HUNTING THE SEA OTTER. 63 



the approach of so strange an object. But this does not 

 last long, for he is naturally wary, and, turning his back 

 upon the foe, swims rapidly away, until the ping or splash 

 of a rifle bullet in more or less close proximity to his head, 

 causes him to dive out of sight in a moment. As soon as 

 the leading boat, which meanwhile has been pulling for all 

 it is worth, reaches the spot where the otter dived, the men 

 lay on their oars, the hunter and steersman keeping a look- 

 out in all directions for his re-appearance. In the mean- 

 time, the other two boats have advanced, and taken up 

 their positions in the rear, representing with the first as 

 nearly as possible an equilateral triangle, and separated 

 from each other by a distance of three or four hundred 

 yards. 



This pause in the pursuit is made in order to take 

 advantage of the practice almost invariably followed by 

 the sea otter of diving back behind the danger. This 

 peculiarity is soon learned by the hunter, and ceases to 

 baffle him. The very cunning of the move becomes the 

 principal cause of its undoing, for should the otter, as was 

 sometimes the case, elect to trust to his heels, or rather his 

 flippers, the chances of escape, more especially in a seaway, 

 were greatly in its favour, so small an object as its head 

 being easily lost sight of in the tumult of the waters. Some 

 of the American hunters, who had pursued them upon the 

 Pacific Coast, declared that they had completely outgrown 

 the habit of diving back, and, as soon as they caught sight 

 of their pursuers, up tail and " breached " across the ocean 

 as hard as they could go, so shy and wary do they become 

 when much hunted. 



Each hunter, rifle in hand, eagerly scans the space 

 between the boats, ready to salute the reappearance of the 

 otter with a bullet. This must be done as quickly as 

 possible, so as to make him dive again before properly 

 getting his breath, and so shorten the time of his stay under 

 water. Should he make his appearance close to one of the 

 boats, it is at once backed, the others closing in so as to 



