206 SHOOTING IN CHINA 



others on horseback and others on foot. 

 When thus assembled the peasantry would 

 begin to drive the animals out of their 

 hiding places towards the hunters and then 

 the real sport would commence. It appears 

 that each hunting party had its distinct 

 preserve and was not allowed to go beyond 

 the limits of it. The weapons chiefly used 

 in the early days were bows and arrows, 

 spears and slings. The arrow heads were 

 made of bronze which at that date was a 

 very valuable metal, and with his natural 

 keenness for profit the Chinese follower of 

 the sportsman made it a profitable business 

 to pick up arrows which missed their mark 

 and returning them for the reward usually 

 given for such finds. It was customary to 

 divide the meat of the animals slain among 

 the people who were assisting the sportsmen 

 by driving out the game, while the skins 

 and horns were retained as trophies of the 

 hunt. 



When the princes and nobles neglected 

 to organize the customary hunting ex- 

 peditions they were considered by the 

 people as indolent and lazy. As the wild 

 animals were destructive to the crops of 

 the fanners this class of the population 



