The age-herald., 1901-12-01

NAVY knows that his chances for
 escape are hopeless if ''tracker" is put upon his trail within twenty-four hours thereafter A tracker is a native black man. one of a tribe endowed with marvellous instinct which enables them to run down to his hiding place any criminal fleeing from justice. These men are literally known as bloodhounds, and their strange power is possessed by no other race of people in the world
 IL has been my good fortune to follow man hunt with these trackers on .sev- eral occasions, not as an official, but as participant in adventure. I say it has been my good fortune" because the ex- perience of trailing with human blood hounds is about as interesting. unusual, and exciting one as can be imagined
 Once given the scent a tracker will pursue and discover his game with never failing success. unless the criminal has had sufficient start to enable him to put to sea, in which case the black man can only follow him to the waters edge.
 The peculiar power of the black de- tectives was first discovered by the white surveyors in the antipodes through their extraordinary success in locating lost persons in the bush. An unerring in- stinct coupled with inexplicably keen Judgment made 1t possible. for them to take up trail and follow it until the lost man was found, dead or alive even though the journey led through forests where the black pursuer never had been. Their usefulness as traekers of criminals was thus suggested, and they have since proved themselves invaluable to the po- lice So implicit is the confidence felt In them that when a black starts out or man hunt the officer who accom- panies him merely follows in his wake, leading his own horse and does not Ques- tion him or in any way interfere with nm, no matter in what direction the guide may go or how apparently reas- onless or futile his method. The officer knows that the simple minded aborigine possesses cunning and sense of deyina- tion superior to his own trained infRlli. gence, and so keeps Q respectful sileIce.
 The most expert trackers are fouifd in the State of Queensland, near the4 4bor-. ders of New. South Wales. They areAn-. imated by no feeling of vengeans toward their quarry and will travel faithfully for any number of miles, intent tipon their tasks and unmindful of any ob- stacles or danger, seeming to take de- light in the accomplishment of their ob- ject and asking a reward ridiculouslys out of proportion to their labor-a few shil- lings some tobacco, or gewgaws suffic- ing them. Of the value of money they have no conception. Rum is their weak ness I have known of a tracker em- ployed to locate certain valuable trees for timber man travelling forty miles through a forest so dense that he had to cut his way with a tomahawk Ca nec-' essary weapon down there for explorers), and being content with a reward of bottle of rum. while the timber man realized S450 from the sale of the tree They are submissive, courageous and alert. Their Knowledge of English is very imperfect, a few broken words, signs and gestures conveying their mean ing. 'te
 My first man hunt was with Charlie a splendid specimen of aboriginal sym metry and muscular development. His eyes were large. black and dreamy, but brilliant when aroused to the business of tracking His general appearance was somewhat like that of a negro, his com .plexion and skin totally black showing tinge of copper in the sun. His fine, strong, white teeth seemed capable of as- sisting him to devour any sort of wild game. The ISudl lOln garment Ol kdH- garoo skin he had discarded for cover ing of light cotton cloth provided by the police. He led a horse for use in get ting over the ground quickly in open country, where the footprints of the fugitive are usually distinct enough to follow on horseback
 I had business that took me to the Queensland border, en route through the Nightcap Mountains, and was looking 4- 1-~ liness of the trip when I was overtaken by an officer and Charlie, like myself on horseback, the officer having some wrist jewelry and a warrant for the apprehen- sion of a cattle stealer. Now, cattle stealing in Australia Is serious offense, the cattle laws there being most strict. The offender had two days start of his pursuers and was known to be well seasoned bush man, who would resort to considerable cunning to elude capture, being thoroughly familiar with the meth ods of the trackers. This made the chase the more exciting.
 | Charlie had struck the trail, some fif- | teen miles back. I was glad enough to be | given permission to accompany them I know all the trails myself having been over the ground pretty thoroughly. from I point to point; but 1t is dull riding alone in that country, with no sounds to break the depressing silence but the whistle of the "coachman," a bird whose note Is | so like the sound of the cracking of a whip that one could declare that, a team was about to appear in the road; or the 1 bell bird in the topmost tree branches, l or the Laughing jackass." strange bird that mocks one from overhead with a startling natural sound. of oeris1on that echoes far into the woods Then, too, the trails are deceptive, many times lead | ing to a deserted wood camp, beneath fol- iage so dense that 1t is impossible to | catch even glimpse of the sky
 | There was comparatively little diffi- | culty for Charlie in keeping to the track | of the fugitive the next eighteen miles, l although for at least half that distance neither the officer nor myself could dis l cern anything that looked like an, imprint.
 We conversed but little, and then in low ktones, that we might not divert Charlie's s lsattention or disturb his meditations.
 Not once dld the black raise his eyes from the ground. Several times he dis mounted and examined the earth closely, pausing for some minutes before going forward, as though to get his bearings from other senses than that of sight
 Darkness closes in very quickly in. the mountain regions, and by nightfall we were glad to reach an accommodation house. or selector's rancher's) home, where travellers are usually allowed to nut up for the night Here the officer tried to get some information Of his man, but no one had seen him. At day light we started out and followed the .-sa,,, .oad fo,. a few hours then Charlie