THE OTTERHOUND. 67 



man, and Tyrant, are also all of tliem beautiful models. We give 

 the measurement of Damper: night, 9 in. ; round the chest, 16 in, 

 across the ears. 12 in. ; extreme length, 2 ft 4 in. ; eye to nose, 2i in, 



THE OTTERHOUND. 



No hcnnd which is now kept in Great Britain resembles the 

 southern hound so much as this, the difference being only in the 

 rough, wiry coat, which haa been obtained by careful breeding, to 

 enable them to resist the ill rff f ^\a of the rough weather which the 

 breed have to encounter, T/hether in the chase of the hare, for 

 which they were originally employed in Wales, or for that of the 

 otter, to which they arc 'new almost exclusively restricted. If, 

 therefore, the reader to/us to the description of the southern 

 hound, and adds to it a rough, wiry coat, with a profusion of 

 rough whisker, he will at once understand the form and nature of 

 the otterhound, alms the Welsh harrier. It is a disputed point 

 whether this roughness is obtained by crossing, or whether it is 

 attributable to careful selection only. We are inclined to think 

 that as the full melodious note of the hound is retained, there is 

 no cross of the terrier or of the deerhound, which two breeds 

 divide between them the credit of bestowing their coats upon the 

 otterhound. Anyhow, it is a distinct breed in the present day; 

 and, with the shape I have described, it unites all the characteris- 

 tics of the old southern hound, in dwelling on the scent, in deli- 

 cacy of nose, and in want of dash. Whether the power of 

 swimming has been obtained by any cross with the water-spaniel, 

 is also a disputed point; but as I do not believe in any peculiar 

 swimming power inherent in that breed, I am not inclined to 

 attribute that of the otterhound to a cross with it, especially as the 

 foxhound swims equally well. 



As these hounds have to compete with a very savage and hard- 

 biting animal, they must of necessity be fearless and hardy; and 

 as, for their specific purposes, tho3 wliich are not so, have been re- 



