The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-27
BLOODHOUNDS OF THE
 AUSTRALIAN POLICE
Natives Are Far More Expert in Fol. lowing Trail Than the
 Keenest Dog

t'ioth tidohSio dAC itSbi iS -2Atd'hct to the police stations of the outlands of Australia says a writer in Harper Magazine. They are the bloodhounds of the cops. And though many of the po- lice are themselves bushmen of conse- quence, it is largely on account of the black trackers that the fear of the law remains alive in the remoter bush and deserts. The best trackers are brought straight from the bush-from the half frontiers-arriving ybung, fresh, eager, proud of the distinction, A reservations born black fellow is of small account in this respect, and servant of the towns "a wretched hanger-on of civilization is of no very considerable account at ali It is curious fact that a few years of the provender and idleness of the mis- sicns (reservations) dull black fellows singular faculties beyond effective en- ployment. Perceptions so delicate speed fly fail in disuse, and are not easily brought again to their first efficiency. They demand continuous employment, they must be cherished and exercised like the mastery of some artistic tech
 
 tie accomplishments is to be preserved It is even said that the edge is taken off a black. fellows cunning by protracted police-station life. To be kept keen and fit he is best maintained with his tribe in the bush and fetched out only when occasion requires his services.
 Nothing could more significantly indi- cate the sensitive quality of the track CTS genius.
 A Remarkable Chase
 Back of a capable black tracker's cun- ming is savage delight in the man-hunt a bestal tire1essness, too, which must appall the wretched fugitive who is aware of the fateful manner of the pursuit A tracker of the Kimberley, for example, led his trooper a remarkable chase after 8 horse-stealer. escaped from jail in New South Wales to the northwestern wlds. ''There was absolutely no real rest" says the trooper, night or day" It was bad country-the ranges and their neighbor- hood; a deal of wild and stony ground, which takes meager impressions of the passage of traveller. And confusing rains fell Occasionally the tracker was almost on the heels of the fugitive. At times, baffled, he Jagged week and more behind. For days on end in the ranges the ground was so difficult for the tracker that progress was at the rate of less than a mile an hour When the tracks were lost the black fellow ran the country like a bloodhound until he had picked them up. Once the fugi- tive himself came to desperate straits for water; the tracker made out that he was lest and exhausted: that he had stumbled. fallen, scraped moist mud from a dried out soak with which to rub himself and cool his skin in that extremity of thirst and weariness. The fugitive was taken at the end of a chase of 56 days during which time, according to the re- pert of the trooper, the black fellow had tracked this man every yard of the way he went.
 For Gods sake said the exhausted wretch, don't put more chains on me than you can help!''
 black fellow will readily identify the tracks of an acquaintance--a slight &C., quaintance, 1t may be, white or black, whom he has encountered, perhaps, no more than at occasional intervals. It seems that his memory is as a matter of course accustomed to catch and re- tain impressions of footprints as well as of features. The imprint of a mans foot is as considerable feature of his iden- tity as the shape of his nose. Reasoning from a strangers tracks, rarely clever black fellow will in surprising measure be able to describe the physical character istics of the man-weight, height, pecu- liarltleS or galt, de1Orm1t1eS or the legs. like bow-legs and knock-knees. He will know. perhaps, his physical condition Was he hungry? Was he thirsty? Was he weakening? Was he going strong? And more than that, it may be that the tracker will be able to infer the mood of the man-whether downcast or blithe- and when his progress was confident or furtive. And what is the character of the fugitive Is he a determined fellow !? Is he a coward? Upon reflection it will appear that all these details of physique, moods, character and physical condition, however slight the indications may be, do inevitably communicate themselves to a mans footprints; and it is reasonably conceivable that they will disclose them selves to savage genius who has from his earliest years specialized in this sub- tie learning of the open.
 In the criminal courts of the back blocks. a native witness Identification of the tracks of the accused generally speaking. has much the same credibility as the evidence of an eye witness
 You savvy this fellow?''
 "I savvy this fellow. all right
 You savvy tracks make-um by. this fellowe"
 T savvy tracks him bin make, all right"
 It is conclusive.