DOG SCENT.
[TO THE nrroa 07 THE " SPECELTOVI SIR,—The account of the bloodhound experiment at Scar, borough has brought back to my thoughts the performances of a dog of a very different type, who would, I believe, have distinguished himself in the trials, whether in the leash or free. When I was a boy, longer ago than I care to remember,, a puppy of the small Newfoundland breed had been sent over from that island, and becoming the constant companion of my brothers and myself, we taught him, to. follow our tracks. to any distance, and used to hunt each other in this way. But we coming of a fox-hunting race, it struck us that, if only 'Nelson' could be persuaded to follow the track of a. horse, we might get good runs across country by sending on one of our number to act as fox, and the experiment succeeded perfectly; for, by allowing the " fox " a start of twenty minutes before laying on the dog, we got many a good gallop of several miles, almost always ending with a "kill." It was this education that enabled 'Nelson' to distinguish himself one day' when a message was brought to the house from the farm, asking us to bring up our rifles to shoot a Highland bullock that had broken out of the yard, and was so furious that no one could dare to go near him. It was a rare chance for a. set of youngsters, so off we went, and found. the beast as a. large field, from which he rushed, crashing through a closed gate leading into a private road out of our sight, so that on reaching it we could not ten whether he had turned to the right or to the left till we called 'Nelson' to our aid, and show- ing him the track, we had no difficulty in making him under- stand that he was to follow and stick to it. He took us about three-quarters of a [mile before reaching the public road, where his difficulties were likely to begin, as it was much frequented by horses and cattle, but he did not check for a moment, and turning sharp to the right, rather in an opposite direction from that we had been follow. ing, led us along the road for the best part of a mile, close past a farm where the ground must have been foul with tracks of all kinds, till he turned into a field where the beast had gone, but out of which he again bolted, and after some further hunting, was brought to bay and despatched. This old story is only worth notice as showing, first, how easy it is to teach an intelligent dog to take up any track that is pointed out to him—for certainly 'Nelson' had never before hunted a bullock—and secondly, how, when he has once warmed to a scent, he can carry it over ground fouled with other tracks.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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