4J8 THEIR VALUE, DIET, [CHAP. xii. 



to his share. During the passage we encountered a 

 heavy gale at sea. and as the vessel was one of those 

 small clipper schooners, she pitched and rolled very 

 much, shipping seas from bow to stern, which set every- 

 thing on her decks swimming. I put my head out of 

 the cabin door when the gale was at its height, and the 

 first thing I saw was the Cormorants devouring the eels, 

 which were floating all over the decks. I then knew 

 that the jar must have been turned over or smashed to 

 pieces, and that of course all the eels which escaped the 

 bills of the Cormorants were now swimming in the 

 ocean. After this I was obliged to feed them upon any- 

 thing on board which I could find, but when I arrived 

 at Hong-kong they were not in very good condition : 

 two of them died soon after, and as there was no hope 

 of taking the others home alive, I was obliged to kill 

 them and preserve their skins. 



"The Chinaman from whom I bought these birds 

 has a large establishment for fishing and breeding the 

 birds about thirty or forty miles from Shanghae, and 

 between that town and Chapoo. They sell at a high price 

 even amongst the Chinese themselves : I believe from 

 six to eight dollars per pair; that is, from 30s. to 40s. 

 As I was anxious to learn something of their food and 

 habits, Mr. Medhurst, Jun., interpreter to the British 

 Consulate at Shanghae, kindly undertook to put some 

 questions to the man who brought them, and sent me 

 the following notes connected with this subject : 



" 'The fish-catching birds eat small fish, yellow eels, 

 and pulse-jelly. At 5 P.M. every day each bird will 

 eat six taels (eight ounces) of eels or fish, and a catty 

 of pulse-jelly. They lay eggs after three years, and in 

 the fourth or fifth month ; hens are used to incubate 



