TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 267 



holt, quite a marvellous performance when one con- 

 siders the lightning movements of an otter about to 

 take the water. The rush of the river carried it to a 

 deep-set pool, and we had some difficulty in retrieving 

 the treasure, which we accomplished finally by the 

 aid of a salmon net. Of course, Ralph's otter was only 

 the otter of the Alaskan rivers, not its valuable cousin 

 of the sea, now almost extinct through such persistent 

 hunting. Still, the pelt is a good one, and much in 

 demand by fur traders. 



The Innuits were very much upset when they heard 

 of the incident, because they have a quaint supersti- 

 tion against shooting otters, which does not seem to 

 apply to trapping the creatures. They believe that 

 an otter haunts the man who shot it by coming to 

 life again within the murderer's " Little Mary," which 

 naturally causes the greatest annoyance and incon- 

 venience. In fact, there intrenched the otter stays, 

 unless you happen to have some milk or other delicacy 

 to hand, when the revengeful creature may be tempted 

 but no reliance can be placed upon its actions to 

 jump back to terra firma out of the victim's throat ! 



Ralph, by extraordinary chance, was knocked up 

 the day following the death of the otter, and, though 

 the temporary indisposition was nothing in the world 

 but a bilious attack, our men regarded the matter very 

 seriously. The skin of the otter swung in the breeze, 

 from the branches of an adjacent cottonwood, but 

 this indisputable evidence appeared to carry no weight 

 at all, forebodings dire were in the mind of each little 

 hunter. 



