SHOOTING IN CHINA. 319 



and poor E — was struggling in the contents under- 

 neath. A good deal must be left to the imagination. 

 Suffice it to say, after being extricated the coolie 

 stripped him of his large overall gaiters, which fortu- 

 nately he had on, and picking out a slushy wet bit of 

 paddy, E — was rubbed well over with this, and we 

 then hurried back to the junk, where abundance of 

 soap and water was expended, and the damaged nether 

 garments were tied to a rope's-end and flung into the 

 river, where they floated astern, and were made fast 

 when about thirty yards off. With sundry glasses of 

 sherry we talked over our morning's shooting, and 

 now that the disagreeable effects of E — 's false step had 

 been rectified, we laughed most heartily. For my own 

 part, I had been retaining the inclination so long, I felt 

 almost ill from the effects. E — 's face as he emerged 

 from the hole was indescribably ludicrous; it is im- 

 printed on my mind to this day. One thing we agreed 

 upon, our companions must be kept in the dark on the 

 subject, otherwise E — would be awfully chaffed on 

 returning to Hong-Kong. Lunch-time brought our 

 friends back, each with a moderate bag of snipe and a 

 few teal. They had no sooner arrived than E — and I 

 fancied a certain too well-known effluvium had re- 

 turned, which we firmly believed was concentrated 



