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ISSUED» BY p aurora MUSEUM

PAPERS OF THE CONFERENCES

Held in connection with

e Great SNTERNATIONUL
ISHERUES XHIBITION

THE

FISHERIES OF CHINA

BY _

Jd. DUNCAN CAMPBELL

COMMISSIONER FOR CHINA

ie LONDON
1972) WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, Limrrep
13 CHARING CROSS, S.W.

PRICE SIXPENCE

PAPERS OF THE CONFERENCES
Held in connection with the GREAT INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION.

Demy 8vo., in Illustrated Wrapper, Price Sixpence each.
INAUGURAL MEETING: ADDRESS. By Professor Huxtry, P.R.S.
H.R.H. the Prince or WALEs (President of the Commission) in the Chair.
NOTES ON THE SEA FISHERIES AND FISHING POPULATION
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. By H.R.H THE Duke oF EpinpurGu, K.G._ 1s.

THE FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES. By Pro-
fessog Brown Goong, M.A. :
OYSTER CULTURE AND OYSTER FISHERIES IN THE NETHER-

LANDS. By Professor HUBRECHT. :
PRINCIPLES OF FISHERY LEGISLATION. By Right Hon. G. SHaw-

LeFevre, M.-P.

P.
ON THE CULTURE OF SALMONIDAE AND THE ACCLIMA- —

TISATION OF FISH. By Sir James Ramsay Gipson MAITLAND, Bart.
FISH DISEASES. By Professor HUXLEY, P.R.S.
ECONOMIC CONDITION OF FISHERMEN, By Professor LEONE LEVI.
THE FISHERIES OF CANADA. By L. Z. Joncas. k
PRESERVATION OF FISH LIFE IN RIVERS BY THE EXCLU-
SION OF TOWN SEWAGE. By the Hon. W. F. B. Masszy MAinwaRInaG.
MOLLUSCS, MUSSELS, WHELKS, &c., USED FOR FOOD OR BAIT.

By Cuarves Harpinec.
COARSE FISH CULTURE. By R. B. Marston.
ON THE FOOD OF FISHES. By Dr. F. Day.
THE HERRING FISHERIES OF SCOTLAND. By R. W. Durr, M.P.
LINE FISHING. By C. M. MunpDAHL.
FISH TRANSPORT AND FISH MARKETS. By His Excellency SPENCER

WALPOLE.

FOREST PROTECTION AND TREE CULTURE ON WATER
FRONTAGES. By D. Howi7z, Esq.

SEAL FISHERIES. By Captain TEMPLE.

FISH AS FOOD. By Sir Henry THompson.

STORM WARNINGS. By R. H. Scort.

ON THE DESTRUCTION OF FISH AND OTHER AQUATIC

ANIMALS BY INTERNAL PARASITES. By Professor Copsoxp, F.R.S., F.L.S.

SCIENTIFIC RESULTS OF THE EXHIBITION. By Professor E. Ray
LANKESTER.

A NATIONAL FISHERY SOCIETY FOR GREAT BRITAIN. By
C. E. Fryer.

CRUSTACEANS. By T. Cornisn.

TRAWLING. By ALFRED ANSELL.

THE BASIS FOR LEGISLATION ON FISHERY QUESTIONS. By

Lieut.-Col. F. G. Sova.

MACKEREL AND PILCHARD FISHERIES. By T. Cornisu.

ARTIFICIAL CULTURE OF LOBSTERS. By W. SaviLLeE KENT.

FRESHWATER FISHING (other than Salmon). By J. P. WHEELDON.

SALMON. AND SALMON FISHERIES. By Davip MILNE Hom, F.R.S.E.

THE FISHERIES OF IRELAND. By Jj. C. BLoomFIELp.

ON IMPROVED FACILITIES FOR THE CAPTURE, ECONOMIC

TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION OF SEA FISHES, AND HOW THESE
MATTERS AFFECT IRISH FISHERIES. By R. F. Watsu, of Kinsale.

NOTES ON THE FISH SUPPLY OF NORWAY. By Freprik M. WALLEM.
THE FISHERIES OF SPAIN. By Lieut.-Col. FRANcisco GaRcIA SOLA,
THE SWEDISH FISHERIES. By Professor F. A. Smitt.

A SKETCH OF THE FISHERIES OF JAPAN. By Narinori OKosHt.

