Chapter XI Ta-li Fu
Hsia-kuan—Summer temperature—Lake—Graves—Pagodas—Mr. H. G. Evans—Foreigners of Ta-li Fu—Chinese mandarins—Mammals at Ta-li—Caravan horses and mules—The cook becomes ill
Chapter XII Li-chiang, and the “Temple of the Flowers”
Traveling to Li-chiang—Our entrance into the city—The surprise of the foreigners—The temple—Excellent collecting—Small mammals—The Moso natives—Customs—The Snow Mountain—Baron Haendel-Mazzetti
Chapter XIII Camping in the Clouds
Moso hunters—Primitive guns—Crossbows and poisoned arrows—Dogs—porcupine—New mammals—We find a new camp on the mountain
Chapter XIV The First Goral
Killed near camp—A sacrifice to the God of the Hunt—Small mammals—The second goral
Chapter XV More Gorals
Gorals almost invisible—Heller shoots a kid—Collecting material for a Museum group—A splendid hunt—Two gorals—A crested muntjac
Chapter XVI The Snow Mountain Temple
The first illness in camp—Serow—Death of the leading dog—Rain—Two more serows—Lolos—Non-Chinese tribes of Yün-nan
Chapter XVII Gorals and Serows
Relationship—Appearance of the serow—Habits—Gorals
Chapter XVIII The “White Water”
Y. B. A.
Our new camp—serow—We go to Li-chiang—A burial ceremony—Ancestor worship
Chapter XIX Across the Yangtze Gorge
Traveling to the river—Inaccuracy of the Chinese—First view of the gorge—The Taku ferry—Cares
Chapter XX Through Unmapped Country
Along the rim of the gorge—A beautiful camp at Habala—New mammals—Photographic work—Phete village—Stupid inhabitants—Strange natives—The “Windy Camp”
—Hotenfa
Chapter XXI Traveling Toward Tibet
A hard climb—Our highest camp—A Lolo village—Thanksgiving with the Lolos
Chapter XXII Stalking Tibetans With a Camera
Y. B. A.
Caravans—Tibetans—Dress—Appearance—Photographing frightened natives—Reason for suspicion
Chapter XXIII Westward to the Mekong River
Snow—Photographing natives—The Snow Mountain again—The Shih-ku ferry—Cranes—“Brahminy ducks”—A well-deserved beating—Chinese soldiers
Chapter XXIV Down the Mekong Valley
Arrival at Wei-hsi—The Mekong River—Lutzu natives—Difficulties in the valley—An unexpected goral—Christmas—The salt wells—A snow covered pass—Duck shooting—Return to Ta-li Fu
Chapter XXV Missionaries We Have Known
Our observations on work of missionaries in Fukien and Yün-nan Provinces—Mode of living—Servants—Voluntary exile—Medical missionaries—A missionary’s experience with the brigands at Yuchi
Chapter XXVI Chinese New Year at Yung-chang
Y. B. A.
Traveling to Yung-chang—New Year’s customs—Inhabitants of the city—Foot-binding—Caves—Water buffaloes—Chinese cow-caravans—Yung-chang mentioned by Marco Polo
Chapter XXVII Traveling Toward the Tropics
Shih-tien plain—Curious inhabitants of the city—A tropical valley at Ma-po-lo—“A little more far”—A splendid camp—Many new mammals—Preparing specimens Sambur—Trapping
Chapter XXVIII Meng-ting: A Village of Many Tongues
The first Shan Village—Priscilla and John Alden—Meng-ting—The Shan mandarin—Young priests—The market—Photographing under difficulties—Suppression of opium growing
Chapter XXIX Camping on the Nam-ting River
A beautiful camp—The “Dying Rabbit”—Sambur hunting—Jungle fowl—Civets—Pole cats and other animals
Chapter XXX Monkey Hunting
Strange calls in the jangle—Our first gibbons—Relationship and habits—Langurs and baboons—A night in the jungle
