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CHAPTER VI. 



WILD-FOWL SHOOTING OUTSIDE WOOSUNG. 



By Duncan Glass, Ex-Commodore, S.Y.C. 



'T^HE following notes are confined simply to the district mentioned, and are not intended 

 as a general sketch of the sport over the wide expanse of the lower Yangtze. 



Intersected as it is by numerous canals, and containing thousands of shallow lakes, 

 from the great Tahu, fifty miles long, to the smallest irrigation pond, the estuary of the 

 Yangtze forms a paradise for the wild-fowl driven from their breeding grounds by the 

 severity of the northern winter. Amongst the ordinary visitors are the wild-swan, Bewick's 

 swan, the greylag, bean and lesser white-fronted geese (of which the two latter are the more 

 numerous), while on the banks around the great alluvial deposit forming the island of 

 Tsungming, in addition to the above, may be found large flocks of big geese ycleped 

 swan-geese (A/tser cygnoides), supposed to rank as the ancestral stock of the indigenous farm- 

 yard goose of the country. Curlews and whimbrel not infrequently fall victims to the gun ; 

 and, in addition to the above, mallard, widgeon, teal and the usual assortment of wild- 

 ducks may be seen in millions. Woodcocks are frequently to be met with on the island ; 

 as also are winter snipes. The great autumn snipe has departed before our wild-fowl trips 

 begin. Sea birds and crows are plentiful enough, but we leave them severely alone. 



Starting from Shanghai on a short excursion we proceed down the River Whangpoo 

 to its junction with the Yangtze at the Woosung Spit Buoy ("Red Buoy"), 141 nautical 

 miles from our start, and our field of operations is before us. In the distance Tsungming 

 Island; nearer. Bush Island, Small Island, Block House Island, and House Island, all of 

 recent formation — in fact, 20 miles of shoals, swamps, and reeds {see Admiralty Chart No. 

 1602). The island of Tsungming first, from its greater extent, deserves our attention ; and 

 here I may insert a short extract from Du Halde's Description de VEmpire de la Chine, which, 

 although written some 180 years ago, gives a very fair account of its present condition : — 



"The island of T'sungming (^ 8^), belonging to the province of Kiangnan, is 

 separated from the mainland on the west by an arm of the sea some five or six leagues 

 across. It is said to have been formed by degrees of soil eroded from the banks of the 

 upper river. Besides the title of T'sungming, it is commonly known as Kiangshe, i.e., river's 

 tongue [^ ^), either from its shape being rather longer than its breadth, or from being 

 placed directly in the mouth of the river. 



" Anciently it was a country, desert and sandy, overrun with reeds, and the refuge of 

 thieves and malefactors hunted from the rest of empire. The first arrivals found themselves 

 under the necessity either of starving or gaining their food from the products of the soil. 

 Necessity rendered them industrious ; they cleared the uncultivated land, and freed it of its 



