feet high from a hole
made by the shot. The dog-coolie rushed down and filled his cap with
our unexpected prey, which we subsequently found to number twenty-two,
varying from about two to four ounces in weight each. Concussion from
the blow on the ice had stunned many, but others were bleeding from
shot wounds.

After a fruitless search for the "dog-headed tigers" we walked back to
Chinkiang that evening.

The cold weather having brought wildfowl of all descriptions I was off
betimes next morning to some islands in the Yangtse, a few miles down
river. An hour's sailing with wind and stream brought me to the
desired spot, where I landed on the sandy beach, when my dog, glad to
escape from confinement on board, ran to the top of a high dyke, or
wall for preventing floods, some hundred yards distant, and put up
hundreds of wild geese which had been preening themselves in the sun
on the other side, where they had also found shelter from the cutting
wind. The mighty roar of wings was the first intimation I had of their
presence, and as they were well out of range, my dog came in for a
reminder that his place for the time being was close to heel. Had they
not been thus scared away I could have walked unobserved to within
five yards of them.

Following the beach a little above high-water mark, I presently came
to several small ponds surrounded with willows, out of the first of
which some teal rose in a close bunch, when firing into the brown I
knocked them all down except one, and that I accounted for with the
other barrel. Falling into the pond, some that were winged gave a good
deal of trouble by diving, but eventually they were all secured, being
eight in number. Several ducks were scared away by my shots, but I
here added half-a-dozen snipe to the bag.

Coming to some wide ditches choked with reeds and willows my dog put
out pheasant after pheasant, but as they generally got up on the
opposite side, where there was no gun, I only managed to secure seven,
besides two woodcock.

While eating my lunch of sandwiches under the lee of a reedstack, I
observed that numerous flights of wildfowl on passing from one branch
of the river to another crossed a low, marshy corner of the island, so
that presently I made my way there and crouched down amongst the
rushes behind a dyke, having a small lagoon immediately at my back.
Mallard, widgeon and many other kinds of fowl came over in such quick
succession that for two hours I was