CoVORANT S
TR A IN ED FOR
FISHING.
fifhing, one is by means o f a fpecies of Corvorant trained
for the purpofe. By the figure given by Mr. Nieuhoff, p. 118.
it feems the very fame to our common kind *. The Chinefe call
it Louwa. In Mr. Willughbfs ornithology p. 329, we find that
this fpecies o f filheries was in old times frequently pradtifed in
England. Mr. Latham, vi. 346. informs us that a kind of diver
is ufed alfo for the fame purpofe. “ In the morning” (fays Du
Halde, i. 316.) “ when the fun rifes one may fee on the rivers a
“ confiderable number o f boats, and feveral of thefe birds fitting
“ at the head o f them. Then the fiihermen turning their boats
“ about, at the fignal given by ftriking the water with an oar,
“ the cormorants fly into the river, one here, another there, and
“ diving to the bottom, feize the fifh they light on by the
“ middle; then riling up again, they carry it to the bark, where
“ the filherman receiving it, takes the bird, and holding its head
“ downwards, pafles his hand along the neck to make it dilgorge
“ the fmall fifh that it had fwallowed, but is hindred from
| going into the gullet by a ring put on the lower part of the
“ neck ; which after the fiihing is quite over, they take off and
| give them fomething to eat. When the fifh happens to be
“ too large for one bird, they mutually aflift each other; one
“ takes the tail, another the head, and bring it to the boat to
“ their mailer.”
T h e o t h e r w a y o f t a k i n g f i f h is v e r y f im p l e , a n d g i v e s b u t
l i t t l e t r o u b l e ; f o r th i s p u r p o f e t h e y m a k e u f e o f , lo n g n a r r o w
* This Corvorant proves to be a diftinft fpecies, diftinguiihed by the name of Pelicanus Si*
nenjisy and is figured in the 37th plate of Sir G . Staunton’s Account o f the Embafly to. China j.
the mode of conveying thefe birds from place to place is delineated in Vol. ii. p. 389. of that
entertaining and interefting work. E .
boats.
boats, nailing on each fide from one end to the other, a plank
two feet broad. This plank is japanned with white fhining"
varnifh, and Hants gently till it almoft touches the top of the
water; in the,night time, when it is ufed, they turn it. towards
the moon, that the reflection may increafe its fplendor, fo that
the fifh which are fporting, eafily miftaking the color of the
japanned plank for that o f the water, leap often on that fide,
and fall either on the plank or into the boat.
In refpedt to quadrupeds, this empire retains manyof .thofe Q u a d r u p e d s ;
o f India, but lofes alfo feveral towards the northern and weftern
parts: others appear fuited to the climate; thefe are pointed out
in the Faunula, which I referve as a fort o f appendix, unwilling
to interrupt the narrative part of this work.
A t Canton begins the celebrated paffage by water from hence W a t e r P a s -
, H M . H B SAGE TO P e k in g :
to Peking, and the extremity of the great empire o f China', an
extent, fays Du Halde*, o f fix hundred leagues, or about eighteen
hundred Engli/h miles. The emperor Shi-tfu finding the
defect of tribute he annually fuftained, or the vail lofs of his
fubjedts in the articles o f commerce which periihed at-fea in the
conveyance from the maritime parts of his dominions, determined
on creating an internal navigation. He began the work I m p e r i a l C a -
in 1289; it is probable that he did not complete fo ftupendous NAI"
an undertaking; and it is imagined it was not finifhed till the
time of Tong-Jo, who began his reign about thirty-five years
after. We may.well admit this, as the length of the imperial
canal is nine hundred miles, the depth a fathom and a half, and
it conveys annually near ten thoufand large barks belonging to
* VoL ii. 326.
the