266 THE MOOR AND THE LOCH. 



turbed, if it only had a quarter of an hour's start of me. I 

 had therefore to be at the river by break of day, and was 

 rewarded by many a famous chance at the fowl, as well as 

 frequent insight into the operations of the otter. 



Many a fine fish have I seen lying on the shingle with 

 only a few bites out of its neck ; and if undiscovered by the 

 otter's scavengers, it was seldom honoured by a second visit 

 from its captor. In snow, I generally saw where the otter 

 had landed to dry himself ; but he never strayed far from the 

 river's bank and indeed it would have been difficult walk- 

 ing, as he always left the mark of his belly ploughing the 

 snow, if there were only two inches on the ground. 



In nay early shooting days, when after wild-fowl, my water- 

 dog brought me a half-grown otter which he had seized in a 

 drain. I could not, at first, make out what extraordinary 

 mouthful he had picked up. When I saw it was a young 

 otter, I brought it home alive in my game-bag, intending to 

 tame it. But the dog had broken its back, so we were 

 obliged to have it killed. A few years after, I shot a fine 

 male one near the same place. My terriers came on its 

 track in a brook. It immediately took the land a long way 

 ahead of the dogs, and by a short cut made for the loch. I 

 got my eye upon it slowly cantering along, intercepted and 

 rolled it over not thirty yards from the shore. 



A friend of mine one autumn was wandering along the 

 banks of the Tweed, and seeing the dead water of a deep pool 

 a little agitated, he peeped cautiously over. An old otter and 

 several young ones w^re paddling about in perfect security 

 and comfort. He made a slight noise, and all disappeared as 

 if by magic where and how, he could not discover. After 

 remaining quiet for a short time, they were upon the surface 

 again in the same sleight-of-foot way. He described it as 

 a beautiful and interesting sight, and slipped back without 

 a second time disturbing them. He told me he had heard 

 that Lord John Scott's otter-hounds came to the pool shortly 



