136 Otters and Otter-Hunting. 



carcase thrown to the pack, discipline is relaxed, 

 and there is opportunity for the notching of poles, 

 the production of sandwiches and flasks, and general 

 congratulations on the success of the day's proceed- 

 ings. If the finish takes place at a distance from 

 home or the nearest railway station don't expect a 

 lift on the hound-van. If the Master can offer you 

 one he is pretty sure to do so; but it will be seldom 

 indeed that this is found possible. If you cannot 

 walk you should arrange to have a conveyance of 

 your own somewhere handy. 



If it is customary to take a cap at a kill, the Hon. 

 Secretary or, in his absence, the Field-Master will 

 go round with it. Half-a-crown is the recognised 

 contribution for a kill, and certainly no one should 

 give less than a shilling, whether he subscribes to 

 the Hunt Fund or not. Which reminds me that it 

 is the first duty of the members of the Field to sub- 

 scribe to the pack with which they hunt, and to 

 give, not the minimum but the highest subscription 

 they can really afford. The man who spends, say, 

 five-and-twenty pounds in the incidental expenses of 

 hunting during a season — uniform, train fares, 

 lunches, hotel expenses, and so forth — and limits his 

 subscription to a paltry guinea would do far better 

 to cut out a few of his hunting days and add 

 the money thus saved to his annual subscription. In 

 any case, let him be careful, if he does not pay the 