NEWFOUNDLAND; ITS FISHERIES AND GENERAL RE-
SOURCES. By Sir AmprosE SuHeEa, K.C.M. ;

G.
WEST AFRICAN FISHERIES; WITH PARTICULAR REFER-

ENCE TO THE GOLD COAST COLONY. _By Captain C. A. Moroney, C.M.G.
RIVER POLLUTION BY REFUSE FROM MINES AND MANU-

FACTORIES, TOGETHER WITH REMEDIES PROPOSED. By V- B. BarRINGTON-
Kennett, M.A., LL.M.

THE FISHERIES OF CHINA. By J. Duncan CAMPBELL.
FISH PRESERVATION AND REFRIGERATION. By J. K. Kitpourn.
PRACTICAL FISHERMEN’S CONGRESS, under the Presidency of Mr-

Epwarp BrrKBEck, M.P.
THE FISHERIES OF THE BAHAMAS, By Avucustus ADDERLEY.

pated ON THE FOOD FISHES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. By
u. ©. AMSAY,

SAVING LIFE AT SEA. By Ricuarp Roper, C.E., F.S.A.
TEACHINGS of the FISHERIES EXHIBITION, By A.J. R. TRENDELL.

WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, 13, Charing Cross, S.W.

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FISHERIES OF Si

BY

J. DUNCAN CAMPBELL

COMMISSIONER FOR CHINA

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LONDON
WweELAM CLOWES AND SONS rier ep
13 CHARING CROSS, S.W.
1883

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International Fisheries Exhibition,
LONDON, 1883.

CONFERENCE ON WEDNESDAY, OCT. 24, 18383.

SIR AMBROSE SHEA, K.C.M.G., took the Chair.

Piste RIES OF CHINA:

AFTER the thousands of years that China has spent apart,
the gulf of separation has now been fairly bridged over.
Commercial treaties have opened the most important
seaports and the interior under special regulations to
foreigners, and the Chinese Government, while objecting
“to have its hand forced,” is watching and testing various
foreign appliances, in order to judge how far they may,
with advantage, be grafted on existing institutions. Thus,
an Imperial College has been established at Peking for
the study of Western languages and sciences; the coasts
and the great river Yangtsze have been lighted with
the most improved apparatus; steamers are taking the
place of junks; mines are being worked by foreign
machinery ; and the telegraph now brings Peking within
a few hours of London. The appointment of Chinese
Ministers abroad, of distinguished officials like the Marquis
Tséng, and the co-operation of China in the international

exhibitions of foreign countries are significant proofs of the
[40] B2

4

importance that China attaches to the maintenance and
extension of friendly relations and intercourse.

This is the sixth great International Exhibition in which
China has taken an official part, viz., Vienna, 1873; Phila-
delphia, 1876; Paris, 1878; Berlin, 1880; Amsterdam,
1883; and London, 1883. On each of these occasions
(excepting Amsterdam) the work has been entrusted by
the Chinese Government to Sir Robert Hart, as the
Inspector-General of Customs, and it has been executed
under his directions by this important department of the
Chinese Government, which employs about five hundred
foreigners of various nationalities besides two thousand
Chinese.

The Introductory Note to the Official Catalogue of the
Chinese exhibits [China: Imperial Maritime Customs,
Miscellaneous Series, No. 11] explains that the invitation
to take part in the present Exhibition arrived too late for
any extensive collection to be possible, but that steps were
taken to procure specimens from Swatow, Ningpo, South
Formosa, and Ichang, which is a river port in the centre
of China and about one thousand miles from the mouth of
the Yangtsze. The gentlemen in the Customs Service who
assisted in the preparation of the collection were Mr.
Neumann (German), who had the general management
and brought the collection to London as Secretary to the
Chinese Commission ; Mr. Morgan (English), Acting Com-
missioner of Customs at Ichang; Mr. Drew (American),
Statistical Secretary of the Inspectorate-General ; and Mr.
Novion (French), Commissioner of Customs at South
Formosa—thus showing the international interest taken by
the Chinese Customs Service in furthering the objects of
the Exhibition.

The distance of China from the scene of exhibition, the

‘)

shortness of notice received by China, and the difficulties
of collection and transport must be taken into considera-
tion in any comparison, if a comparison can be made, with
countries accustomed to these competitions, possessing
professional experts, public museums and private collec-
tions, and able, moreover, from proximity to London and
facility. of communication, to place their contributions zz
sitt at a very much less expenditure of time, money, and
trouble than was incurred by China to do justice to the
International Exhibition.

No doubt there is much superiority in scientific and
practical interest, as distinguished from the element of
popular attraction, in the contributions from the United
Kingdom, the United States and Canada, and the Scandi-
navian and other countries, as compared with China ; but
the chief points of interest and instruction in the Chinese
contribution consist in the types and models, the nets
and other implements of distant antiquity, preserved and
used to the present day, and shown to be adaptable with
the latest resources and developments of science and
practical sagacity in relation to the subject matters of the
Exhibition.

