ceuisinCt after pieates. 293 



the day-time certainly appeared a very cool proceeding, 

 but I was assured this was by no means an unusual 

 incident, and that generally a pig or calf disappeared. 

 The inhabitants themselves, when it so happened, 

 drove their animals into their houses, shut themselves 

 in, and remained perfectly quiet until the tiger thought 

 proper to walk away. Sometimes they send to Canton 

 for professional huntsmen, who generally manage to bag 

 one or two of these troublesome beasts in a year. 

 Either finding the remains of the animal that has been 

 carried off, or, if that cannot be done, setting a bait, 

 they then fix a cross-bow some yards from the trail 

 by which the tiger will probably come, a string being 

 led from the trigger of the cross-bow across his path, 

 and pressing against this string as he quietly passes 

 along, he lets loose his own death-warrant, in the shape 

 of a poisoned arrow, discharged with all the force that 

 a bamboo bow twenty feet long is capable of giving. I 

 have seen some very beautiful and fine skins taken 

 from these tigers in the south. 



Eeturning to the gun-boat, soon after leaving the 

 village with its inhabitants in a happier state of mind 

 that when I entered it, I found a couple of Chinamen 

 on board, who had brought word that some large 

 pirate junks were at anchor a few miles away, in quite 



