TIGER-HUNTING IN CHINA 235 



him with their spears, and selling the meat, bones, 

 claws, and skin at a high price, as the natives be- 

 lieve the possession of the claws or the eating of the 

 meat gives them strength and bravery. The men 

 are undoubtedly courageous, as, notwithstanding 

 the fact that some of them are killed from time to 

 time, they walk into the caves without hesitation ; 

 and many were the stories they told through my 

 interpreter, over their opium-pipes in the evenings, 

 of adventures and hair-breadth escapes. 



Bruce and Leyburn are the names most promi- 

 nently connected with the sport of tiger-shooting 

 in this district. They were business gentlemen in 

 Amoy, who, whenever a tiger was located by the 

 hunter-men, would pick up their guns from beneath 

 their office-desks, come over post-haste to the cave 

 wherein the game had been marked down, and 

 generally return the same night to their homes, 

 successful. Leyburn is credited with over forty 

 tigers. 



This village, as do all the small towns of the 

 district, regarded itself as one large family, being 

 descended from the common ancestor to whose 

 memory my temple was built ; and so closely do they 

 adhere to this idea, that intermarriage is forbidden 

 and a man must choose his wife from elsewhere. 

 They are a simple, trusting lot and have great faith 