‘The following is a short summary of some of the prin-
cipal points or features in the Chinese exhibits, taking them
in order of their classification in the Official Catalogue.

Ist. Zhe Lamboo.—Of all the materials used by the
fisherman, the bamboo is the one that deserves the first
notice. Its cheapness and durability, as well as the variety
of purposes for which it is used, entitle it to the highest
rank in domestic economy. The use of the bamboo is
largely illustrated in the Chinese Collection. There are
the catamarans or surf-boats of South Formosa, fishing-

rods, supports for nets, crab and prawn pots, fish baskets,

6

&c., &c. Williams, in his ‘Middle Kingdom,’ designates
the bamboo as the national plant of China, and says :—
“Tt furnishes the bed for sleeping and the couch for re-
clining, the chopsticks for eating, the pipe for smoking,
and the flute for entertaining; the chair to sit upon, the
table to dine from, food to eat and fuel to cook it with, are
alike derived from it; ‘the ferule to govern the scholar
and the book from which he studies,’ the warrant to arrest
the criminal, and the rod to punish him, all ‘originate here’
—from this magnificent plant, whose graceful beauty when
growing is comparable to its varied usefulness when cut
down.”

2nd. Mets——The Chinese nets are all hand-made from
hemp, cotton, or silk ; and, after being boiled in a decoc-
tion of mangrove bark, are steeped in pig’s blood or wood
oil to strengthen and preserve them. Silk nets, which for
centuries have been used in China, are now being employed
in European countries, but for cheapness they cannot
compare with the Chinese models. There is an immense
variety of nets in use by the Chinese fishermen, and
amongst the specimens in the Chinese Collection are
several deserving notice, some of them being similar to
those used in western countries, such as the dip-net,
casting-net, trawl-net, etc.

3rd. Fishing-boats—If China contains as many millions
of people as there are days in the year, and if at least
one-tenth of the population derive their food from the
water, xecessity will have caused them to invent many
ingenious ways for securing the finny tribes (Williams’
‘Middle Kingdom.’) Among such devices the “Cor-
morant” boat (p. 46 of Catalogue) deserves mention as
exhibiting in a remarkable degree the shrewdness, skill,
and patience of the Chinese fishermen. The “ Moonlight ”

7

Fishing-boat (pp. 20 and 45 of Catalogue) is another
device, which is found also in India and Siberia. There
are models, in the Chinese collection, of the fishing-boats of
Swatow, Ningpo, South Formosa, and Ichang. In spite
of their apparent clumsiness they turn as on a pivot and
promptly answer the helm. They are good sea boats, and
are built in watertight compartments, or rather in com-
partments zxtended to be watertight. The wonder is that,
in the ages of the “Ark” and the “Argo,” the Chinese
should have possessed such practical and efficient vessels ;
for it is evident, from old books and drawings, that this
was the type of boat then in use.

4th. Harbours, etc.—All along the coasts and the great
river Yangtsze, the fishermen have seen the gradual yet
rapid extension of the Lights that have been erected by the
Customs department of the Chinese Government during
the last twenty years ; and they cannot but appreciate the
benefits that the Lights have conferred in aid of their
industry and in the protection of their property. Quoting
from the Z7zmes of 15th May last :—

“Conspicuous at the end of the Court are two large maps of
the Celestial Empire, one showing its physical configuration and
the other its provinces and towns, &c. The activity shown by
the important Chinese department of State over which Sir Robert
Hart presides, is exemplified by the many red discs on the
China coast which indicate the lighthouses and lightships erected
since he became Inspector-General of Customs at Peking in 1863.
At that time there were but two small lights in the Canton district
and a lightship at Shanghai. Now there are 73 lights, 4 light-
ships, 54 buoys, and 50 beacons, and it is the ambition of the
head of this department to see the dangerous coasts of China at
least as well lighted as the shores of the British Channel. Of
one of the most important lighthouses—that on Breaker Point in
the Swatow district—a model is exhibited. It is an iron tower

8

120 feet in height, which was constructed on a new plan by
Sir W. G. Armstrong and Co., and so strongly braced and sup-
ported by exterior iron rods that it has withstood the shaking of
two earthquakes and the force of several typhoons.”

