THE 



BIG GAME OF CENTRAL 

 AND WESTERN CHINA 



CHAPTER I 



THE CALL OF THE RED GODS 



The love of stalking was born in me, and William 

 the Red ever stood for more than a date tagged to 

 a name. I stalked my little brother behind the 

 table — I must have been a horrid child, for once I 

 bit him in the arm ; I stalked the nurse ; later on 

 I stalked a thrush and killed it by a lucky throw. 

 That thrush cooked, moix Indico, over a fire in the 

 wood, feathered and uncleansed as it was, made 

 the most delicious meal for a hungry hunter I On 

 half-holidays I stalked the deer in Windsor Park 

 with a catapult. Once I was surprised, but dis- 

 arming suspicion by my mild " barnacled " and 

 singularly unstalkerlike demeanour, was remanded 

 with a caution. Still can 1 recall the awe with 

 which I regarded the small son of a noicveau riche 

 proletarian who was pointed out to me as having 

 killed a real live stag ! The years go by very 

 quickly in those halcyon days. We do not realise 

 it until later, and it seemed that a vast period of 



