130 WITH BOAT AND GUN IN THE YANGTZE VALLEY. 



found on the hills, and heavier in weight than those in the reed-beds, if not Of a different 

 species. 



Pig I have never seen, but they do come in to the neighbourhood. In olden days Mr. 

 Carnie used to shoot many, generally at daybreak, and on the tops of the hills, but they 

 seem to have been driven away, and in 1 895 they suffered much from some illness which 

 killed off many of the finest. Near Chuyunghsien they are said to be plentiful, but the 

 district is not accessible to men travelling in houseboats, and is out of my reach. 



The district is not very good for wildfowl, for unless the weather is severe they 

 remain on the river, but in a hard winter, when they come inland there is quite enough 

 shooting to be interesting. Duck, geese, teal and mandarin-ducks are to be got near at 

 hand, and geese and bustard are plentiful in the country south of the hills in the direction 

 of Tanyang. 



There are some curiosities to be shot on the hills in the shape of a kind of wolf, 

 which I fancy is a cross-breed. It is known as the dog-headed fox, kou-tou-hu, and stands 

 quite as high as a big wolf, but is much broader across the forehead between the ears ; its 

 gait is that of the wolf and it occasionally attacks children. Those that I have seen have 

 been in their summer coat, which was a reddish brown, so far as I could tell, without any of 

 the lighter markings of wolves. In the winter when the hillsides are bare they probably 

 keep in cover, but they are known to breed in the hills not far from Chinkiang. 



The water-pheasant used to breed in a lotus pond near Chinkiang, but I have only 

 seen one specimen, which was a striking object from the length of its tail, though it is 

 evidently a bird that flies very long distances. 



The hares on the south bank of the Yangtze are hardly the size of rabbits, of a 

 reddish brown colour, with a fur which is somewhat prized by the natives. They stick to 

 the hills and are never found in wet ground. On the north bank of the Yangtze is a hare, 

 coloured somewhat like the English hare, which is found in the reed-beds and open country. 

 Here at any rate, the Yangtze separates the one kind from the other, and it would be 

 interesting to know whether the same line of division is noticed higher up the river. 



The demand for game for the Shanghai market and especially the steamers is 

 constantly on the increase, and leads me to suggest that shooting parties which make a 

 long stay up-country should take more trouble to secure that their game reaches Shanghai 

 in good condition. In my opinion it would be far better to give it away to the native sports 

 than to amass a lot of bodies which reach Shanghai in a stinking condition. If the birds 

 were cleaned as soon as shot and sent away by the first opportunity they would at any rate 

 satisfy some part of the demand for the market. At present, of the big bags made it is 

 improbable that one bird in ten is fit to be put on the table when it reaches Shanghai. 



