The runaway slave himself had taken care
not to leave anything behind him. A wooden
cup, in which he used to receive his rations,
and from which he ate and drank, was in
charge of the overseer, and that was all that
could be made serviceable for the occasion.
But the wife had hidden some old linens
rather carelessly, and these the overseer had
found. Drink was given to the dogs in the
wooden bowl, and the linen was put to their
noses. There were only two of them; but
two are enough to settle a negro even of the
size of the escaped Juano. Terrible animals
they are; large, strong-built, yellow-haired,
double-nosed, thorough-bred, of that genuine
Spanish race trained up carefully to the
purpose—bloodhounds. No need whatever for
urging them on, they were animated and
impatient enough already; and directly they
had got a scent, with eager yelps they
bounded along, with their noses close to the
ground, and their tails upright in the air.

They were followed by the brisk glances
of the stately caballeros, who began already
to testify excitement, for this first part of
the chase is considered by some amateurs to
be by no means the least interesting.

The dogs made straight for the negro huts,
and the poor blacks, male and female, whom
they chanced to meet, took hasty care to get
out of the way. A few minutes afterwards
they were seen darting towards the southern
corner of a fence which enclosed the slave-
cottages; then they turned round again,
and went back to the huts, their tails
fanning the air all the time, and their delicate
and dreadful noses almost rubbing on the
ground.

One might read in the eyes of those proud
and haughty caballeros that the decisive
moment was near at hand! A savage yelping
of the dogs gave notice that it had arrived
indeed. The greedy animals turned again,
and making once more for the fence with
full speed, they broke through it without
hesitation.

"To the chase, caballeros!" They gave a
hearty cheer, set spurs to their horses, cleared
the fence. The hunt was up!

Poor Juano! Lost,—and by the fault of
his wife, too!

The dogs pursued a straight line in a
southerly direction. They did not run fast
from the moment they had surely come on
the right track, the horsemen being enabled
to follow at an easy canter, but they went
along their route with a certainty that was
appalling to behold; never stopping, never
offering the slightest sign of hesitation, and
up hill or down dale, over meadows or over
fields, through groves or through woods, never
—not for one single moment—raising their
noses more than half an inch above the level
of the ground.

It was warm work, altogether, the heat of
the tropical sun being intense: but, when
hour after hour passed, and still the dogs
went on, neither hurrying nor slackening
their speed, but always in the same steady
and determined manner, they seemed to put
new life into our hot and jaded caballeros.
They would sooner have thought of parting
with their souls than of abandoning the
chase.

Porto Rico, to the south, is very
mountainous, and the nearer we draw to the sea
coast, the wilder, the more picturesque is the
surrounding country. Rocky vales, with
gaping precipices of an unfathomable depth,
steep and lofty crags with enormous peaks,
follow each other in quick succession. Some
of the peaks rise more than two thousand
feet above the level of the sea, their inaccessible
tops visited only by the eagles, which
fly round them in majestic circles. The stony
ground is torn by clefts and chasms; large
pieces of rocks, of a monstrous size, are
scattered about wildly.

The cavalcade had long since alighted, and
the caballeros, leaving their horses in charge
of some of the servants, were following the
dogs a-foot. The march became more and
more difficult for these nicely-booted gentlemen;
but they held on nevertheless. Even
although they knew that they were upon
perilous ground, as this remote part of the
island is a notorious place of refuge for the
runaways (Marron niggers, as they are
called here), they seemed the more disposed
to persist in the chase. The dogs advanced
but slowly over this rough ground, now and
then halting before a cleft over which they
could not leap, and passing round it by a
by-way, but still never failing to pick up the
track on the other side of the precipice,
always sure, always eager, with their noses
always close to the ground.

Suddenly they came to a dead stop, and
lifting up their heads for the first time,
barked furiously.

When the caballeros reached the spot, they
stood before a deep abyss. On the opposite
side a lofty rock rose up to a height of more
than eight hundred feet. Its reverse side
fell off steeply towards the sea, and the
breakers were to be heard dashing with a
sullen roar against it. The dogs might bark
and yelp. They were but dogs, and even a
jaguar would look twice before he leapt so
terrible a chasm.

It was about nine o'clock, and the scene
was beginning to change rapidly. The blue
tinge of that wonderful sky began gradually
to deepen, the stars came out one after the
other, shining forth—the southern cross above
all—with a splendour never dreamed about
in England. Darkness was setting in upon
the paradise of Porto Rico.

Any attempt to continue the chase during
the night would have been madness. Some
of the servants were ordered therefore to
light a large fire, whilst others were sent
back for the requisite refreshments and
accommodations. A few sentries were set,