Til 1C COMMON OTTKK. 



177 



would oblige him to swim beneath the surface as long as he couM hold his breath, and, on his rising 

 to breathe, hu would be met by a shower of spears, launched at him by the hunters on the bank. 

 Tims attacked on every side, still his activity and resolution would, under ordinary eiremnstaiices, 

 enible him to baffle for a long time the most vigilant pursuit of his enemies, and not unfrcijucntly to 



TEKTI! OF THE COMMON OTTER. 



TEETH OF THE CAPE OTTEK. 



escaj>e. But, at length, the poor animal perished, as too often happened, wounded and oppressed by 

 numbers, yet fighting to the last. 



The otter is found still on the wild shores of the western islands of Scotland ; and it has long 

 been a favourite sport among the Highlanders to hunt it with dogs of the terrier breed. Parties will 

 sally out with torches at night-time, when the otter leaves his hole to seek for food. During the day 

 he conceals himself under the large, bare stones, or fragments of rock, close to the margin of the sea, 

 forming what is called a " cairn." It is a difficult matter to force him from this retreat. 



A visitor to one of the Hebrides, a few years ago, accompanied a party of gentlemen, attended by 

 gamekeepers, for the purpose of witnessing this sport. It was a fine morning in September. Landing 

 on one of the islands from a boat, the terriers were loosened from the couples, and left to their own 

 instinct to find the otter's den. After scrambling a considerable distance over masses of rock and loose 

 pebbles, on a remarkably wild and beautiful shore, the dogs, by their eagerness of manner and incessant 

 barking, convinced the party that the game was within scent. 



The gentlemen, with guns cocked, then arranged themselves in convenient situations for inter- 

 cepting the passage of the otter, should he attempt to take refuge in the sea ; some mounted on the 

 tops of rocks, others stood near the water, or in the boat which had accompanied tlie party from the 

 landing-place. The keepers, in the meantime, now assisted the dogs in their efforts to discover the 

 lurking-places of their prey. One of them, a thick-set Highlander, displayed a very ehanicteristic 

 enthusiasm. Addressing the dogs in Gaelic, he set to work with all the ardour of the tenders them- 

 selves, tearing away large stones from the mouth of the hole, and half burying himself to enable the 

 dogs to come at their object ; while they, in the meantime, ran about yelping in the greatest excite- 

 ment, and scratching at every aperture between the stones. 



Whilst this was going on at one hole, a large otter poked his head out of another, and looked 

 about with as much astonishment as his countenance was capable of expressing, until, catching a 

 glimpse of one of his enemies, he instantly disappeared. This incident having been observed, the 

 attention of the party was transferred to the retreat thus betrayed. A large stone was first uplifted, 

 and hurled upon the top of the pile, with the intention cither of forcing the inmate out by the 



VOL. II. 



23 



