in the soft 
sand, but in many 
places the ground 
JOHN. DAVIS. 
was just hard enough so that it was im- 
possible to see signs of the trail except at long intervals, and the 
time occupied in attempting to follow it across one of those 
