In this instance the plan succeeded admirably; we were in a few moments excellent friends; the boys were running in all directions, gathering plants for my specimen-box, and the old men were offering me their bamboo-pipes to smoke. As I got a little nearer the village, however, their suspicions seemed to return, and they evidently would have been better pleased had I either remained where I was or gone back again. This procedure did not suit my plans, and although they tried very hard to induce me to wyloe' to my 'san-pan,' it was of no use. They then pointed to the heavens, which were very black at the time, and told me that it would soon be a thunder-storm; but even this did not succeed. As a last resource, when they found that I was not to be turned out of my way, some of the little ones were sent on before to apprize the villagers of my approach, and when I reached the village, every living thing, down even to the dogs and pigs, were out to have a peep at the Fokie.' I soon put them all, the dogs excepted, in the best possible humour, and at last they seemed in no hurry to get rid of me. One of the most respectable amongst them, seemingly the head man of the village, brought me some cakes and tea, which he politely offered me. I thanked him, and began to eat. The hundreds who now surrounded me, were perfectly delighted. 6 'He eats and drinks like ourselves,' said one. 'Look,' said two or three behind me, who had been examining the back part of my head rather attentively, look here, the stranger has no tail!' and then the whole crowd, women and children included, had to come round me, to see if it was really a fact that I had no tail. One of them, rather a dandy in his way, with a noble tail of his own, plaited with silk, now came forward, and taking off a kind of cloth, which the natives here wear as a turban, and allowing his tail to fall gracefully over his shoulders, said to me in the most triumphant manner, 'Look at that!' I acknowledged it was very fine, and promised if he would allow me to cut it off, I would wear it for his sake. He seemed very much disgusted at the idea of such a loss, and the others had a good laugh at him."—p. 38.

The following is a description of an egg-hatching establishment at Chusan:

"One of the greatest lions in Chusan is an old Chinaman, who every spring hatches thousands of duck eggs by artificial heat. His establishment is situated in the valley on the north side of the city of Tinghae, and is much resorted to by the officers of the troops and strangers who visit the island. The first question put to a sight-seer who comes here is, whether he has seen the hatching process; and if he has not, he is always recommended to pay a visit to the old Chinaman and his ducks. When I set out upon this excursion for the first time, it was a beautiful morning in the end of May. Just such a morning as we have in the same month

in England, but perhaps a little warmer. The mist and vapour were rolling lazily along the sides of the hills which surround the plain on which the city of Tinghae is built; the Chinese, who are generally early risers, were already proceeding to their daily labours, and although the greater part of the population are very poor, yet they seem contented and happy. Walking through the city, and out at the north gate, I passed through some rice fields, the first crop of which had been just planted, and a five minutes' walk brought me to the poor man's cottage. He received me with Chinese politeness, asked me to sit down, and offered me tea and his pipe,-two things always at hand in a Chinese house, and perfectly indispensable. Having civilly declined his offer, I asked permission to examine his hatching house, to which he immediately led the way. The Chinese cottages generally are wretched buildings of mud and stone, with damp earthen floors, scarcely fit for cattle to sleep in, and remind one of what Scottish cottages were a few years ago, but which now happily are among the things that were. My new friend's cottage was no exception to the general rule; bad fitting, loose, creaking doors; paper windows, dirty and torn; ducks, geese, fowls, dogs, and pigs, in the house, and at the doors, and apparently having equal rights with their masters. Then there were children, grand-children, and, for aught that I know, great-grand-children, all together forming a most motley group, which with their shaved heads, long tails, and strange costume would have made a capital subject for the pencil of Cruikshank. The hatching-house was built at the side of the cottage, and was a kind of long shed with mud walls, and thickly thatched with straw. Along the ends and down one side of the building are a number of round straw baskets, well plastered with mud to prevent them from taking fire. In the bottom of each basket there is a tile placed, or rather the tile forms the bottom of the basket; upon this the fire acts, a small fire-place being below each basket. Upon the top of each basket there is a straw cover, which fits closely, and which is kept shut while the process is going on. In the centre of the

-

shed are a number of large shelves, placed one above another, upon which the eggs are laid at a certain stage of the process. When the eggs are brought, they are put into the baskets, the fire is lighted below them, and a uniform heat is kept up, ranging, as nearly as I could ascertain from some observations which I made with a thermometer, from 95° to 102°, but the Chinamen regulate the heat by their own feelings, and therefore it will of course vary considerably. In four or five days after the eggs have been subject to this temperature, they are taken carefully out, one by one, to a door in which a number of holes have been bored nearly the size of the eggs; they are then held against these holes, and the Chinamen look through them, and are able to tell whether they are good or not. If good, they are taken back, and replaced in their former quarters; if bad, they are of course excluded. In nine or ten

days after this, that is, about fourteen days from the commencement, the eggs are taken from the baskets, and spread out on the shelves. Here no fire-heat is applied, but they are covered over with cotton and a kind of blanket, under which they remain about fourteen days more, when the young ducks burst their shells, and the shed teems with life. These shelves are large, and capable of holding many thousands of eggs; and when the hatching takes place, the sight is not a little curious. The natives who rear the young ducks in the surrounding country, know exactly the day when they will be ready for removal, and in two days after the shell is burst, the whole of the little creatures are sold and conveyed to their new quarters."-p. 78.

