Colonel Hamilton Smith says, that he was favoured with the following interesting notice of this dog from Sir Walter Scott, and which agrees exactly with some I have seen bred by Lord Bagot at Blithfield in Staffordshire, and some belonging to Her present Majesty.
"The only sleuth-hound I ever saw was one which was kept at Keeldar Castle. He was like the Spanish pointer, but much stronger, and untameably fierce,—colour, black and tawny, long pendulous ears,—had a deep back, broad nostrils, and was strongly made, something like the old English mastiff, now so rare."
Wanley, in his "Wonders of the Little World," relates the following anecdote:—
"Anno Dom. 867.—Lothbroke, of the blood-royal of Denmark, and father to Humbar and Hubba, entered with his hawk into a boat alone, and by tempest was driven upon the coast of Norfolk in England; where being found, he was detained, and presented to Edmund, at that time King of the East Angles. The king entertained him at his court; and perceiving his singular dexterity and activity in hawking and hunting, bore him particular favour. By this means he fell into the envy of Berick, the king's falconer, who one day, as they hunted together, privately murdered and threw him into a bush. It was not long before he was missed at court. When no tidings could be heard of him, his dog, who had continued in the wood with the corpse of his master, till famine forced him thence, at sundry times came to court, and fawned on the king; so that the king, suspecting some ill matter, at length followed the trace of the hound, and was led by him to the place where Lothbroke lay. Inquisition was made; and by circumstance of words, and other suspicions, Berick, the king's falconer, was pronounced to be his murderer. The king commanded him to be set alone in Lothbroke's boat, and committed to the mercy of the sea, by the working of which he was carried to the same coast of Denmark from whence Lothbroke came. The boat was well known, and the occupant, Berick, examined by torments. To save himself, he asserted that Lothbroke had been slain by King Edmund. And this was the first occasion of the Danes' arrival in this land."
A planter had fixed his residence at the foot of the Blue Mountains, in the back settlements of America. One day the youngest of his family, a child of about four years old, disappeared. The father, becoming alarmed, explored the woods in every direction, but without success. On the following day the search was renewed, during which a native Indian happened to pass, accompanied by his dog, one of the true bloodhound breed. Being informed of the distress of the planter, he requested that the shoes and stockings last worn by the child might be brought to him. He made the dog smell to them, and patted him. The intelligent animal seemed to comprehend all about it, for he began immediately to sniff around. The Indian and his dog then plunged into the wood. They had not been there long before the dog began to bay; he thought that he had hit upon the scent, and presently afterwards, being assured of it, he uttered a louder and more expressive note, and darted off at full speed into the forest. The Indian followed, and after a considerable time met his dog bounding back, his noble countenance beaming with animation. The hound turned again into the wood, his master not being far behind, and they found the child lying at the foot of a tree, fatigued and exhausted, but otherwise unhurt.
Some of these dogs are kept by the keepers in the royal parks and forests, and are used to trace wounded deer. An officer in the 1st Life Guards has two noble dogs of this description, for one of which, I am informed, he gave fifty pounds. In fact, they are by no means uncommon in England. One distinguishing trait of purity in the breed is the colour, which is almost invariably a reddish tan, progressively darkening to the upper part, with a mixture of black upon the back.
"In the Spanish West India Islands," says Bingley, "there are officers called chasseurs, kept in continual employment. The business of these men is to traverse the country with their dogs, for the purpose of pursuing and taking up all persons guilty of murder, or other crimes; and no activity on the part of the offenders will enable them to escape. The following is a very remarkable instance, which happened not many years ago.
"A fleet from Jamaica, under convoy to Great Britain, passing through the Gulf of Mexico, beat upon the north side of Cuba. One of the ships, manned with foreigners (chiefly renegado Spaniards), in standing in with the land at night, was run on shore. The officers, and the few British seamen on board, were murdered, and the vessel was plundered by the renegadoes. The part of the coast on which the vessel was stranded being wild and unfrequented, the assassins retired with their booty to the mountains, intending to penetrate through the woods to some remote settlements on the southern side, where they hoped to secure themselves, and elude all pursuit. Early intelligence of the crime had, however, been conveyed to Havanna. The assassins were pursued by a detachment of the Chasseurs del Rey, with their dogs; and in the course of a very few days they were every one apprehended and brought to justice.
"The dogs carried out by the Chasseurs del Rey are all perfectly broken in. On coming up with the fugitive, they bark at him till he stops; they then crouch near him, terrifying him with a ferocious growling if he attempts to stir. In this position they continue barking, to give notice to the chasseurs, who come up and secure their prisoner.
"Each chasseur can only hunt with two dogs. These people live with their dogs, and are inseparable from them. At home the animals are kept chained; and when walking out with their masters, they are never unmuzzled nor let out of ropes, but for attack.