SPORT AND SCIENCE ON THE 



out in Hankow, and that the general unrest and 

 excitement was increasing. Being loth to risk 

 my outfit, and knowing that if the North joined 

 in the rebellion against the Manchu power, it 

 would be impossible to travel with any safety, I 

 decided further to postpone our intended journey 

 into Mongolia, spending the time instead in a short 

 camping trip down the river. 



Thus it was that on October 12 we found our- 

 selves comfortably settled under canvas upon the 

 bank of the Fen River, about five miles south of 

 T'ai-yiian Fu. 



Round us the farmers were busy harvesting 

 rich crops of beans and sorghum. The weather 

 was superb, with just sufficient nip in it to make 

 a stove at night pleasant, and to send the blood 

 coursing through one's veins as one tramped along 

 in the early mornings, watching the sky for the 

 long lines of migrating geese, or beating the scrub 

 and underbrush for hares and quails. 



All night long we had heard the honking of wild 

 geese as they passed southward, fleeing from the 

 northern cold, which was steadily advancing to 

 lay its grip upon the land, and now as the grey 

 dawn spread its light over field and flood, 

 we crept out towards one of the numerous dykes 

 which intersect these flatlands, and crouched 

 behind it in hopes that the oncoming geese, flying 

 low as is their wont when there is frost in the air, 

 would afford us a few shots. 



74 



