NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM. 127 
than when they are impaired or on the wane. Moreover, fox 
hounds cannot be relied upon when a check occurs, their former 
tutoring then inducing them to leave the river in search of their 
legitimate game on land. Furthermore, the adoption of fox 
hounds (with few exceptions) is made with the sacrifice of that 
fine, deep-toned concert of sounds, which is the most inspiring 
part of an otter hunt. In the absence of any authority, it 
would be egotistic to maintain that there is now (or ever has 
existed) a distinct breed of otter hounds. The Hurworth had 
its origin in a cross between the old Southern or Talbot and the 
rough-haired hound, the last probably a cross between the rough 
Terrier or Retriever and the Southern hound. 
Although the number of hounds necessary to constitute a pack 
is mainly dependent upon the inclination or means of their owner, 
yet there are other circumstances that exert an influence in this 
respect, viz., the size of the rivers likely to be hunted, and the 
number of days per week intended to hunt. Uniformity in the 
size of hounds is not essential, but rather the reverse, as large 
hounds are required in big or rapid currents, and smaller ones 
in reaching the recesses of roots and banks. Hounds from 
18 to 23 inches high, as a general rule, are most serviceable, 
and from six to ten couples (with the addenda of three or four 
terriers) sufficient to hunt three days a-week any of the rivers in 
Northumberland or Durham. In most rivers there are particular 
places where it is more than problematical whether an otter can 
be fairly hunted down, with even more than the number of hounds 
stated; such are Chollerford and Chipchase Castle dams, in the 
Tyne, which are by analogy the Dinsdale locks or Eshes of the 
Tees, and the Bothal and Sheepwash of the Wansbeck. 
The Tees-side or South Durham hounds were kept in small 
detachments, by different parties, and at different places, but of 
late years the sport has been gradually on the decline, and at the 
present time is nearly obsolete on that river. The Wear, Der- 
went, and their tributaries, are not much frequented by otters, 
being only visited en passant by emigrants from the Tyne to the 
Tees. Why otters do not permanently settle on these waters 
may be ascribed to the great influx of lead-hush, or wash from 
