i6 WITH BOAT AND GUN IN T^E YANGTZE VALLEY. 



to return to Pejow, and then shape due North, 54 //. Kintang has always enjoyed a great 

 reputation as a sure find for the sportsman, and it is even now one of the most popular of 

 shooting districts. The walled City of Kintang is bounded on the South-East side by a 

 pretty lake and a great grass plain ; on the North by large swamps ; and on the North- West 

 to South- West by tracts of broken ground, with plenty of copses, some of them of great 

 size, and lagoons and ponds in any number — a perfect haven of safety for game of every 

 description. The best shooting is to be had to the South-East and North-West of the city. A 

 nice trip in this neighbourhood is to Mowsan, some 60 // distant, a cluster of rather high hills, 

 a good landmark from a long distance. There is fair shooting all the way up the Mowsan 

 Creek from where it enters the Kintang Creek. The best known place on this waterway is 

 Shilijow (JftM'f^), at the junction of the Mowsan (^ 111) and Poee Creeks. Turning in 

 Westwards towards the hills is a fine lay of country on the left hand, requiring at least 

 four days for a conscientious workman. Poee is about 20 // North- West of Shilijow, and 

 very good sport is to be had on the right bank, but penetration into the country Northward 

 is stopped by shallow water and enormous woodlands. 



Returning to Kintang, and quitting it at the North gate, a journey of 47 // brings one 

 to Tayinjow. Here you may make a Northern cast up what is called the Tanyang Creek. 

 There is good shooting on both banks, but it is not worth while going far up this creek, as 

 it early passes through little else but paddy-fields, which in winter time are too bare to 

 afford shelter or food for any kind of game. Tayinjow (p^ ^ :|^), Tasijow i":^ ® ^), and 

 Changzu C^ ^), on the main creek, are all capital shooting places in the early season, but, 

 after the 15th December, the natives begin to burn the grass covering the graves and their 

 surroundings, and trim their fields so finely that it is very difficult, except on a very hot 

 day, to get near pheasants at all ; and the same denuding of the country renders improbable 

 any successful stalk of teal. But considering the traffic that goes on in all these creeks it 

 is surprising how tame fowl are, especially after a sharp night's frost. 



THE GRAND CANAL: CHINKIANG TO SOOCHOW. 

 The nature of the shooting in the Chinkiang district has been so well described in 

 the "Notes " on that place, that it will not be necessary to touch on the Grand Canal shooting 

 before coming South to Tanyang {fi 1^), which is 536 // North-West from Shanghai. 

 This walled city lies at the apex of the Creek bearing its name and the Grand Canal. A 

 small shallow lake lies at the South- West of the city, which is covered with wildfowl in 

 hard weather. The surrounding fields are a favourite feeding ground for geese. Coverts may 

 be seen here and there, but it is a weary trudge over hard, bare fields to get from one holding 

 to the other. It is a great cattle-feeding place and largely supplies the Shanghai market. 



LiNKOW (^ P). "Clear Pass." 



Linkow, 10 // South-East, was once one of the very best places on the Canal for a 

 mixed bag but now is seldom visited. The aspect of the country is very similar to the 

 Tanyang surroundings. In a diary written five and thirty years ago, when 48 brace of 

 pheasants were shot here in two days by one gun occurs the remark, " The cover was not 

 good, while the quantity of land under new cultivation was remarkable." What would 

 the writer of those words say to-day ? Still, pheasants do " affect " the place, although 

 they are very hard to circumvent. 