Chapter XXXI The Shans of the Burma Border
An unfriendly chief—Honest natives—Houses at Nam-ka—Tattooing—Shan tribe—Dress
Chapter XXXII Prisoners of War in Burma
Y. B. A.
The mythical Ma-li-ling—Across the frontier into Burma—The mafus rebel—Ma-li-pa—Captain Clive—Guarding the border—Life at Ma-li-pa
Chapter XXXIII Hunting Peacocks on the Salween River
The Valley at Changlung—The ferry—Peacocks—The stalker stalked—Habits of peafowls
Chapter XXXIV The Gibbons of Ho-mu-shu
Climbing out of the Salween Valley—A Shan Village—Ho-mu-shu—Camping on a mountain pass—Gibbons—An exciting hunt and a narrow escape—Habits of the “hoolock”
Chapter XXXV Teng-yueh: A Link With Civilization
Tai-ping-pu—Flying squirrels—Lisos—A bat cave—Mail—Teng-yueh—Mr. Ralph Grierson—Tibetan bear cubs
Chapter XXXVI A Big Game Paradise
Gorals at Hui-yao—Deer—Splendid hunts
Chapter XXXVII Serow and Sambur
Monkeys at Hai-yao—Muntjacs—A new serow—We move camp to Wa-tien—A fine sambur
Chapter XXXVIII Last Days in China
Return to Teng-yueh—Packing the specimens—Results of the Expedition—On the road to Bhamo—The chair coolies—Burma vs. China—In civilisation again—Farewell to the Orient
Chapter I The Object of the Expedition
The earliest remains of primitive man probably will be found somewhere in the vast plateau of Central Asia, north of the Himalaya Mountains. From this region came the successive invasions that poured into Europe from the east, to India from the north, and to China from the west; the migration route to North America led over the Bering Strait and spread fanwise south and southeast to the farthest extremity of South America. The Central Asian plateau at the beginning of the Pleistocene was probably less arid than it is today and there is reason to believe that this general region was not only the distributing center of man but also of many of the forms of mammalian life which are now living in other parts of the world. For instance, our American moose, the wapiti or elk. Rocky Mountain sheep, the so-called mountain goat, and other animals are probably of Central Asian origin.
Doubtless there were many contributing causes to the extensive wanderings of primitive tribes, but as they were primarily hunters, one of the most important must have been the movements of the game upon which they lived. Therefore the study of the early human races is, necessarily, closely connected with, and dependent upon, a knowledge of the Central Asian mammalian life and its distribution. No systematic palæontological, archæological, or zoölogical study of this region on a large scale has ever been attempted, and there is no similar area of the inhabited surface of the earth about which so little is known.
The American Museum of Natural History hopes in the near future to conduct extensive explorations in this part of the world along general scientific lines. The country itself and its inhabitants, however, present unusual obstacles to scientific research. Not only is the region one of vast intersecting mountain ranges, the greatest of the earth, but the climate is too cold in winter to permit of continuous work. The people have a natural dislike for foreigners, and the political events of the last half century have not tended to decrease their suspicions.
It is possible to overcome such difficulties, but the plans for extensive research must be carefully prepared. One of the most important steps is the sending out of preliminary expeditions to gain a general knowledge of the natives and fauna and of the conditions to be encountered. For the first reconnaissance, which was intended to be largely a mammalian survey, the Asiatic Zoölogical Expedition left New York in March, 1916.
Its destination was Yün-nan, a province in southwestern China. This is one of the least known parts of the Chinese Republic and, because of its southern latitude and high mountain systems, the climate and faunal range is very great. It is about equal in size to the state of California and topographically might be likened to the ocean in a furious gale, for the greater part of its surface has been thrown into vast mountain waves which divide and cross one another in hopeless confusion.
Yün-nan is bordered on the north by Tibet and S’suchuan, on the west by Burma, on the south by Tonking, and on the east by Kwei-chau Province. Faunistically the entire northwestern part of Yün-nan is essentially Tibetan, and the plateaus and mountain peaks range from altitudes of 8,000 feet to 20,000 feet above sea level. In the south and west along the borders of Burma and Tonking, in the low fever-stricken valleys, the climate is that of the mid-tropics, and the native life, as well as the fauna and flora, is of a totally different type from that found in the north.
