146 SHOOTING IN CHINA 



feeding places for wild geese and ducks. 

 There are but few wild fowl below Wuhu 

 in comparison with the number seen above 

 that port, and if the shooter has loaded his 

 gun for wild fowl only he should get on 

 board his houseboat at Wuhu and travel up 

 the river. There are many small lakes 

 some distance from the shores of the river 

 which the geese and ducks haunt. If the 

 reeds have not been cut and the shooter 

 has a loadah familiar with the little canals 

 the farmers have cut from their fields to the 

 river he can reach some of these lakes 

 under cover and he will be well rewarded 

 if he has a steady nerve and a quick eye. 

 Not far from the lakes, as a rule, the land 

 is cultivated and the geese and ducks feed on 

 the young crops ; and sometimes it looks as 

 if the whole country was covered with wild- 

 fowl. Another excellent feeding ground for 

 geese and ducks is up the Tai-ping-fu river. 

 This river flows into the Yangtze about 20 

 miles below Wuhu and at the lower end of 

 Wade's island. If the shooter will examine 

 a map of China he will see, some distance 

 up the Tai-ping-fu river, large tracts of 

 marsh land and here it is the wild fowl in 

 great numbers feed during the entire season. 



