To the Editor of the "Nonta-Cursa Datty News."
8in,—It will be pretty generally admitted that we whose lot has been cast in this part of China know much lees of the country in which we live, of the people among whom we dwell, of incidents which daily happen and and of sights which only require looking for, than might have been expected. In proof of the latter part this aevertion T shoold like jost to make mention of three sights which my two companions and myself, all long residents in Shanghai and frequent country goers, bad never seen like of before.
Daring the recent Christmas holidays it happened that we passed through the townlet of Huakon on the Nadoo Creek.
A crowd was on the bank watching the manceuvres of two fishermen who were reaping a harvest of mussels and winkles. Many have read how the natives collect wild fowl by going into the water after them and dragciog the birds under by their legs, bat porsitly 20 one has witnessed the operation. Now these fishermen were dressed in fowling costuroe; a cow akin coat and stockings all in one piece, with turned inside, The only apertures in the garment into which the wearers worked their way feet foremost were! at the neck and the coffee, which were securely tied before entering the water, into which the men waded up to their ' necks. As soon s their feet came in contact with any of the shell fah, wich seemed to lie in beds, the fishermen loosened them as well as they could from the muddy bottom of the creek and then brought up the "take in a grasp net, which at other times possibly did duty for collecting the slime for s top dressing for the fields. 'The men were eminently enocessfal daring the short time we stopped to watch them and piled up a' big catch ' on the foreshore.
Another sight which interested us was 8 novel way of fishing. Two small boats were moving parallel with one another, about thirty feet apart. The ends of a line about sixty feet long, to which small, unbaited books were attached boat four inches sticks held respect in each boat. slowly along, first one m the other, woold give hie stick a irk. Immediately that the hooks strack anything the line was gradually haoled ore: in and invariably with success. We certainly saw fish strack four out of mee, many of them ranning apparently from half a pound to two or more pounds. It may be that Chins is the only place in the world where fish are caught with unbaited hooks.
The third incident we witnessed occurred at the well knows Shapa, or lower barrier.
'A native shooter bad his gingal with That there sheld be no gation him—a most uncanny looking weapon,
its length, it was placed upright alongside myself and towered above my head two feet two inches (measured) which Id make the piece of ordnance over ight feet in length. It weighed ybteon catties, We foreigners sometimes grow! at the 64 to 74 Ib. our guns usually weigh! Fancy having to carry a twenty-four pounder which was what this man did all day long and for every day in the week. accompanied by s small, ing animal, © most unpresentable little woak, on whom he Ilsid great store. Criosity impelled us to look at man and dog at work, and what we saw made such an impression upon us that we thought some little record of it might interest others. To cut a long story short this is briefly what the we saw.
'A hen pheasant happened to drop into " farrowed field at feeding We metly ronning ud down in rearch of fodd. The closely as he safely coal deposited his ive tock ber beatings, crept up as
kept it trained on the a. Meantime ground and
the dog lay down across the barrel of the gun as a screen for his master. The psychological moment arrived, the gan was fired, the bird wes killed upon the ground, and the dog remained open the barrel antu his master tock the gan up to reload it. Now this doubtlessly reads very much like romance, but it ix fact that can be attested by three eye-wine You will forgive, upon your all too these incidents, all highly interesting and informing, are only mentioned io the hope that others may be found to enlighten us occasionally apon strange sights that may be seen ap country.
Tam,., etc., Ti, T. Wave.
Shenghai, Jap, 12,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.