February 18, 1893] THE FISHING GAZETTE 
113 
panying “ Ballade,” with hia kind permission to 
hand it on to the Fishing Gazette. It is apropos 
of the subject, especially as the author is none 
other than our “ West Country Rector.” His 
entertaining description will illuminate this prosy 
letter.—From yours right truly, 0. E. Fky. 
FROM SUTHERLAND. 
A PARTY of fishers from London we came 
To a loch with a most unpronounceable name. 
For no Saxon could venture to fetter with rhyme 
That confusion of consonants, wildly sublime ; 
And of natives who know the locality well. 
There are few who can speak it, scarce one that can 
spell. 
The ghillies appeared, a bewildering crew, 
The men were so many, the names were so few ; 
For all of a sudden the house seemed alive 
With McKenzies in parties of four and of five, 
Of McKays and McLeays and McCraes there were 
plenty. 
And of Johnny McLeods I should think there were 
twenty. 
Two at last were selected our steps to attend 
As guide and instructor, companion and friend, 
There was Davie, well versed in each fisherman’s wile, 
And Hugh with the mildly ironical smile ; 
So with rods, hooks, and reels, and with portable tent. 
O’er the moor to our wild destination we went. 
THE OTTER. 
By K. O. H. 
By “ the otter ” we meau, not that contrivance 
for taking fish now tabooed as illegal, hut the 
pretty and useful animal which the present gene¬ 
ration of anglers seems determined to exterminate 
from the list of British fauna. Week by week, 
at all seasons of the year, readers of the Fishing 
Gazette are informed that somewhere or other an 
otter has been shot, or trapped, or otherwise done 
to death, as though the deed were one over which 
we should rejoice. How few there are who seem 
to know anything of the otter—its habits and 
uses. This is not altogether to be wondered at, 
for the animal loves not the haunts of men, pre¬ 
fers darkness rather than light, is shy, and hur¬ 
riedly disappears if disturbed in the day-time. It 
is, however, one of the most interesting—as it is 
the largest—of our remaining wild animals. The 
otter is still found, though in decreasing num¬ 
bers, in nearly every part of Great Britain and 
Ireland; and we would say a word in its behalf, 
for with its extinction an irreparable mischief 
would be done to our rivers, our lakes and tarns, 
and to the tens of thousands of anglers who de¬ 
record that an otter was killed in England some 
years ago of over 401b. in weight. This, how¬ 
ever, is an abnormal growth, and one rarely 
indeed attained. In form and structure, the 
otter shows the wonderful ways of Nature in 
adapting its creatures to their place in its 
economy. The formation of the head, with the 
peculiar location of the eyes, the glossy, double- 
coated fur, the webbed foot, and rudder-like tail, 
all being consistent with its semi-aquatic habits 
and modes of sustaining life. 
Of all creatures animate, this is, without doubt, 
the most animated. Pen cannot describe, nor 
words portray the wonderful grace of its 
motions—the silent, shadow-like dive into a 
running stream or standing pool, unaccompanied 
by the slightest ripple of the water’s surface ; the 
rapid glidings from bank to bank; its frolicsome 
gambols while in play, summersaulting and 
twisting, rolling and rollicking as if in very 
wantonness. It has not fallen to the lot of many 
to observe the otter in his sportive moments, as 
has been the fortune of the present writer, but 
Kingsley must have enjoyed a similar privilege, 
or he could never have written, as he does in 
“ Water Babies,” the following description of a 
spectacle witnessed by Tom :—“A great ball, roll- 
THE RIVER OYKELL, JUST 
(A careful search about the centre of the 
an angler and his friend at work ) 
We tried it with minnow, we tried it with spoon. 
By the glare of the sun, and the gleam of the moon. 
We tried it with casting, and threw every fly 
As light as a feather, as true as a die, 
We tried what the bright Alexandra would do. 
The red Hecham-Pecham, and swarthy Zulu; 
But try as we would, whether feather or fur. 
Not a fish could we move, not a fin could we stir ; 
Nor Claret-and-Mallard, nor Crimson-and-Teal 
Awakened the musical screech of the reel; 
So at last, when long day and short twilight were 
gone 
And the second day’s evening came drearily on. 
Despairing, and empty in stomach and creel. 
We crept back to the inn for a comforting meal. 
Now all yon who read this deplorable tale, 
And dream of entrapping some mythical whale. 
If you find out our fishing (I don’t think you will. 
For the name of the loch is a mystery still). 
But if you should find and are anxious to try. 
Allow me to mention my favourite fly. 
Take the wing of a phoenix, the far of a whale, 
And three hairs from the tip of a crocodile’s tail. 
Take an antelope’s hackles (the crimson are best), 
And some wool from the green cocky-olly-bird’s breast. 
Rib it round with a strip from an elephant’s quill. 
And if that doesn’t catch them—I don’t know what 
will I 
ABOVE OYKELL BRIDGE, 
picture will show 
rive pleasure and profit upon their banks. The 
otter is one of the fisherman’s best friends ; and 
reckless as some may think this assertion, we re¬ 
peat it, and have reason for so doing. Whilst we 
write we have in our mind a little river in our 
own neighbourhood, than which, for its size, there 
is not a better in the kingdom as a trout stream; 
and yet this river, figuratively speaking, actually 
swarms with otters. Depend upon it, the otter 
lends respectability to a river, for where he is 
found, there will the fish be found also. Perhaps 
his presence may not be desirable in the rearing- 
pond ; but were we on the look out for fresh fish¬ 
ing ground, the known haunt of the “ water-dog ” 
would decidedly have preference over a stream 
which knew him not. 
The length of a full-grown male otter {lutra 
vulgaris) is about four feet, the female being, as 
a rule, somewhat less. It is a more difficult 
matter to fix the weight of an animal, so much 
depends on circumstances. Perhaps 251b. may 
be taken as a fair average weight for the mature 
dog otter, and five or six pounds less for the 
female ; but the writer has seen many specimens 
ranging from 251b. up to 341b., and it is on 
ing over and over down the stream, seeming one 
moment of soft brown fur, and the next of shining 
glass. And yet it was not a ball; for sometimes 
it broke up and streamed away in pieces, and 
then it joined again. The ball turned out 
to be four or five beautiful creatures, who were 
swimming about, and rolling, and diving, and 
twisting, and wrestling, and cuddling, and kiss¬ 
ing, and biting, and scratching, in the most 
charming fashion that ever was seen. . . . Otters 
at play in the water are the merriest, lithest, 
gracefulest creatures you ever saw.” 
Notwithstanding the evil character given this 
animal as a river poacher, we have every reason 
for knowing that fish forms only one course, and 
that not always a considerable one, of its daily 
meals. The young of waterhens, coots, and other 
birds breeding by the waterside, and at times 
rabbits, and even large worms, are common 
changes in the otter’s diet; while frogs, eels, and 
the crustaceous crayfish are probably thought as 
great a dainty as the brightest of silvery salmon. 
These facts are easily proved by an examination 
of the animal’s “ foil ” ; while we have over and 
over again had ocular demonstration of the 
