112 WITH BOAT AND GUN IN THE YANGTZE VALLEY. 



cooking utensils and suitable supply of tinned provisions, etc., will render the voyagers 

 independent of the luxury of a cook. 



For up-country work in the creeks the 2I rater cannot, of course, compete with the 

 regular houseboat, but for short shooting trips on the river it has the great advantage of 

 being able, if there is any breeze, to travel much faster, and it can get home against a 

 strong head wind when the houseboat would have to remain weather-bound in a creek. 



In the neighbourhood of Shanghai, however, the sport for which the 2I rater is, 

 perhaps, best adapted is wild-fowl shooting at the mouth of the Whangpoo, or over at Bush 

 Island, some three or four miles N.-E. of Woosung. 



The 2. J rating class is as yet in its infancy : when its numerous charms become better 

 recognised there will, with little doubt, be a considerable increase in the number of 

 the fleet. 



As regards cost, the following approximate figures may be taken as a guide : — 



For a home-designed 2I rater, built in Shanghai,! ^j ^j 



with home-made sails J , v/v/ v^/ x^o. i,^v/vy 



For an amateur local design, built in Shanghai,! 

 with locally-made sails / " 



For a local design, with home-made sails „ 



The current monthly expenses may be put down as follows : — 



Wages of lowdah 



Wages of No. 2 lowdah 



Sampan money, mops, brushes, soap, oil and sundries... 



(or, say, an average of $25 a month.) 



If the yacht is kept in commission, as some of them are, all the year round, the annual 



expenditure would be, say $200.00 



Add for painting, repairs, new rigging, &c 100.00 



Making total for the year $300.00 



In " Yachting " {Badminton Series) the annual cost of racing a 2\ rater in England is 

 put down at from £l00 to £150. Taking the smaller amount and converting it into our 

 currency at $9 to the £ it comes to $900, against our $300, and although it is not intended for 

 a moment to compare our boats with the home 2\ raters that cost, perhaps, three or four 

 times as much to build and are kept up in a style we cannot approach, still, so far as " value 

 received" is concerned, the owners of 2^ raters in Shanghai have reason to be satisfied 

 with the very moderate cost of their amusement. 



Yachting lost its earliest and most strenuous supporter, and every Shanghai Yachtsman a personal friend 

 by the death ot the writer of this chapter. 



Mr. Jones' opinion on most questions was as highly valued as it was eagerly sought, and as a handicapper 

 and time keeper he was quite properly recognized as at the very head of affairs. As a designer and boat sailor he 

 had no superior, and in whatever he undertook he was absolutely thorough. And beyond all these things he had 

 a charm of manner that was simply magnetic. He had no enemies, for he could not possibly make an enemy 

 of any one, and he left behind him a name which will maintain its fragrance for many a long year. 



