OTTER-HUNTING. 433 



inland, for he will occasionally go some distance 

 from his river to feed. He is traced by the foot, 

 as the deer is ; and when found, and wounded in 

 the water, he makes directly for the shore, where 

 he maintains an obstinate defence. He bites most 

 severely, and does not readily quit his hold ; on 

 the contrary, if he seizes a dog in the water, he 

 will dive with him to the bottom of the river, and 

 will never yield to him whilst he has life. This 

 sport is still pursued in the few fenny and watery 

 districts that now remain in England, and has for 

 a long time been confined principally to those parts 

 where, from local circumstances, the other more 

 noble and exhilarating distinctions of the chase 

 cannot be conveniently enjoyed. An attempt, how- 

 ever, was recently made to revive it, by a celebrated 

 Oxfordshire sportsman, Mr. Peyton, only son of 

 Sir Henry Peyton, Bart., of which attempt we 

 subjoin an account, extracted from the Oxford 

 Journal. By this, two facts are established ; the 

 one, that otter-hunting, spiritedly pursued, is not a 

 tame diversion ; and the other, that the charge 

 against this animal of destroying young lambs and 

 poultry, is not altogether unfounded. 



'' We have great pleasure in informing our 

 readers, that a novelty in the sporting world, as 

 far as relates to this county, has recently been in- 

 troduced by that ardent and indefatigable sports- 

 man, Mr. Henry Peyton, namely, a pack of those 

 rare animals, otter-hounds, with which he hunts 

 the country in the neiglibourhood of Bicester ; so 

 that these midnight marauders and inveterate ene- 

 2o 



