The bloodhounds have occasioned no little gossip, especially among the old women, and if they themselves could only be made to understand their own importance in the way of affording material for newspaper paragraphs, they would begin to hold up their heads with any of our Chesnut street mongrels. It is now said that the United States Government has nothing to do with their use or importation, and that they are employed by the inhabitants of Florida.
Among other raw-head-and-bloody-bone stories about these beasts, the most highly-colored is of recent invention, and has been pretty extensively copied, as truth, by the newspaper press. We allude to the "thrilling narrative" which stated that there being occasion to bleed a sailor in one of the vessels which had on board a pack of the hounds, the animals became infuriated, and devoured all the passengers, as well as all the passenger's pointers. The origin of this bugaboo tale is probably to be found in the following paragraph from the Charleston Courier:
"We noticed, yesterday, the arrival at St. Marks,
of 33 Cuba bloodhounds. While the vessel was at sea, the cook having slaughtered
a pig, the dogs, excited by the smell of the blood, broke from their confinement,
drove the crew into the rigging, and kept possession of the deck for several
hours before they could be pacified."
[S:0 - Brigham]