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t 
CHAPTER VII. 
Stroll through Villages on the Yang-tsze-Kiang— Spring-time — The Pupa 
Gatherer— How to fatten Ducks— Characteristic Scene— Banks 
of the Great Iliver— Freshwater CTahs — Eriocheir Japonicus — 
Youthful Poachers — The Mina Bird— Adventures of a Thousand- 
legs. 
A STROLL tliroiigli tlie straggling villages on the 
hanks of the Yang-tsze-Kiang is pleasant enongh 
in the spring. Along the level hund, coolies are 
carrying burdens at the end of bamboos, rich men 
are riding in couples on Avheelbarrows, a little- 
footed woman is toddling awkwardly along, and a 
shaven priest in a dingy robe is stalking solemnly 
by. The peculiarity of their appearance, and the 
novelty of theii’ costume, at once interest and 
amuse the stranger. 
Inland is seen a vast, green, cultivated plain, 
with scattered farms and hamlets, and their atten- 
dant white goats and hungry yelping curs. An aged 
