Pig Shooting in China. 
So much had been told us since our arrival 
in China of the splendid sport of shooting 
“wild pigs” that my wife and I at last yielded 
to their entreaties, and told our two English 
friends to go ahead and make' all necessary 
arrangements. This, it appeared, meant hiring 
a small boat, of the pattern w'hich is usually 
made use of on the up-creek jaunts. 
Owing to our lack of knowledge of the 
Chinese (as we had then been in the country 
only two months) we were forced to leave 
all the bother and worry to the Britishers, who 
were capital fellows and good shots. A few 
days later found our party of four being 
bundled in rickshas along a villainous road out 
two miles from the settlement to a spot on the 
river bank, where our craft was tied up. She 
had quite a roomy cabin amidships, divided by 
a partition lengthwise, so as to “sleep” four— 
two on each side. The role of chef was to be 
acted by San, a tall Chinaman whose “pid- 
gen” was a constant joy to listen to, and who 
in addition was a practical joker with a keen 
sense of humor. Two other boys, whom San 
had procured, made up the crew. San was to 
act as cook, captain and guide, and he stood 
by the little wooden gangway with a calm 
smile, modeled on the lines of the “one-piece 
joss” said to be two hundred years old, which 
we purchased shortly after our arrival in the 
Flowery Kingdom. 
We made a careful overhauling of our 
weapons after we had pushed out into the 
middle of the stream, much to San’s interest 
and amusement, as we had brought with us a 
small armory, as follows: Two magazine 
rifles, one repeating carbine, two automatic re¬ 
volvers, one automatic pistol, and a shotgun. 
We had a general supply of ammunition for 
this arsenal, which prompted San to ask us in¬ 
nocently if we contemplated a dash on Peking 
to seize the city. We at this juncture told 
him forcibly to get forward and make prepara¬ 
tion for tiffin or we would throw him over¬ 
board. He went off grinning, and under his 
direction the two boys soon hoisted a square 
matting sail. This they managed very handily, 
and we began to move along lazily with the 
occasional help of a sweep sculled from the 
rear of the boat. 
The small craft afforded very little comfort 
until we got accustomed to it, but as a good 
part of our time would be spent ashore, this 
was not important. We took it easy, by reclin¬ 
ing on the top of the deck house and watching 
i the low and monotonous landscape which 
stretched away from either bank, and occasion¬ 
ally a Chinese village, with now and then the 
weird sound of a distant tom-tom drifting over 
to us. Sometimes we cut in close to these 
hamlets, arousing much curiosity on the part 
J of the motley crew of inhabitants. As a rule, 
they seemed friendly enough, although a 
wandering priest with his shaved head would 
f scowl at us. 
Some of the children would call “cumshaw” 
(the vernacular for gift or present), and we 
obliged them by tossing ashore empty bottles 
and cans. In passing some villages the 
children followed the boat for a mile with their 
eternal entreaties. We often avoided them by 
keeping on the opposite side of the stream 
and inside the little cabin until we were safely 
past them. 
Tiffin time over, and as we had no need to 
hurry, it was suggested that we go ashore and 
follow the boat, which moved no faster than a 
walk. San quickly landed us, and we struck 
out at a swinging pace, glad to be rid for a 
time of our cramped quarters. We had taken 
no arms but revolvers, as we were not in the 
pig country yet. 
It was a warm May day, and the scattered 
Chinese farms we passed were showing con¬ 
siderable activity. This part of the country 
is too flat to be pleasing, but we were assured 
that it became more inviting -further up¬ 
stream toward the hills. We were some dis¬ 
tance ahead of the boat, as we had cut across 
a bend which she must go around; so we at¬ 
tempted to buy some fine lettuce, which was 
growing near, but of course could not make 
much progress until the boat appeared in the 
distance and San joined us and conducted the 
negotiations. We procured a lot for a trifle 
and anticipated a fine salad, although we 
took chances in eating any vegetable in China 
which has not been cooked on account of 
cholera. San gently hinted that we had better 
climb aboard, as we were shortly to pass a 
village that is unfriendly to foreigners. This 
feeling was caused by careless shooting a few 
years ago, on which occasion some one was 
peppered with bird shot. We passed the danger 
zone later while at supper, but we were for¬ 
tunate in having not the slightest notice taken 
of us. 
