[ 197 ] 



CHAPTER XXll— Continued. 



YANGTZE NOTES. 



HANKOW, 1895. 



By a. L. Robertson. 



UANKOW, the great tea port, is situate at the apex of the angle formed by the confluence 

 of the Han and Yangtze rivers, 6oo miles above Woosung. Behind the city are vast 

 plains subject to periodical inundation by the overflowing of these two great waterways. 

 In the autumn the waters recede in sympathy with the river fall, and the low lying portions 

 of the plain become marshes or lagoons in whose neighbourhood the sportsman very 

 frequently " happens " on excellent sport. Unfortunately Ihe seasons vary, and when in one 

 season five or six couples of snipes will be regarded as an average bag, in another 

 l8 couples will not be considered anything extraordinary. Hankow boasts of no other than 

 snipe shooting, and on occasions highly satisfactory bags are made. Two of the best in my 

 recollection are 27 couples from daylight to IO.30 A.M. on one day, 20 couples between 2.30 

 and 5 P.M. on another, by a single gun. 



As a rule, whether in May or in September, the mid-day heat is too great to admit of 

 shooting with any degree of comfort, and the wise man is he who does not tempt Providence. 

 My custom was during both the spring and autumn snipe seasons to start in a boat a little 

 before daylight, drop down the river with the current about two miles and shoot inland to a 

 place locally known to foreigners as " The Huts, " where a pony awaited me to take me 

 back to Hankow, thus saving a long tramp home. At the period of which I am writing 

 ( 1874-1882 ) there were long marshy grass plains surrounding " The Huts " on which very 

 good sport was often to be had. Gunners who have no knowledge of the country often go 

 out and do not see a feather, while one who knows the spots the birds haunt will often 

 make a good bag. 



Another excellent place is on the south bank of the river opposite the French 

 Consulate, where there is a lake on whose margin really good snipe shooting is often to 

 be had. The drawback to shooting in this part of the country, however, is that the birds 

 get very wild from being disturbed by the natives whose business is netting them. The 

 method is very simple. Two men drag a net some 30 feet long, in appearance much like a 

 lawn-tennis net, which disturbs the birds and catches them on the rise ; the birds are then 

 secured and taken to the market and sold alive. 



