182 WITH BOAT AND GUN IN THE YANGTZE VALLEY. 



Deer.— On the hills to the south there are a good many river-deer, but they are difficult to 

 get owing to the thick cover. 



Wolves. — In the summer of 1890 several wolves were seen, but no one was fortunate 

 enough to get a shot, and it is probable that they, together with what pig are left, are 

 to be found on the Kaolishan range — 14 miles out — and only visit the lower lands 

 from time to time. In the winter they have not been seen. 



Pheasants. — There is good pheasant shooting when the birds come in but they are not 

 always to be found and unless a man has stayed at Chinkiang for some months and 

 has, by making inquiries of the natives and by his own personal investigations, found 

 where they have migrated to, or is shooting with a friend who has done so, he might 

 as well keep at home. Last season I revisited a place where the winter before I had 

 invariably bagged from 14 to 16 head per diem, with this result: — first day, two birds; 

 second day, one ; third day, nil. Though I had good dogs, the birds simply were not 

 there, and it was not till the end of the season that they were found, and then in 

 numbers some five miles off. A trip to the Wuchaoshan bungalow — about seven 

 miles — is one of the pleasantest outings in the shooting season. The low hills 

 contain a few pheasants which, though hard to get up, afford pretty and pleasant 

 sport, and anyone who is fond of hill country and fir trees, and does not mind a small 

 though mixed bag, should try this. Here on one occasion I killed half-a-dozen birds, 

 a hare, a few snipes, a woodcock or two, and 21 fish. These last were the result of 

 the most extraordinary shot. I was walking on a high bank beside a frozen stream 

 when one of the coolies pointed to a number of fish swimming under the ice — without 

 stopping to think I fired my right barrel, and this produced a remarkable result, for, 

 from a hole of about 2 feet in diameter made by the shot, a perfect jet of fish was 

 blown a yard high— concussion with the down-forced ice had either killed or stunned 

 them and they rebounded as it were from the shock. A few only showed traces of 

 shot. Twenty-one, varying from the size of my hand to the size of my thumb were 

 secured by the coolie, but many more were carried away by the stream beneath the 

 ice. 



Snipes. — ^There is no first-rate snipe shooting in this vicinity. In the spring, the marshes 

 beyond K'aotzil, to the right of the creek and between the river and the Nanking 

 Road, afford fair sport. In winter the marshes and fields to the east of the native city 

 are worth trying. 



Wildfowl. — To one fond of wildfowl shooting a trip to Duck Island, about seven miles 

 up river, would afford good sport, for there geese, duck, etc., literally swarm during 

 the winter season, and are easily approached in a sampan. 



Miscellaneous. — Woodcocks, quail, hares, wild-cats, racoons and foxes are thinly 

 scattered over the whole of this neighbourhood. 



Dogs. — Pointers are in my opinion the best dogs for Chinkiang. A well trained English 

 pointer has every chance and shows off well in the grass country on the hill slopes ; 

 and on a bright frosty morning with the fine scenery and keen bracing air it is a real 

 pleasure to see one's dog come to a point, to hear the stirring whirr and crisp snap. 

 For work amongst the high reeds in the low-lands the half-trained pointer from Japan 



