CHAP, xli.] ATTEMPT TO IMPORT THEM. 417 



he catches, and great care is taken that this string is 

 placed and fastened so that it will not slip farther down 

 his neck and choke him, which otherwise it would be 

 veiy apt to do. 



" Since I first saw these birds on the Ning-po Canal, 

 I have had opportunities of inspecting them, and their 

 operations in many other parts of China, more particu- 

 larly in the country between the towns of Hang-chow- 

 foo and Shanghae. I also saw great numbers of them 

 on the river Min, near Foo-chow-foo. I was most 

 anxious to get some living specimens that I might take 

 them home to England. Having great difficulty in in- 

 ducing the Chinese to part with them, or, indeed, to 

 speak at all on the subject, when I met them in the 

 country, owing to our place of meeting being generally 

 in those parts of the interior where the English are 

 never seen, I applied to her Majesty's consul at Shang- 

 hae (Captain Balfour), who very kindly sent one of the 

 Chinese connected with the Consulate into the country, 

 and procured two pairs for me. The difficulty now was 

 to provide food for them on the voyage from Shanghae 

 to Hong-kong. We procured a large quantity of live 

 eels, this being a principal part of their food, and put 

 them into a jar of mud and fresh water. These they 

 eat in a most voracious manner, swallowing them whole, 

 and in many instances vomiting them afterwards. If 

 one bird was unlucky enough to vomit his eel, he was 

 fortunate indeed if he caught it again, for another, as 

 voracious as himself, would instantly seize it, and 

 swallow it in a moment. Often they would fight stoutly 

 for the fish, and then it either became the property of 

 one, or, as often happened, their sharp bills divided the 

 prey, and each ran off and devoured the half which fell 



E E 



