46 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
every time the otter breaches (generally about every 
six or seven seconds). A movement of the lever, 
and the old empty shell is thrown out and a new 
one in. Sometimes, in chasing a breaching otter, so 
many and so rapidly are the shots fired that the 
barrel of the rifle becomes too hot to be touched 
with the naked hand. When this happens, the soft 
lead bullets strip or slither, and naturally the shoot¬ 
ing becomes very inaccurate. Sooner or later, how¬ 
ever, the otter is turned back. This is known the 
moment the regular breaches cease, and a signal is 
made to the boats following, which stop, whilst the 
pursuing boat still goes on for some distance beyond 
where the otter last appeared. 
The most difficult breaching otter to kill is one 
three parts grown. He will keep fairly close to the 
boat, and will breach in every possible direction but 
the one expected, so that your rifle is never on him, 
and his jumps are so short that there is no time to 
swing and snapshoot him. This is dreadfully trying 
to the temper, as he appears so easy to secure, and 
yet is so difficult, sometimes costing more time and 
ammunition than two or three big ones. I have 
known an otter 44 run ” for four hours before he was 
secured, during which time about 400 shots were 
fired; and though this was quite exceptional, I have 
personally had a three hours’ chase after one, with 
an expenditure of about 300 shots. Taking it 
altogether, about an hour would be a fair average to 
allow for the capture of an otter, with an expendi¬ 
ture of forty or fifty rounds of ammunition. It is 
the 44 breaching ” otters that take the greatest 
number of shots. In the early days, before they 
became 44 educated,” it was much easier to secure 