Supper over, and as it was growing dark, 
we anchored in midstream, so as to be safe 
from Chow dogs and the inquisitive Chinese 
inhabitants. The moon was coming up, and it 
seemed a fitting time for us to swap hunting 
yarns, so our Englishmen had us interested in 
big game experiences in India and South 
Africa, and an account of a three days’ ele¬ 
phant ride into Rajputana to the deserted city 
of Amber. 
San, who had been sitting near us smoking 
his pet Chinese pipe, interrupted to say that 
to-morrow noon ought to find us in the pigs’ 
sphere of influence, so we finally turned in and 
I fell asleep, to dream of shooting into a solid 
wall of charging pigs with a machine gun. 
Morning found us astir early, and San had 
evolved an omelet with onions and mushrooms 
which would make the fortune of any cook in 
London or New York. Although it might be 
a few hours ere we should see pigs, a second 
overhauling of guns took place, and San waxed 
facetious once more. The two Britishers an¬ 
nounced that nothing should separate them 
from their beloved magazine rifles, while my 
wife took the repeating carbine on account of 
its lightness and also because it has an aper¬ 
ture sight without which she thinks she cannot 
sight quickly. I had picked up from a German 
dealer a magazine pistol in the settlement. It 
had a detachable stock, and I thought I should 
be able to hit with it. I had a sneaking sus¬ 
picion that it would carry far enough to stop 
any porker we might catch sig*ht of. One of 
our friends, in taking a bolt out to oil it (an 
entirely unnecessary proceeding) let the head 
of it loose suddenly, and away soared the 
mainspring overboard. We told him that a 
courtmartial would await him on his return 
for putting a government rifle out of commis¬ 
sion, but he dug up an extra spring from his 
kit, and we stopped plaguing him, after get¬ 
ting his promise to let our guns alone. 
The country now became more rolling; small 
hills with plenty of woods and patches of 
scrub and underbrush. The Chinese hamlets 
were not so much in evidence. We were not 
to stop until after tiffin, which San was busily 
preparing. 
Have you ever drunk tea in China? If you 
have not you do not know tea. The delicious 
taste and aroma of San’s blend of Pekoe is 
with me yet, and after we all drank generously 
of it, we pulled in close to the bank of a nice 
inviting prospect and tied up, leaving the two 
boys in charge. After we were ashore they 
poled her out into the middle again, a process 
which demanded much noisy verbiage on the 
part of the slant-eyed crew. They were to re¬ 
main exactly where they were until our return 
with San. A Chinaman always follows orders 
(oft-times too literally), so we did not fear 
their going off on any excursions in our ab¬ 
sence. 
San started out at an easy swinging gait, 
which was faster than it looked. He was un¬ 
armed, except for a knife he had secreted 
about him. A funny sight we must have af¬ 
forded as we trudged along, our two friends 
in khaki, my wife in a short gray hunting suit, 
while I brought up the rear in a disreputable 
ducking outfit. We were much interested in 
the bamboo thickets we traversed on the lower 
ground. We passed enough to give every one 
in the world a fishing rod. After these cool 
green patches we struck higher ground, which 
San said “blong pig.” Talking and laughing 
were tabooed, and we spread out slightly, San 
keeping near my wife so as to be of any as¬ 
sistance. We proceeded cautiously for a mile 
or so, when the Chinaman held up his hand, 
and we stopped instantly. He kept us stock 
still for several minutes, when we plainly 
heard ahead of us a series of grunts and sub¬ 
dued squeals. They seemed to come from our 
right, where the “Mrs.” and San were, and 
sure enough, at a warning touch he gave her, 
she threw her gun up and almost instantly 
fired. 
Pandemonium broke loose, in a jumble of 
squeals, angry grunts and breaking of twigs. 
San’s knife was out, and he made for the 
