THE WEASEL FAMILY 141 



he remains several minutes under water, and then comes up to 

 breathe. This is called "venting." His course under water is 

 traced by the mud stirred up, or by the air bubbles which rise to 

 the surface from his lungs. As soon as the otter is sighted the 

 hounds are set on him, and pursue him through the stream. 

 Whenever the otter in his course nears the bank, one or other 

 of the sportsmen (all of whom are armed with long spears) 

 makes a dark at the beast with his spear. If he misses, it is 

 considered a rule of the hunt that the owner of the spear should 

 wade into the water to recover his weapon. If the otter is 

 transfixed, however, the owner of the spear goes into the water 

 and raises the otter over his head at the spear's point. As a 

 rule, however, the otter is caught and killed by the hounds. 

 When the otter is first seized by a dog he attempts to dive and 

 remain under water, so that his assailant may drown, not being 

 able to stand immersion so long as the otter himself. The otter 

 administers also fierce bites to his pursuers, occasionally even 

 killing hounds, and by his bravery, pertinacity, cunning, and 

 agility making his insensate slaughter still more regrettable. 

 Yet an otter hunt is a picturesque scene, with the scarlet-coated, 

 white-breeched men armed with spears, the shaggy hounds, and 

 the landscape set with great marsh marigolds ; the willows out 

 in fresh leaf; the cascades, the rocks, the stretches of placid 

 water, and the sunshine of May. But when otter-hunting was 

 in full swing many years ago it was not unusual to kill nine 

 otters in a day. If by public opinion or legislation the 

 slaughter of otters could be limited to ten per annum in any 

 one county, it might be possible to keep up a picturesque sport 

 without unduly lessening the number of otters in our rivers. 



At the present day the otter is found in the wilder parts of 

 England, in nearly all Scotch rivers, and along the sea-coasts 

 of the north and west of Scotland, and equally widely in 

 Ireland and Wales. In South Wales the otter is quite com- 

 monly met with, and the same might have been said about 

 Devonshire until quite recently, where, unhappily, two or more 

 great landowners of that county have made a dead set at 



