172 MUSTELADiE. 



bour is a frequent station. Fishes," continues Mr. Couch, 

 " seem to have an instinctive dread of the Otter ; for I 

 am credibly informed that it has been seen to collect 

 into a shoal a vast number of trouts in a river, and to 

 drive them before it until the greater part have thrown 

 themselves on shore." 



Otter-hunting, formerly one of the most interesting 

 and exciting amusements of which the English sportsman 

 could boast, has of late years dwindled into the mere 

 chase of extirpation. It w^as in other days pursued with 

 much of the pomp and circumstance of regular sport : 

 the Dogs were chosen for their perseverance and reso- 

 lution ; "good Otter-hounds," says an old sportsman, — 

 and Mr. Daniel mentions a cross between the Harrier 

 and a Terrier as producing a good breed for the purpose, 

 — " will come chaunting and trailing along by the river- 

 side, and will beat every tree-root, every osier-bed, and 

 every tuft of bulrushes ; — nay, sometimes they will take 

 the water, and beat it like a Spaniel." The huntsmen 

 and others of the party carried Otter spears, to strike 

 the Otter when driven within their reach ; horsemen and 

 footmen joined in the chase ; and the whole company 

 formed a cavalcade of no inconsiderable extent and im- 

 portance. These scenes are now no longer witnessed, or 

 but rarely, in England ; but in Wales the chase of the 

 Otter is still kept up with some spirit, in certain roman- 

 tic districts of that romantic country. The sketch from 

 which the vignette is taken, was kindly drawn for us by 

 our lamented friend, the late John Morgan, Esq., and 

 forms one of his memoranda of a day's chase of this 

 animal amidst the v?ild and picturesque scenery of 

 Glamorganshire. 



In beating for an Otter, it is necessary to mark the 

 character and direction of his " seal," or footmark, in the 



