THE BOOK OF THE OTTER 



steadily up-stream. If the drag is hot, the pack 

 will run it at speed, until they finally mark their 

 otter in his holt, or the trail suddenly comes to an 

 end, and hounds are at a loss. In this case your 

 otter may have gone on some distance in the water, 

 the latter having carried all scent away, and then 

 landed at some holt farther up. He may, too, 

 have crossed the stream perhaps in deep water 

 and retired to a holt on the opposite bank. Again, 

 he may have dropped down with the current to his 

 original starting point, leaving no trace behind 

 him. If the river is narrow, he may, of course, 

 have crossed and re-crossed it in his journey 

 up-stream, the same applying in a lesser degree, 

 to a wide river. If possible, it is wise therefore to 

 have a number of hounds on each bank, instead 

 of, as some huntsmen do, crossing with the pack at 

 shallows or other spots where the stream can be 

 forded. 



By keeping hounds on the one bank and crossing 

 here and there, much water and many a likely holt 



is passed over. Harking back, however, to where 



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