OTTER HUNTING, FALCONRY, SHOOTING iii 



weir — all these and a hundred other joys of morning 

 speak straight to the heart of the otter hunter, and 

 cannot die from his memory for any vicissitudes of life. 

 No wonder Lord Lilford should place this only 

 second to the noble art of falconry itself. It appealed 

 not only to his sporting instincts, but to that love 

 which was in him for all that was beautiful and free. 

 His letters are full of references to the otter and his ways. 



"_/?/«« IS/, 1893. 

 " I am thankful to say that I am, and for a long 

 time have been as well as I can ever expect to be, and 

 was able about a fortnight ago to assist at an hour and 

 a halt's otter hunt in my chair, from find to finish, of 

 a dog otter, small, but very game, with the Bucks otter- 

 hounds."^ 



'■'■June 2nd, 1896. 

 " We had a kill with the Bucks otter-hounds at 

 Barnwell Mill, on Saturday, and a lovely drag from a 

 short distance above Shill Mill, right up to the Stone 

 Bridge island. I grieve to say that this drag ended in 

 the chopping of a small cub, upon which I had set my 

 heart, hoping to secure him alive as a pet ; but the 

 poor little beast lay fast asleep on the bank, when the 

 hounds suddenly came upon him, instead of being, as I 

 hoped, securely up the old lawn drain, whence we could 



1 To E. G. B. Meade-Waldo, Esq. 



