THE OTTER IN THE LYD. 131 



with a very excited field, still hunting the other 

 otter, though the little dogs were getting sadly 

 demoralised from the incessant shouting that 

 greeted their efforts and marked every appear- 

 ance of the otter. Rallying them, I went on with 

 the hunt, and at the end of an hour brought our 

 game to book ; and here I may remark that in 

 otter-hunting with my terriers we never made use 

 of nets. After this the rivers were in flood, and 

 though I took the terriers out several times, we 

 were not able to do anything. One day when we 

 tried the large stream by the mill at Stalbridge, 

 the mud was so thick that the poor little dogs 

 were nearly smothered and had to be helped out, 

 lookins: like blackamoors. 



The following season of 1890 Mr Courtenay 

 Tracy brought his otter - hound pack down ; but 

 again, owing to the heavy rains, the waters 

 were too deep for the hounds to do anything. 



In 1891 I had my terriers out again, and the 

 first week in May we secured our first otter. I 

 had out seven and a half couple. They got on 

 the trail of an otter near Hyde's Farm. After 

 running their quarry backwards and forwards 

 for some time, they suddenly went away towards 

 Brickies, one of the Stock coverts, and every 

 one of course declared they were on the line of 

 a fox. In consequence we tried to stop them ; 

 but Sharper and a young terrier named Antic — 

 the latter only a twelvemonth old — would not 

 be denied, and disappeared over the brow of 



