The Project Gutenberg EBook of Camps and Trails in China by Roy Chapman Andrews and Yvette Borup Andrews This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Camps and Trails in China A Narrative of Exploration, Adventure, and Sport in Little-Known China Author: Roy Chapman Andrews and Yvette Borup Andrews Release Date: May 7, 2004 [EBook #12296] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAMPS AND TRAILS IN CHINA *** Produced by Paul Hollander, Christopher Lund and PG Distributed Proofreaders [Illustration: OUR CAMP ON THE SNOW MOUNTAIN AT AN ALTITUDE OF 12,000 FEET] CAMPS AND TRAILS IN CHINA A NARRATIVE OF EXPLORATION, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT IN LITTLE-KNOWN CHINA BY ROY CHAPMAN ANDREWS, M.A. ASSOCIATE CURATOR OF MAMMALS IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND LEADER OF THE MUSEUM'S ASIATIC ZOÖLOGICAL EXPEDITION OF 1916-1917; FELLOW NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES; CORRESPONDING MEMBER ZOÖLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, MEMBER OF THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON; AUTHOR OF 'WHALE HUNTING WITH GUN AND CAMERA' AND YVETTE BORUP ANDREWS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE ASIATIC ZOÖLOGICAL EXPEDITION 1918 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO PRESIDENT HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN AS AN EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE AND ADMIRATION "Let us probe the silent places, let us seek what luck betide us; Let us journey to a lonely land I know. There's a whisper on the night-wind, there's a star agleam to guide us, And the Wild is calling, calling ... let us go." --Service. PREFACE The object of this book is to present a popular narrative of the Asiatic Zoölogical Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History to China in 1916-17. Details of a purely scientific nature have been condensed, or eliminated, and emphasis has been placed upon our experiences with the strange natives and animals of a remote and little known region in the hope that the book will be interesting to the general reader. The scientific reputation of the Expedition will rest upon the technical reports of its work which will be published in due course by the American Museum of Natural History. To these reports we would refer those readers who desire more complete information concerning the results of our researches. At the time the manuscript of this volume was sent to press the collections were still undergoing preparation and the study of the different groups had just begun. Although the book has been largely written by the senior author, his collaborator has contributed six chapters marked with her initials; all the illustrations are from her photographs and continual use has been made of her daily journals; she has, moreover, materially assisted in reference work and in numerous other ways. The information concerning the relationships and distribution of the native tribes of Yün-nan is largely drawn from the excellent reference work by Major H.R. Davies and we have followed his spelling of Chinese names. Parts of the book have been published as separate articles in the American Museum Journal, Harper's Magazine, and Asia and to the editors of the above publications our acknowledgments are due. That the Expedition obtained a very large and representative collection of small mammals is owing in a great measure to the efforts of Mr. Edmund Heller, our companion in the field. He worked tirelessly in the care and preservation of the specimens, and the fact that they reached New York in excellent condition is, in itself, the best testimony to the skill and thoroughness with which they were prepared. Our Chinese interpreter, Wu Hung-tao, contributed largely to the success of the Expedition. His faithful and enthusiastic devotion to our interests and his tact and resourcefulness under trying circumstances won our lasting gratitude and affectionate regard. The nineteen months during which we were in Asia are among the most memorable of our lives and we wish to express our deepest gratitude to the Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History, and especially to President Henry Fairfield Osborn, whose enthusiastic endorsement and loyal support made the Expedition possible. Director F.A. Lucas, Dr. J.A. Allen and Mr. George H. Sherwood were unfailing in furthering our interests, and to them we extend our hearty thanks. To the following patrons, who by their generous contributions materially assisted in the financing of the Expedition, we wish to acknowledge our great personal indebtedness as well as that of the Museum; Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Bernheimer, Mr. and Mrs. Sidney M. Colgate, Messrs. George Bowdoin, Lincoln Ellsworth, James B. Ford, Henry C. Frick, Childs Frick, and Mrs. Adrian Hoffman Joline. The Expedition received many courtesies while in the field from the following gentlemen, without whose coöperation it would have been impossible to have carried on the work successfully. Their services have been referred to individually in subsequent parts of the book: The Director of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs of the Province of Yün-nan; M. Georges Chemin Dupontès, Director de l'Exploration de la Compagnie Française des Chemins de Fer de l'Indochine et du Yün-nan, Hanoi, Tonking; M. Henry Wilden, Consul de France, Shanghai; M. Kraemer, Consul de France, Hongkong; Mr. Howard Page, Standard Oil Co., Yün-nan Fu; the Hon. Paul Reinsch, Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to the Chinese Republic, Mr. J.V.A. McMurray, First Secretary of the American Legation, Peking; Mr. H.G. Evans, British-American Tobacco Co., Hongkong; the Rev. William Hanna, Ta-li Fu; the Rev. A. Kok, Li- chang Fu; Ralph Grierson, Esq., Teng-yueh; Herbert