SHUI-YANG.................. 130 115 90 30 Shui-yang. Hsin-ho-chwang............... 180 165 140 80 50 Hsin-ho-chwang. CHAPTER XXIX. SOME CHINESE METHODS OF SHOOTING AND TRAPPING GAME. BY KUM AYEN. EW foreigners have ever interested themselves in the observance of even the commonest native methods of obtaining game, and not many Chinese have ever set themselves the task of describing them. This then is my apology for the following note. From time immemorial a custom has obtained among the princes and nobles in China of organising at stated times hunting expeditions, and proceeding to the scene with their chariots: their followers, fully equipped with bows and arrows, "were supposed to show by their sports that they were au fait with the tactics of ascending the military ladder." These hunts were, according to the season in which they took place, distinguished by various names-as, for instance, Spring breeding (), when pregnant animals were not allowed to be killed; Summer sprouting (), when the tender blades of the growing crops were not to be trampled on; Autumn killing (), when game was full grown and might legitimately be killed; Winter burning (), when the grasses and covers were burnt down to limit the shelters. The chiefs of these hunting expeditions therefore, having in view the preservation of game and the fitness of the season, have always regarded the autumn and winter hunts as being the right times to engage in such sport, when game is full grown, plump and strong. Great proficiency was sometimes attained by the marksman, and poets have often sung his praises. The "chief," so marked out from his good shooting, not only organised these expeditions but was given authority to command his followers just as he liked. When after big game, the sportsman who killed a male was termed "king," and the killer of a female, "prince." Besides his large retinue the wealthy sportsman was accompanied by any number of hunting dogs; the chiefs rode on fleet chargers while their attendants on foot were clothed in raiment as closely approximating as possible the colours of the contiguous trees and grass, and wore sandals made of strips of cotton cloth, their legs being tightly bandaged to prevent strains or other injury. Some carried swords, others sticks, bows and arrows, spears and other weapons; while the beaters thoroughly flogged the bushes and set the game afoot, which was pursued by quick men carrying torches. Rides were cut through the covers and the game driven down them into carefully hidden pitfalls. Pits are made much in the same manner all over the world. In China a hole or well is dug in the ground about 10 feet deep and 20 feet wide, the pit being rather wider at the bottom and staked with pointed sticks: the top is covered over with branches of trees, tufts of grass, straw, sand and earth, and made to look quite natural. King Tang, B.C. 1766, used the drag-net for birds. His method is thus described :-" The net "should be 50 feet long and 12 feet wide, with meshes about an inch square; two men, one at each end, "drag it along over the grass, when the frightened birds are easily captured." This kind of net, in vogue 3,660 years ago, is that still used in China. Another way of taking birds is with a bamboo cage, 2 feet long, divided into four or five compartments or cells, each provided with an automatic door, so contrived that when touched it will close of itself. In the middle of the cage is a cell with a closed door to imprison the decoy. In the other cells are placed leaves, fruit or seeds within the open door; to attract the wild bird, who, seeing a winged friend within and plenty of tempting eatables about, without hesitation enters, treads on the hidden spring and suddenly finds himself captive. A common way of killing birds was with a cross-bow and small pebbles. Falconry has for centuries been practised in China. The falcon when perfectly trained is very clever in pursuing and seizing its prey and returning with it to the trainer. Bird-lime, made of melted resin and oil, is smeared on the end of a bamboo, and secures any small bird with which it comes in contact. All the above methods have been in favour with sportsmen, and have answered admirably their intended purposes. CATCHING WILD-DUCKS. A method which came under my observation during a shooting trip was this. At the close of a cold December, some seven miles from the walled city of Kintang, near a large pond, I saw a man beckoning to me, and as I approached he asked me not to shoot the ducks in the pond. He explained that his friend was in the water; so I waited to see what would happen. After some time his friend landed wearing a large bamboo collar or cangue, and carrying a basket containing a few wild and three tame ducks secured together by a string. He was dressed in goat-skin, with the wool inside: his stockings were stitched to the clothing, and so oiled as to be nearly water-proof. Thus accoutred he immersed his body, using the cangue as a float. On his hat were placed bunches of grass, and on the cangue two or three decoy-ducks. He slowly approached the wild-fowl, and when near enough dexterously caught the unsuspecting duck by the leg, and dragged it under water. I watched him until he had gathered nearly the whole lot. SHOOTING WILD DUCKS. Probably no man in the world but the Chinese fowler would enter the water up to his neck, in the coldest weather, to shoot ducks. His modus operandi is like this:-A light wooden frame or a small punt supports his gingal. The fowler lets the frame with its freight float in front of him, while he, following, |