i THE BOOK OF THE OTTER 



lead. The rough hound has a resonant, musical 

 voice, and a picturesque appearance, but taking 

 him all round, from a solely working point of view, 

 he is, in our humble opinion, inferior to the fox- 

 hound, particularly on rough, rocky rivers, where a 

 light-built, active type of hound shows to advan- 

 tage. Custom ordains that hounds for otter- 

 hunting should be rough jacketed, and by employ- 

 ing cross-bred or rough Welsh foxhounds you get 

 the rough coat, without the undesirable qualities 

 found in the pure otterhounds. 



The latter show to the best advantage in low- 

 lying country, where the rivers are slow running, 

 and the going easy. In these days, when meets 

 are late and time is valuable, pure otterhounds with 

 their tender noses dwell and revel on the drag 

 instead of pushing forward. The foxhound, on the 

 other hand, may feather on a stale line, but he will 

 not as a rule open unless the drag is fairly fresh. 

 When he does throw his tongue, you can con- 

 fidently cheer the others to him, knowing that 



your otter is not so very far in front. Although 



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