The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-09 00:00:00

OTTER HUNTING.

Not one of the numerous field sports of Great
Britain has fallen into more general decay and dis-
repute than that of otter-hunting. Yet the sport
existed in great popularity in very early times, and
he pursuit of the animal was an attraction as much
on account of the excitement it afforded as for the
prize the otter offered to the pursuer from the value
of its fur. The beaver •tribe, too, though by no
means so common, was hunted on a similar account ;
but the scarcity of this race appears to have been
remarkable from an even earlier period, and these
animals could never in consequence have been
popular among primitive sportsmen.
Of the beaver Mr. Daniels says—" The latest ac-
count of the beaver is A.D. 1188, at which timeit was
only to be found at the river Teivi ; but it is pre-
sumed beavers were very scarce in much earlier periods
as by the laws of Howel Dha, about the year 942,
the price of a beaver's skin was fixed at 120 pence,
in those days a very large sum." The annually de-
creasing number of otter-hunters is, however, at-
tributable to other causes. And this appears all the
more extraordinary when the excitement and inte-
rest that attach to the sport, are duly considered.
Commencing, too, as it does, at the end of the legi-
timate hunting season, one would have imagined
that it might have acquired universal popularity, as
bridging over the dulness of the time that intervenes
between the close and re-opening of the fox and
hare-hunting campaign.

But, on the contrary, into so great decay has it
been suffered to fall as a generally recognised branch
of sport, that the old original otterhound has grown
or is growing gradually extinct. Of the scarcity of
the breed of the otter itself, no doubt can exist ; and
it is a fact that many of the younger sportsmen of the
present day, have never seen one except as a stuffed
specimen in a preserver's shop window. How dif-
ferent from former times when the ardent admirers
of otter-hunting donned a regular and fitting cos-
tume, and sallied forth upon their favourite diver-
sion. 4, The otter-hunter's vest or green dress was
either bordered or turned up with red. A cap of
fur, with a gold band was worn, and by a few it was
surmounted with a small dyed ostrich feather.
Waterproof boots, which reached to the fork, were
then frequent and are still used, but were then
graced by the exquisites of that day with gold or red
tassels. Occasionally a whole village, or even town-
ship united, with weapon in hand of every kind.
Dogs of every variety were also employed, and the
whole rather resembled a conspiracy than a hunt."
Such was the ancient order of things, when the
sport was at the zenith of its popularity. It can
scarcely be urged that the true reason of the de-
crease of the otter tribe has arisen from the fact
that his voracity, and destruction of fish have led to
his well nigh extinction. The sport, wherever we
have witnessed it, has had its promptings from no
such considerations, and it has for the most part

been in localities, where the preservation of fish has
_ _

been of the most utter importance. In Devonshire
and Cornwall the sport is pursued with considerable
vigour; and during the past season, Mr. Trelawny
has had some capital days on the rivers that inters-
sperse his country. In the neighbourhood of Ply-
mouth especially, and on the "SylvanPlyin" has the
sport been on several occasions excellent ; so much
so, indeed, that it presents a favourable contrast to
the qualified success that has attended the fox-
hunting campaign.
Mr. Newton, of Bridestowe, is another enthusi-
astic otter-hunter, and his performances with the
" long pole" over Dartmoor have often caused
de-
light to all who have been sufficiently interested to

rise at cock-crow, and follow him throughout the
day. Certainly the object in these excursions has
not exactly been the destruction of the extirpator
of fish.

The Cornish rivers, and indeed most of the De-
vonshire ones, have become of late years so impreg-
nated with matter destructive to animal, and too
often also to vegetable life, that the otter has been
compelled to seek " fresh fields and pastures new."
In Cornwall the very best river in former times, in
the whole country for trout, and therefore for otter-
hunting, has, from the increase of mines in the dis-
trict, been utterly ruined for all purposes of sport.
The copper mines are the real enemies, for they
contribute the destructive matter ; but the tin and
silver mines are not entirely blameless ; for by their
deposit, although harmless in itself, they cause the
overflowing of the obnoxious matter, and the conse-
quence is that not only are the fish utterly annihi-
lated, but the vegetation all around the bank of a
meandering stream destroyed. The Seaton river,
which is one of the most circuitous in the county of
Cornwall, and was once distinguished for its mul-
titudes of trout, and certainly as a " find" for an
otter, affords an exemplification of this fact. After
receiving the " washings," or rather " dressings" of
the great Caradon copper mines, and consequently
becoming poisoned with the horrid mundic and re-
fuse, she has now to carry with her to the sea the
additional cargo of the lead and silver mines
" washings" of Menheniot.
A more wretched or miserable looking vale can
scarcely be imagined than this, as far as the course
of the river is concerned ; and it looks verily as if an
army of Turks had devastated the plain, and verified
the old Eastern boast that " the grass never grows
where the Turk has once trod." This used to be
one of the very best meets, and so lovely was the
vale, and the scenery on either side, that the con-
templation of its beauty was almost of itself suffi-
cient compensation when sport was bad. One can
hardly fail to be reminded here of the peculiar ap-
propriateness of Bryant's lines (a translation by the
way from the German)—

"Stay, rivulet, nor haste to leave,
The lovely vale that lies around thee;
Why would'st thou be a sea at eve,

When but a fount the morning found thee 2"

In the north of Devon the preservation of fish is
of vastly more importance, and is observed with much
more vigour. The dogs for the most part used now-
a-days are used-up foxhounds, who in their old
years take to otter-hunting with surprising alacrity
and gusto; but the appearance of the in-and-in bred
old-fashioned otter-hound is veryrare. The mephitic
nature of the otter is doubtless a great inducement to
the old foxhound (when in due time he has learnt
that his business is future is not on " land and
water" as before, but mainly and almost entirely in
the latter element), to take so readily to the new sport.
The scent of the otter is unquestionably more
powerful than that of the fox, and the manner in
which hounds will wind him from afar is extraor-
dinary.
In the North, and especially in Cumberland, is the
sport still followed with much eagerness; and here
we find the old otter-hound race yet in tolerable
force. It was only lately, at the Waterloo Coursing
Meeting, that an enthusiastic sportsman, who has
in his time enjoyed almost every class of sport, and
who now keeps a pack of genuine otter-hounds in
the North, assured us that he had experienced no
such excitement in any other branch of sport. Of
the method of pursuit, and of some good days in
this time-honoured British sport, both past and to
come, we shall trust to give, as occasion may offer
and space permit, short accounts. We feel per-
suaded that many a gentleman, now falling into the
" sere and yellow leaf," will be delighted to hear
and to read particulars of that sport in which they,
in their more youthful dap, so much delighted, and
to the ardent pursuit of which they have to attribute
certain admonitory twinges. Sic transit gloria
undi.nz—Land and TVater.

COUNTRY MARKETS.