The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1877-06-14
Fishing Extraordinary.

ID always sAChuCACO AiuitAuh " NiAO ~
'cessity and the Instincts of self-support.
A method employed by the Chinese is
generally praeticed at night, and de-
ponds upon a peculiar power which a
white screen, stretched under he water,
seems to possess over the fishes, decoy-
ing them to it and making them leap.
A man, sitting at the stern of a long,
narrow boat, steers her with paddle to
the middle of a river, and there stops.
Along the right hand side Of his boat
narrow sheet of white canvas is stretch
ed when he leans to that side it dips
under the surface, and, if it be a moon
lit night, CLEANS through the water.
Along the other side of the boat net is
fastened so as to form barrier two or
three feet high. The boatman keeps
perfectly still. If another boat passes
by, he will not speak he is only impa-
tent at the slight breaking ofthe silence,
While he keeps thus without a sound or
stir, the fish, attracted by the white can
vas, approach and leap, and would go
over the narrow boat and be free in their
native waters on the other side, but for
the screen of netting, which stops them,
and throws them down before the mans
feet.
Every one must have heard of the fish
ing eormorant, which is actually train
ed in China to catch fish. A man takes
out ten or twelve of these web-footed
birds in boat, and as soon as the boat
stops, at his word they plunge into the
water and begin at once searching for
and diving after fish. They are
most diIigent workers, for, if one of
them is seen swimming about idly, the
Chinaman in the boat strikes the water
near the bird with the end of long
bamboo; and, not touched but recalled
to a sense of duty, the cormorant at
once turns to business again. AS soon
as fish is caught, a word from the man
brings the bird swimming towards him.
He draws it into the boat, and it drops
its prey from its bill. There is always a
straw or string tied round the neck. to
prevent the fish from being swallowed,
and this string requires the incest adj
justment lest it may choke the bird-a
result which would certainly follow if it
slipped lower down on the neck. The
sagacity and workman-like method of
the birds are shown when they get into
difficulties. If the fish caught is too
large for one beak to secure, another
cormorant comes up to the struggle,
and the two with united efforts bring
their prize to the boat. On the rivers
and canals near Ningpo, Shanghai, and
FOo-chOw-foO, the employment of these
birds is by no means an uncommon
sight; but they are never to be seen fish
ing in the summer months, their work
being in the winter, beginning always
about October and ending in May. The
birds have of course to be subjected to a
system of training, which is carried on
in the cOrmOrant breeding and fishing
establishments, one of which is at dis
lance of thirty or forty miles from
Shanghae.
A still more singular practice is to be
found amongst the ChOnOs Indians, who
train dogs to help them on their fishing
expeditions in much the same way as
the shepherds dog helps the shepherd.
The net is held by two men standing in
the water, and the dogs, swimming out
far and diving after the fish, drive them
back towards it. They enjoy their work
Just as a good horse, though hard
pressed, seems to enjoy the hunt; and
every time they raise their heads from
the water they tell their pleasure by
clamOrous barking. The Fuegians, one
of the most miserable and degraded
races on the earth, train their dogs in
similar manner to assist them in catching
birds and sea offers. In times of famine,
they kill the old women of their tribe
rather than sacrifice their dogs, alleg-
ing, as Peschel says, that dogs catch
offers, and women do not. They have
wonderful continuance for killing the
sharks which abound off their coasts
A log of wood, shaped so as to appear
something like a canoe, is set atioat,
with a rope and large moose hanging
from one end of it, Before long a shark
attacks the supposed canoe, swimming
after it, and is caught in the moose,
hanging from the stern. 1t closes on
him so that he can not extricate himself,
and the weight of the log keeps him
swimming slowly without being able to
sink Then the Fuegians in their
canoes, generally steered by women,
at their leisure and finish the
shark with their spears.
All these contrivances of savage ma
tons, or of the strangely civilized
Chinese, are meant to kill or seize the
fish by natural means. tits much near
er home that we have to look to find the
element of superstition prevailing, and
useless customs invested with the i'm
pOrtance of charms. An instance may
be found in the case of the Sicilian fish
ermen, who, when in search of sword
fish, chant a jargon of words the mean
ing of which even they themselves do
not know. The song is supposed to be
some old Greek verses, which, by time
and use among those ignorant of their
meaning, have become so altered as to
be almost unrecognizable. The fisher
men regard the medley as sure means
of attracting the swOrdfish, which they
harpoon from the boat, when the charm,
as they suppose, has brought them with
in reach.
Far away in northern regions there is
a novel method of fishing under ice,
which shows more ingenuity than the
simple lowering and fastening of net.
A small square hole is cut in the ice, and
in this is placed an upright stick, sup
ported bv cross pin run through it and