76



Sydney Porter—Wanderings in the Far East



served her for a chair at the table where she was sitting having her

meal. It was in such a dark corner that it was impossible to see

adequately. When she got up I noticed the box moved and found on

examination that in it were nailed up three Rheus Monkeys, their

pathetic looking little hands being pushed through the cracks imploring

for food to be given to them. The box was about eight inches square

and about fifteen inches high ! There were Silver Pheasants in all-wire

cages so low that their backs had been rubbed bare. There were also

several miserable looking Eclectus in wretchedly inadequate cages

fed solely on dry maize; how they stood the cold I don’t know, for the

temperature was well below freezing even in the shops. There were

Specifer Peafowl with crates built round their bodies so that they were

unable to move, their trains were wrapped up with newspaper ! And

judging by the amount of droppings the birds must have been im¬

prisoned thus for many months. In each shop there it seemed worse

than in the previous one, and the owners appeared equally indifferent

to the sufferings of the victims, in spite of the fact that if only a little

care and attention had been given the owner would have had a very

much larger and more saleable stock. On a matter of principle I pur¬

chased nothing, though there were several birds which I would have

liked. There were thousands of Pekin Robins in conditions that must

be seen to be believed, so tightly were they packed between two boards

with a strip of wire netting round that each 44 cage ” looked like a

sandwich of living birds. I won’t narrate any more of the sufferings

of the wretched creatures but suffice it to say that I came away feeling

thoroughly depressed and not a little sick at the sight of so much

misery. There were thousands of Tientsin Larks, but these were the

best off as they were all in separate cages. In the city of Tsintoa one

sees, as in the other Chinese cities, a great many of these Larks being

carried about by the owners or hung outside the shops and bazaars.

A great many of these birds were singing or warbling a low song as

though they were 44 tuning up ”, in the sunshine, even though the

temperature was 20 degrees below freezing.


Ruby-throats were very numerous in the shops, in fact one shop

seemed to contain nothing else, most of them tied by a cord round

the neck to the perch, as also were most of the Giant Hawfinches.


(To be continued.)



