Junks on the Grand "Canal.

PHEASANT SHOOTING IN CHINA

THE OUTFIT AND COST

By W. PRAGUE COLEMAN

photographs by the author

WHO would believe that China withits 400,000,000 people is to-dayone of the greatest haunts for

game—both large and small? Yet, shouldone go there during t he fall or winter, it iseasy to be convinced. Along the coastprovinces the large game is being drivenwestward and in some localities, has en-tirely disappeared. However, the smallergame, such as pheasant, quail and hare,as well as all kinds of water fowl, are stillabundant—even near the large cities.

A very attractive feature of the sport,as one finds it in the East, is the small ex-pense that is necessary to thoroughly en-joy such an outing, even when one has allthe comforts and conveniences. Withoutdoubt, the greatest factor in making thesetrips so enjoyable is the Shanghai house-boat. These junks—for they are the evolu-tion of such crafts—are entirely used forjourneys on water of any length. To theunaccustomed eye they appear cumber-

some and top-heavy, but they are built forthe conditions that exist and fulfill every re-quirement. The average size boat is aboutthirty feet in length by eight feet beam—housed over except at stem and stern.

They are flat-bottomed and have ex-tremely light draft. This is necessary, for,in the smaller canals, there is seldom morethan a foot or two of water. Their riggingis usually the same as an ordinary junk—the sail, however, is simply auxiliary—themain reliance for propulsion being theyuloh, which is a long scull that projectsover the side of the stern. Another queerfeature of this craft is that the masts arealways hinged to the deck, to allow passageunder the low bridges that span the num-berless canals. The furnishings are alwaysvery complete—bunks, kitchen and lava-tory and bath, so that everything is con-venient for an extended outing.

A crew of from five to seven natives isusually required, but as their quarters are

Pheasant Shooting in China 687

in the stern of the boat as well as theirown kitchen and messing appliances, one isnever bothered by their presence aboard.

Along Soo Chow Canal in Shanghai hun-dreds of such boats can be seen, for onevery Saturday of the shooting seasonthere is a general exodus for the sport thatis to be found just beyond the city walls.The country is level and has a network ofcreeks and canals, which branch in everydirection.

It was in the fall of 1903 that three ofus provisioned our boat and started on aneight days’ trip toward the Yangtsze. Weleft Shanghai one crisp November eveningalong with several other boats, being towedby the same launch up the Soo Chow Canal.All night we could hear the puff, puff, ofour launch as we proceeded toward SooChow, a large walled town eighty miles in-land. In the morning, after the formalityof being inspected by the custom officials,we were allowed to proceed. Anotherlaunch was in waiting, so our journey wassoon resumed. We then on entered the GrandCanal and continued our trip through levelcountry which appeared to be well culti-vated, as one could see in all directions thesquatty mud houses of the native villages.

Trees are very scarce, the only verdure tobreak the monotony of the landscape are thegraceful copses of bamboo. Now and thensome ruins of a town or village are passed—asite Chinese superstition forbade rebuilding.Most of these places are the relics of theTai Ping rebellion. Along the canal thescene is most animated. Fleets of junks,with their queer bamboo sails, are alwaysin evidence, from the long, narrow silk boatto the beggar craft. At every large villagewe passed under massive stone bridges thathave stood for ages, and the graceful lines ofthese structures added much to the pic-turesqueness of our journey. When a haltwas made, large crowds of natives wouldgather around the house-boat to see the“foreign devils.” Our hats and clothingwere a never-ending source of interest.Although we were on the principal high-way between Shanghai and Chin Kiang,there seemed to be plenty of Chinamenwho had never before seen a foreigner.

It was during the afternoon of the thirdday that our trip came near being endedrather abruptly, and I was the uninten-tional cause. Luck had been much againstme—although the birds were quite plenti-ful—for my shooting was exceptionally bad.

A farmer’s hut in the pheasant country.

688 Pheasant Shooting in China

Finally, after much hard work, a largecock bird rose within easy range; a goodshot brought him down and my cooliebeater promptly retrieved him. The re-port of the gun started a large pheasantthat rose within close range, and I imme-diately fired at him with the remainingbarrel. It was another clean miss. I thennoticed a coolie some ninety yards awaywho appeared to be in the direct line offire. The fellow had been stooping over,picking cotton, and I had failed to see him.He put his hands to his face and then beganto yell. It instantly occurred to me whathad happened and both of us went imme-diately to the wounded man to discover theextent of his injuries. Within a remark-ably short time we were surrounded by ahowling mob of coolies—each one talkingwith all his might and gesticulating wildly.It was quickly noticed that the woundswere very slight; two shots struck him inthe face, but had barely broken the skin.Using my coolie as an interpreter, I foundout that the wounded man expected todie, and the mob kept up a cry that “theforeign devil has killed a Chinaman.” Ibound the fellow with some bandages thatwere in my cartridge-bag and gave him

several silver dollars, and though the resultwas instantaneous, the amount was notenough. I then turned my pockets insideout so that he might see that it was all Ihad and he seemed satisfied. AfterwardI learned that these accidents are not in-frequent, due to the great number of cooliesalways at work in the fields, but if clearlyaccidental a payment of silver money isall that is required.

