THE FISHERIES OF THE FAR EAST 



A more characteristic and better -known system of 

 fishing among the Mongols is with the aid of cormorants. 

 Anyone who has ever taken the trouble to watch one of 

 these curious birds dive must see that they are capable 

 of being made splendid allies to the fisherman ; and the 

 Mongolian peoples have succeeded in taming and training 

 the creatures till they can be relied upon to fill their 

 master's bag in a very short space of time. Early in the 

 seventeenth century an attempt was made to introduce 

 cormorant-fishing into England as a sport, but it does 

 not seem to have met with much success. 



When the bird is quite young a ring, or a collar of 

 grass, is fastened round its neck, so tightly that, though 

 it can still breathe, it can only swallow a very small 

 article. A cord, or sometimes a pair of reins, is attached 

 to the collar and, with much coaxing or smacking, the 

 master sends the little one into the water. Ordinarily its 

 instinct will prompt it to dive and to seize in its bill as 

 large a fish as it can lift ; and as soon as it comes to the 

 surface it is smartly hauled in, informed that it is a good 

 bird, and made to deliver up its prey. As it progresses 

 in knowledge the cord is dispensed with; and the bird, 

 still tightly collared, has to learn to enter and leave the 

 water at a sign of the hand ; and when its education is 

 complete, the collar is sometimes removed as well, by 

 which time no well-bred cormorant would think of 

 swallowing a fish unless its master had given permission. 



The cormorant is usually started from a boat, or a 

 moored raft, a long, low-lying construction made of the 

 eternal bamboo, and propelled by one paddle. Each 



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