THE ANGLERS SOUVENIR. 



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which we write, may fairly be divided into two 

 classes : those which live upon fish, and are 

 anglers themselves, forming one ; and those whose 

 presence by the waterside is an attribute of it and 

 brings them constantly under the angler's notice' 

 forming the other. The birds are plenty, the 

 animals few. Of the latter, the only two that 

 come within the province of such an article as 

 this are the otter and the water-rat. Compara- 

 tively few are the anglers who, in the course of 

 their rambles, have met with the former. It 

 is only when the dusk falls greyly over the river, 

 or the early dawn is breaking, that he whose 

 inclinations lead him to the river-side may hear 

 a light plunge, and see a dark body glancing off 

 a grey rock into the circling water. The otter 

 is nocturnal in his habits, and few men linger 

 sufficiently late by the river-side, or rise suffi- 

 ciently early, to keep him company in his fishing 

 rambles ; or even if they do so, they rarely move 

 along the bank with that quietness and caution 

 which is needful ere you may catch a glimpse of 

 him on the bank. We believe the otter is much 

 less rare than is generally supposed. It- was our 

 practice in our younger days to be much at the 

 river-side in the early morning hours, and many 

 a time have we seen and heard otters when it 

 was believed that there were no such animals 

 in the river. They move with such exceeding 

 stealthiness that a keen observation is needful to 



