NATURE AND SPORT IN BRITAIN 



Some masters now use both foxhounds and otter- 

 hounds, on the ground that while the otter-hounds are 

 best in the water, foxhounds, although much harder to 

 enter to this sport, are of great use at those times when 

 the quarry quits the stream and betakes himself, as 

 he often does, to the land. An otter, web-footed and 

 amphibious beast though he is, can, indeed, get over 

 the ground for a few fields at a quite surprising pace. 



We are told that in Queen Elizabeth's time otter- 

 hunting was a favourite amusement for "the young 

 gentry of Great Britain " a mere schoolboy's sport, 

 evidently, like ratting and rabbiting. To-day its 

 modern revival appeals to a far wider range of followers. 

 Purely pedestrian sport as it is, no pastime can surely 

 be a healthier one. It carries with it the certainty of 

 early hours and plenty of exercise. And perhaps not 

 the least of its recommendations lies in the fact that, 

 from its very nature, otter-hunting can never be sur- 

 rounded with the artificiality and luxuries by which, in 

 time, certain of our open-air sports seem likely to be 

 emasculated, if not completely strangled. 



At the present day a pack of otter-hounds usually 

 numbers from ten to fourteen or fifteen couples, but 

 some few of the bigger establishments are larger. The 

 Hawkstone, for instance, a famous pack hunting in 

 Wales and Shropshire, are as many as twenty-five 

 couples strong, while the King's, hunting in King's 

 County, Ireland, muster the same number. With 

 fifteen couple of hounds plenty of sport can be shown, 

 provided otters are to be found. Otter-hunting has a 

 complete language of its own. Thus the footprints 

 are known to the initiated as the "spur" or "seal," 

 the latter term being the more commonly used. The 

 "spraint," or "wedging," is the excreta of the otter, 

 by which the animal is occasionally identified. The 



