The late Rev. John Russell,
who, it will be admitted, was a true sportsman, walked three thousand
miles to see an otter. That was a different spirit, was it not?
That is the spirit in which the otter in the Thames should be regarded.
Those who offer money rewards for killing Thames otters ought to be
looked on as those who would offer rewards for poisoning foxes in
Leicestershire, I suppose we shall not see the ospreys again; but I
should like to. Again, on the other side of the boundary, in the tidal
waters, the same sort of ravenous destruction is carried on against
everything that ventures up. A short time ago a porpoise came up to
Mortlake; now, just think, a porpoise up from the great sea--that sea to
which Londoners rush with such joy--past Gravesend, past Greenwich, past
the Tower, under London Bridge, past Westminster and the Houses of
Parliament, right up to Mortlake. It is really a wonderful thing that a
denizen of the sea, so large and interesting as a porpoise, should come
right through the vast City of London. In an aquarium, people would go to
see it and admire it, and take their children to see it. What happened?
Some one hastened out in a boat, armed with a gun or a rifle, and
occupied himself with shooting at it.
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