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of these animals in London some time 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 toa 
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 pre- 
sented to the Tower menagerie, by Major Den- 
ham. A drawing of them may be seen in the 
first volume of a very interesting work published 
by the Society for Promoting Entertaining Know- 
ledge,—entitled ‘The Menageries.’ I was also 
shown a sketch of one, and furnished with a de- 
scription similar to the one I have given above, 
by a friend who had spent some time at the Cape. 
These are very swift dogs, ef 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 information 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 isin 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 for- 
mation of the head and nose; but what it wants 
in scent it makes up in speed, being in this re- 
spect little inferior to many greyhounds. This 
dog is to be found in greatest perfection at pre- 
sent 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 dog’s neck is long, 
and as he carries his head well up, he has, when 
a good-sized specimen, a very noble appearance ; 
his tail is moderately long, and tapers to the ex- 
tremity ; it is very shghtly villous beneath ; colour 
generally tan shaded with black above—some- 
times liver-colour—and occasionally mouse-col- 
oured or silvery-grey ; the muzzle and tips of his 
ears are generally darker than the rest of his 
body—often black. This dog, be it observed,— 
and I state this on the authority of a native of 
South America,—is never seen mottled or of two 
colours; that is to say, speckled or streaked, or 
black and white, &c. When such is the case, 
rest assured that the dog is not by any means 
well-bred, but has probably had for one of his 
parents a boar-hound or Danish dog. The eyes 
of this dog are placed very much towards the 
front of the head, and very close together, which 
I conceive must tend in some measure to confine 
BLOODHOUND. 
his vision to objects more immediately in front. 
This is the well-known dog rendered so famous, 
or rather infamous, from his having been em- 
ployed by the Spaniards in their cruel and ex- 
terminating conflicts with the Americans; the 
same, also, since frequently used in the capture 
of runaway slaves in the West Indies. I have 
been informed that on such occasions a small dog 
of the spaniel breed should be used, called a 
finder, as the bloodhound is slow at hitting off 
the trail unless so aided, not possessing the same 
nicety of smell that is displayed by the two other 
varieties. He is a dog of extreme courage; is 
capable of much affection ; seldom exhibits treach- 
ery unless to entrap a declared foe or a strange 
beggar-man, on which occasions he has been 
known to simulate sleep, and thus induce the 
unsuspecting man to pass within reach, on whom 
he would certainly spring were he so unwary. 
Their manner of seizing and biting closely re- 
sembles the practice of the buil-dog, (C. molussus.) 
They never let go their hold when they have 
once fastened, but increase their mouthful con- 
tinually, making every effort to tear away the 
bit, which they not unfrequently do. Let them 
once fasten on the throat of their foe, and, whether 
uppermost or undermost, the battle is their own. 
One of these dogs killed a good-sized bull-dog in 
about ten minutes, never having changed the 
hold he got at first. I saw one of these dogs op- 
posed to a bear, on which occasion he did very 
well, but Bruin having ripped the skin off his | 
shoulder, he declined further combat, and re- 
signed the field of battle in favour of a young | 
boar-hound, son of his Grace the Duke of Buc- 
cleugh’s dog ‘Hector, which, though barely 
eighteen months old, pinned the shagey monster 
by the nose, hurled him to the ground, and pun- | 
ished the poor bear so severely, that in a few 
minutes the brute howled for quarter, and was 
glad to yield, ‘rescue or no rescue.’ 
duty to remark, ‘en parenthese, before going any 
farther, that although I may thus mention ‘ com- 
bais des animaux, or even minutely describe 
them, yet I condemn them zn toto,—as cruel and 
degrading to human nature. I saw many such 
scenes when a much younger man than i am 
now. My blood was warmer than it is at pre- 
sent, and in the excitement of the scenes I wit- 
nessed, I forgot for a long while to reflect upon 
their barbarity. When I mention such things, 
therefore, it is merely to display the character of 
the animal Iam describing in a clear point of 
view, while at the same time I disapprove of 
such practices. ‘The Spanish bloodhound is more 
commonly seen in this country than the African 
or British varieties, and I have found that to it 
is the name of bloodhound almost exclusively ap- 
plied. The finest specimen of the breed J have 
ever seen was in the possession of Mr. Johnston 
of Edinburgh, to whom, as I was told, it had 
been sent from Jamaica by a brother resident 
there. I was informed that Mr. Johnston was 
I feel it my | 
