Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/266

258 — a loss of 20 cents— while in several other instances only the sum laid out was returned. Occasionally a high dividend is paid, but it is only occasionally. buring the summer months gymkhanas are held monthly and provide goixi sport. Hurdle racing was tried in 1907. but China ponies cannot jump and simply crashed through the brushwood hurdles or baulked. Consequently, these events were cut out. and Hat racing is all that is now indulged in. FCXDTBALL, Rrc.BY and Association are played in the Ct>lony, but the followers of Association far outnumlnrr the " rugger " men. Every Satur- day altcrnixMi and on many week-days during the season .ssociation is played at Happy Valley, whereas a Rugby game does not take place more than once a fortnight, if so often. . — Royal West Kents. i<Xi6.— H.M.S. Diiiilcm. 1907. — Royal .rtillery. This competition is played on the "cup- tie" system, and usually takes place in the early part of the year. Another competition, which is reserved for military teams, is the Garrison Football League, established in 1907 8, and played on the league principle. The Middlesex teams proved too strong for their opponents and won, but the competition supplied a number of interesting games. A Naval League, playing matches at Hongkong. Weihaiwei, Tientsin, and other ports at which the vessels of the Heet call, is organised annually by the naval authorities, but most of the games are played in Northern China. Being confined solely to the ships of the Heet, interest in the competition is slight. WINNER COMING IN. The leading civilian club is' the Hongkong Football Club, whose headquarters are at the Valley, and this Club promotes the annual Shield Competition. Though the Club has a large membership roll there are only about twenty-five players, so that the range of selection is small. The Young Men's Chris- tian Association p-ootball Club is the only other civilian team .of any prominence, and the matches between these two clubs are always keenly contested. The military teams are numerous and have won the shield more often than the navy or civilian teams. The competition was commenced in 1897, and the winners to date are : — . — H.M.S. Ceuliirion. .— "G" Co.. King's Own Rifles. . — Hongkong Club. . — "G" Co., Royal Welsh ^"usiliers. . — Royal Artillery, Siege Team. .— "H" Co., Royal Welsh P'usiliers. . — H.M.S. Glory. .-H.M.S. Albion. GOLF. The Royal Hongkong Golf Club is a flourishing institution with a membership of about four hundred. It was in May, 1889, that the Golf Club was formed, Captain Rumsey, R.N. (afterwards Harbour Master of the Colony) being the first captain, and Sir William Des Voeux (the then Governor) the first president. A site for the links was pro- cured at Happy Valley and a nine-holed course laid out, the eighth hole being a difficult one, hence its name of " misery." The first match of any importance was played in March, 1890, over eighteen holes, between six members of the Club and six from the 91st Regiment, then stationed here. The civilian team won easily. Since then many important competitions have been played, there being an annual competition on the " cup-tie " system for the championship of the Club, and this competition usually attracts a large number of entrants. Mr. T. S. Forrest, the present champion, is undoubtedly the best player in the Colony, and he has won the championship no less than five times. Mr. E. J. Grist was last year's champion, and Lieut. -Col. Dumhleton was this year's runner up. Competitions are held fortnightly throughout the year at the Valley, the Captain's Cup being the most popular. An attractive course, used mainly by the ladies, was laid out at Deep Water Hay, but it is seldom used. ■WILD BIRDS AND GAME. It is doubtful if even the resident of Hong- kong is aware of the variety of sport which can be obtained in the pursuit of wild birds and game within the confines of the Colony. On the island itself but little shooting can be done, but the New Territory teems with bird- life at different seasons of the year, and offers excellent opportunities to the man who cares to tramp o'er the paddy-fields with his dogs and gun. Among the varieties of the feathered Hocks which are to be found are snipe, teal, plover, wild duck, woodcock, partridge, quail, curlew, heron, cranes, pigeon, doves, water- rail, egrets, divers, kestrels, hawks, and eagles. Some of these, however, are met with only rarely. Snipe, in season, are plenti- ful, and one of the best grounds is that in the Shap-pat-lieung Valley, near Deep Water Bay. As the name signifies, there are eighteen streams in this valley which enter the bay, and all around are paddy-fields, where the snipe rest during their migrations. The bird does not breed in the Colony, but the fact that there are three distinct varieties of the bird, and that there seem to be four distinct seasons, has given rise to two theories as to whence they come and whither they go. The first of the snipe are seen late in August — the last Sunday of which month is the opening of the season, though September ist is the " official opening " — and they can be obtained until March, or even April, and a stray couple may be seen occasionally at any time during the year. One set of theorists say that the Colony gets a proportion of the snipe going south to Bangkok and the Straits, while the other declare that it is Australian snipe on their flight norllnvards which visit the Colony. It is quite possible that both are right. It is generally considered that the early snipe are flying north, after which there is a break ; that the December snipe are bound south ; and that those met later on, at Chinese New Year, are returning from Bangkok to the north, a second instalment arriving in the spring. The three varieties are known as the pin-tail or jack-snipe, the painted snipe, and the solitary snipe, the latter variety being the largest. With such suitable country as is met with, it is not to be wondered at that good bags are plentiful. The snipe rest in the paddy-fields in ordinary weather, but during :in excessively wet season, when the paddy-fields are more or less flooded, they are' to be found on the higher ground, in the sweet-potato patches and the young bamboos. One sometimes hears of a partv of tliree or four guns bringing back two hundred couples, but it is seldom authenti- cated. The average run of sportsmen may, however, depend on eighty or one hundred couples a day for three or four guns, but there have been certified bags of one hundred and fiftv couples for three guns— a good day's work, it will be conceded. Six or seven years ago, just about the time that the British took over the New Territory, snipe could be shot within a couple of minutes' walk of the