CHAPTER II. 



Roe, Musk and Sika. 



Of all forms of sport there are few that can excel th.at of deer 

 stalking. In none are the patience, quickness of ej'e and wits and 

 the endurance of the hunter more severely tested. 



In North China there are several species of deer, but by far the 

 commonest, and the only one easily accessible to Europeans resident 

 in the Treaty Ports is the roe. This little deer is well beloved by 

 local sportsmen, for it affords them their chance of indulging in a 

 sport, which in most countries only the wealthy and leisured classes 

 can enjoy. 



Not only is the roe a shy and timid creature but it is gifted with 

 tlie most delicatte oi'gans of hearing and scent; while its sight is 

 also remarkably keen. Its speed excels that of any other denizen 

 of the mountains, and its protective colouring renders it very hard to 

 detect. In winter the roedeer assumes a j'ellowish-grey pelt that 

 liarmonises and Ijleuds perfectly with the leafless bushes and ^vithered 

 grass; while in summer this coat is exchanged for one of a bright 

 rufous colour, wliich in turn so exactly resembles the moistened patches 

 of bare loess, tliat the hunter often fails to detect liis quarry, though 

 it be in full view. 



A point in lavoiu; of the hunter is the excessive oniosity of tlie 

 roe, which makes it desirous of ascertaining the cause of any un- 

 usual sound or sight, instead of secldiig safety in flight, I have 

 known, a whole herd stand and gaze at the huntei', apparently 

 fascinated by the report of his rifle, and once when I was hidden 

 in some bushes on the fringe of a forest clearing, several roedeer, 

 tliat I had startled by the rustling of the leaves and twigs, approached 

 to within easy range of my rifle in tlieir endeavour to find out the cause 

 of the noise. 



Another advantage that the roe inadvertantly gives the liunter is 

 by barking, but usually wlien a roe harks it means that the stalk has 

 been discovered, and hefoi-e long the deer will be well out of harm's 

 way. Moreover it never betrays its presence thus except when it 

 is under cover of some friendly wood. 



In Nortli Shansi, on the edge of the Mon,n-olian Plateau and in 

 Manchuria the native-hunters attract these deer tjy wliisthng with 