The natives of Yün-nan are exceptionally interesting. There are about thirty non-Chinese tribes in the province, some of whom, such as the Shans and Lolos, represent the aboriginal inhabitants of China, and it is safe to say that in no similar area of the world is there such a variety of language and dialects as in this region.
Although the main work of the Expedition was to be conducted in Yün-nan, we decided to spend a short time in Fukien Province, China, and endeavor to obtain a specimen of the so-called “blue tiger” which has been seen twice by the Reverend Harry R. Caldwell, a missionary and amateur naturalist, who has done much hunting in the vicinity of Foochow.
The white members of the first Asiatic Zoölogical Expedition included Mr. Edmund Heller, my wife (Yvette Borup Andrews) and myself. A Chinese interpreter, Wu Hung-tao, with five native assistants and ten muleteers, completed the personnel.
Mr. Heller is a collector of wide experience. His early work, which was done in the western United States and the Galapagos Islands, was followed by many years of collecting in Mexico, Alaska, South America, and Africa. He first visited British East Africa with Mr. Carl E. Akeley, next with ex-President Theodore Roosevelt, and again with Mr. Paul J. Rainey. During the Asiatic Zoölogical Expedition Mr. Heller devoted most of his time to the gathering and preparation of small mammals. He joined our party late in July in China.
Mrs. Andrews was the photographer of the Expedition. She had studied photography as an amateur in Germany, France, and Italy, as well as in New York, and had devoted especial attention to the taking of photographs in natural colors. Such work requires infinite care and patience, but the results are well worth the efforts expended.
Wu Hung-tao is a native of Foochow, China, and studied English at the Anglo-Chinese College in that city. He lived for some time in Teng-yueh, Yün-nan, in the employ of Mr. F. W. Carey, Commissioner of Customs, and not only speaks mandarin Chinese but also several native dialects. He acted as interpreter, head “boy,” and general field manager. My own work was devoted mainly to the direction of the Expedition and the hunting of big game.
In order to reduce the heavy transportation charges we purchased only such equipment in New York as could not be obtained in Shanghai or Hongkong. Messrs. Shoverling, Daly & Gales furnished our guns, ammunition, tents, and general camp equipment, and gave excellent satisfaction in attention to the minor details which often assume alarming importance when an expedition is in the field and defects cannot be remedied. All food and commissary supplies were purchased in Hongkong (see Chapter IX).
When the announcement of the Expedition was made by the American Museum of Natural History it received wide publicity in America and other parts of the world. Immediately we began to discover how many strange persons make up the great cities of the United States, and we received letters and telegrams from hundreds of people who wished to take part in the Expedition. Men and boys were the principal applicants, but there was no lack of women, many of whom came to the Museum for personal interviews.
Most of the letters were laughable in the extreme. One was from a butcher who thought he might be of great assistance in preparing our specimens, or defending us from savage natives; another young man offered himself to my wife as a personal bodyguard; a third was sure his twenty years’ experience as a waiter would fit him for an important position on the Expedition, and numerous women, young and old, wished to become “companions” for my wife in those “drear wastes.”
Applicants continued to besiege us wherever we stopped on our way across the continent and in San Francisco until we embarked on the afternoon of Mardi 28 on the S. S. Tenyo Maru for Japan.
Our way across the Pacific was uneventful and as the great vessel drew in toward the wharf in Yokohama she was boarded by the usual crowd of natives. We were standing at the rail when three Japanese approached and, bowing in unison, said, “We are report for leading Japanese newspaper. We wish to know all thing about Chinese animal.” Evidently the speech had been rehearsed, for with it their English ended abruptly, and the interview proceeded rather lamely, on my part, in Japanese.
Japan was reveling in the cherry blossom season when we arrived and for a person interested in color photography it was a veritable paradise. We stayed three weeks and regretfully left for Peking by way of Korea. But before we continue with the story of our further travels, we would like briefly to review the political situation in China as a background for our early work in the province of Fukien.