128 Otters and Otter-Hunting. 



marked, the whippers-in and other well-trained 

 officials of the hunt will have taken up their proper 

 positions up or down stream in readiness to '' tally " 

 the Otter when he bolts. An Otter commonly tries to 

 go down-stream at his first attempt, and except in 

 small waters, where he may be allowed to go where 

 he pleases, it is usual to try to force him up- 

 stream. In order to do this a stickle is formed across 

 the bed of the river in the shallowest place con- 

 venient. If the Master calls for a stickle, it is the 

 duty and privilege of the Field to respond and form 

 one by entering the water and standing in it, leg 

 to leg, from one bank to another as close together as 

 possible, moving their poles gently to and fro in the 

 water so that they may have a chance of ascertaining 

 whether the Otter succeeds in breaking the stickle 

 and getting below them or not. Meanwhile those 

 members of the Field who are not required to form 

 the stickle will have spread themselves quietly up 

 and down the banks, taking positions whence they 

 can command some piece of water which the hunted 

 Otter is likely to use and where he may most easily 

 be viewed. 



''Keep your eyes on the water!" is the motto 

 for all Otter-hunters, once an Otter is found. It 

 cannot be too often nor too emphatically repeated. 

 The man who glances first at the water, then at the 

 sky, then at his nearest neighbour, next at the 



