176 CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HTSTOEY. 



liinese at from eighty to one hundred rubles a skin, or from XI 6 to 20 each. The trade was for a 

 considerable time in the hands of the Russians, who, soon after the discovery of the north-west coast of 

 America by Behring and Tschirikow, sent mercantile expeditions there. 



THE COMMON OTTER.* 



" Where rages not oppression ? Where, alas ! 

 Is innocence secure? Rapine and spoil 

 Haunt even the lowest deeps. Seas have their sharks ; 

 Rivers and ponds enclose the rav'nous pike ; 

 He, in his turn, becomes a prey; on him 

 Th' amphibious Otter feasts. Just is his fate 

 Deserved; but tyrants know no bounds; nor spears, 

 That bristle on his back, defend the perch 

 From his wide, greedy jaws ; nor burnish'd mail 



The yellow carp; nor all his arts can save 

 Th' insinuating eel, that hides his head 

 Beneath the slimy mud ; nor yet escapes 

 The crimson-spotted trout, the river's pride. 

 And beauty of the stream. Without remorse, 

 This midnight pillager, raging around, 

 Insatiate, swallows all. The owner mourns 

 Th' unpeopled rivulet, and gladly hears 

 The huntsman's earlv call." 



THE Romans, on their arrival in this island, found the Otter among the objects of chase, in which the 

 Britons spent a great portion of their time. Voracious, subtle, active, and bold, it is notorious for its 

 devastations among the fish in our rivers and lakes, which are not protected from this foe either by 

 the element in which they live, or by the rapidity of their motions in it. Like them, the otter is at 

 home in the water, swimming at any depth with the utmost velocity and address. 



It follows up its prey silently, and with indomitable perseverance, through every turn and maze, 

 ever keeping the victim in sight, which, after a chase of longer or shorter duration, is exhausted, cap- 

 tured, and killed. Nor is the otter less remarkable for its graceful elegance than for the vigour of its 

 movements in the water. Whoever has witnessed the feeding of those kept in the Gardens of the 

 Zoological Society cannot fail to have remarked the fine sweep of the body as the otter plunges into 

 the water, its undulating movements beneath the surface while exploring the prey, the abrupt and 

 arrow-like velocity of the pursuit, and the easy return to the surface with the captured fish, which is 

 taken to its den and devoured. The otter then re-enters the water and takes another, to be dealt with 

 in the same manner, and this process is repeated until no more fish are left. Sometimes, however, 

 instead of catching them thus separately, it contrives to bring up several at a time, managing not only 

 to seize them with great dexterity, but to carry them hanging from its mouth. Eight or ten fish serve 

 for a single meal ; but it is well known that, in a state of freedom, an otter slaughters a much larger 

 number of fish than it devours ; and thus some idea may be formed of the annual havoc occasioned by 

 a pair of otters in a river, or preserve for fish, in order to supply the wants of themselves and their 

 young ones. 



The otter is admirably adapted to its aquatic habits. Its body is long and flexible, and termi- 

 nated by a lengthened, robust, but tapering and somewhat compressed tail, which serves as a sort of 

 rudder in the performance of the evolutions of the animal in the water. The limbs are very short, 

 but remarkably muscular and powerful ; and the feet, which consist of five toes each, are webbed, so as 

 to serve as paddles or oars. The eyes are large, the ears short, and the lips are provided with strong 

 whiskers. The covering consists of two kinds of fur an under-vest of close, short, waterproof wool, 

 and an outer-vest of long, coarse, glossy hairs. Shy and recluse, the otter is nocturnal in its habits, 

 lurking by day in its burrow, which opens near the water's edge, concealed among intertangled herbage, 

 and is generally carried to a great depth in the bank. Here, on a bed of leaves and grass, the female 

 brings forth and rears her young, attending to their wants with great assiduity, and exhibiting for 

 them a remarkable share of maternal solicitude. She produces four or five young at a birth, in May 

 or June. 



Among the sports of our forefathers, otter-hunting was not one of the least esteemed. A breed 

 of rough-haired, powerful dogs were employed in aiding the exertions of the hunters. As the water 

 is the congenial element of the otter, a single dog has there little chance against so active and resolute 

 an antagonist ; nor, indeed, could any number associated bring him to bay. When forced from his 

 retreat, it is in the water, therefore, that the otter takes refuge : here a host of dogs assailing him 



* Lutra vulgaris. Shaw. Mustek lutra. Linnaeus, Le loutre. Button. 



