fy, 
Letters, Extracts, Announcements, &c. 377 
call, and forced to obey by means of the string ; as they 
reach the shore more fish is given them. ‘This teaching 
having been gone through daily for a month, another four or 
five weeks are spent in training the birds from a boat; at 
the end of this period the string is generally dispensed with. 
When old and well-trained Cormorants are made to accom- 
pany the young ones, the time required in training is reduced 
one half. Birds not properly trained after all the trouble 
thus taken are pronounced stupid and not fit for use. 
“The teaching being completed, the Cormorants are fed 
sparingly every morning with fish. A small ring of hemp is 
tied around their necks to prevent them swallowing large 
fish, and they are taken on board the small punt called 
‘Cormorant-boat’ to the number of ten or twelve. .They 
are now as docile as dogs, and sit perched on the side of the 
boat until they are sent into the water by a mere whistle 
from their master. They dive after fish, and bring their 
prizes to the boat, firmly held in their hooked beaks. When 
a fish is too large for one bird, three or more join their forces 
and capture it together. Sometimes the fisherman signals 
them to dive by striking the water with a long bamboo. If 
any Cormorant is inclined to be disobedient, his legs are 
connected by a short piece of string; this forms a loop, by 
means of which the bird may at any moment be brought on 
board, nolens volens, with a long bamboo hook. 
“« After fishing two or three hours the birds are allowed to 
come on board and rest. At the end of the day the hempen 
ring is loosened or removed altogether, and they are either 
allowed to fish for themselves, or are fed by the hand of their 
master. Seizing the birds one after another by the upper 
mandible, the fisherman thrusts into their throats a handful 
of small fish and a ball of beancurd as large as his fist, the 
ingurgitation of which he helps with the other hand by 
stroking the neck of the bird, who seems to enjoy it, as he 
promptly returns for a second supply. The entire scene is 
most ludicrous. At night the birds are brought home and 
caged. A Cormorant holds out for five years, at the end of 
which time these birds lose their feathers and soon after die. 
