io6 OTTER HUNTING, FALCONRY, SHOOTING 



But now there is a louder crash than hitherto, and 

 the whole pack swings to the line. That is beautiful ; 

 it is true music, the deep voices of the few rough ones 

 just supplying what is wanted to make the perfect chord. 

 Up the stream they go for a mile or more, now flashing 

 through a reed-bed, now cutting the corners and over the 

 grass, till at last — some in the water, some on the bank — 

 they cluster like bees about a dark hole under the gnarled 

 roots of a pollard oak. They have marked their otter 

 home. The otter is found now, and there are a few 

 minutes of breathing-time before the next move. Mean- 

 time, to some one of experience falls the duty of taking 

 up a position at the first shallow below the pool, while 

 the shallows above are watched in the same way, and 

 plans are laid for circumventing the quarry. A terrier 

 may be used if there is one with the pack game enough 

 for the task. But a simple and usually effective plan is 

 for some of those present to stand in a group above the 

 ' holt ' or ' hover,' and at a given signal to jump in 

 unison. The vibration so caused is usually too much for 

 the otter's nerves. He quickly moves. As soon as 

 the otter is bolted, the watcher will need all his attention 

 fixed on the water, for it swims so rapidly and silently 

 that in less than even a foot of water it may easily pass 

 unobserved. Until then, if he has an artist's eye, he 

 may for those few moments linger over a picture that 

 in itself is a pure delight. 



What is the most characteristic country for otter hunting 



