CHAPTER II. 



HOUSEBOAT-GUN-DOG. 



In the view that comfortable steamers 

 are running on the principal waterways of 

 China and travel by rail is annually more 

 convenient, it may be asked why should a 

 houseboat be considered a necessary equip- 

 ment to successful shooting? It is true 

 that one may travel with every reasonable 

 comfort on steamers more than 1,500 

 miles up the Yangtze River and see on 

 either side the plains and hills which are 

 the feeding grounds of the favorite game 

 birds, but that would not be shooting. If 

 the trip up the great river be undertaken 

 there must be some stopping place decided 

 upon and when the shooter has arrived at 

 it he will then fully understand why the 

 houseboat is an equipment essential not 

 only to his success but to the preservation 

 of health. The steamboat and the railway 

 will be a convenience as to reaching any 

 place on their lines, but these agencies of 

 commerce and civilization have always 

 proved destructive to game, because of the 

 facilities afforded the shooter for travelling. 



