New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-07-18

+. T. :. Win fTontlspleCS' zen vi
page and twelve half-page illustrations,
from drawings by the author, ana
| thirty-eight photographs. Svo, PIP N'l''
3lS Duffield & co.
The Entertaining People and the
Strange Ami lals TO he Found III
| China"-this title would more aptly
characterize this very readable book 81
sport and travel than the one IT has
for the author bagged a good quantity
1 of very colorful impressions OF the
/ folks OF China, as well as big game. IL
was as a sportsman, however, that he
went 10 Central and Western China
| and il is as an account or hunting
/ there that his book has most value
! Every one knows" he remarks, "that
! lions come from Africa and tigers from
India, but there are many who were
/ they asked 10 name half a dozen
species of animals found in China
would ia to answer" And he very
/ Justly observes that books Of African
snort and adventure are sufficient IN
number for the day thereof. Many
volumes there are dealing with the
/ fauna Of Europe and America. India
and Cashmere are well represented IN
/ the literature designed for the ediiica-
Ft!on of the travelling sportsman. China
alone is left out in the cold, for though
/ one or two books touch incidentally
upon the sport To be obtained there
/ know OF none which processes to deal
at all seriously with the large mann
Tmals about which so little is known.
| And again: with the exception OF
| few travellers, TO he counted on ones
fingers. scarcely half dozen sports
men have visited the country since
Perc David. in 1869, spent some months
exploring the quasi-indepcndcnt dis
irict Of Moupin." In the spring OF l9il
the present author was invited TO ac-
company a gentleman on an expedition
into the interior of China, whose ann
was 10 secure specimens Of the takin
4 (BudorcdS JcdfOrdD, q rare animal allied
TO the OK, and about which little is on
record: collection Of small mammals
for the British Museum and any other
species of big game which the hunters
might chance 20 encounter. The cXpc-
dition left Liverpool in May that same
year and arrived back in England in
April, 1912.
our author describes with much
pleasantly the voyage to Japan ami
gives us pretty glimpses Of that land
where his stay was brief. From
Shanghai the party passed to the
bosom Of the Yangtse-kiaug-the son
Of the ocean, the Father Of Rivers
and the writer paints that Chinese
river laden with junks. The first thing
that impressed him on entering a na-
tive city in China was the oycrIowcr-
ing excess of humanity lie dis
courses with much humor on the land
Of negatives where everything Is 50
reversed that the expressions Of dlsap-
proval he met with on the natives
faces may, ne says, have denoted the
liyeliest satisfaction. He discusses IN
old and tired" Chinese roads, ths
cities "of mushroom growth the I'd
five hostleries. the country scenery, The
TEMPLES, the Chinese eruditiOn, the ma
tive meal the missionarics, the de
tcctive astrologers," the fortune tcllcrs,
the dialects and supcrstitions, the
opium eaters, the spcctacles, the per
vcrted customs" and ever so many
other things Of China. Many good
stories he tells. A troubled Chinamdn
desired TO borrow our authors field
glasses-the thousand-mile glass, he
called ito find his wife, who had run
away. "A popular belief is that for
eigners have the power of looking inio
the ground and seeing what minerals
lie below the surface" The Chinese
carry their geographical Technology 70
great length. A patient when asked
to locate the exact position Of the pain
which troubled him, replied: In the
east end of my stomach" Among the
native hunters that accompanied the
party was one, Old Yong.
He and the other hunters quite believed
that animals were able to understand
human speech, but that by the lnterposi-
ti0n OF the mOnosylla5le leo this inter
csting faculty was frustrated. Thus,
when two hunters were together, one
would call across a gully to the other;
Game coming up to you, leo leo, leo!
or. "Go % the right, leo. leo, leo!'-a
pleasing and unsophisticated belief
The authors hunting adventures are
recounted with much spirit. Measure
ments Of the animals taken are given
in an appendix. The habits and nat
ural history Of the game encountered
are studied And in addition to the
numerous interesting photographs
which illustrate the book the author
has supplied many excellent drawings
Of the animals of China. He pleads
with his COUSINS across the pond not
TO ruin China the unspOilt game coun-
try, as SO many other countries have
been ruined from a sporting point Of
view-that is. by paying there Euro
pean prices or tipping on a Western
scale. Under the conditions that have
50 far prevailed. he declares. China will
never become a popular country with
the modern big game hunter, though
with the advent OF railways, "should
these ever manage TO grope their way
through the morasscs Of official graft
and peculation in which they are AT
present submerged. matters will change
TO some extent, and we may yet see