Goffe, Esq., H.B.M. Consul General, Yün-nan Fu; Messrs. C.R. Kellogg, and H.W. Livingstone, Foochow, China; the General Passenger Agent, Canadian Pacific Railroad Company, Hongkong; and the Rev. H.R. Caldwell, Yenping, who has read parts of this book in manuscript and who through his criticisms has afforded us the benefit of his long experience in China. To Miss Agnes F. Molloy and Miss Anna Katherine Berger we wish to express our appreciation of editorial and other assistance during the preparation of the volume. ROY CHAPMAN ANDREWS YVETTE BORUP ANDREWS JUSTAMERE HOME, Lawrence Park, Bronxville, N.Y. May 10, 1917. CONTENTS CHAPTER I The Object of the Expedition The importance of the scientific exploration of Central Asia--The region which the Asiatic Zoölogical Expedition investigated--Personnel of the Expedition--Equipment--Applicants for positions upon the Expedition CHAPTER II China in Turmoil Yuan Shi-kai--Plot to become emperor of China--The Rebellion--Our arrival in Peking--Passports for Fukien Province--Admiral von Hintze, the German Minister--En route to Shanghai--Death of Yuan Shi-kai CHAPTER III Up the Min River Y.B.A. Arrival at Foochow--Foochow--We leave for Yen-ping--The Min River--Our first night in a sampan--Miss Mabel Hartford--Brigands at Yuchi--Yen-ping--Trapping at Yen-ping CHAPTER IV A Bat Cave in the Big Ravine The Temple in the Big Ravine--Hunting serow--A bat apartment house CHAPTER V The Yen-Ping Rebellion A message from Mr. Caldwell--Refugees from Yen-ping--Situation in the city--Fighting on Monday morning--Wounded men at the hospital--We do Red Cross work--More fighting--A Chinese puzzle--The missionaries save the city--The narrow escape of a young Chinese--The mission cook--Return to Foochow CHAPTER VI Hunting the Great Invisible Tiger lairs--Mr. Caldwell's method of hunting--His first tiger--Habits of tigers--Experiences with the Great Invisible--Killing a man eater-- Chinese superstitions--Hunting in the lair CHAPTER VII The Blue Tiger Arriving at Lung-tao--The blue tiger--Mr. Caldwell's first view of the beast--The lair in the Long Ravine--Bad luck with the tiger--A meeting in the dark--Ling-suik monastery--Life at the temple--Fukien Province as a collecting ground CHAPTER VIII The Women of China Y.B.A. Schools for girls--Position of women--The Confucian rules--Woman's life in the home--Foot binding--Early marriage--A Chinese wedding CHAPTER IX Voyaging to Yün-nan Outfitting in Hongkong--Food--Guns--Cameras--En route to Tonking--The Island of Hainan--We engage a cook at Paik-hoi--Arrival in Haiphong--Loss of our Ammunition--Hanoi--The railroad to Yün-nan Fu--Yün-nan--The Chinese Foreign Office endorses our plans CHAPTER X On the Road to Ta-li fu Our caravan--The Yün-nan pack saddle--Temple camps--Chinese mafus--Roads--Country--Ignorance of a Chinese scholar--New mammals--Village life--Opium growing--An opium scandal--Goitre--The Chinese "Mountain schooner"--Horses--Miss Morgan-- Brigands--Our guard of soldiers 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--Cross-bows and poisoned arrows--Dogs--A 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--A 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--Caves 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 jungle--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 Hui-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 civilization again--Farewell to the Orient LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Our camp on the Snow Mountain at an altitude of 12,000 feet. Yvette Borup Andrews with a pet Yün-nan squirrel Edmund Heller Roy Chapman Andrews and a goral A Chinese hunter and a muntjac Brigands killed in the Yen-ping Rebellion The Ling-suik monastery A priest of Ling-suik A Chinese mother with her children Chinese women of the coolie class with bound feet Cormorant fishers on the lake at Yün-nan Fu Our camp at Chou Chou on the way to Ta-li Fu The Pagodas at Ta-li Fu The dead of China The residence of Rev. William J. Hanna at Ta-li-Fu The gate and main street of Ta-li Fu One of the pagodas at Ta-li Fu A Moso herder A Moso woman The Snow Mountain A cheek gun used by one of our hunters The first goral killed on the Snow Mountain Hotenfa, one of our Moso hunters, bringing in a goral Another Moso hunter with a porcupine A typical goral cliff on the Snow Mountain A serow killed on the Snow Mountain The head of a serow The "white water" A Liso hunter carrying a flying squirrel The chief of our Lolo hunters A Lolo village Lolos seeing their photographs for the first time Travelers in the Mekong valley Two Tibetans The gorge of the Yangtze River A quiet curve of the Mekong River The temple in which we camped at Ta-li Fu A crested muntjac The south gate at Yung-chang A Chinese bride returning to her mother's home at New Year's A Chinese patriarch Young China A Shan village A Shan woman spinning A Kachin woman in the market at Meng-ting One of our Shan hunters with two yellow gibbons Our camp on the Nam-ting River The Shan village at Nam-ka The head of a gibbon killed on the Nam-ting River A civet A Shan girl A Shan boy A suspension bridge Mrs. Andrews feeding one of our bear cubs A sambur killed at Wa-tien The head of a muntjac A mountain chair The waterfall at Teng-Yueh MAP I. The red line indicates the travels of the Expedition MAP II. Route of the Expedition in Yün-nan CAMPS AND TRAILS IN CHINA 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 palaeontological, archaeological, 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 reconnoissance, 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 Galápagos 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 March 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. CHAPTER II CHINA IN TURMOIL During the time the Expedition was preparing to leave New York, China was in turmoil. Yuan Shi-kai was president of