W WILD FOWL 



Hankow a change is made into a larger steamer, and 

 after three days more Shanghai is reached. 



Here I at once set about getting a supply of tin- 

 lined cases for the collection I proposed to make in the 

 far west of China and in Tibet. These are made very 

 well in Shanghai, but I was unable to get them at 

 Ichang. I was also fortunate enough to be able to buy 

 two large-bore shoulder duck-guns, such things not 

 usually being found for sale here. The Yang-tze-kiang 

 is the home of myriads of wild-fowl of many kinds, 

 and in the lower part of the river, especially at a place 

 called Wu-hu, they are shot with comparative ease, as 

 there are, as a rule, plenty of reeds, rushes, &c., which 

 afford some cover. Further up the river, however, 

 things change considerably, for there are generally 

 plenty of wild-fowl and little or no cover. They are, 

 therefore, very difficult to approach, and an ordinary 

 12-bore is not of much use. I took one of these 

 duck-guns afterwards into Tibet, where it proved to be 

 •of the greatest possible service. 



After a stay of a month at Shanghai my wife had 

 nearly recovered from her attack of fever, and I now 

 thought it would be safe to return up the river and pre- 

 pare for my most important trip — that to Tibet, if I could 

 get as far. The journey up is a more tedious affair than 

 the journey down, and takes from ten days to three 



