, 1886-01-15
ON THE NEGROES TRAIL.
HOUNDS ON THE SCENT AT A
GEORGIA CONVICT CAMP.
An Experiment Made as n rest-rhe
Dogs at the start-Folowing tho
Scent Fifty Yards Away
The Chase Ended.

selected out OF a hundred and sent off TO
circle through the woods, passing through a
dozen squads OF c%onvicts; that an hour after
he could put his hounds on that %convicts
track and they would thread him through
the squads Of c~onvicts, never be shaken from
his individual track and finally bring him
up. | remarked that l could understand
how the hounds might carry a c%onvicts
track through a crowd of outsiders from
some scent OF the camp, but not how they
could separate one convict from another.
There may be a hundred c~onvicts,7 he
said, clothed precisely alike, and wearing
precisely the same shoes. They may feed
together on precisely the same food, and
sleep in hunks that touch each other under
precisely the same cover. And yet each Of
them has II scent that marks him just as dis
tinctly 10 my hounds from his fellows, as
his appearance marks him under your de
hbernte study
A gaunt convict, long Of leg and flank,
was selected for the run. He was told TO
put OIL quickly, circle in the woods, take a
swift run over fields, roads, and through
every squad of convicts he could find in his
way. This he did. Tho hounds were then
loafing about the stockade yard, as listless n
LOT Of dogs ms ever were seen. "Im tempted"
said Mr.. Williams, ITO let the convict ride "A
horse for a mile or two after he has run
awhile. l have had dogs trail n convict on
horseback our miles, and then take the
track where he jumped from the horse By
this time the flying convict was a small
speck on the broad fields, and in a moment
more had melted into the horizon and was
gone, as il, indeed, he had found that liberty
for which his soul painted and had gone as
the strong winged birds go when they van
ish In the blua ethor
THE HOUNDS AT THE START.
In nm hour we mounted our horses. The
hounds were still loafing about in tho sun
shine. Suddenly Mr.. Williams, squaring
himself in his saddle, blew three quick, short
blasts on the cows horn that hung at his
side. AS II by magic, the hounds awaked
and charged at his saddle-eager, baying,
frantic. "Niggerl" he said ~sententiously.
Like the wind they werq off, nose to the
ground, tails up, c%ircling like beaglcs.
Larger the circles grow, the hounds silent as
s~pecters, eyes and nose eating the earth for
its secret. "They will pass over the tracks
Of convict squads, but will open on the first
single track they find. If it is the wrong
track we will simply sit still. They will run
it 100 yards or so, and, noting our silence,
will throw it Off and search again. When
they get the right track, we will halloo and
HtAAb AAAIA ~ hbhAb anu la ~
will join him, and the race is opened
At last a red hound, careering like mad.
across the held, halts suddenly, tumbles over
himself, faces about, noses the ground
eagerly, lifts his head "A-a-o-o-o-w-u,' and
is off like an arrow from n bowstring.
That's the trackiH shouts Williams, and
after the bowling hound we go. The other
dogs join in pel nell at first, then each
hound true TO the track, in full cry and at a
rafting gait. Away off to the left Capt.
James calls attention TO a moving speck
against the sky. THAT is the convict cir
cling back to camp" he said. On the dogs
went, keen as the wind, memorable As fate,
following the track Of the convict as true as
his own shadow. Across the tracks Of hun
dreds of others, along high roads, over fields,
through herds Of cattle, by other c%onvicts,
that smiled grimly as they passed, the
hounds went, holding the track Of the flying
convict where il had been lain ms light as
thistle on the firm earth, but where it left
the tell-tale scent all the same. Nothing
could shake them of-nothing check their
furious rush.
THE SCENT FIFTY YARDS AWAY.
"Now wen see them win his scent fifty
yards away said Williams, as we neared a
patch of forest. Close to this was n squad of
convicts. These we had sent through the
woods an hour before. We had made "trus-
ties" walking singly, touch ever bush and
tree. Then the convict we were trailing was
run through, making a half circle, with at
least fifty yards radius. The hounds entered
the forest at a h~ustling pace, a small red dog
leading. Suddenly the leader faltered for
an instant, with nose in air, then burst
with fierce cry to the left ran ~obliquely
for full fifty yards, with head up, when
he took up again the track Of the convict, and
lowered his head TO the ground. He had sim
ply made a short cut across the semicircle,
having caught scent OF the convict on the
bushes more than 100 feet away. l am aware
that this is incredible TO those who had never
seen it. can not explain what it is that
the flying man, clad and shod as a hundred
others, fed on the same food, chained daily
10 the same chain, and sleeping in the same
hunks at nights, imparts to a yielding twig
touched by his clothes so that it attracts a
hound fifty yards away. But it certainly
does just that.
Tn last test was now coming. We
were moving toward a squad of c~onvicts at
work in a cotton field. We had sent the
fugitive onvict through the squad. We
had then made them walk in a double circle
around him. They then crossed and re-
crossed his tracks, many of them wearing
exactly such shoes as he wore. One hour
later the hound struck this point There
WAS not an ~instants pause. There was no
deviation, no let up in the pace. Through
the labyrinth OF tracks the hounds went, as
swallows through the air, hurrying %inexora-
bly, on the one truck they had chosen.
THE END OF THE CHASE.
The end was now near. The convict, hav-
ing run his race, was seen leaning against a
tree and watching the hounds p~lunging
toward him. Wont he climb the treef' 1
asked. "No; the hounds are trained to sim
ply bay the ~convicts when they com up
with them. Otherwise the convicts would
kill them" By this time the hounds had
sighted him They halted about twenty
yards away from the tree against which he
stood and bayed him furiously. Pretty mu-
sic they mnde, and not deeper than | have
heard often and again undera 'possum tree.
Mr.. Williams called them Off, and the con-
Wet came forward. "Dem puppies is doin'
mighty well, cap'n,n no said, grinning, as
he lazily swung by on his way to the stock
ale.
These dogs are not bloodhounds. I doubt
II there is a bloodhound in Georgia, though
two are reported near Cartersville, de
scended from a pair owned by Col JEFF
johnson in the days Of slavery. The Old
town dogs are fox hounds OF the Redbone
breed, trimmed for several generations TO
hunt men. They are never tempted with
other game. They are neither fierce nor
powerful, and are relied OF solely TO trail the
convict and lead his purslars to his lair
Oldtown GA Cor. Atlanta Constitution.