[Illustration]
On the pathway to the graveyard, not far from the prison, and in open
sight, was built the hut where the bloodhounds were kept, always ready to
track and pursue the fugitives, who were so fortunate as to escape by
evading the vigilance of the guards, or by the slow and dangerous process
of tunnelling beneath the palisades. The system of pursuit was so perfect,
the dogs so numerous and well trained, that it was very rarely that any
one escaped, and then it was only by the kind intervention of the black
man.
There were but nine bloodhounds kept here, but there were more than fifty
dogs, kept in relays, along the route of escape, extending from the town
to the city of Macon, fifty miles distant. The names of these inhuman
wretches, who kept and hunted with these hounds, are known to the writer,
the places of their residence, the number of their animals, and the price
they received for each hapless victim overpowered by their dogs. These
packs of hounds were generally accompanied by dogs of fierce and
determined courage, to seize and hold the object pursued until the hunters
arrived. The ordinary bloodhound of these regions is cowardly from
degeneration, and dare not face the look, nor disregard the voice of man,
and until the catch-dogs arrive and dash in, and lead the way, they bay
and show their teeth from safe distances; but the victim once disabled,
they tear and rend the living limbs without reluctance. The bloodhound is
said, when in a state of tranquillity, to be the most affectionate of all
the canine race, but when once excited, he no longer recognizes the blood
of his master from that of the stranger. That many men were pursued, and
caught, and paid for by the rebel authorities, at the price of thirty
dollars a head, there is abundant proof; that men were disabled, and torn
wantonly by the hounds, and afterwards died of their wounds, the writer
has positive proof. That Federal soldiers were overpowered and destroyed
in the forests by the dogs, and their brutal owners, there is evidence.
It did not shock the civil communities of the South to hear of the use of
the bloodhounds to pursue and maim men of their own race and nation, for
in every locality, for a long period past, it had been the custom to rear
and train dogs to catch the hapless slave who had incurred the rage of his
master, and vainly sought to escape from his fury in the obscure recesses
of the tangled forests.
Usage, by long repetition, had blunted the natural sympathies, so that
hate readily excused the difference in class and color.