NATURE AND SPORT IN BRITAIN 



branch of sport, Welsh otter-hunters, assisted by the 

 strong, keen, rough-coated breed of hounds for which 

 the principality is still famous, pursued this most fierce, 

 cunning, and destructive beast of chase amid some 

 of the most picturesque scenery of the British Isles. 



Within the last decade otter-hunting has, as I have 

 said, had a rapid and most remarkable revival. The 

 old-established packs, which were for years only fol- 

 lowed by a few ardent supporters, now find their meets 

 thronged with spectators ; new packs have sprung into 

 existence, and from north to south and from east to 

 west of England and Wales otter-hunting is to be 

 found during the summer months flourishing exceed- 

 ingly. In the south of Scotland, the Dumfriesshire, an 

 excellent pack, has for years been maintained. During 

 this last season of 1904, no less than twenty -two 

 packs of hounds took the field, or rather the waterside, 

 in various parts of the United Kingdom. These in- 

 cluded three new packs the Wharfedale, hunting in 

 Yorkshire, the Tetcott, a Devon pack, and the East of 

 Scotland. Of the twenty-two packs no less than fifteen 

 hunt in England. Wales supports three packs ; Scotland 

 and Ireland, two apiece. 



Coming as it does just upon the tail end of fox- 

 hunting, otter-hunting has peculiar claims upon the 

 sport-loving tastes of the English people. It can be 

 carried on at much less expense than the sister sport. 

 Its pursuit is conducted entirely upon foot, and it can 

 therefore be enjoyed by hundreds who cannot afford to 

 indulge in fox- or hare-hunting ; while, if conducted 

 upon reasonable lines, and with due regard to the 

 stock of otters, it rids many a stream and river of a 

 very determined kind of poacher, which for generations 

 has taken, often quite unknown to the angler, a very 

 heavy toll of fish. In the quiet season that follows the 



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