The Place of the Otter in Zoology. 9 



Fossilised remains of the Otter have been found in 

 the Norwich Crag, belonging to the upper part of 

 the Pliocene period, in the brick earths of the 

 Thames Valley, and in several of the English 

 caves. Mr. H. A. Bryden assures me that there is 

 a future for Otter-hunting in South Africa ; though, 

 so far as my own experience of the rivers of Cape 

 Colony and the Orange Free State during a part 

 of the Boer War (from 1899 to 1900) goes, I saw no 

 trace of Otters on their banks. 



It may not be out of place to discuss in this 

 chapter the Otter as an article of human diet. Per- 

 sonally, I have eaten the heart of a young 151b. 

 bitch Otter, roasted in butter and herbs, and found 

 it quite palatable; and I recently met an elderly 

 man in Cumberland who told me he had partaken 

 of Otter soup and found it ''unobjectionable." 

 MacGillivray says he partook of the cooked flesh 

 of an Otter in the Isle of Harris which was 

 " dark-coloured, rank, sapid enough, but not 

 agreeably so; and under the skin is a layer 

 of fat as in the seals." Daniel records that 

 the hearts of four Otters killed near Bridg- 

 north in 1796 " were dressed and eaten by many 

 respectable people , . . and allowed to be very 

 delicious." The carcases of these were given to 

 the hunt servants, and " were found to be excel- 

 lent." Pennant asseverates that "in the kitchen 



