THE PtG, DEER, HARES AND THE GROUND AND FLYING VERMIN OF THE YANGTZE VALLEY. 127 



impossible to proceed either quickly or quietly. It seems to spend most of the day hidden 

 in the long grass at the bottoms of gullies, where it can neither be seen from afar nor 

 approached quietly. A chance shot may be obtained in the evening when it comes out to 

 feed, but the usual method employed by the natives is to organize a big drive. They line 

 all the passes along the head of a valley with guns, perhaps a dozen or twenty, and then a 

 number of beaters start from the foot of the valley and work gradually upwards shouting 

 and rolling stones down the hill-sides into the small gullies. If any deer be started they 

 probably make for the head of the valley, and whether they go straight or turn to right or 

 left they run a fair risk of passing within range of one of the guns. 



My experience of such hunts is that, like most things Chinese, they are clumsily 

 carried out, and the hunters trust to " joss " rather than to skill to bring the game within 

 range. The guns are carelessly posted and take no pains to keep quiet and escape 

 observation, — at least until the quarry is afoot, with the result that it frequently breaks and 

 thus a beat which has occupied two or three hours is wasted. They are armed with the 

 regular old-style matchlock, loaded with rough iron shot about the size of "SSG" which of 

 course can only kill at short range; but notwithstanding their rude weapons and unscientilfic 

 methods they manage to kill considerable numbers — knowledge of the ground and wonderful 

 eyesight helping much. The hill men are a great improvement on the coarse insolent louts 

 of the plains, being active, wiry, genial fellows with more than a touch of the camaraderie 

 which binds together all sportsmen. They hunt the deer almost entirely for the sake of 

 the young horns in velvet, a good pair of which I was told would fetch $40. The month 

 of June is the best season and the natives seem to do little hunting at other times. Two of 

 the party who were with me killed a hind which they sold to me for $5. 



Two species of hares are found in the Yangtze valley and the range of each seems 

 to be strictly bounded by the river, one being plentiful on the north bank and the other on 

 the south. It is possible that they sometimes cross, but at the moment of writing I cannot 

 remember ever having met with one species in the other's country. It would be interesting 

 if anyone who shoots hares on the Yangtze would take note of which species they are and 

 on which bank killed; if there were any doubt the ears and tail might be cut off and kept 

 for identification. 



The southern one, which is fairly plentiful in the Shanghai district, is the Chinese 

 hare {Lepus sinensis), a small reddish-brown animal with a rufous patch at the base of the 

 neck, the ears and upper part of the tail much the same colour as the back: weight about 

 3i to 4 lbs. 



The hare north of the Yangtze is larger and more like our English hare, having 

 black points and white tips to the ears and the upper surface of the tail black. This species 

 was long confused with the Mongolian hare {Lepus tolai), but Mr. Oldfield Thomas of the 

 British Museum has lately pointed out its distinctness and named it Lepus swinhoei, after 

 that excellent naturalist our late Consul Swinhoe. It is plentiful here and there on the river, 

 notably near Nanking, and its range extends through North China. It is sometimes called 

 the Chefoo or Shantung hare ; the Shanghai market is supplied with them from Chefoo. 

 Those I weighed on the Yangtze averaged about 4! lbs.; the heaviest one 5 lbs.; but I think 

 they often run bigger than that. 



