74



Sydney Porter—Wanderings in the Far East



Slaty-headed Parrakeets were looking pretty sick, and I was feeling so

depressed with the cold and desolation that I had no inclination to

go anywhere or do anything.


The only relief to the utter desolation of Dairen was the number

of beautiful Japanese women who flitted about everywhere in their

beautiful national dress looking more like exotic, butterflies that had

been blown off their course than inhabitants of those bleak and dreary

regions. But this is no place to talk of feminine desirability but

sufficient to say that for sheer charm and domestic ability Japanese

women stand far above the rest of their sisters !


There can be little bird life in the populated parts of Manchukuo

for every tree, bush, and shrub is cut down for fuel, even the trees

in the towns are so pitifully pruned for their wood that they are only

left with enough timber compatible with life. In the country there

seems no sign of native vegetation; every hill and mountain is bare

and barren, the soil having eroded many centuries ago through the

cutting down of the timber. Now they are bare rock and will never

to the end of this planet be clothed again with vegetation. So acute

is the fuel problem that even the roots of reeds are dug up for fuel,

and natives of the city will spend hours sifting ship’s ashes for a bit

of unburned coal. How and where the numerous Pheasants, of which

one sees large numbers in the shops, manage to exist is rather a mystery

unless they live in forests far inland on the borders of Siberia.


Chefoo, a large native city in the Province of Shantung, proved an

interesting place in so much that one saw here the love the Chinese

have for their birds. As mentioned before there are no aviculturists,

as we know them, in China who have large collections of birds, but

a great many Chinese own one or two birds upon which they lavish

great care and attention, in fact, it looked to me as though they paid

more attention to their birds than their children. Even the labourers

on the docks bring their pets down with them to work and hang the

cages in a sunny spot where the inmates may get the benefit of the

fresh air and welcome winter sunshine and also enliven the drab scene

with their song.


It is a usual sight to see the Chinese taking their birds for a walk—

imagine an average English business man taking his canary out while

walking in the park in the evening !



