THE OTTER. 115 



the otters an underworld of dripping corridors by 

 which they can travel, unseen, far into the heart 

 of the moors. 



To what extent do the otters use these subter- 

 ranean passages, the innermost secrets of which are 

 denied to all but themselves ? This is a question I 

 have tried hard to solve, and the evidence gathered 

 may be of interest. Otters have been known to 

 rear their young among the ruins of the lead-mines 

 close upon two miles, through the deepest heather, 

 from the nearest trout-bearing waters, and in the 

 midst of regions where food of the kind they 

 require must indeed have been scarce and hard to 

 get. Did the parent otters come and go by the 

 mine-workings ? If so, the whole vast underworld 

 of corridors must have been at their disposal. 

 Some of the underground rivers contain white, 

 wall-eyed trout, like the subterranean rivers of 

 Colorado the offspring of imprisoned burn trout, 

 no doubt, which, by long confinement, have become 

 a well-defined underground species. The most 

 interesting item of evidence I have is that a shep- 

 herd, whose word could generally be relied upon 

 in such matters, told me that he was much mysti- 

 fied at the discovery of one of these fish lying on 

 a slab of masomy among the mine ruins fully a 

 mile from the nearest water. The fish was partly 

 eaten, and the work undoubtedly looked like that 

 of an otter. If so, the fact proves that the dark- 

 ness of those profound workings is no handicap to 

 this creature in its hunting ; and that being so, it 

 is reasonable to suppose that the otters breeding 

 among the mines obtain some, at any rate, of their 

 food from the subterranean streams and rivers. 



There is no doubt that an otter losing its way 

 among these corridors might live for months, even 



