The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-11-13


 During the season of 1904, I was shooting on the Yangtsze river, and on one occasion anchored my houseboat near the bank on which stood small straw matched hut. Early the follow. | ing morning there came on board a young Chinaman of splendid physique, and at once began an animated con versation with my Chinese boy servant, and as the latter spoke English and Chinese, I soon learned that my boat l was anchored near the happy hunting ground of my visitor; but he extended a cordial welcome, because, as he said, l he was out of ammunition, and hoped that would give him few loads for his gun. Appreciating the somewhat selfish element in his welcome, l made the condition that I would supply him
 moderately if he would pilot me to his shooting preserves, which he readily consented to do. While eating my
 breakfast my boy opened some cart
 ridges, loaded with Schultze's powder,
 and poured enough for several loads
 into his primitive horn, putting the
 shot into a small, coarse, cloth bag
 which he carried for the purpose. Gu
 rious to see his gun and how he would
 load it, that also, at my request, was
 brought on board, and I soon under
 stood that he was most anxious to in
 struct me as to how gun ought to be
 loaded
 The gun was of the matchlock pat
 tern, with an iron barrel about five I feet long, and would weigh about six
 teen pounds. The stock was made of
 wood, and in shape like carpenter S
 plane. At the breech the barrel was
 provided with a small aperture into
 which bit of iron plate was inserted, and which served the purpose of a
 pan, the ignition being effected by a
 smouldering match rope. The bore of
 the muzzle was smaller than at the
 breech, indicating that the Chinese
 knew the advantage of shooting with a
 choke bore gun long before the idea en-
 tered the brains of western gunmakers As I did not wish to discredit the
 mechanism of my visitors gun, did
 not uncover my own, which was the
 perfection of Greeners workmanship : until the hour warned us that the sur had dried the grass fields, and that one
 could walk over them without getting
 uncomfortably wet by the heavy dtN which, on a starlight night, comes : down like rain in the valley of the . Yangtsze. But when we were ready t,
 start, I noticed that the appearance ot my gun gave my visitor no apparent
 concern. After handling it a few mo, ments and studying the mechanism o1
 the opening and closing of the breech . and the injection and election of tht cartridges, he handed 1t back to m with an air that plainly said Mine i! good enough" And in that plain an
 swer may be seen the principle whicl guides the Chinese mind. However = crude or primitive the machinery may t be, if it fulfils the office for which i NGio llllCllQCU, lllt OllIldllletll SElQOLll l C - cognizes any necessity for change, al 7 though the saving of time is so evident
 But I was more interested in his gun :. than he in mine, and ts he wolked ol the bank of his own majestic river
 brandishing it in the early sun, I fel
 that could see iMcGregor standing ol his native heath again,
 Jf ..,,,, ,,-l;ob I ol1o .,,ol, Ia . and which expected would excite tn
 admiration of my Chinese friend, faile
 to awaken any such emotions, the pow der I had given him seemed to arres his attention. The powder he had beel , accustomed to use was of home manu l facture. He had been in the habit O !. mixing three catties of ground char s coal, three caItties of saltpetre, ten 0 r sulphur, and after putting it all in
 pan and pouring over it jar of Kao Y Hang spirits, the pan would be placed 1 over low charcoal fire and the mix F ture we'll stirred with a stick until became of the consistency of paste; i I would then be laid out on paper in tn
 sun to dray. Such were the ingredi
 ents and such the proportions employe
 by the Chinese for making gunpowde 7 bong before it was known to the peo
 pie of the west The quality, general ! ly is not good, but this can be materi n, ally improved by the quality of the in o gredients, and when fine powder is de . sired rattan charcoal is used. I wa o shown a sample of some of the poWde e manufactured by my newly made ac o. quaintance, and it was black and ex D tremely dirty, seenng to make 1t ne n cessary to cleanse the gun every tim Q after firing it, but I was told that ,- iChinese sportsman did not wash hi if gun, as a rule, until the shooting sea o son was over, and sometimes not at al if When we had arrived at the shoot
 ing preserves" broke my gun at tn ,- breech and Slipped in the cartridge n and remarked to my companion that n was ready, and it was then I had tn ,- opportunity of seeing him load his gur e He poured into the palm of his han, " about the proper charge of powder, bu r. stopped to examine it, and earnestl, If inquired why it was of a creamy colol l. Evidently he had never seen an g oCHullAe poWueI' ana It was as eVlden l, from his countenance that he did no n care to pour that powder into his gul a without knowing more about it. I as e sured him that there was no danger tt that there was not a foreign devil ,e anywhere about the powder, and tha j. it was as harmless as black powder h After being thus assured, he poured tn 6 poWder into his gun drew o11t his lon d iron ramrod and began to ram it yer