SPORT IN WESTERN CHINA 139 



employ methods peculiarly their own, and the following 

 account, by a Chinese sportsman, is taken from that interest- 

 ing book by H. T. Wade, With Boat and Gun in the Yangtsze 

 Valley, pp. 139-41 : — 



" Catching Wild Ducks. — At the close of a cold December, 

 some 7 miles from the walled city of Kintang, near a large 

 pond, I saw a man beckoning to me, and as I approached he 

 asked me not to shoot the ducks in the pond. He explained 

 that his friend was in the water ; so I waited to see what would 

 happen. After some time his friend landed, wearing a large 

 bamboo collar or cangue, and carrying a basket containing a 

 few wild and three tame ducks secured together by a string. 

 He was dressed in goat-skin, with the wool inside ; his stock- 

 ings were stitched to the clothing, and so oiled as to be nearly 

 waterproof. Thus accoutred, he immersed his body, using 

 the cangue as a float. On his hat were placed bunches of grass, 

 and on the cangue two or three decoy-ducks. He slowly 

 approached the wild-fowl, and when near enough dexterously 

 caught the unsuspecting duck by the leg, and dragged it under 

 water. I watched him until he had gathered nearly the whole 

 lot." 



" Shooting Wild Ducks. — Probably no man in the world 

 but the Chinese fowler would enter the water up to his neck, 

 in the coldest weather, to shoot ducks. His modus operandi 

 is like this : a light wooden frame or a small punt supports 

 his gingal. The fowler lets the frame with its freight float in 

 front of him, while he, following, is concealed from view by 

 bunches of grass and weeds stuck into his hat. As soon as 

 within range, which is invariably a very short one, he fires 

 into ' the brown ' a heavy charge of iron shot. He never fires 

 at two or three fowls, as his shot costs money. He bides his 

 time, and then fires into the brown." 



" Catching Geese. — A common method is to lay down a 

 long line, to which is attached a number of thin bamboo slips, 

 bent double, and the two ends of the bamboo inserted in a 

 bean. This bait is laid on a regular feeding ground, and the 

 hungry goose swallows it greedily, with the result that the act 

 of swallowing liberates the bent bamboo, which, resuming its 

 original shape, chokes the bird." 



