pt by groves of planted pine and fir trees, we descended
abruptly into the great subtropical valley at Shih-tien.

Mile after mile this fertile plain stretches away in a succession of rice
paddys and fields of sugar cane interspersed with patches of graceful
bamboo, their summits drooping like enormous clusters of ostrich plumes;
the air is warm and fragrant and the change from the surrounding hills is
delightful. However, we were disappointed in the shooting for, although it
appeared to be an ideal place for ducks and other water birds, we killed
only five teal, and the great ponds were almost devoid of bird life. Even
herons, so abundant in the north, were conspicuous by their absence and we
saw no sheldrakes, geese, or mallards.

At Shih-tien we camped in a beautiful temple yard on the outskirts of the
town, and with Wu I returned to the village to inquire about shooting
places. We seated ourselves in the first open tea house and within ten
minutes more than a hundred natives had filled the room, overflowed through
the door and windows, and formed a mass of pushing, crowding bodies which
completely blocked the street outside. It was a simple way of getting all
the village together and Wu questioned everyone who looked intelligent.

We learned that shooting was to be found near Gen-kang, five days' travel
south, and we returned to the temple just in time to receive a visit from
the resident mandarin. He was a good-looking, intellectual man, with
charming manners and one of the most delightful gentlemen whom we met in
China.

During his visit, and until dinner was over and we had retired to our
tents, hundreds of men, women and children crowded into the temple yard to
gaze curiously at us. After the gates had been closed they climbed the
walls and sat upon the tiles like a flock of crows. Their curiosity was
insatiable but not unfriendly and nowhere throughout our expedition did we
find such extraordinary interest in our affairs as was manifested by the
people in this immediate region. They were largely Chinese and most of them
must have met foreigners before, yet their curiosity was much greater than
that of any natives whom we knew were seeing white persons for the first
time.

Just before camping the next day we passed through a large village where we
were given a most flattering reception. We had stopped to do some shooting
and were a considerable distance behind the caravan. The _mafus_ must have
announced our