J4 SHOOTING IN CHINA 



coin counts for twice its face value, and in 

 the tiao are only 50 coins. To prevent 

 misunderstanding it should be stated that 

 this patriotic acceptance of a depreciated 

 coinage does not involve any loss to 

 shopkeepers or customers ; the purchasing 

 power of the coin is rated very closely by 

 the amount of metal contained in it, and 

 the length of cotton sheeting bought by one 

 tiao at Shanghai would command a price of 

 eight or ten times at Peking" (Morse). 

 The above quotation is from a paper prepar- 

 ed, specially, on the currency of China, by 

 H. B. Morse who, for a long time, has been 

 at the head of the statistical department of 

 the Imperial Maritime Customs of China, 

 and is one of the very best authorities on the 

 subject. The shooter will now understand 

 why the currency that is most in general use 

 among the natives will prove inconvenient 

 as a medium of defraying his expenses, for 

 in the place of one Mexican silver dollar he 

 would have to carry six pounds weight of 

 copper as the fractional equivalent. If he 

 expected to travel or shoot for a month or 

 two it would require several ponies to carry 

 the "cash" he would need or an additional 



