Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1854-04-15

great size and power standing very high upo,
their legs, and marked with great unilormit,
with black spots, upona pure white ground.
Spot the sire and leader of this noble proup
was OF pure white body, with single blacL
spot IN the middle Of the forehead which
he took his name. He WAS Il most powerful
animal, and able to cope with the largest buck
alone. lie was Il stag hound carefully crossed
upon the short-Iegged and long-bodied fox
hound.
Music, the dam--was 4 fox-hound of the
true Spartan breed with Il voice like a distant
alarm bcil while the organ Of Old Spot was
as sonorous as the boom Of old ocean AGAINST
hollow cliffs.
But among them all, my eye instantly de-
tected 4 magnificent creature--a black tan
hound, that to me seemed absolutely perfect,
as specimen OF canine symmetry. His coat
vas rs hne Is the most glossy silk; from his
head, which was pointed like serpant's his
! fine broad and thiu ears, with their great swell
ing veins, depended more than an inch below
the tip of his nose. His neck, like a vounp
stag's; his chest, barrel ribbed, and deep rs a
panther's: his ioins as clean as a gray hounds,
with a broad, strong back; limbs that seemed to
have hammered by some wondrous skill out of
tlne steel; and such voice. bugles, carions,
cymbaIs, bells. winds, waters, echoes, mingled,
c'ashIng, rolling roaring, in one tide Of rushing
sound; altogether, they were nothing to that
voice. Nowhere nor nothingn "a Jack ex.
claimed, 'to the voice of Black Terror and
| Smile rs he named beautiful tan slut of
smaller size, which stood beside this noble ami
NAL.
The history Of this splendid couple was
singular one, as Jack gave it 10 me on the spot.
lie was sitting in the portco one morning,
looking out over the river which was very much
swollen, and filled with drift wood. He obser-
we'd some strange, black object, which seemed
to be struggling with the current He called to
Cato for his spy glass, and saw at once that they
were two animals Of some sort, who were try.
ing hard to climhnpon the the dritt-wood which
tloated in the middle of the mighty stream
Here was an adventure at any rate; and. fol-
lowed by Cato, Jack descended the steep bank
of the river. When he reached the water, he
found that his boat had been torn away bv the
current. Here was nonplus with vengeance,
Jack was staggered but for moment, when
the low plantlve howl of 4 hound reached him
across the waters.
1t was 4 terrible venture; but jack coat was
off in minute, and, looking round to Cato he
only heard him say, Go in, Massa Jack, I'm
here when he plunged into the turbid current,
followed by the brave boy. Jack said if it had
been mans voice it could not have hurt him
more than the sound of that hounds plaintiye
howl
Suffice it, the adventure, after having nearly
cost them both their lives was successfully ac-
compiished, by bringing these two hounds,
which were coupled together by cIaD to the
shore, some four miles below, by the help of the
drift wood, which they pushed before them
The poor animals were nearly exhausted, and
had probably been in the water many hours.
Jack vowed that whole plantation couldn't
buy them. They had probably fallen from
some steamboat, aud had got caught by their
chain TO the drft-wood, which had prevented
them from swimming ashore
The whole kennel was fed upon bread exclu.
sively, during the hunting season. and were
never permitted to touch any meat except what
they themselves killed. This kept them in fine
bottom and wind for running, and made them
very savage.
CHASE OF THE BIG BUCK.
A delicious breakfast is rapidly dispatched,
the horn is sounded, and we are all off for our
stands in the deep forest.
Cato, who drives turns TO the left, at the
corner of the plantation, followed by the whole
pack, while we follow Il bridle-path, leading
straight ahead, into the depths of the forest.
In a half mile am stationed just on the
verge of the 'otd bank as it is called, of the
river, with the deep forest, through which Cato
is driving, on my left, and on my right, after
sheer descent of twenty feet, tremendous
swamp, which was now dry, except where tra-
versed by deep lagoons filled with quicksands.
Jack rode on some half mile farther to his
stand
My instructions were not to let the hounds
pass my stand if | missed the deer, which
would attempt to get by me into the almost
impenetrable swamps, where, if the dogs fol-
lowed him, they would be lost for the remain.
der of the day.
| had not long to wait; for could just begin
to hear my heart beat in the restored silence,
and a neighboring squirrel had only just con-.
menced barking ut me, when low and distant
bay, followed by faint whoop, showed that a
trail had been struck. Gradually the sounds
gathered, as voice after voice joined in, until at
last the thunder bass Of old Spot doomed out,
aud old Music followed with blast: and now
the clashing claDgor of Black Terror tongue
leads off the bursting symphony, aud the forest
rang to reverberatons which startled the heart
into my very throat.
Ieti OH peal, anu 10" suuueN siIence-IDy
blood is running like mill tails through the
swollen veins, and the arteries throb almost to
bursting. Crash. there it goes again. heavens,
what music! How the leaves flutter and the
trees sway to my vision!
'Whoop.' in smothered gasp. If could
only yell! Here they come: wonder the for
est sn't level before the mighty roll of sound.
Ha. lost again. No. it is only mutfled as they
go down some valley! Now they rise again,
Gods! if could only give one yel How it
deafens. They must be right upon me. they
will be running over me, dee: dogs and all. !
am no Actaon! Oh, hurricanes and thunder
claps-hist. here he comes, and out bounded
within ten feet of me, a Tremendous buck, with
his mighty antlers, like forest trees, thrown
back upon his rump. He has paused an instant.
Crack. away with one prodigious bound, he
clears the twenty feet of bank, and is crashing
Z rouuh the Swamp