272 AN ANGLER'S RAMBLES 



have happened to me personally, they have assisted to throw a 

 good deal of light upon the subject under treatment. I am con- 

 vinced, through what I have observed, that, in the neighbourhood 

 of Kelso, Tweed and Teviot are, in the winter season, regularly 

 and systematically traversed by otters ; also, that in the course 

 of their nocturnal forays, these animals exhibit great boldness, 

 and will pursue their quarry in the shadow of human habitations, 

 beneath the flare of gaslight, and within a stone's-cast of a country- 

 town ; moreover, that although, more especially under the cir- 

 cumstances which have favoured me in drawing these inferences, 

 they will not scruple, now and then, to fasten on the shoulder-bit 

 of a salmon ; still, when doing so, they act with great prudence, 

 taking care not to disturb the remainder in the pool, or cause, 

 by recklessly betraying their presence to the breeding fish, the 

 desertion of the spawning- grounds, a lesson set by animal instinct 

 which the pretenders to a higher source of guidance would do 

 well to profit by. 



Close to the Bridge at Kelso, and communicating with Spring- 

 wood Park, the seat of Sir George Douglas, lies the entrance 

 to a large covered sewer or tunnel, capable of being explored as 

 far as the mason-work extends, by a grown-up person in a stoop- 

 ing posture. To this ' cundie,' as it is termed (a corruption pro- 

 bably of the word conduit] a few winters ago, a couple of otters 

 were to be traced, both by the up and down tracks which, for 

 several mornings in succession so long, in fact, as the frozen 

 state of the river permitted came under the direct observation 

 of the passers along the bridge. 



In their night forays these animals appear to have acted in 

 concert. Invariably, instead of creeping up the ice close to the 

 banks, they struck out towards the centre of the river, showing 

 their anxiety to reach the open current. It was through the 

 second arch, not that superintending their retreat, the up-trail 

 usually led. From the top of the bridge the eye could follow it, 



