OTTER HUNTING. 77 



supported by her companions, Eoyal, Eingwood, 

 and Pibroch, ran it briskly to above Teviotbank, 

 where it was lost. For reasons only known (so 

 far as we are aware) to the huntsman and his 

 special friends, some of whom had been out all 

 the night by the river side stopping drains and 

 making observations, no time was put off here in 

 searching for the otter's whereabouts ; but off 

 they dashed to opposite Minto, where the river 

 runs deep, and the bank on the south side is 

 densely wooded, very steep, and its margin ex- 

 tensively excavated below every here and there, 

 owing to the river during the floods washing away 

 the sandy soil from among the roots of the sturdy 

 trees. The Doctor having first rid himself of his 

 horse, cheered his hounds to the river and sent 

 them across. Some took to dragging the land, 

 while the brave and renowned Ringwood pre- 

 ferred swimming down the river, smelling every 

 stone, hole, and cranny as he passed it. All 

 were quiet, eagerly viewing with admiration the 

 instinct of the dogs, when Eingwood broke silence 

 by a hearty burst of music which told its own 

 tale, while he " set " an otter far away under- 

 ground beneath an elm tree, and wrought his 

 way eagerly through the dense network of the 

 roots into his halt, where he fought the first of 

 single-handed subterranean conflicts that follow- 



