THE BOOK OF THE OTTER 



the dog hung about in plain sight under a bridge, 



and remained there until the bitch was accounted 



for, after which he himself suffered the same fate. 



Otter-hunting is the least artificial of our British 



field sports. The otter is a wild animal, living 



the same free life that he has done for generations, 



and we have yet to learn a good deal concerning 



him. Being a great wanderer, he is here to-day 



and gone to-morrow, and his hunting provides 



more " glorious uncertainty " than the chase of any 



other beast. Before you can hunt him you must 



find him, but whereas with deer, fox, and hare, the 



finding is often the easiest part of the business, in 



the case of the otter it is the most difficult. In 



a previous chapter we have made brief mention 



of otter-hunting dress. In these days^blue is the 



popular colour for Hunt livery, the material most 



favoured being woollen serge. We wonder how 



modern otter-hunters would like to wear the dress 



mentioned by Blaine, i.e., a green dress turned up 



with red, fur cap with gold band, and waterproof 



hip-boots decorated with red or gold tassels. 



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