Now, in the above case a comparatively untrained puppy was found to be of great use; and had it not been for her the two men would never have been caught. There is no doubt they were members of the original gang, and had taken part in the capture of the game for which they were convicted.

The hound in question is one of our ordinary Bloodhounds such as win prizes on the show-bench. She is by Chaucer ex Crony. Chaucer is by Champion Bono, from Beppa by Beckford out of Bianca. Crony is by Dictator out of Dainty. Chaucer was bred by the writer, and Crony by Mr. T. W. Markland, whilst Mr. R. E. S. Cooper, of Hillmorton Paddocks, near Rugby, bred the bitch who was the heroine of the adventure.

In the Southern States of America it was customary to hunt escaped slaves with hounds and to call those hounds Bloodhounds. It is not wise to make sweeping assertions, and no doubt each district had its special strain of man-hunters, but whatever else these might be, they were not Bloodhounds. They were mainly the Foxhound of the country originally imported from England, but bred on different lines. Some slave-owners claimed to have crossed their hounds with the Cuban Bloodhound, or Cuban Mastiff, as it was sometimes called, It is doubtful whether the Cuban ever attained any fixity of type, and as far as it is possible to ascertain it resembled a bad Great Dane (see Fig. 30) more than anything else, and was undoubtedly a savage brute. The hounds which were used for slave-hunting, and which are still used in some penitentiaries in South America, were trained to pull their man down when they had overtaken him. It would not be practicable to do this with the Bloodhound, although, partly in consequence of his sanguinaiy name (the innocent origin of which we have explained), and partly in consequence of his supposed association with "Uncle Tom's Cabin" horrors, the vulgar superstition is that he is a treacherous and dangerous animal endowed with almost supernatural powers. Nothing could be further from fact and there are few delusions which die so hard as this. As a matter of fact, there is no member of the canine race whose temper is more reliable, though, curiously enough, a cross between the Bloodhound and some other breed is frequently just the reverse. So far from being of a savage nature, the Bloodhound (owing no doubt to in-breeding) is sometimes rather shy.

Fig. 30. - Cuban Bloodhound.

About the early part of the last century the breed became very scarce, and if it had not been for the institution of dog shows it might possibly have become extinct.

In-breeding gradually became commoner, until now it is scarcely possible to obtain two specimens which are not more or less closely related, and consequently it is more than ever important to breed only from hounds of strong constitution. If this precaution is taken, Bloodhounds are not more difficult to rear than other breeds, except that when they have distemper it often takes a rather severe form, and for this reason it is advisable to take all reasonable precautions against contagion until the pups are of an age to combat the disease with a probable prospect of success.

Bloodhounds generally have large litters, from nine to sixteen, and occasionally even up to nineteen. Even when the litter is not a large one, it is well to be provided with foster-bitches, as after a bitch has had two or three litters her milk becomes in many cases unsuitable for the pups, and after a day or two they die off, if not promptly removed from the dam to a good foster. Curiously enough, if the mongrel foster-bitch's pups are given to the Bloodhound bitch, they seem to thrive just as well as when on their own mother. The pups should be treated for worms as soon as they are weaned, if not earlier, and at regular intervals afterwards. There are few animals more grotesque than Bloodhound pups, and it is no uncommon thing to see them trip themselves up by treading on their ears.

In selecting pups it is well to choose those with long heads, and when quite young the thicker the head the better, so long as it is consistently thick all the way down and wide at the muzzle. These pups get fine in head with age, whilst the very narrow ones frequently become thick when they mature.

A Bloodhound makes a very capital companion dog, and, if intelligently trained to hunt the clean boot, may be a constant source of interest and amusement. To do this it is best to begin when quite young, even three or four months old. For the first few times it is best to let them run some one they know till they really get their noses down; afterwards, the oftener the runner is changed, the better. He should caress and make much of the pup and let it see him start away, but get quickly out of sight and run, say, two hundred yards up wind on grass land in a straight line, and then hide himself. The person hunting the hound should take him over the exact line, encouraging him to hunt until he gets to his man, who should always reward him with a piece of meat. This short lesson may have to be repeated several times before the pup takes a really keen interest in the quest, but when he has once begun to hunt he will improve rapidly. Everything should be made as easy as possible to begin with, and the difficulties increased very gradually. This may be done by extending the time before the pup is laid on the line, by crossing roads, having the line crossed by others, etc. The great thing to aim at is to prevent the hound from finding out that it is possible for him to fail to run down his man, and to do this it is needful to make haste very slowly, and to make a good finish, and leave off before the hound becomes tired. When he has done particularly well, there is a great temptation to make the next run much more difficult, and if the runner has not been cautioned to obey orders exactly, he may think it clever (if he can see the hound working well) to make the finish more difficult, thereby probably turning what would have been a very good lesson into a very bad one. When the pups are old enough they should be taught to jump boldly and to swim brooks when necessary.