AND ANGLING SONGS. 2JI 



IV. 



See, see in fierce despair 



He seeks by frantic spring 

 To snap the yielding hair, 



To fly the madd'ning string, 

 In vain, all in vain, his headlong plunge ! 



For the fatal die is cast 



O'er his eyelids soon death's glimmering swoon 

 Shall have pass'd. 



v. 



With quick revolving hand 



The good line home we wind, 

 While obedient to our wand 



The worn fish floats behind ; 

 And the bright pebbled edge as he nears, 



With our gaff-hook we check his retreat, 

 And see, here he lies a weltering prize 

 At our feet ! 



OTTERS (continued. ) 



IT is in the winter season, when the pools have become frozen 

 over, and are slightly covered with snow, that both the numbers 

 and daring of our Border otters become pressed upon common 

 attention. During the rest of the year, the imprints of their 

 cautiously planted digits can only be detected by the practised 

 and inquiring eye. On the occasion of a severe frost, however, 

 the difficulty of ascertaining their numerical strength, and of 

 coming to some conclusion as to their whereabouts and occupa- 

 tion, is greatly removed. Such opportunities are met with, in 

 our uncertain climate, only now and then, but in so far as they 



