THE AFRICAN BLOOD-HOUNDS. 65 



THE AFRICAN BLOOD-HOUNDS, 



IN THE ROYAL MENAGERY, TOWER OF LONDON. 



With the character of the blood-hovmd, the mind naturally associates something of a highly 

 savage and ferocious nature, little inferior to that of the most sanguinary beasts of the Desert. Its 

 acuteness of scent is so great, that instances are on record of a blood-hound following the track of an 

 individual through a multitude of people, although every means was employed to throw an obstacle 

 in its way. An instance of the above is related by the Hon. Robert Boyle, who says, that in order 

 to make trial whether a young blood- hound was well instructed, a person of quality caused one of 

 his servants to walk to a town four miles distant, and afterwards to a market town three miles 

 further. The dog, without seeing the man he was to pursue, followed him by the scent to the .ibove- 

 mentioned places, and this notwithstanding a great multitude of market-people, who went along the 

 same road, and of travellers, who had occasion to cross it. When the blood-hound came to the chief 

 market-town, he passed through the streets without taking notice of any of the people there, nor did 

 he cease his pursuit till he had reached the house where the man whom he sought was concealed. 



Blood-hounds were formerly used in certain districts lying between England and Scotland, that 

 were much infested by robbers and murderers, and a tax was laid on the inhabitants for keeping 

 and maintaining a certain number of these animals ; but as the arm of justice is now extended over 

 every part of the country, and there are now no secret recesses where villainy can be concealed, the 

 service of the blood-hound, in this respect, is become no longer necessary. 



With our ancestors the blood-hound was an animal of great request, and as he was remarkable for 

 the fineness of his scent, he was frequently employed in recovering game that had escaped wounded 

 from the hunter. In barbarous and uncivilized times, when a thief or murderer had fled, this useful 

 creature would trace him through the thicket and most secret covert, nor would he cease his pursuit 

 till he had taken the felon. For this reason there was a law in Scotland, that whoever denied entrance 

 to one of these dogs in pursuit of stolen goods should be deemed accessary to the theft. 



The African blood-hounds, of which there are a leash in the Tower, appear to possess all the 

 characteristics of the English dog, although in their form and make they are more slender, and have a 

 more gauntlike appearance, with a surly and ferocious aspect. They were brought over to this 

 country by that enterprising traveller Major Denham, from the interior of Africa, and presented by 

 him to Mr. Cops of the Tower. It is to be regretted that so few particulars have been transmitted 

 to us of the natural history of these animals ; for the information given to Mr. Cops is confined to a 

 very few points, and those even cannot be considered as furnishing any positive data on which a 

 correct knowledge of their natural history can be founded. Major Denham admits that their 

 qualifications in the chase, particularly in regard to cunning and sagacity, surpass any dogs with which 

 he was ever acquainted. He has himself made use of them in the hunting of the gazelle, and was 

 astonished at the cunning with which they followed the pursuit, frequently quitting the line of scent 

 for the purpose of cutting off a double, and then recovering it with the greatest facility. Like the 

 English blood-hound, it is not necessary that they should be placed immediately on the scent, for 