Such progress in the lighting of the coasts of China is
perhaps without a parallel in the history of the cares and
precautions that a Government can take for the protection
and advantage of its fisheries and fishermen as well as the
maritime commerce of the world. The work itself will
be a lasting record of Sir Robert Hart’s administration :

“ Famam extendere factis,
Hoc virtutis opus.”

sth. Boats in general.—“ The original model of the junk ”
(according to Williams) “is said to be a huge sea monster ;
the teeth at the cutwater define its mouth, while the long
boards on each side of the bow form the armature of the
head, the eyes being painted on them; the masts and sails
are the fins, and the high stern is the tail frisking aloft.”
As regards the eyes, which are so conspicuous on all

hinese junks, most of the foreign steamers trading on the
coast have them painted on their bows or paddle-boxes, as
a concession to Chinese ideas ; their use being defended in
the picturesque dialect known as “Pidgin English” by
the remark—

“Spose no got eye, how fashion can walkee !”

The large trading junks, of which there are some fine
models in the Chinese Collection, are finding important
rivals in the steamers of the China Merchants’ Steam Navi-
gation Company, which, commencing in 1872 with two
vessels of 1,168 tons, had in 1880 a fleet of twenty-nine
vessels of 20,747 tons; and considerable additions have

since been made.

S)

6th. Economic condition of Fishermen.—The Chinese
fishermen are very frugal. In the Chinese Catalogue
(pp. 4 & 5) are given some interesting particulars relating
to their condition, earnings, guilds, etc. Without any
knowledge of political economy or the laws of capital and
labour, they have solved the question of distribution of
profits in a practical manner and to the satisfaction of all.
They are very charitable and help each other in times of
distress, there being no benefit or insurance societies. In
the Chinese Collection there are specimens of the garments
worn by successive generations of Chinese fishermen, and
proved by long experience to be the best adapted to the con-
ditions of their work. There are also models of their huts,
and of their Guildhalls and temples, showing not only the
domestic economy but also the civil and religious organisa-
tion of the craft, and illustrating in a striking manner one
curious line of connection between East and West—from
the Guildhall of the fishermen at Haimén to the Fish-
mongers’ Hall in London—from the fishermen’s temples
with their annual festivals on which large sums are ex-
pended, to the religious processions and services on the
western shores of France.

7th. Corals, etc.—Shells of'all descriptions are plentiful in
China, and are used in various ways :—for windows, fog-
horns, ash-cellars, necklaces, scoops, flower vases, etc., of
which there are several specimens in the Chinese Collec-
tion. The unique Buddha shells (p. 49 of Catalogue),
which have attracted the observation of visitors, constitute
a very important and successful industry at Hangchow.

The cultivation of oysters is on a very large scale, and
dates from a remote age. A model of an oyster bed is
shown in the Chinese Collection, and a description of the
oyster fishery is given at pp. 13 and 59 of the Catalogue.

IO

Notwithstanding the enormous consumption of oysters
from time immemorial in China, there appears to be no
diminution of the supply. Inthe north on the shores of
the Shantung promontory, at the mouths of the Yangtsze
and Ningpo rivers, all along the coasts of the Fohkien
and Kwantung provinces, and on the seaboard of Formosa,
the cultivation of oysters is carried on with much skill and
success. Considering their dearness and scarcity in Europe,
a thoroughly scientific inquiry as to the methods pursued
by the Chinese would undoubtedly yield important results.

8th. Fish-markets—Appliances for Transport of Fish, ete.
—A model is shown of a Ningpo ice-house (p. 48 of Cata-
logue), which is used not for purposes of refrigeration, but for
storing ice during hot weather. The ice is principally used
for the preservation and transport of fish, and is supplied
to the fishing grounds by ice-boats specially constructed.
These ice-houses are of very primitive construction but are
most effective, and are capable of preserving ice for a period
of three years. There are also some interesting models of
saltpans, and the manner of their use is described at
page 11 of the Catalogue.

oth. Fisk Breeding.—In the district of Swatow there is
no regular system of pisciculture, and the only approach
to it consists in fish-ponds that are described at page 11 of
the Catalogue; but Monsieur Dabry de Thiersant in his
important work, ‘La Pisciculture et la Péche en Chine,’
enters very fully into the matter, and gives China the
credit of having been the first to practise this art at
a very remote age. In Land and Water there is also a
very interesting Paper, written by Mr. Kopsch, Commis-
sioner of Chinese Customs, on Pisciculture in Kiangsi.

loth. /2sh—Natural History.—There is a valuable article
on the ichthyology of China, by Sir John Richardson, in the

II

Report of the British Association for 1845, but there is no
foreign work on the fishes of China like Dr. Day’s exhaus-
tive treatise on the fishes of India.

