320 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDyE. 



for their perseverance and resolution ; ' good Otter-hounds,' 

 sa3'S an old sportsman, . . . ' will come chaunting and trail- 

 ing along by the river side, and will beat every tree-root, every 

 osier-bed, and every tuft of bulrushes: — nay, sometimes they 

 will take the water, and beat it like a Spaniel.' The huntsman 

 and others of the party carried Otter spears, to strike the Otter 

 when driven within their reach; horsemen and footmen joined 

 in the chase; and the whole company formed a cavalcade of no 

 inconsiderable extent and importance. These scenes are now 

 no longer witnessed, or but rarely, in England ; but in Wales 

 the chase of the Otter is still kept up with some spirit, in cer- 

 tain romantic districts of that romantic country . . . In beat- 

 ing for an Otter, it is necessary to mark the character and 

 direction of his ' seal,' or footmark in the mud or soil, as well 

 as the recent or older appearance of his 'spraints,' or dung. 

 These signs of his having been either remotely or more recentl^^ 

 on the spot will aftbrd a tolerably certain indication whether 

 the animal be still in the neighbourhood, or whether a farther 

 search must be made for later marks of his presence. When 

 the Otter is found, the scene becomes exceedingly animated. 

 He instantly takes the water, and dives, remaining a long time 

 underneath it, and rising at a considerable distance from the 

 place at which he dived. Then the anxious watch that is kept 

 of his rising to ' vent,' the steady purpose with which the dogs 

 follow and bait him as he swims, the attempts of the cunning 

 beast to drown his assailants, by diving whilst they have fast- 

 ened on him, the ba3ung of the hounds, the cries of the hunters^ 

 and the fierce and dogged resolution with which the poor hope- 

 less quarry holds his pursuers at bay, inflicting severe, some- 

 times fatal wounds, and holding on with uuliinching pertinacity 

 even to the last, — must altogether form a scene as animated 

 and exciting as the veriest epicure in hunting could desire. 

 The return from such a day's sport as this in the county of 

 Carmarthen is thus described b^' a correspondent of the Sport- 

 ing ^Magazine : — ' Sitting near the window, I beheld approach- 

 ing the bridge a cavalcade, and found it was Squire Lloyd of 

 Glansevin, escorted In' the gentlemen of the neighbourhood, 

 returning from Otter-hunting. The gentlemen in the front rank 

 were mounted ; and next the horsemen were three men neatly 

 dressed in scarlet coats and white trousers, with long spears, 

 on which were suspended three huge Otters. Now the hunts- 

 man appeared with his vrell-disciplined hounds; and then fol- 



