THE OTTER-HOUND. 



7i 



owing also to the Master's selection of the best swimmers. A 

 round cat-like foot is not here the desideratum, since the work is 

 chiefly in the water, hut an open one with plenty of web, spreading, 

 when on the ground, in a way which would horrify the huntsman 

 of the Quorn or the Pytchly. In all other respects the otter-hound 





" Bellman," an Otter-Hound ; Pedigree unknown. 



is, like the Welsh harrier, a true descendant of the old Southern 

 hound, and, like him, he dwells on a scent with the greatest gusto. 

 In temper, also, he is very irritable, having so strong a tendency 

 to fight in kennel, that, like the Kilkenny cats, there is some- 

 times only a tail or two left in the morning when the feeder 

 enters the kennel. In sober truth, I have known six and a half 

 couples found dead or dying after a night's fighting, and with 

 wounds of a most savage description, evidently made with malice 



