1 68 Modern Dogs, 



and he lasted eight seasons. He was a black and 

 tan, rather short in coat to be quite right, but what 

 there was had an extraordinary texture, so hard and 

 close and crisp that I have seen the w^ater standing 

 in drops thereon, quite unable to penetrate the dense 

 covering. This hound it was I saw take the head of 

 an otter right in its jaws as the game came up for a 

 breather close to the bank upon which Ragman was 

 standing. The otter was very nearly finished 

 outright ; it would have quite killed any other 

 animal, for the fangs of the hound had gone deeply 

 through the bone of the skull, perhaps just missing 

 what might have been a vital part. These Kendal 

 hounds were sold for something like ;^2oo to Mr. 

 Carnaby Forster, of Tarporley, Cheshire, at the 

 commencement of 1891, who incorporated them 

 with the Hawkstone already alluded to. This was. 

 perhaps, the cheapest pack of hounds ever sold ; 

 there were about twelve couples, with some terriers, 

 and I am pretty certain that, placed publicly in the 

 market, ;^iooo would have been obtained for the 

 lot. 



Another old master of otter hounds is Mr. John 

 Benson, of Cockermouth ; but half a dozen years 

 ago his hounds were discontinued, and in their place 

 came a subscription pack, of which Mr. Harry Clift, 

 who has served a very long apprenticeship to the 



