304 THE FOOD OF OTTERS 



came out of the water with a spring of more than two yards, 

 and just as he reentered the otter struck him behind the 

 gills, and they disappeared together, leaving a star of bright 

 scales on the surface. I now lost sight of them in the 

 agitation which they had made, but I marked the bubbles 

 here and there as the chase was pursued in the deep water. 

 Several times they came to the surface, the otters always 

 keeping below the fish, for the two smaller [salmon] had 

 disappeared, and both the hunters were now in close pursuit 

 of the large one. They followed with the rapidity of light- 

 ning, and from the frequency with which they turned the 

 fish, appeared to have the superiority in speed, and no dis- 

 advantage but the difficulty of clipping the round, slippery 

 bulk of the salmon. The skill with which they pursued 

 their game was like that of a well-trained greyhound in a 

 course. Whenever they came to the throat of the pool they 

 pressed the fish hard to make him double into the clear 

 water, and one [of them] was always vigilant to make him 

 rise or turn, the increased efforts of which exhausted his 

 strength. With equal sagacity they worked him at the tail 

 of the pool to prevent him descending the rapid. Twice in 

 returning, as the fish doubled round the boulder behind 

 which he had originally lain, the nearest otter made a 

 counter-turn in the opposite direction, and caught the salmon 

 as they met, silvering the water with a flash of flying scales. 

 'With this race the fish began to tire and the otters 

 continued to press him, till at last all three appeared turn- 

 ing and struggling and knitting together in the deep water, 

 came up to the surface in a heap, rolled over and over, the 

 otters coiled in a ring and the fish splashing between them. 

 . . . Suddenly all disappeared and left a thick circle of 

 bubbles. In a few moments they rose again. ... By this 

 time one of the otters had fixed the fish behind the shoulder- 

 fin, and both were working towards the further bank. . . . 

 As they dragged the fish up the bank, he appeared quite 

 dead, and they had just reached their heap, when there came 

 a whistle from the Logic Brae, and a whoop which startled 



