PREFACE 



In December 19 18, after five and a half years of 

 most strenuous work in China, I found myself 

 once more an idle man ; and, to employ my 

 unaccustomed leisure and beguile the tedium of 

 the long journey from China to England, I wrote 

 an account of some of my shooting and fishing 

 experiences and adventures. With the exception 

 of some notes regarding the dates of my shooting 

 expeditions, and the notes about bears, which 

 are referred to in Chapter IX, I kept no shooting 

 diaries or notes, but I have consulted the diaries 

 of my friend Mr. W. B. M. Bird, and my memory 

 is very retentive. I think, therefore, that I can 

 vouch for the substantial accuracy of all state- 

 ments made, and for the complete accuracy of 

 the description given of the more important 

 incidents. Some of the actual dates given have 

 been taken from Mr. Bird's diaries, and some 

 from entries on the shields upon which trophies 

 have been mounted. 



With the exception of two or three stories, 

 which have been introduced, the experiences 

 and adventures narrated are those in which I 

 actually took part, and I therefore make no 

 apology for the continued use of the personal 

 pronoun. Opinions may differ on the point, 

 but those books about sport, in which the author 



