186 The Japanese Pheasant. 



the morning dew from their fine plumage. It was a beautiful 

 sight, and I looked upon it with exceeding pleasure ; so much, 

 indeed, that I could not find the heart to destroy this little 

 scene of domestic happiness by a leaden shower from my 

 fowling-piece. Suddenly the birds showed signs of uneasiness, 

 and I soon discovered the cause in a Japanese root-digger 

 coming from the opposite direction. I therefore took up my 

 gun, and, standing on my feet, raised the birds also, and as 

 they flew towards the next hill I had the good fortune to bring 

 down the cock with one barrel of my gun and one of the hens 

 with the other. 



" The Japanese, who came up after I had loaded my gun 

 and secured my game, looked with some astonishment at the 

 stranger, for I was certainly the first foreigner who had been 

 in pursuit of game on the hunting-grounds of Niphon. He 

 evidently asked me several questions, which I was not, of 

 course, able to understand, but from his signs and the frequent 

 repetition of the word " statzoo " (two), I inferred that he 

 inquired whether I had fired twice in such quick succession 

 with one gun. I nodded, and explained to him as well as I 

 could the nature of my double-barrelled gun, and the use of 

 percussion caps, which seemed to astonish and delight him very 

 much. A pipe of tobacco which I offered was gladly accepted ; 

 and, in answer to a question that he appeared to understand, 

 he gave me the name of the pheasant as Ki-zhi. Later in the 

 day more people came to the hills, some for the purpose of 

 digging roots, others to look after their cattle, which appeared 

 to be turned out to graze on the hills. The birds had taken 

 to the bushes, where I could not follow them, and so obtained 

 no more specimens on that occasion. 



" A few days later. Lieutenants Bent and Nicholson and 

 myself made another shooting excursion to the hills, but 

 although we saw many pheasants, but a single specimen was 

 shot, and the birds appeared to be very shy. We observed 

 several Japanese with matchlocks about the hills, firing away 

 at a great rate. As we did not see either of them with game, 



