185 



and the exercise, perhaps, of much patience, an otter might be suffi- 

 ciently educated to make a good retrievei" from water. If his capabilities 

 coukl be developed to their utmost, the sportsman, on open water 

 could do without a gun. The chisf difficulty would be to prevent the 

 animal from mutilating the gime, which, unless taught otherwise it 

 would be liable to do. 



In tliis connection I remember an incident in which Pontiac was 

 the chief actor. I was sitting a short distance below the Queen's 

 Wharf on a Thursday eveiiing, while Pontiac was disporting himself in 

 the water. Generally, on such occasions, we used to be favoured by 

 twenty or thirty spectators. Oi\ the evening in question wo were 

 alone. About thirty yards from shore a fisherman came aloncr with a 

 canoe load of line pickerel for market next morning. I requested him 

 to sell me a string of fish. He agreed to do so if I went to the market 

 next day. In the meantime Pontiac had stretclied out his neck and 

 winded his game. He then quietly disappeared under water, and cama 

 up on the outside of the canoe, into which he climbed ; and havin©' 

 secured one of the best strings of pickerel without having been noticed 

 by the owner, he dropped into the rivar, and with his plunder, soon 

 made his appearance at my feet, to the profound astonishment of the 

 fisherman. It is needless to say that I had no difficulty in persuad- 

 ing that fisherman that it was actually necessary that he should dis- 

 pose of that particular string of fish. I had a peculiar method of en- 

 forcing obedience, therefore I experienced no difficulty in inducing 

 Pontiac to relinquish his plunder. By experience I had discovered 

 that the most effectual mode of mastering an otter was to seiza him by 

 the tail and raise him from the ground. When thus suspended, well 

 out from the side, the otter is powerless, although a little too heavy to 

 retain for any length of time at arm's length. 



On another occasion Pontiac robbed a careless citizen of two or 

 three pounds of beefsteak which he was carrying home from market. 

 After perpetrating the robbery he ran off with his booty, and concealed 

 himself amongst some thick cedars which grew in front of the house, 

 and could not be found until after he had finished his banquet. Pon- 

 tiac was a perfect terror to cats. Whenever he could catch an uufor- 

 tanate member of the feline race, a short, sharp and decisive line of 



