Fish CuUurists' Association. 35 



Yang-tse, carrying with it an immense amount of eartliy deposit. In 

 fact, islands are formed and new shoals are discoAered every year, 

 necessitating constant surveys of the channel. 



I should call the Yang-tse-Kiang not only the great shad river, but 

 the great fish river of the globe ; so vast and of such majestic propor- 

 tions, that the Chinese familiarlj- and poeticall}' speak of it as the "Child 

 of the Ocean." I have explored it in my little j^acht, the " Fanstine, 

 about 1,000 miles from its mouth. 



I believe Prof. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institute, and the United 

 States Fish Commissioner, has in view the stocking of the Mississippi 

 with shad ; but the question has arisen. Will the shad ascend the river to 

 any great distance, in view of the ver}^ n:uddy character of the water? 

 I reply that the Yang-tse-Kiang is ver}' muddy, the color of thick pea 

 soup, yet the samli (shad) we found there in great numbers. They are 

 of superior flavor, of great size, are held in great favor by both rich and 

 poor, and are sent from the river to all parts of the vast empire in large 

 vessels, made of earthenware, called cangs. The Chinese have a very 

 ancient custom of sending the first large shad of the season to the 

 Emperor at Peking, and the custom requires that the Emperor should 

 send the lucky fellow a hundred taels of sycee (silver), about $150 gold. 



The people of China hold in great reverence anj-thing in the way of 

 fish, flesh or fowl, which contributes largel}' to their support, and they 

 ascribe especial virtues to the medicinal properties of the oil of the shad, 

 considering it almost a specific for affections of the air passages, and 

 in its early stages, a positive cure even for consumption. 



I will remark here that agriculture is looked upon in China as a most 

 exalted calling. Once a year the Emperor visits the Temple of Agri- 

 culture, at Peking, a building on a stupendous scale, takes a golden 

 plough and makes a long furrow. This old custom is intended to convey 

 to the minds of all the people the idea that the tilling of the soil is a 

 pursuit fit for an Emperor. Next to agriculture, my researches show 

 they place pisciculture. Thej' give it this place because the proper stud}' 

 of it, the constant stocking of the lakes, the rivers and streams with 

 fish, supplies the vast population — estimated by many geographers at 

 500,000,000 of souls — with an abundance of healthy food, keeps them 

 contented with their lot, and therefore prolongs their lives and theii- 

 spheres of usefulness. I have had the samli served on my table nearly 

 1,000 miles from the Pacific Ocean, while sailing on this great river. 

 This, I believe, will be considered an important fact, as showing the 

 probability of stocking our great rivers at long distances from the sea. 



The dense population of the empire has stimulated ingenuity to the 

 highest degree, and it is fair to assume that, with a continuous 



