90 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING 



himself contend with the otter so valiantly as 

 Charlie Purdie. Whether it was that he had a sort 

 of fellow-feeling for an animal that was amphibious 

 like himself, and followed the same profession, or 

 from what other cause I cannot say, but Rob did 

 not particularly shine in a fair stand-up otter fight, 

 as you shall hear. 



In the latter end of September, 1839, Kerse had 

 set a cairn net at the Clippers, " a little below 

 Makerstoun House, but on the bank of the river 

 opposite to it ; and on going to the cairn to examine 

 the net, he saw a young otter sitting on, and en- 

 tangled in it ; he threw more of the net over it, whilst 

 drawing it to the land, and when he had caught hold 

 of the tail, and was carrying it off, a large otter, 

 which he described " as a she ane," five feet in 

 length, jumped out of the water, ran up the bank 

 after him, to use his own words, " like a mad bear," 

 and commenced a furious attack upon him. Rob 

 had nothing to defend himself with but his hat ; 

 and as he was holding the young one with one hand, 

 he found he was likely to have the worst of it, and 

 to be bitten by the one animal or the other. So he 

 threw the whelp to the old one, saying, " Aye, ye 

 she devil, he may get her, twae to ane is odds." 

 They both swam away ; that is, the two otters, not 

 Kerse. 



On looking after them he saw two other young 

 ones trying to make past the point of the cairn, 

 which, owing to the strength of the current, they 

 seemed unable to effect : Kerse thought he would 

 try the thing again, so he laid hold of one of them, 



