NOTES.
37
this interesting family is thus more particularly described in the "East Anglian
Daily Times" for December 5th :—"Otters are again becoming plentiful in the
Stour, several having been seen during the last few weeks.1 On Saturday evening
Mr. F. Griffiths, jun., whilst waiting for plover-flight shooting on the marshes,
near Dedham Mill—met with a curious adventure. Attracted by the barking of
his spaniel dog 'Simon' at a large bed of rushes and bushes, he waded through
the flood to the spot, where the dog seized a fine young otter by its back. Mr.
Griffiths was taking the animal from the dog, which it bit, when a large bitch otter
rushed out and attacked the dog furiously, knocking it over, and releasing the
young one, which, on trying to gain the water, was shot by Mr. Griffiths. The
fight between the otter and the spaniel lasted several minutes, and was so closely
contested that it was impossible for some time to shoot the otter without killing
the dog, which was getting severly bitten. Ultimately, however, Mr. Griffiths
shot the otter in the shoulder, and it rolled into the rapidly running stream, and
was lost. Afterwards the dog found two more young ones which he killed." The
bare description of the above scene of sickening and useless destruction is more
eloquent than any words of ours could be to excite the disgust of all true naturalists
at such "sport." Alluding to some interesting correspondence on the subject of
over-preserving in East Anglia, Mr. Hugh Turner, of Ipswich, thus pertinently
writes to the "East Anglian Daily Times":—"As one who for years past has
protested against the destruction of our birds of prey for the sake of the over-
preservation of game for slaughter by the degenerating battue system, I have read
with interest your leaders, and some of the correspondence in your columns. I do
not intend to enter into the discussion, and should not have troubled you with
this, but you, this morning, record the wanton slaughter of a female otter and
three young ones at Dedham by Mr. F. Griffiths, jun. I presume those
'sportsmen !' who shoot at tame pheasants would consider the description given
of the butchery of a mother fighting in defence of her young as great sport. I
think many people will regret with me that something cannot be clone to prevent
this class of sportsmen from senselessly destroying the few of the rarer wild
animals left in the country." It is only right to add that, in a letter addressed to
Dr. Laver, Mr. Griffiths expresses regret at the slaughter of the family, and says
that he will certainly spare any otters he may meet with in the future. Would
that all "sportsmen" could thus be brought to see the error of their accustomed
ways.—Ed.]
Probable Underground Effects of the Earthquake of 1884.—Dr. E. W.
Bawtree writes thus to the "Essex Standard" of April 27th :—" The following
fact may be of interest to those of your readers who at the time of the earthquake
made it their business to obtain information respecting its effects. At 'Abberton
House,' on the north side of a high wall, and running in a direction parallel with
the wall west and east, is a sewer drain. During the past winter this drain became
obstructed, and it was recently opened with the view to removing the obstruction.
The drain was found to be formed by means of gumbricks laid face to face. The
stoppage was not confined to one particular spot, but had resulted from a
fracture of each of the upper layer of bricks in a long continuous but rough line
throughout the length of the drain. The lower row of bricks had suffered in the
same way, with the exception of some ten or twelve at the upper end. The drain
is 72 feet long, each brick being one foot in length. It was probably laid origin-
ally in the bottom of a ditch. It is three feet below the surface of the ground,
and is so situated that no heavy weight can have passed over any part of it. In
the absence of a better explanation, I attribute the breaking up of the drain to the
earthquake wave of 1884. So marked was the effect of the wave on the garden walls,
of which that alongside which the original drain runs forms one, that they were seen
to bend over as if nothing could prevent their falling. The upper row of broken
drain-bricks is laid out in position nearly on the spot, and is open to the inspection of
any of your readers, who may feel interest in the matter, by applying at 'Abberton
House' or at the gardener's cottage there."
1 It is stated that last winter no less than eight otters were killed in the Stour, and several
near Beccles in Suffolk, "while one was destroyed last January at or near Blaxhall, and the
death of another at Walberswick has since been recorded."—Ed.