48 SHOOTING IN CHINA 



Boat and Gun in the Yangtze Valley." 



" Retriever : It will be only necessary here 

 to take note of one kind of retriever, the 

 black, flat-coated kind, for the objection 

 that may be raised aganist him can only be 

 intensified when applied to the curly-coated 

 description. 



" Admitting to the fullest that a retriever 

 is a wonderfully sagacious dog, and that 

 he is capable of affording lots of sport, yet 

 the following objections may be found to 

 weigh against him and long haired dogs 

 generally. 



" In the first place, rheumatism is by no 

 means an uncommon complaint in China, 

 and no animal renders itself more liable 

 to this ailment than one that is difficult and 

 troublesome to dry. A dog has to negotiate 

 a lot of " water business " in the course of 

 a day's shooting in these provinces. He 

 often returns to the boat wet, only to be 

 turned over to the tender mercies of a 

 coolie, who performs the essential duties of 

 drying and grooming in any but a thorough 

 manner; so that the animal not only 

 may be sent to bed wet himself, but be an 

 active cause of discomfort to his kennel 



