WILD GEESE. 115 



which rose and flew northwards. I was about to turn away, when I 

 noticed one goose leave the others and fly down to £he river about a 

 quarter of a mile away. 1 hurried to the spot, and sure enough there 

 was a fine goose lying dead with a hole right through its body. 



Once when two of us were out for a day's sport along the banks 

 of the Fen Ho we found that the geese were very wild. We could not 

 approach them, so we devoted our time to smaller game. At last we 

 turned our ponies' heads homewards, and were riding along, chatting 

 as we went, when suddenly a flock of geese rose on our right, and tried 

 to cross in front of us, as they flew towards the river. Noticing that 

 they were keeping low I set spurs to my pony and he bounded forward. 

 The geese saw me coming and tried to swerve away, but they were 

 too late, and, letting di^ive at them with both barrels, I knocked out 

 a couple. A little while later my friend successfully brought off a 

 beautiful long shot with his rifle. 



A little over a year ago (1909) I enjoyed an excellent day's sport 

 out on the Si-an Fu plain. The geese were particularly plentiful there. 

 I was alone, and had my rifle and shot gun with me. A cart had been 

 hired for the day, but I found the geese were quite easy to approach 

 without it. The wind was a bit troublesome and spoilt several rifle 

 shots, but I managed to bag five geese during the morning. At noon 

 they cleared off to the mud flats of the river so I devoted my attention 

 for a little while to some ducks. Later on a hare came in for a fatal 

 dose of shot, and was added to the bag; while the day's proceedings 

 wound up with a successful shot at a fifteen pound bustard. 



Number One Shot is the best to use for geese, while either a 12 or 

 16 bore gun can be used. The latter weapon sometimes does better 

 work than the former for it hits harder. I was out with a friend one 

 day, who carried a 16 bore shotgun, while I used a 12 bore. The geese 

 were rather shy, and we could not get very close. Nevertheless, my 

 friend never failed to bring down his bird out of each flock that we 

 stalked, while I had to be content with a few feathers. That I was not 

 missing was proved by the feathers that came floating down each time 

 I fired. It was simply that tlhe range was too great for my gun, but not 

 for the 16 bore. We were using the same make of cartridge. 



If a rifle is to be used, then one with a fairly heavy bore should 

 be chosen. A high velocity rifle is too dangerous to use on the plains 

 of North China, as one can never be sure where the ball will fetch up. 

 One may find oneself in trouble for having let daylight through a native 

 or his cow. A small, .light bore rifle will not easily kill a goose. 

 The finest spot that 1 know of in North China is undoubtedly the valley 



