86 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. VI. 
hand, and in the other triumphantly holding up the 
poor little fish which he has just captured. It is imme- 
diately placed safely in his basket, and the work goes 
on as before. The surface of the water is struck and 
splashed, as I have just described, in order to frighten 
the fish, which are swimming amongst the feet of the 
Chinamen. Being frightened, they dive immediately to 
the bottom amongst the mud, where they are felt by 
the feet, and are soon taken by these expert divers. 
But the most singular of all the methods of catching 
fish in China is that of training and employing a large 
species of cormorant for this purpose, generally called 
the fishing cormorant. These are certainly wonderful 
birds. I have frequently met with them on the canals 
and lakes in the interior, and, had I not seen with my 
own eyes their extraordinary docility, I should have had 
great difficulty in bringing my mind to believe what 
authors have said about them. The first time I saw 
them was on a canal a few miles from Ning-po. I was 
then on my way to a celebrated temple in that quarter, 
where I intended to remain for some time in order to 
make collections of objects of natural history in the neigh- 
bourhood. When the birds came in sight I immediately 
made my boatmen take in our sail, and we remained sta- 
tionary for some time to observe their proceedings. There 
were two small boats, containing one man and about ten 
or twelve birds in each. The birds were standing perched 
on the sides of the little boat, and apparently had just 
arrived at the fishing-ground, and were about to com- 
mence operations. They were now ordered out of the 
boats by their masters ; and so well trained were they. 
