198 The best breed of water-dog. Chapt. xv. 



"idea that man should hunt on land with the aid of a 

 , "land-dog, and in the water with the aid of a 'water-dog' 

 "{n\r nhi). Still, hunting with dogs is a very different 

 "thing from letting them hunt for themselves and by 

 "themselves, and I suspend my judgment on the advant- 

 age thereof till converted by your correspondent. The 

 "way the otter has of taking a bite or two out of a fish 

 "and then leaving it to catch a fresh one, and thus des- 

 "troying many more fish than he needs to devour, though 

 "against him in a wild state, is certainly a peculiarity 

 "to be taken advantage of in a domesticated one, for a 

 "mere snack should suffice him, and he be game to hunt 

 "again at once. All the heads might very well be spared 

 "to the otter if the rest can be kept by his master. Peo- 

 "ple in England can have little idea of the extraordinary 

 "numbers in which frogs are seen, and heard too, for 

 "they are tremendous hands at a chorus at seasons, in 

 "certain parts of India; and this, too, though they would 

 "seem to have enough of enemies to make their life a 

 "burden to them. Jackals, foxes, snakes, mongooses, 

 "kites, and crows, all go in for frog; and the murrel 

 "(Ophiocephalus), a pike-like fish, is a very Johnny Cra- 

 "paud for frogs, living almost entirely on them, and»re- 

 "siding for the purpose close under the bank, waiting 

 "till froggy shall be driven off the land by the said jac- 

 "kals, foxes, snakes, mongooses, kites, crows, etc.; and 

 "if froggy despairs of existence near the river, gives 

 "it up as a bad job, and migrates to the paddy fields, 

 "he finds a host of paddy-birds, storks, and cranes of 



