S8 Otters and Otter-Hunting. 



wrong man " gets the hounds, the " right people " 

 will not turn out to his support. Thi& is the chance 

 for the " bounders " and " wrong 'uns " of the 

 district, who promptly rally to his assistance, assume 

 the functions of whippers-in and other official posi- 

 tions, don the uniform, and by their offensive 

 behaviour both in the hunting field and out of it 

 still further alienate true sportsmen and bring Otter- 

 hunting into undeserved contempt. Happily, 

 instances of this sort are rare, if not quite un- 

 known, in the history of Otter-hunting ; but it is 

 distinctly a danger to be guarded against in the 

 democratic future, with " Spurious Sports " Bills 

 and other weapons of the unjust threatening to inter- 

 fere with legitimate enjoyment in the hunting-field. 

 Many of the finest and most successful Masters of 

 Otter-hounds have been drawn from the squirarchy 

 of the West of England, as such surnames as Tre- 

 lawny, Bulteel, Collier, Cheriton, Calmady, and 

 Courtenay Tracy are convenient to prove. From the 

 same class in the North came Mr. James Lomax ; 

 while the corresponding class in Highland Scotland 

 has provided such present-day Masters as Mr. L. 

 Rose, of the Essex, and Mr. Muir Stewart, of the 

 Argyllshire. On the other hand, it must not be 

 forgotten that hunting of all sorts is not, and must 

 never be permitted to become, the prerogative of the 

 rich or the well-born. In these days everyone has to 