The following ingenious and curious modes of catching fish may be interesting to such of our readers as honour the memory of old Isaac Walton by practising at times. the art of which he was so enthusiastic a votary:

"There is another mode of catching fish which I have frequently seen in the northern provinces, even more curious than that which I have just noticed. Every one acquainted with Chinese history knows that fish abound in all the rivers and lakes of the north; indeed, every little pond swarms with them. I was greatly surprised when I first saw the fish catcher following his profession in these places. He is literally amphibious. He is to be seen perfectly naked, half walking, half swimming; now he raises his arms and hands above his head, and bringing them down, strikes a sharp blow upon the water, making a loud and splashing noise. His feet are not idle they warn him that a fish is at hand, and they are now feeling for him amongst the mud at the bottom of the pond. The next moment the fisherman has disappeared; he is now under water, and he remains so long that you think something has happened to him. There is, however, no cause for fear; a few seconds more, and he appears, rubbing his face and eyes with one hand, and in the other triumphantly holding up the poor little fish which he has just captured. It is immediately placed safely in his basket, and the work goes on as before. The surface of the water is struck and splashed, as I have just described, in order to frighten the fish which are swimming amongst the feet of the Chinaman. Being frightened, they dive immediately to the bottom amongst the mud, where they are felt by the feet, and are soon taken by these expert divers.

"But the most singular of all the methods of catching fish in China is that of training and employing a large species of cormorant for this purpose, generally called the fishing cormorant. These are certainly wonderful birds. I have frequently met with them on the canals and lakes in the interior, and had I not seen with my own eyes their extraordinary docility, I should have had

great difficulty in bringing my mind to believe what authors have said about them. The first time I saw them, was on a canal a few miles from Ning-po. I was then on my way to a celebrated temple in that quarter, where I intended to remain for some time in order to make collections of objects of natural history in the neighbourhood. When the birds came in sight I made my men immediately take in our sail, and we remained stationary for some time to observe their proceedings. There were two boats, containing one man and about ten or twelve birds in each. The birds were standing perched on the sides of the little boats, and apparently had just arrived at the fishing-ground, and were about to commence operations. They were now ordered out of the boats by their masters; and so well trained were they, that they went on the water immediately, scattered themselves over the canal, and began to look for fish. They have a beautiful sea-green.eye, and quick as lightning they see and dive upon the finny tribe, which once caught in the sharp-notched bill of the bird, never by any possibility can escape. The cormorant now rises to the surface, with the fish in its bill; and the moment he is seen by the Chinaman, he is called back to the boat. As docile as a dog, he swims after his master and allows himself to be pulled into the San-pan, where he disgorges himself of his prey, and again resumes his labours. And what is more wonderful still, if one of the cormorants gets hold of a fish of large size, so large that he would have difficulty in taking it to the boat, some of the others seeing his dilemma, hasten to his assistance, and with their efforts united capture the animal, and haul him off to the boat. Sometimes a bird seemed to get lazy or playful, and swam about without minding his business; and then the Chinaman, with a long bamboo which he also used for propelling the boat, struck the water near where the bird was, without, however, hurting him, calling out to him at the same time in an angry tone. Immediately, like the truant schoolboy who neglects his lessons and is found out, the cormorant gives up his play, and resumes his labours. A small string is put round the neck of the bird, to prevent him from swallowing the fish which he catches; and great care is taken that this string is placed and fastened so that it will not slip further down his neck and choke him, which otherwise it would be very apt to do."-p. 108.

But it is time that we say something of what befel the author in the pursuit of those objects which peculiarly belonged to his own department.

"I found," he says, "a number of nursery gardens, containing excellent assortments of plants for sale, many of which were new to me, and are unknown in Europe; and being at the same time very ornamental, were consequently of great value. At first I had great difficulty in finding out these gardens. The Chinese, from motives

which it would be very difficult to define,-perhaps from jealousy or fear,—were unwilling to give me the slightest information about any of these places outside the town. They told me there were numbers of flowershops in the city, but denied having any knowledge of nurseries or gardens in the country.

"If you want flowers,' said they, there they are in the shops; why do you not buy them? Shanghae men do this, and you should do the same.'

"But these shops do not contain the things I want,' said I. "Then give us the names of the things you want, and we will get them for you."

"But how can I give you the names? I do not understand your language; you would of course send to your nurseries for them, if I could only furnish you with their names?'

"'Yes.'

“Oh, then you have nursery gardens in the country?'

66 6

66

Yes, but they are a great way off.'

I

I, of course, knew enough of the Chinese by this time to doubt every word they told me, unless I had good reasons for believing them to be speaking the truth, which I had not in this case. also saw at a glance from the state of the plants that they had not only been grown in the country, but I knew from their condition, that they could have come but a very short distance, for they had been dug out of the ground with a portion of the soil adhering to the roots. For some few days, however, all my efforts were completely baffled, until a lucky circumstance enabled me to get the better of my Chinese friends. My servant and myself were returning home from the country, after an unsuccessful day's search, when as we neared the north gate of the city, I shot a bird which was new to me; being at that time engaged in making a collection of the skins of Chinese birds. I was, of course, immediately surrounded by all the boys in the neighbourhood, who were quite in raptures with my gun, as it was so different from their own clumsy matchlock. Now,' said I to the juvenile crowd around me, who can show me the way to the nearest flower-garden where I can purchase some flowers?' 'Lyloe, lyloe,' said half-a-dozen of them at once, and I found to my surprise and pleasure, that I was almost close to the gate of a very good nursery, belonging to an individual who had a flower-shop in the city, and with whom I had the conversation related above. It was now getting too dark to see the plants well, but I marked the spot and returned on the following day. This time, however, I was not successful, for, as I approached, a boy who was on the watch scampered away to the gardener's house and gave notice of my appearance; and long before I reached the gate it was closed and barricaded, and no persuasion nor entreaty could remove their fears, or induce them to

* Come, come.

VOL. XXIII.-NO. XLV.

5