The collection of fish from Swatow, consisting of about
170 different specimens, were wrapped up in linen and
packed in cotton saturated with spirits of wine, and
arrived in perfect condition. Coloured drawings of the
specimens were made by Chinese artists, immediately
upon the fish being taken from the water, and these
specimens form a kind of picture gallery in the
Chinese Court. Similar drawings on a smaller scale
were taken of the fish of South Formosa, of which there
are ninety specimens exhibited. Nearly all the fish
enumerated in the Catalogue (pp. 32 to 40) are fit for
food, and amongst them are soles, eels, mullets, perch,
and many other kinds that are familiar to us here. The
salmon and trout are missing, but Mr. Wilmot, the Cana-
dian Commissioner, is confident that they can be success-
fully introduced and reared in Chinese waters. There is
also exhibited a variety of crabs, nearly all of which are
used for food, whilst the shells are turned into scoops or
other useful domestic articles.

11th. History and Literature of Fishing—The Chinese
possess very old works relating to fish and fisheries, as
well as scrolls, mottoes, tablets, &c. Some of these are
displayed on the sides of the Chinese Court. They
carry the literature backwards into remote antiquity—to
centuries before the dawn of Western literature on
the subject. The Chinese Commission for the Fisheries
Exhibition had, moreover, the advantage of securing
the personal co-operation of the Chinese Minister in
England, the Marquis Tséng, and His Excellency himself
contributed two large scrolls and various characters, written

2

by himself, containing historical and poetical allusions to
fishing, which are described in the supplement to the
Catalogue.

It may here be stated that the Catalogue of Exhibits
and the List of lights on the Chinese Coast, are specimens
of Chinese Customs’ publications, printed at the Customs’
Press, Shanghai, by Chinese compositors under a foreign
superintendent.

12th. -ixe Arts—Reference has already been made to
the drawings of fish painted by Chinese artists, and there
are other pictures, in the shape of scrolls, showing the
various modes of fishing. Such pictures are very common
in Chinese dwellings. But the chief decorations of the
Chinese Court consist in the allegorical productions of the
Chinese artist, Téh-Ah-Kew, whose freehand drawing and
brilliant colouring give point to the motto, “ Ea Oriente
lux.”

13th. Fishes of Commercial Value—No country shows
the commercial value of fish in a stronger light than China.
As an almost universal, or at any rate as a widely dis-
tributed article of food, fish isa more important staple in
China than in any other country, and her exhibits may be
considered as indicative rather than exhaustive evidences
in this connection. The whole country displays an extra-
ordinary development of industry and commerce in marine
and fresh-water fish. The latter is cultivated in rivers,
lakes, and ponds, and made use of as a common article of
food throughout the empire. Fishes of a kind which in
Europe are scarcely deemed worthy to be caught, and
then for sport rather than food, are in China utilised and
form the subject of an extensive commerce as the staple
food of a large section of the inhabitants. Even the re-
pulsive and hostile shark of the Western Nations becomes

KS

an article of commercial value in China, and is habitually
treated as an article of food for the million without dismay
by the ancient Oriental wisdom.

In conclusion, attention may again be drawn to the
peculiar nature of the Chinese Exhibit. Of necessity
hastily gathered together from remote quarters, with no
aid from public museums or private collections, the Chinese
Exhibit does not compete with those of other nations.
The Chinese fisheries, as now carried on, date from and
have a succession of thousands of years, and the Exhibit
ought therefore to be judged by way of contrast rather
than comparison. It is by reason of this very differ-
ence from the general routine of the exhibits from other
countries—introducing, as it does, some new and pic-
turesque features characteristic of the nation—that the
Chinese Exhibit has been so attractive to the public. But
it is hoped that, beyond its popular attractions, it has also
been a source of interest and instruction to the practical
minds of those most conversant with the varying systems
of fisheries throughout the world.

DISCUSSION.

Mr. WILMOT said that as his name had been mentioned
in the Paper he might say briefly he had no doubt the
salmon could be introduced to any part of the world where
the water was of such temperature and clearness as to suit
their habits of life. When they found that through the
operation of pisciculture salmon had been introduced from
Great Britain to waters below the Equator, where they were
not indigenous, he saw no reason why it should not be
equally possible to introduce them elsewhere, particularly
in a country like China, some of the rivers of which he was

14

strongly inclined to believe were frequented by salmon, but
even if that were not the case he was quite sure that many
of her more northerly rivers were adapted to this fish. It
was a mere question of temperature and limpidity. The
Sacramento river in California, where the atmosphere
sometimes rose to 120° in the summer, was at one time
overflowing with salmon, though it had been to some
extent reduced by over-fishing now.

