248 AMPHIBIOUS QUADRUPEDS, 



with many trunks of trees, and long roots stretch- 

 ing underneath the water.* The shore also is hol- 

 low and scooped inward by the waves. These 

 are the places the otter chiefly chooses for its re- 

 treat; and there is scarcely a stone which does 

 not bear the mark of its residence, as upon them 

 its excrements are always made. It is chiefly by 

 this mark that its lurking places are known, as 

 well as by the quantity of dead fish that are found 

 lying here and there upon the banks of the water. 

 To take the old ones alive is no easy task, as they 

 are extremely strong, and there are few dogs that 

 will dare to encounter them. They bite with 

 great fierceness, and never let go their hold when 

 they have once fastened. The best way, therefore, 

 is to shoot them at once, as they never will be 

 thoroughly tamed j and, if kept for the purposes 

 of fishing, are always apt to take the first oppor- 

 tunity of escaping. But the young ones may be 

 more easily taken, and converted to very useful 

 purposes. The otter brings forth its young ge- 

 nerally under the hollow banks, upon a bed of 

 rushes, flags, or such weeds as the place affords 

 in greatest quantities. I see in the British Zoology 

 a description of its habitation, where that natura- 

 list observes, " that it burrows under ground, on 

 the banks of some river or lake, and always makes 

 the entrance of its hole under water, then works 

 up to the surface of the earth, and there makes a 

 minute orifice for the admission of air ; and this 

 little air-hole is often found in the middle of some 



* Journal Etranger, Juin 1755, p. 14. 



