Chapt. xv. Otters following scent under water. 201 



"ponds; but as no animal is more easily affronted and 

 "driven away, is it not more sportsmanlike to hunt them 

 "on such occasions either with otter-hounds or a few old 

 "fox-hounds and terriers, than to shoot and trap them? 

 "It is quite a mistake to imagine that these animals are 

 "ever numerous*; excepting at certain seasons they lead 

 "a very solitary life, and being always on the move, if 

 "they do harm, it is so distributed as to be imperceptible. 

 "Mr. Thomas tells us. that in India they are called water- 

 "dogs, and so they are in Ireland. I think Mr. T. should 

 "advocate utilizing these animals, by pointing out to the 

 "Madras Government that they are used in India for both 

 "catching fish themselves and driving them into nets. 

 "Surely this would be far better than exterminating the 

 "poor things, and a commission might be sent to examine 

 "into the matter. I have often heard of otters being used 

 "in some of the Indian rivers, but one authority will suf- 

 "fice, viz: Bishop Heber's 'Indian Journal' (vide Part I., 

 "page 81 of Murray's Colonial and Home Library). Some 

 "years ago, when I found that otters had the power of 

 "scenting under water, I used to amuse myself by sink- 

 "ing a fish on a string with a bullet, and, after dragging 

 "it some distance, I hid it under a stone, then I turned in 

 "the otter, which soon hit off the scent, and dived beauti- 

 fully up to the spot and brought up the fish. Then I 



* This may be true in England where they are kept down by game- 

 keepers and otter-hounds, but in India they are frequently seen hunting 

 in company five or six together. See Jerdon's remarks below on this 

 head. 



26 