Mr. CHARLES FRYER proposed a vote of thanks to Mr.
Campbell. He thought it was a very good omen that
they had just had a Paper read on the fisheries of New-
foundland, with the Secretary of the Chinese Legation in
the chair, whilst now they had had a Paper on the fisheries
of China with the representative of Newfoundland in the
chair. Sir Ambrose Shea had taken occasion to illustrate
the proverb that blood was thicker than water, by referring
to the undoubted loyalty of the colonists, but he might
remark that water had something to do besides separating
nations; they so far united them that all nations were
agreed in recognising the importance of the fisheries: the
concluding words of this Paper fully exemplified this point,
and showed the lesson which might be learnt from the
exhibits furnished by different countries. With regard to
the fisheries of China, and to the enormous capture of fish
there, he should like to ask whether he was right in thinking
that the Chinese captured not only mature but immature fish
at all times and in every possible manner. He understood
that the Chinese in California surprised the Americans
by the wonderfully small fish which they caught and ate,
and if the same habit prevailed with the three hundred
millions of Chinese in their own country, and they were
continually catching these small fish in season and out of

season, it afforded a strong argument against the possibility

T5

of depleting the waters. With regard to fresh-water fish,
China was far ahead of any other country in fish culture,
and made up for the great drain on the resources of the
rivers in this way, but so far as the sea was concerned he
was not aware that fish culture was carried out. If the
small fish were continually destroyed it was a strong argu-
ment against any interference, unless absolute necessity for
it were proved, with modes of fishing that might unfor-
tunately destroy small fish, if, as seemed often to be the
case, this was unavoidable in catching the large ones,

Mr. SAYER, in seconding the vote of thanks, said that
Englishmen ought to be very thankful for the know-
ledge which was now brought to them by gentlemen who
contributed these Papers as to the fishing industries of other
countries.

Mr. WILMOT said he could not allow Mr. Fryer’s remarks
to pass without a word or two. Being a strong advocate
of the artificial propagation of fish, and of their protection
generally, he felt bound to point out that the temperature and
climate of China was very warm, and consequently the fish
there produced their young in very warm water. They
knew that under such circumstances fish were hatched in as
many days as it took months in colder climates, and thus
the propagation and natural increase of fish there would be
a thousandfold greater than in England or in Canada. The
salmon family took from three to six months for the eggs
to incubate, whilst some other descriptions that laid their
ova in the hot weather would hatch out in from sixty hours
to six days. There was therefore no foundation for the
idea put forth by Mr. Fryer that because protective laws
might not be in operation in China they were equally
unnecessary elsewhere.

Captain CURTIS, R.N., said the Yellow Book stated that

16

the Chinese caught small fish, with fine nets made of silk ;
those with which they caught them were to be seen in the
Exhibition ; but he understood that they were then trans-
ferred to ponds, and also, that when the water was cold
they lit hanging fires to warm it, so that the young fish were
taken care of—not destroyed or eaten when small ; in fact
they catch the fry in shallow waters, and transfer them to
ponds and lakes ; they are then sold alive.

Mr. FRYER said the fact that young fish were preserved
and reared did not prove that small fish were not also very
often eaten ; but the fact of fresh-water fish-culture did not
touch the question of the sea fisheries to which he par-
ticularly referred.

Captain CURTIS added that the Chinese were to be
congratulated on using luminous paint, which was not
much employed in this country at present. As a seaman,
he must bear testimony to ihe excellent qualities of the
Chinese junks and their fishing-boats ; in fact, he thought
naval architecture had not much improved the sea-going
qualities of ships in this country ; he would sooner be in a
Chinese junk than in an ironclad, as the junk would ride
over the sea in a gale, whereas the sea would wash over
the ironclad.

Mr. HERBERT E. HOUNSELL thought the remarks of
Mr. Fryer ought not to go forth uncontradicted unless they
were more fully substantiated. The idea he had thrown
out that the Chinese caught small fish all the year round
and ate them, had not yet met with any support.

