306 SHOOTING IN CHINA. 



other, and amongst the grass they got up, just as fast 

 as I pleased to load. I am speaking of muzzle-loading 

 days. Teal and duck every now and then rose at my 

 feet from the creeks, as I came suddenly on to the 

 banks. Snipe in any number rose from every swampy 

 or damp patch, however diminutive. Stupid hares who 

 appeared most anxious to be shot, by the half-curious, 

 half-sUly way they hopped about close to me ; and as for 

 quail, they were perpetually rising under my very toes. 

 The qiiantity of game was simply extraordinary, and I 

 very soon found, if I did not turn round and look for 

 the junk, I should have more game than we could pos- 

 sibly carry. When within a couple of hundred yards of 

 the craft, a flock of teal rose from a small pool of water ; 

 a straggler fell to my right barrel, and although I again 

 picked out a single bird, three others managed to pass 

 within his line, and four fell to the left. This was really 

 like the last straw to the camel's back, as, besides a bag, 

 my man — a strong blue-jacket — had a bamboo across 

 his shoulders, with a dozen pheasants at each end of it, 

 and as these birds average nearly three pounds a piece — 

 the cock-birds weighing quite that weight, and the hens 

 two and a half — his load was a good one. It was early 

 in the forenoon when I returned ; my companions soon 

 joined me, and, slipping from our stake in the bank, we 



