46 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



named, by reason of the abundance of otters tliat bred and 

 fed in it.* 



And thus much for my knowledge of the otter, which you 

 may now see above water at vent, and the dogs close with 

 him ; I now see he will not last long, follow therefore my 

 masters, follow, for Sweetlips was like to have him at this 

 last vent.t 



VEN. Oh me ! all the horse are got over the river, what 

 shall we do now ? Shall we follow them over the water? 



HUNT. No, sir, no, be not so eager ; stay a little and follow 

 me, for both they and the dogs will be suddenly on this side 

 again I warrant you ; and the otter too, it may be : now have 

 at him with Kilbuck, for he vents again. 



YEN. Marry so he does, for look he vents in that corner. 

 Now, now Bingwood has him : now he's gone again, and has 

 bit the poor dog. Now Sweetlips has her ; hold her, Sweet- 

 lips ! now all the dogs have her, some above and some under 

 water ; but now, now she's tired, and past losing : come bring 

 her to me, Sweetlips. Look, 'tis a bitch otter, and she has 

 lately whelped, let's go to the place where she was put down, 

 and not far from it you will find all her young ones, I dare 

 warrant you, and kill them all too. 



HUNT. Come, gentlemen, come all, let's go to the place 

 where we put down the otter. Look you, hereabout it was 

 that she kennelled ; look you, here it was indeed, for here's 

 her young ones, no less than five ; come, let's kill them all. 



Pise. No, I pray, sir, save me one, and I'll try if I can 

 make her tame, as I know an ingenious gentleman in Leicester- 

 shire, Mr. Nicholas Seagrave, has done ; who hath not only 



* The reader need hardly be told, that neither the tail nor any other part of 

 the otter is " fish." The otter will live upon land, and can be trained to hunt 

 and catch fish for its master. Fish is not its only food ; and it has been guilty 

 of nocturnal attacks on hen-roosts, rabbit-hutches, &c. It seldom or never eats 

 the whole of a fish. What is called the " otter's bite," or bonne Louche, is that 

 part cf the fish between the poll or neck and dorsal fin. The tail part of a fish 

 is not succulent enough for the palate of this gourmet. There is no animal of 

 its size that has stronger jaws and teeth than the otter ; and in its contests 

 with dogs, it seldom fails to fracture, by biting through one or two of their 

 fore-legs. No dog can bite through the body-skin (so thickly covered is it with 

 impenetrable fur) of the otter. The otter-hound that knows his business, seizes 

 his quarry by the head, and by crushing it comes off victorious. ED. 



f i. e. view. The otter "vents" when he shows Ids head above water for the 

 purpose of respiration (venting, " taking in wind") after having been swimming 

 under water to escape his pursuers. ED. 