It was a mistake to suppose that there were no kinds
of fish which could be destroyed by over-fishing, which
some people might fancy to be Mr. Fryer’s opinion, though
he did not believe such was meant by his remarks; they
had only. to bear in mind the great decrease of soles within

17

an area of three or four miles from the coast. To corro-
borate this opinion, he could speak of their almost total
disappearance from the West Bay, and also the disap-
pearance of shoals of mackerel off Folkestone, and Kings-
down, near Deal; the population used to live on catching
mackerel during the summer months, but within twenty
years the constant increase of mackerel boats had broken
up the shoals, and, although they were not destroyed, they
were so much lessened that it no longer paid to catch the
fish. He could also quote an instance of a trout-stream
which was depopulated by over-fishing, and the Angling
Society were compelled to forbid any fishing for three years.
It was a matter of common sense that if too large a propor-
tion were caught, although the powers of reproduction might
be enormous, still there must be a fatal result. He hoped
that at the close of the Exhibition the scientific men
connected with it would still prosecute further inquiries
into the habits of fish, in order to determine how far regu-
lations were required for their protection.

Mr. FRYER said he certainly did not intend to express
the opinion that it was impossible to destroy all fisheries.
On the contrary, he had shown over and over again, that it
was possible for certain inland and other fisheries to be
exhausted. What he wished to state was, that before any
hasty steps were taken to prevent the capture of fish, they
should be quite certain that those steps were necessary ; and
it seemed to him that the case of China afforded an instance
which should make them pause before any hasty steps
towards legislation were taken.

Mr. NEUMANN said it was satisfactory that the Paper
which had just been read should have called forth such a
lively discussion. The question raised by Mr. Fryer was
one which had sprung up at all the conferences that had

[40] C

18

been held; and, before the advocates of complete freedom
of fisheries or those in favour of protection, or rather the
interference of Government, could avail themselves of any
data furnished by China it would be necessary for scientific
men to make a thorough inquiry into the state of Chinese
fisheries.

Surgeon-General GORDON, C.B., said it might be @
propos to the question under discussion to state that a
few years ago, when travelling through Burmah, he found
that the natives carefully protected the young fry of fish,
using such implements as enabled the smaller fish to escape ;
and he was informed that there was a law absolutely
prohibiting the capture of fish under a certain size.

The vote of thanks having been passed unanimously,

Mr. CAMPBELL, in replying, explained that the Paper
he had read was not so much on the Fisheries of China as
on the Exhibits from China to the Fisheries Exhibition ;
and one object of the Paper was to state a few facts that
were not generally known, but which, when known, might
add to the interest of the Chinese Court and Collection.

Mr. FUNG YIH, Secretary to the Chinese Legation, pro-
posed a vote of thanks to the Chairman. With regard to the
bamboo which had been referred to in the Paper, it might
be interesting for them to know that it had recently become
a source of industry in England, one of the daily papers
being made of it at, he understood, a reduction in cost of
two-thirds. The motion was seconded by Mr. Hounsell

and carried unanimously.

INDEX.

ACCLIMATIZATION. See Fish Culture.

Appliances for transport of fish, &c., 10

Appointment of Chinese ministers abroad, benefits derived from the, 3
““ Argo,” the, 7

** Ark,” the, 7

BaMBoo, the, 5, 6, 18

Breaker Point Lighthouse, 7
Buddha shells, 9

Burmah, protection of fry in, 18

CASTING net, 6
Catamarans, or surf-boats of South Formosa, 5
Chinese Customs Service, 4
Chinese Customs Publications, 12
China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company’s fleet of steamers, 8
Chinese ministers abroad, 3
Commercial treaties for opening seaports and interior, 3
$3 value of fish, 12
Contributions from China to International Fisheries Exhibition, 5
Corals, &c., 9
“*Cormorant ” boat, 6
Crabs, 11
Crab and prawn pots, 5
Cultivation of oysters, 9
Curtis, Captain, R.N., remarks by, 15, 16

Day, Dr., Treatise on Fishes of India, 11

Development of industry and commerce in marine and freshwater fish, 12, 13
Difficulties attending collection and transport of specimens, 5

Dip-net, 6

Discussion on paper, 13-18

Drew, Mr., Statistical Secretary of the Inspectorate-General, 4

ECONOMIC condition of fishermen, 9
Eels, 11

20 THE FISHERIES OF CHINA.

FINE Arts, 12
Fish baskets, 5
», breeding, 10-15
»» Markets, 10
»» natural history of, 10, 11
95 culture, II, 13, 15
Fisheries, 3-18
Fishermen, civil and religious organisation of, 9

7 earnings, guilds, &c., of, 9
55 economic condition of, 9
.; frugality of, 9

op garments worn by, 9

“5 guildhalls and temples of, 9

Fishes of India, treatise by Dr. Day on, 11

», of commercial value, 12
Fishing boats, 6, 7, 16

a rods, 5
Freedom of fisheries, 18
Freshwater fish, culture of, 15-17
Fryer, Mr. Charles, remarks by, 14-16, 17
Fung Yih, secretary of the Chinese Legation, 18

