BIG GAME 125 



temples, is a vice-regal title of the ancient 

 and illustrious Chao-t'o. Another fact is 

 that from the 9th to the 15th., both inclu- 

 sive, of the first Moon, it is customary for 

 5'oung- men of good families to go about 

 town with a flexible image of a lion, made of 

 a bamboo frame work covered with orange 

 colored silk or cotton cloth, and worked by- 

 three or more men, one of whom is dressed 

 and shaved like a Buddhist Priest and puts 

 his bald pate into the lion's mouth. In 

 western China this annual performance is 

 called Shua Shih-tzu, perform with the lion, 

 a fact which might indicate that performing 

 lions were brought to China by Buddhist 

 priests from some of the neighboring coun- 

 tries, Annam, Burmah, India or Siam. 



During his first campaign in Kwei- 

 chow, 1867-74, General Mesney learned 

 that a large and ferocious animal called by 

 the natives Ma-hswing, house bear, was 

 occasionally met with by lion hunters, but 

 as often given a wide margin, and allowed to 

 roam about at its own will. This animal was 

 described as larger than the largest size bear 

 and with a mane like that of a horse, brown 

 as an ox and ferocious as a panther ; its roar 

 could be heard miles away and all other 



