io6 Otters and Otter-Hunting. 



important duty of a Master of Otter-hounds 

 during the off-season, and that is to cultivate 

 friendly relations with all the proprietors of 

 water and with the millers and farmers in his 

 country. He can visit some of the rivers he 

 hunts in summer, walk along the banks, keeping an 

 eye open for signs that Otters are working the stream 

 as he goes, and look in upon the merry miller to 

 pass the time of day and exchange a little gossip 

 with him. Further on, perhaps, he will light upon 

 a riverside farmer, and enter into a friendly conver- 

 sation with him on the price of stock or the prospects 

 of the lambing season. The proprietor of the next 

 stretch of water may be a keen angler, and the 

 Master will turn aside to pay an afternoon call and 

 smoke a pipe or play a game at billiards with him. 

 An occasional visit to the market ordinary and a 

 friendly chat with its frequenters will serve to keep 

 them interested in the sport : and the Master will 

 do well, though not an angler, to support the local 

 angling clubs, subscribe to their re-stocking funds, 

 and attend their annual dinners, where a useful 

 " word in season " may often be spoken in defence 

 of Otter-hunting. An Otter-hunter who is himself 

 a fisherman has a great pull over the non-angling 

 man when it comes to protesting against trap and 

 shot-gun. In this way the Master will keep in 

 touch with his best friends all the year round; and 



