THE OTTER. 



PROBABLY quite a small percentage of 

 readers have seen a wild otter in a free state, 

 and one is unable to form a just opinion of this 

 beast from the pitiful stuffed specimens one sees 

 in taxidermists' windows. In truth, the otter is 

 among the most graceful and beautiful of living 

 things, a perfect sample of animal activity ; but its 

 perfection is in its very life, its beauty in its ever- 

 changing poses, each pose full of grace and ease. 



One day, when fishing a Highland loch, I found 

 my way barred by a tumultuous burn tumbling 

 down from the heights. In order to cross it I was 

 compelled to climb up the mountain-side to a much 

 higher point, on reaching which I chanced to look 

 down to the spot at which the burn joined the loch. 



The scene was one of exquisite beauty, the burn 

 emptying into a cauldron at the loch-margin, the 

 mosses and ferns of which stood out in wonderful 

 tints in the evening sunshine. One could smell 

 the fresh, scented spray as it floated upwards ; 

 mountain-ash and silver-birch shadowed the pool, 

 and the whole little scene lay below, a veritable 

 fairyland of loveliness. 



All at once a shadow appeared in the centre 

 of the cauldron, and began to slide swiftly among 

 the moss-covered stones till it reached one larger 

 than the rest, which it mounted. It was an otter ! 

 There she rested, glancing to left and right ; then 

 suddenly she uttered a hoarse, penetrating note, 

 exactly like the call-note of a moorhen. 



In a few seconds the first otter was joined by 

 a second supple, boneless creature, evidently her 



