Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1883-07-04
rFrom, Our Regular Correspondent
London letter.
LONDON, June Goth, 1888.

LONDON, June Goth, 1883.
Numerous are the attractions now
being offered to theIsight seeing public al
South Kensington, there is, perhaps, nc
department of the fisheries exhibition more
full of interest than that which the exhibit.
ors of tho celestial empire have created
in their galleries for the establishment and
delight of icthylogists. An original way
of capturing fish is that pursued by wha,
are known at S watow rs "slipper boats
These crafts are % feet long, and 16 inch
es wide, and they fish in couples moored
side by side on bright moonlight nights
tn Dir only implement of capturing being q
white board fastened along the outer side
of each. This board catches the bright
rays of the moon, and fish, who would
seem to be of confding disposition in tina,
pc rtion of the empire, are said to mistake
it itor water. and to leap from their native
element into the slipper boats in large
numbers. Innumerable devices of this
character peculiar TO the country are here
on show in the Chinese annex. This
would seem to be branch of the industry
naturally commanding itself to the minds
ofl people who are universally credited
with more than ordinary amount Of
cunning. Their fish traps are, moreover
manifold and varied, and of the highest
workmanship and utility. In the British
Isles this is q means of taking fish practi-
cally unknown and Impractical, with the
exception of the stereotyped eel and lobs-
ter pots; but the Chinese devote themsel-
yes largely to these strategic methods Of
fishing, and with an unvarying success
that nothing but the boundless fertility of
their rivers and seas could explain or
Withstand. The day will perhaps come
whe n western ideas will penetrate suffi-
Glen thy there to insure the suppression OF
who lesale fish poisoning and such like
fatal poaching arrangements for the cap.
ture of small fry as are rather too candidly
exhibited here; but at present we can only
adm ire, perhaps with tinge of detection,
the hundred and one devices employed in
country where, though every form of
unsr,ortsmanlike destruction is rampant,
the fish supply seems to remain as abun.
dant and accessible as ever.
Cormorants are another means employed
by the Chinese on lakes and the shall over
sheets of water for taking fish. This
aquatic species of hawking is of very old
date, and was known and practiced in
England, whittier it was doubtless i'm
ported from the east, two centuries ago.
but it is followed with success only by
the Chinese. The birds, which have 10
undergo regular training, are taken out
| in boat, and before the work commences
strap or ring is placed round each cor
morant's throat sufficiently tight to pre-
vent its swallowing any fish it may catch
in its strongly hooked beak, but not so
tight as to prevent respiration. The
dark. winged fishermen then go off and
cater for their master with success and
regularity. being rewarded with an
occasional fish, which they are permitted
to swallow when the strap has been
removed. Above all things the Chinese
are frugal nation, making use of sub
stances that would meet with culinary
contempt in any other country. The dis
carded shark represents 10 them valua.
BILE form of food. The fins 60 to form the
well known soup, or are used in the prep
aration of gelatine; while the skin, after
being prepared and cleaned, serves for
covering sword handles and for various
other ornamental purposes. Even the
cuttle6sh, a creature repulsive to fisher
men of most other nations, is the object of
careful pursuit with nets and lines by the
Chinese at time when other work is
slack and carefully dried and packed In
bales, commands a ready sale all through
the fowery land. The oyster also, and
its pearl-bearing kindred. the Chinese
mussel. are not merely looked upon as
dainties. Though cultivated with skill
and science as such in the first place.
their refuse shells arc burnt for lime and
while still living they are induced to
secrete the hard white substance which is
so highly valued for its beauty and
scarcity all over the world. Some of the
shells containing artifcially constructed
pearls are shown here in one of the cases
and though they are novelty to the divers
alike of China, Ceylon and Panama, they
will doubtless be new to many. 1t will
observed that some of them are in the
shape of quaint little images adherihg fast
to the shell. These metallic images have
been inserted while the mussel lived, ano
finding itself i'll at ease with this encum-
berance, which it has been unable to
eject, the bivalye has adopted the process
which is the cause of all pearls, and has
silently covered the irritating foreign
substance with layer after layer of the
white material known in the perfect form
of pearl.