OTTER-HUNTING. 91 



having been driven to the upper part of the 

 drain excavations were made at different points. 

 On trying the different sections with Smuggler 

 and the terriers, it became evident that more than 

 one otter was there, and the hounds were accor- 

 dingly taken off to a distant part of the field. At 

 length one was bolted from the high end of the 

 drain, and was allowed to rush through the Tarras 

 and get well on his way through the bushes and 

 along the hill before the hounds were laid on. 

 Then there was a fine burst amidst a scene of much 

 excitement. The people by the Esk side had the 

 satisfaction of seeing the otter come dashing down 

 a steep bank and spring into the pool, with the 

 whole pack following in full cry. After being 

 hunted to and fro in the pool, the otter took down 

 stream for a quarter of a mile and found shelter 

 behind a rock, from which he was twice bolted 

 by the terriers after a rather prolonged encounter. 

 At length, finding the water too hot, he made 

 across the pool, and took up a small rivulet that 

 flows down a steep bank ; thence he entered the 

 wood above the highway, and went straight ahead 

 for above half a mile at a pace that would have 

 astonished those who still adhere to the popular 

 delusion that an otter cannot run upon land. The 

 tangled undergrowth of briers and ferns gave the 

 otter some advantage over the hounds, as the 



