CHAPTER IV. 



BIG GAME. 



If the shooter is fond of hunting big- game 

 he can enjoy the sport in China, but not in 

 the sense it may be enjoyed in Africa or 

 India. There are various kinds of wild 

 animals in China and they mostly abound 

 in the western section of the Empire. 

 Their principal haunts are in the province 

 of Kwei-chow, and the neighbouring 

 provinces of Hunan, Kuang-si, Yunnan 

 and Szechu'an. In Kuang-tung, Chekiang 

 and Fukien the shooter, if he looks closely, 

 will probably find a tiger or a bear, and if 

 he goes to either of the three provinces of 

 which Manchuria is composed he will 

 doubtless see more big game than elsewhere 

 in the Chinese Empire. But it is likely 

 that the greatest variety and the largest 

 number of wild animals abound in Kwei- 

 chow than in any of the eighteen provinces 

 of China proper, the three Manchurian 

 provinces not being included, for there the 

 mountains are well wooded and the fertile 

 valleys support the domestic animals on 

 which they love to feed ; and the towns and 



