322 COVERT-SIDE SKETCHES. 



counties have been the principal scene of operations for many 

 years ; but I am glad to say that a taste for the sport appears to 

 be spreading, as there is no doubt that with otter-hounds you 

 see a lot of real hunting ; and any man of ordinary observation 

 must learn something from having a turn with them. That the 

 sport should once more become popular is easy to comprehend. 

 One of the prominent features of the age is the immense 

 attention given to athletic exercises of all kinds ; and where 

 one man could have stood a day's running after hounds a 

 few years ago, at least twenty could do so now. The old 

 love of hunting is still implanted in our nature, and where 

 a real hound can be seen using his nose in pursuit of game, 

 I believe a paper chase would have but little attraction. Here 

 otter-hunting is calculated to come in, and fill a very obvious 

 want. I do not say that horses are never used in the sport, but 

 it often takes place in localities where it is far more convenient 

 for a good pedestrian to walk than ride, hence it forms a capital 

 summer recreation to men who have but little chance of ever 

 bestriding a three hundred guinea flier across the grass, and I 

 should be inclined to back him to see more of the fun on 

 "■ Shanks's mare " than with the best hunter in England between 

 his knees, though, after having heard of an old gentleman 

 whose custom it was to fish the Eiver Barle for some miles 

 above and below Dulverton from the back of his pony, it is 

 difficult to say what might not be done on horseback even in 

 otter-hunting. However, one recommendation of it is that, for 

 the enjoyment, a man wants only an intense love of hounds 

 and hunting, an utter contempt for getting wet, and a good stout 

 pair of legs and feet, that enable him to hold his own in a 

 long day's march. A gentleman I met in Wales a year or two 

 ago told me that, the day before, he had walked thirty miles 

 with the present Lord Hill's otter-hounds. There is no corn- 

 merchant's bill or lame horses hanging to it, so that, if a man 

 lives in a suitable neighbourhood for the sport, and there is a 

 pack to hunt it, he must be poor indeed if he cannot indulge 



