1 1 2 The Course, the Camp, the Chase 



ing something furry, closed my hand. To my joy I had 

 caught him by the extreme tip of his tail, and rose up 

 with the otter struggling hard for his liberty. Although I 

 had been well used to handling live foxes when Whip to the 

 beagles at Eton, I had never been in such a predicament 

 as now, for the stream came up to the top of my calves, 

 and having only hold of the end of the tail, I could not 

 lift the otter clear of the water. After a very narrow 

 escape of having his teeth fixed in my leg, it seemed that 

 the best way would be to keep him swinging, so turning 

 round and round like a teetotum, a good rotary motion was 

 kept on the otter until the shore was reached, when he was 

 flung up to the expectant hounds. 



Old Mr. Trelawney, of Coldrennick, was then the 

 Master of the Foxhounds, and hunted otters in the summer 

 with a portion of the pack. He much preferred them to 

 the rough hounds, as he maintained that the latter were so 

 fond of throwing their tongues, that they would open on 

 the scent when it was many hours old, for it lies for a 

 long time in the damp, shady ground near the river. 

 Foxhounds, he used to say, had just as good noses, but 

 would not speak to the scent unless the otter was close 

 before them. When they gave tongue it was certain the 

 otter was there, whereas the rough hounds might keep the 

 " field " expectant for half the day, while the otter was 

 snugly ensconced in another river three or four miles off. 

 Still, Mr. Trelawney liked to have one or two rough 

 hounds in the pack, as their musical voices served to keep 

 up the interest, and were an additional charm as they 

 resounded through a wild, rocky dell, though till the fox- 

 hounds chimed in no real work could be anticipated. It 

 was only certain families of foxhounds that cared for the 