Within the area visited frequently bysportsmen it is said that there is a classof Chinamen who deliberately get in frontof shooting-parties, but far enough awayto escape serious injury, in order that theymay become slightly wounded. In thisway a sum of money is secured. Violenceis never used to compel payment of thisform of blackmail, for it is nothing else;simply a large crowd of natives will gatheraround one’s house-boat and will not allowit to move, while the wounded man isplaced on deck and remains there untilpayment is secured.

The next day we tried the opposite sideof the canal. Here there was a numberof mulberry groves and some bean patches,which we regarded as most promisingplaces, and rarely ever failed to flush birds

Towing a junk under a bridge on the Grand Canal.

My beater, and the results of a morning’s tramp.

there. The groves made difficult shootingon account of the scrubbiness of the trees,and most of our successes were snap-shots.It is true that these Chinese pheasants aremost clever birds in some instances, as Ihad ample proof. Quite frequently whenI would approach a promising field, a bird—usually a hen—would flush about fiftyyards away on silent wings. Of course Iwould shoot and in most cases do no morethan “pull a few feathers.” About tenseconds later, in ample time to have fireda second barrel, a cock pheasant will jumpwithin twenty yards and whiz away whileI am in the act of reloading.

The second day proved to be our best,and we bagged eighteen pheasants and anumber of quail, snipe and teal, the lastnamed where the canals would broadenout into ponds.

One of the most annoying features ofshooting in that part of China is the num-berless canals and irrigating ditches.These are usually about twelve to fifteenfeet wide and ten to twelve feet deep, whilethe bridges across them are very scarceand in many places there are none at all.

As one could seldom go five hundredyards in any direction without having tocross some of these ditches, it can well be

imagined they interfered greatly with onefollowing up the game.

The next three days we spent in thevicinity of Chang Cha, about one hundredand seventy miles from Shanghai, and asthe birds thereabouts were plentiful, oursport continued good. Here we ran acrossa party of three Chinamen—professionalhunters, as we would call them. Theirequipment was most unique and it surelymust have antedated even the old flintlocks. The barrels of their guns weremade of gas pipe, about half an inch indiameter, with a touch hole an inch fromthe end, while the breech end was pluggedup with wood. For a stock there wasnothing but a handle about eight incheslong. To ignite the charge, each one car-ried a coil of softly woven rope around hisright shoulder, one end of which remainedlighted and burned like a slow match, andwas so held by a small lever attached tothe stock that it could be brought downover the touch hole. These guns werealways fired from the hip, and the bearershunted in threes and kept near enoughtogether for all to fire at the same bird.

It was such a ridiculous-looking equip-ment that I determined to follow and seeif it were really possible to kill a pheasant

690 Pheasant Shooting in China

with such guns. My curiosity was soongratified, for they had hardly entered athick copse when a large cock was flushed.Almost instantly the three guns crackedand down came the bird. It is in this waythat the markets of the large cities aresupplied, for the pheasant is too wise abird, as a rule, to be trapped.

After five days’ shooting we decided toreturn. Our bag then numbered sixty-nine pheasant and about one hundredpieces of smaller game, such as quail,pigeon, snipe, hare, duck and teal. Ourcrew “yulohed” our boat back to Wu Huand from there we were towed towardShanghai.

To show at what a moderate expensethese trips can be made, the following

itemized account of the one just describedis given:

One head coolie or “lowdah” for eightdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5.50

Five coolies as crew, at 10 cents per day . . 4.00One cook, at 30 cents per day . . . . . . . . . . 2.40Rations for native crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.00Cost of tow from Shanghai to Wu Hu and

return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.00Rations for three men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.00Rent for house-boat, $4.00 per day . . . . . 32.00

$82.90

It will be seen that the expense of anouting for eight days is less than $3.50 perman per day, and this too with everythingincluded which is necessary for comfortand convenience.

A Shanghai house-boat.