172 I'TcOGS, TOADS AND SOME FRESH-WATEE FISH. 



vertebrates, namely the fishes, though here again, especially in the 

 interior, the dryness of the climate and the extremes of heat and .-;old 

 have severely handicapped certain forms in the struggle for existence. 



North China is very far indeed from being an angler's paradise, 

 in fact it is doubtful if any Europeans out here go in for* angling to any 

 extent. There is one ardent discii)le of Walton, who spends some of 

 his Saturday afternoons fly fishing on the ponds and canals round the 

 Tientsin Race Course, and he tells me he often has good sport. 

 Another gentleman of similar tastes ordered out expensive sets of rods» 



