SPOUT AND scip:nce on the 



For the time beino- we contented ourselves 

 with short excursions round tlie city and into the 

 adjoinintij country, and were very successful. 



September, in Cliina the best month of the year, 

 arrived, and with it the thought of the pheasants 

 and other game, only waiting for the sportsman's 

 gun. ^Ve decided therefore to try our luck in the 

 mountains west of T'ai-yiian Fu. 



Elsewhere I have described hunting in this 

 particular bit of country, but as I have not done 

 so in the present volume, and as our experiences 

 were typical of what a hunter in these parts 

 usually goes through, a brief description will 

 perhaps not tire the reader. 



Hiring mules to carry our stores, and accom- 

 panied by one of the railway officials, a French- 

 man and a very good fellow, we left the city in 

 high spirits. It was just the right sort of day for 

 travel, and our ponies, fresh from a good sum- 

 mer's rest, curvetted and careered in their anxiety 

 for a gallop across the flats. 



After seeing our mules across the swollen river 

 in safety, and traversing the low-lying loess 

 terraces on the western side of the valley, we entered 

 a deep gorge in the limestone formation. Being 

 well mounted, we had long since outstripped the 

 mules, so when we found a clear stream a couple 

 of miles up the gorge we dismounted to have 

 lunch and await the slow-moving train. 



AVe finished our lunch and then put in time 



64 



