OTTERS AND SALMON. 



of ages long since passed away. The action and life-like expression of the large 

 Italian greyhound are especially to be noted. 



In 1 84 1 Landseer contributed to none of the exhibitions; an attack of illness in 

 the autumn of the preceding year compelling him to forego all labour. By way of 

 recruiting his health he paid a visit to Germany, residing principally in Vienna, and 

 returned to England at the close of the year, better for his trip, yet not thoroughly 

 established in health. He was soon, however, at his easel again, as the records of the 

 following year's pictures show. 



In the British Institution (1842) appeared another of the pictures, which, by the 

 munificence of Mr. Sheepshanks, has become the property of the country, and is now 

 at South Kensington, — " Be it ever so humble, there's no place like Home," a work 

 rendered popular by the burin of the late B. P. Gibbon. A little rough terrier, the 

 tenant of a barrel that has been transformed into a kennel, returns to his humble home 

 after a temporary absence, only to find his dinner eaten up by some wandering 

 " snapper up of trifles," the platter broken, and a snail crawling over the fragments, 

 indicating the utter hopelessness of the hungry dog's position. It is difficult to 

 describe the expression of the poor animal's eyes, as with his head upraised, he seems 

 to be preparing a howl for the loss of his meal, though glad to get back again to 

 his old quarters. 



To the Academy he sent the same year seven pictures, one of which was called 

 " Otters and Salmon," subsequently engraved by J. R. Jackson. The scene is a view 

 of a broad, rocky river, such as every experienced angler would naturally assume to 

 be the haunt of salmon and trout. A large otter, painted life-size, has seized a fine 

 grilse, which he is about to devour on a diminutive islet midway in the rushing stream, 

 when he is interrupted, ere he begins his meal, by the appearance of another of his 

 species, desirous of sharing the dainty with him, and upon which he turns, still holding 

 the fish, with an emphatic menace as a caution against interference. The mouth of 

 the animal, and its ferocious, defiant expression, are the triumph of the picture ; 

 though both the otters and the fish are painted with such truth as to approach reality 

 as nearly as art can ever do. Another, " The Highland Shepherd's Home," passed 

 mto the possession of Mr. Sheepshanks : when this gentleman parted with it I do not 

 know, but it got into the hands of the late Mr. Bullock, at the sale of whose collection, 

 in 1870, by Messrs. Christie, it was bought by Messrs. Agnew for 1000 guineas. | 

 The subject is merely the room of a Highland cottage, in which a young husband and 

 his wife are watching with loving eyes their infant asleep in a rudely-constructed cradle. 

 The tranquil joy of the pair seems to be shared by the old sheep lying at the side of 

 a dog, and by a hen with her brood of chicks. It is a strange domestic scene for a 

 Southron to contemplate— the hut and its variety of occupants; yet it is a very 

 pleasant picture in itself, independently of the fidelity and carefulness with which it is 

 painted throughout. 



