174 MUSTELAD^. 



peared in the rear, who sang the praises of the high-bred 

 hounds and their worthy master." Alas ! that worthy 

 " Squire Lloyd of Glansevin," the warlike deeds of 

 whose ancestors were doubtless recounted and sung by 

 the voices of a score of bards, should have the peaceful 

 triumphs of his Otter-hunt chaunted by " an old ballad- 

 singer ! " The finest Otter-hunting on record, however, 

 is probably that of a party in Essex, who, in the year 

 1796, killed nine Otters in one day. 



That the Otter may not only be readily and easily 

 tamed and domesticated, but taught to catch and bring 

 home fish for its master, is a fact which is so well known, 

 and has been so often proved, that it is surprising it 

 should not have been more frequently acted upon. From 

 Albertus Magnus down to the late excellent Bishop 

 Heber, instances have been continually narrated, some of 

 which have gone no further than the domestication of pet 

 Otters, whilst in others the animal has been rendered a 

 useful purveyor of fish for the family table. Amongst 

 other writers who have attested similar facts, honest 

 Izaak Walton says, *' I pray, sir, save me one [young 

 Otter], and I'll try if I can make her tame, as 1 know 

 an ingenious gentleman in Leicestershire, Mr. Nicholas 

 Seagrave, has done ; who hath not only made her tame, 

 but to catch fish, and do many other things of much 

 pleasure." Albertus Magnus, Aldrovandus, Gesner, and 

 others, had asserted it ; yet Buffon, losing for once his 

 accustomed credulity, and running to an opposite extreme, 

 refuses to believe in the susceptibility of the Otter to be 

 brought to a state of domesticity. The former of these 

 writers states that, in Sweden, Otters were kept in the 

 houses of the great for the express purpose of catching 

 fish, which they would do at a signal from the cook, and 

 bring home their provender to be dressed for dinner. 



