NATURAL HISTORY OP THE BLOOD-HOUND. 
17 
resembles a very large and raw-boned Spanish pointer (C. avicularis Hisjpan.). 
His ears are pendulous and fine in texture, about the length of a foxhound’s ; 
coat very fine, and skin apparently thin; colour generally dark liver-colour 
clouded with black, yet sometimes tan; muzzle nearly always black, as also the 
tip of his ears; head pretty large, and shaped like a pointer’s; eyes placed 
towards the front; tail fine, and carried rather horizontally than erect. The 
appearance and manners of this Dog are ferocious in the extreme; he stands 
about twenty-six inches high at the shoulder, often less, but seldom more. 
I saw one of these animals in London sometime ago, which had been brought 
from the Cape of Good Hope, and from him took my description; he was the only 
African bloodhound I have ever seen; and as these Dogs are apt to die when 
brought to a cold climate, I dare say few of my readers (if any) have ever met 
with one of them. 
Two African bloodhounds were brought to England, and presented to the Tower 
Menagerie, by Major Denham, whom, by the way, I have often envied his 
chasing of the Antelope with these Dogs across the plains of sand. A drawing 
of them may be seen in the first volume of a very interesting work published by 
the Society for Promoting Entertaining Knowledge—entitled The Menageries. I 
was also shown a sketch of one, and furnished with a description similar to 
the one I have given above, by a friend who had spent some time at the Cape. 
These are very swift Dogs, of exquisite sense and smell, great endurance, and 
indomitable courage. My account of the African variety ends here, and I now 
come to one somewhat better known—one at all events concerning which informa¬ 
tion is more easily obtained—viz., the Cuban or Spanish. 
This animal does not differ so greatly in form from the former-described variety 
as at first sight might be supposed. It is in general much taller, is of a slighter 
make, bears its head higher, and is altogether a more imposing-looking Dog than 
the preceding. It is said to be inferior in smell, which I conceive must be the case 
from the formation of the head and nose; but what it wants in scent it makes up 
in speed, being in this respect little inferior to many greyhounds. This Dog is to 
be found in greatest perfection at present in South-America; many are brought 
from the West-Indian Islands also, but are scarcer there than on the Continent; 
this is a very tall Dog, being frequently twenty-seven to twenty-eight inches high 
at the shoulder: in his general shape he resembles a smooth lurcher, or a cross 
between a greyhound and a mastiff; his head is thick across the temples ; muzzle 
long and rather fine, yet by no means so small as a greyhound’s ; ears something 
like a greyhound’s, but larger and much more pendulous; this is particularly seen 
when the animal is in a sitting posture, -with his nose inclining towards the 
ground, looking at any object on the carpet (if in a room). This Dog’s neck is 
long, and as he carries his head well up, he has, when a good-sized specimen, a 
YQL , V.—NO. XXXIV. 
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