GORDON, Surgeon-General, C.B., remarks by, 18

Harbours, &c., 7

Hart, Sir Robert, Inspector-General of Customs, 4, 7
History and literature of fishing, 11, 12

Hounsell, Mr. Herbert E., remarks by, 16

IcE houses and ice boats, Io
Ichang, 4
fishing boats, 7
Ice-houses, 10 .
Ichthyology of China, by Sir John Richardson, i1
Imperial college at Pekin for study of western languages and sciences, 3
Importance of fish as an article of food, 12, 14
Industry in marine and freshwater fishes, development of, 12, 13
International Exhibitions, co-operation of China in, 3, 4

Junks, 8, 16
KopscH, Mr., Commissioner of Customs, paper by, 10

La Pisciculture et la Péche en Chine, by M. Dabry de Thiersant, 10
Lighthouses and lightships on the coast of China, 7

MACKEREL, 17
Maps of the Celestial Empire, 7

INDEX.

** Moonlight” fishing boat, 7
Morgan, Mr., acting Commissioner of Customs at Ichang, 4
Mullet, 11

NETs, 6
Neumann, Mr., Secretary to Chinese Commission, 4, 17
Ningpo, 4.
+3 fishing boats, 7
Novion, Mr., Commissioner of Customs at South Formosa, 4.

OVERFISHING in China, 14-16
Oysters, cultivation and consumption of, 9

PERCH, II

Pisciculture in China, 10

Propagation of fish. See Fish Culture.
Protective Laws, 15

SACRAMENTO River, 14
Salmon, introduction of. See Fish Culture.
Saltpans, 10
Sayer, Mr., remarks by, 15
Seafish, culture of, 15, 16
Sharks, 12, 13
Shea, Sir Ambrose, 14
Soles, II, 17
South Formosa, 4
- om catamarans or surf-boats of, 5
on »,, fishing boats, 7
Steamers of the China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company, 8
ae substituted for junks, 3
Supports for nets, 5
Swatow, 4
55 fishing boats, 7

TEH-AH-KEw, Chinese artist, 12

TELEGRAPHIC communication between China and London, 3
Temperature and climate of China, 15"

Trawl-net, 6

Tséng, the Marquis, 3, II, 12

WATERTIGHT compartments, fishing boats with, 7
Williams, Dr., Middle Kingdom, 6, 8

Wilmot, Mr., Commission for Canada, 11, 13

YANGTSZE, the river,°3, 7

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THE FISHERY ase VT Wve wy 2 nevenien + —_ *taeeee
Law, M.A. (Oxon.), Hon. LL.D. dene: Corpus Christi Professor of Juris-
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ZOOLOGY AND FOOD FISHES. By Gerorce B. Howkss,
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BRITISH MARINE AND FRESHWATER FISHES.
(Zilustrated.) By W. SAVILLE KENT, F.L.S., F.Z.S., Author of Official Guide-
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APPARATUS FOR FISHING. By E. W. H. Hotpswortn,
F.L.S., F.Z.S., Special Commissioner for Juries, International Fisheries
Exhibition ; F Author of ‘Deep Sea Fisheries and Fishing Boats,” ‘‘ British
Industries—Sea Fisheries,” &c.

THE BRITISH FISH TRADE. By His Excellency SPENCER
WALPOLE, Lieut.-Governor of the Isle of Man.

THE UNAPPRECIATED FISHER FOLK. By James G.

_ BERTRAM, Author of ‘‘ The Harvest of the Sea.”
THE SALMON FISHERIES. (Wlustrated.) By C. E. FRvER.

Assistant Inspector of Salmon Fisheries, Home Office.

SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED. (//ustrated.) By Henry Lez,
F.L.S.

THE ANGLING CLUBS AND PRESERVATION SO-
CIETIES OF LONDON AND THE PROVINCES. ByJ. P. WHEELDON,
late Angling Editor of ‘‘ Bell’s Life.”

INDIAN FISH AND FISHING. (J///ustrated.) By Francis
Day, F.L.S., Commissioner for India to International Fisheries Exhibition.

A POPULAR HISTORY OF FISHERIES AND FISHER-
MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES. By
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FISH CULTURE. (//lustrated.) By Francis Day, F.L.S., Com-

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SEA FABLES EXPLAINED. By Henry Lez, F.L.S. (///ustrated.)
ANGLING IN GREAT BRITAIN. By Witt1am SENior (“ Red

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FISHES OF FANCY: their Place in Myth, Fable, Fairy-

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LITERATURE OF SEA AND RIVER FISHING. By
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