186 WITH BOAT AND GUN IN THE YANGTZE VALLEY. 



I managed to get within 200 yards of him ; had only a second to aim, and shot him through 

 the shoulder; but he gave me another run down the opposite side of the hill before receiving 

 his quietus. But despite all these difficulties it is glorious sport ; and it is hardly possible to 

 imagine anything more exhilarating than beating the hillside on a clear day ; the beaters 

 working in line along the slopes : one gun above and two below. One has to be constantly 

 on the alert watching the beaters and the cover in front of them, if one would avoid accidents. 



At the Kaolishan and surrounding hills pigs are plentiful, but that district is so far 

 out and the cover so thick that it is seldom shot over. Our local sportsmen can as a rule 

 only spare one day or at the utmost two days at a time, while a week would be required to 

 do justice to the shooting there. The usual practice is to ride out from the settlement at 

 4 a.m., and and return at 9 p.m., the same day. When out last year after pig in the Kaolishan 

 country most of my time was spent on allfours, creeping along narrow tracks under thorns, 

 creepers and scrub bamboos which are so thick as almost to obscure the daylight. The 

 sportsman visiting this country must be very keen, and put up with rough quarters in the 

 farmhouses. 



At the Hsushankuan pigs formerly abounded, but have now quite disappeared. I was 

 down there in December last year, taking beaters with me from Chinkiang, and worked 

 the whole country without result. Although the snow lay thick on the ground there was 

 not a sign of a track of any animal. The natives told me that no pigs had been seen 

 there for years for the cover had been cut down to the roots and a quail could not have 

 concealed itself. Deer, pheasants and quail are found in the reeds, and our party, using 

 beaters, made quite a good bag. 



The most recent pig bags made here were Christmas Day, 1907, two guns bagged 4 pigs. 

 December, 1908, a friend and the writer got 3 pigs. On Christmas Day, 1908, the writer 

 bagged a record boar, which was found to weigh 400 lbs., and on November 20th, 1909, 3 pigs 

 in one day. Christmas Day, 1909, four guns bagged 2 pigs, 7 deer and a porcupine. 



A Winchester 38-55, long cartridge, with soft-nosed bullet, I find powerful enough 

 to stop any pig : and otherwise it is very handy. The Winchester carbine, with short 

 cartridge, and black powder, and plain lead bullets is not effective ; I found four Winchester 

 lead bullets in the big boar I shot last year. Military rifles, shooting plain steel bullets, 

 have proved a failure and will not stop a pig unless hit in a vital spot. For wear in 

 pigshooting, a soft strong canvas suit is advisable : Khaki gets torn with the brambles. 

 Boots should have rubber soles, to drown all noise in stalking and to prevent slipping on 

 the slippery hillsides. 



Pheasants, quail and hares are now rather scarce here ; and a bag of four or five birds is 

 considered a good day's work. 



The foot-hills near Kaotze on the Shanghai-Nanking line are fairly good ground; 

 also the reed, patches on either bank of the River, when partly cut down. In these places 

 good bags have been made by using five or six beaters. " Second " Island, Deer Island, and 

 Tahokou are also sure finds. 



r-^t.yCiiSb 



