Fishing with cormorants is almost invariably carried on at high tide, and near bridges, as fish always love to congregate under shelter. At such times the bridges are always crowded with spectators watching the feats of the cormorants.
The raft on which the fisherman stands is made of five or six bamboos, about twenty feet in length. Now and then a cormorant which has not completed its course of training is so delighted when it catches a fish, that it swims away from its master as fast as it can. The fisherman, however, can propel his light raft faster than the cormorant can swim, and soon brings the truant to reason. This sport has recently been introduced into England, and bids fair to be successful.
Though caring little for sport, and pursuing game merely for the “pot,” the Chinese employ one or two methods of fishing which have the sporting element in them,—i. e. which give the quarry a fair chance of escape. Such, for example, is fish spearing, which is practised after rather a curious manner. The fisherman generally takes his stand upon a low bridge, and is furnished with a trident spear and a decoy fish. The decoy fish is prepared by lacing a strip of wood to either side of its dorsal fin, and to these sticks a slight line is fastened.
All being prepared, the fisherman takes his place on the bridge, drops the decoy into the water, and ties the end of the line to a stick like a fishing-rod, while he holds the three-pronged spear in his right hand. As large a fish as the sportsman can procure is used for the decoy; and as it swims about, its fellows come up to it, apparently attracted by its peculiar movements. As they come within reach, they are struck with the trident, and deposited in the fisherman’s basket.
A very inferior kind of fishing is carried on in places where the bed of the river is muddy. The fisherman wades into the river up to his knees or deeper, and every now and then strikes the surface of the water violently. As he does so, the fish which love such localities dive under the mud, where they are felt and held down by the bare feet of the man. As soon as he feels the wriggling of a fish under his foot, he stoops down, often having to plunge entirely under water, draws the fish from under his foot, and drops it into his basket. It is evident that only small fish can be caught by this method. I have tried it myself, and found that after a little trouble it was easy to catch any quantity of small flounders and similar fish,—too small, indeed, to be of any use, except to the thrifty Chinese, two of whom will buy a duck’s head and divide it for their dinner.
Among other river industries may be mentioned the system of duck feeding that is there carried on. Vast quantities of ducks’ eggs are hatched by artificial heat, and are purchased, when only a day or two old, by the persons who make their living by feeding and selling the birds. One favorite mode of duck feeding is to keep the birds in a boat fitted up for the purpose, and to take the boat along the banks of the river. At low water the keeper lets out the ducks, which find abundance of food in the multitudinous creatures that swarm in the mud, and when he thinks fit, he recalls them by a signal. As soon as they hear the signal, they hurry to the boat with an alacrity that seems rather ludicrous, unless the spectator knows that the last duck always gets a sharp blow from a switch.
The characteristic thrift of the Chinese is well shown in their various agricultural operations, which are marvellously successful, not only on account of the real skill and knowledge possessed by the Chinese, but by reason of the systematic and ceaseless labor bestowed upon the various crops. Not a weed is allowed to absorb the nutriment which ought to go to the rice, and between the rows of plants the laborer creeps on his hands and knees, searching for every weed, and working with his fingers the earth round every root. Taken alone, this is hard and disagreeable work, but, as the rice is planted in mud, as sharp stones are often hidden under the mud, and as leeches abound in it, the hardships of a rice-weeder’s life may be conceived.
The water which is so necessary for the crop is mostly supplied by mechanical means. If the agriculturist is fortunate enough to have land near the river or canal, his task is comparatively easy. He has only to erect a certain number of water-engines. These are almost all on the same principle,—i. e. an endless chain passing over two wheels, and drawing the water through an inclined trough. The wheels are generally worked by men, who turn them with their feet, supporting themselves on a horizontal bamboo. A larger and more complicated apparatus is worked by a buffalo.
At the smaller wheels all labor, as Mr. Milne observes: “In working them the energies of every household appeared taxed to the utmost vigor, as if each individual felt convinced of the necessity of his personal aid in securing a good and plentiful crop. I saw both young and old leaning on the same frame, treading the same wheel, and humming together their rustic song as they trod. Boys six years of age kept the step very well with men of fifty, and if too small to mount the wheel, they were placed on the ground to work the paddles with their little hands; and women, too, whose tiny and compressed feet disable them from treading the mill, stood at the feet of the men, keeping time with their hands.... None were indolent. There was no cessation, nor was there exemption from labor; and, while they fought among the thorns and thistles with which the ground had been cursed, and with the sweat of the brow under a blazing sun sowed, weeded, and watered the earth, no murmurs were heard, save the undulating sound of the husbandman’s song as it waved over the field.” Those women who are fortunate enough to possess feet of the natural size work as hard in the field as the men do, and are then almost as scantily attired, a wide and short pair of trousers, and a wide hat to shelter them from the sun, being all the clothing they care for.
Though the earth be poor, the Chinese agriculturist forces it to bear, for every substance which can serve as manure is carefully saved for that purpose. Not only do the Chinese dispose of all the refuse of their houses and streets in the fields, but, as we have seen, even the little scraps of hair that are shaved from the head are saved and used as manure. Indeed, it is only by means of this exceeding economy that the inhabitants of so densely populated a country can sustain life.