HOW I HUNTED THE SEA-OTTER 45 
then only make short ones until the end. Some¬ 
times when an otter succeeds in getting outside the 
boats he will take to 44 breaching/ 5 like a salmon or 
a fur-seal, jumping clear of the water, and going 
straight away at a great pace, getting his breath as 
he breaches. It is then the duty of the nearest boat 
to follow directly in his wake. The other two boats 
drop into place on each quarter astern, as before 
described, until the otter is turned back, and again 
comes up within the triangle formed by the boats. 
This he is sure to do when he finds himself being 
overtaken, or when he is struck by a bullet, or it 
strikes so near as to scare him. Occasionally, how¬ 
ever, he is too fast for the boats, and gets away. 
Sometimes this is owing to the men being tired out, 
and sometimes to the otter resorting to this dodge 
as soon as a breeze springs up, when he goes straight 
in the wind’s eye. 
When in pursuit of a breaching otter, not more 
than 100 yards or so ahead of the boat, the hunter 
shoots at him the moment he sees him break water, 
keeping his rifle to his shoulder all the time. Should 
he be several hundred yards in front of the boat, it 
is necessary for the hunter to fire before he sees the 
otter breach, or the bullet would not reach him 
before he again got under water. I have killed 
many otters in this way. It is easier than it ap¬ 
pears, for a full-grown animal will breach as regu¬ 
larly as a clock ticks, and will invariably go right 
away in a straight line. The boat-steerer keeps the 
boat straight in the wake of the fleeing otter, the 
boat-pullers rowing for all they are worth to try to 
gain on him. The hunter stands in the bow of his 
boat, with his Winchester to his shoulder, and fires 
