OTTER HUNTING. 159 



till he reaches the big river, or the tide-way, or the sea. For the 

 common Otter is perfectly at home in the sea. The Otters which 

 frequent the caves of our coast, and are commonly spoken of as 

 "sea" Otters, are not sea Otters; we have no sea Otter. They 

 are only our common Otters staying by the sea. 



And now a word about the hounds. Everyone is familiar with 

 the appearance of the old rough Otter-hound, if only from the 

 celebrated picture in the shops. Every master of Otter-hounds 

 would, no doubt, like to have some of these beautiful hounds in his 

 pack, but the fact is this : the fox-hound does the work better. 

 The Otter-hound's music, his bell-like voice, is beautiful ; his ap- 

 pearance is most picturesque, his nose is wonderfully fine ; but, as 

 against all this, you cannot quite trust him. He has a tendency 

 to throw his tongue too freely, to speak without fair warrant. And 

 that is bad. That is why you find, as you commonly do find now, 

 an Otter-hunting pack, if not composed entirely of fox-hounds, at 

 any rate with a preponderating fox-hound element in the pack. 



Well, now, I really think the best thing we can do is to go out 

 Otter hunting. Practical experience is the best school. Hampshire 

 is more reachable from town than Devonshire ; to Hampshire we 

 will go for convenience, and with Mr. Courtenay Tracy's pack for 

 choice. The meet is at the mill. Time seven o'clock. A perfect 

 morning. Still, clear and chill, the grass drenched in dew. The 

 field is not a large one it will be larger later on but early as the 

 hour is, it includes several ladies. If fair faces and bright glances 

 can ensure it, then the master may command success. Hounds 

 work along very quietly for a bit as we move up stream. But 

 presently a hound opens, and another follows suit. Is it all right ? 

 These are not exactly the hounds one would trust. There, that is 



