The Science of Hunting the Otter. i6i 



such cases is to take hounds on, even if one is 

 pretty sure there is little chance of finding another 

 Otter. Proprietors vary in this respect, as they may 

 set a higher value on the pleasures of sport and the 

 convenience of others than upon an inconvenience or 

 expense that they may have to bear ; and I remember 

 a case in which a proprietor on one bank refused to 

 permit his weiring to be touched, even to allow a 

 terrier to go in, while his neighbour on the opposite 

 bank said to the Master, " You're welcome to pull 

 the whole castle down if it will do you any good." 



The prejudices of such objectors — as of those who 

 close their water to hounds — must be instantly re- 

 spected, and even the most unsporting are more 

 likely to assume a friendlier attitude in the future 

 if they see that the Master willingly and cheerfully 

 regards their clearly-expressed injunctions without 

 grumbling or argument. 



The only ''unforgivable" person is he who 

 follows hounds over other people's property and 

 calls himself a sportsman, but when his turn comes 

 objects to their visiting his own waters, whether 

 under the pretence that it disturbs his fishing, or his 

 wild duck, or adjoining pheasant-rearing enclosures, 

 or for some other equally far-fetched reason. There 

 are only two or three words in the English language 

 that are strictly applicable to a man of this sort, and 

 they are not usually printed. 



M 