the Republic, but the hope of his heart was to be emperor of China. For twenty years he had plotted for the throne; he had been emperor for one hundred miserable days; and now he was watching, impotently, his dream-castles crumble beneath his feet. Yuan was the strong man of his day, with more power, brains, and personality than any Chinese since Li-Hung Chang. He always had been a factor in his political world. His monarchial dream first took definite form as early as 1901 when he became viceroy of Chi-li, the province in which Peking is situated. It was then that he began to modernize and get control of the army which is the great basis of political power in China. Properly speaking, there was not, and is not now, a Chinese national army. It is rather a collection of armies, each giving loyalty to a certain general, and he who secures the support of the various commanders controls the destiny of China's four hundred millions of people regardless of his official title. Yuan was able to bind to himself the majority of the leading generals, and in 1911, when the Manchu dynasty was overthrown, his plots and intrigues began to bear fruit. By crafty juggling of the rebels and Manchus he managed to get himself elected president of the new republic, although he did not for a moment believe in the republican form of government. He was always a monarchist at heart but was perfectly willing to declare himself an ardent republican so long as such a declaration could be used as a stepping stone to the throne which he kept ever as his ultimate goal. As president he ruled with a high hand. In 1913 there was a rebellion in protest against his official acts but he defeated the rebels, won over more of the older generals, and solidified the army for his own interests, making himself stronger than ever before. At this time he might well have made a coup d'état and proclaimed himself emperor with hardly a shadow of resistance, but with the hereditary caution of the Chinese he preferred to wait and plot and scheme. He wanted his position to be even more secure and to have it appear that he reluctantly accepted the throne as a patriotic duty at the insistent call of the people. Yuan's ways for producing the proper public sentiment were typically Chinese but entirely effective, and he was making splendid progress, when in May, 1915, Japan put a spoke in his wheel of fortune by taking advantage of the European war and presenting the historical twenty-one demands, to most of which China agreed. This delayed his plans only temporarily, and Yuan's agents pushed the work of making him emperor more actively than ever, with the result that the throne was tendered to him by the "unanimous vote of the people." To "save his face" he declined at first but at the second offer he "reluctantly" yielded and on December 12, 1915, became emperor of China. But his triumph was short-lived, for eight days later tidings of unrest in Yün-nan reached Peking. General Tsai-ao, a former military governor of the province, appeared in Yün-nan Fu, the capital, and, on December 23, sent an ultimatum to Yuan stating that he must repudiate the monarchy and execute all those who had assisted him to gain the throne, otherwise Yün-nan would secede; which it forthwith did on December 25. Without doubt this rebellion was financed by the Japanese who had intimated to Yuan that the change from a republican form of government would not meet with their approval. The rebellion spread rapidly. On January 21, Kwei-chau Province, which adjoins Yün- nan, seceded, and, on March 13, Kwang-si also announced its independence. About this time the Museum authorities were becoming somewhat doubtful as to the advisability of proceeding with our Expedition. We had a long talk with Dr. Wellington Koo, the Chinese Minister to the United States, at the Biltmore Hotel in New York. Dr. Koo, while certain that the rebellion would be short-lived, strongly advised us to postpone our expedition until conditions became more settled. He offered to cable Peking for advice, but we, knowing how unwelcome to the government of the harassed Yuan would be a party of foreigners who wished to travel in the disturbed area, gratefully declined and determined to proceed regardless of conditions. We hoped that Yuan would be strong enough to crush this rebellion as he had that of 1913, but day by day, as we anxiously watched the papers, there came reports of other provinces dropping away from his standard. On the Tenyo Maru we met the Honorable Charles Denby, an ex-American Consul-General at Shanghai and former adviser to Yuan Shi-kai when he was viceroy of Chi-li. Mr. Denby was interested in obtaining a road concession near Peking and was then on his way to see Yuan. His anxiety over the political situation was not less than ours and together we often paced the decks discussing what might happen; but every wireless report told of more desertions to the ranks of the rebels. It seemed to be the beginning of the end, for Yuan had lost his nerve. He had decided to quit, and one hundred days after he became emperor elect he issued a mandate canceling the monarchy and restoring the republic. But the rebellious provinces were not satisfied and demanded that he get out altogether. About this time we reached Peking, literally blown in by a tremendous dust storm which seemed an elemental manifestation of the human turmoil within the grim old walls. Our cousin, Commander Thomas Hutchins, Naval Attaché of the American Legation, was awaiting us on the platform, holding his hat with one hand and wiping the dust from his eyes with the other. The news we received from him was by no means comforting for in the Legation pessimism reigned supreme. The American Minister, Dr. Reinsch, was not enthusiastic about our going south regardless of conditions, but nevertheless he set about helping us to obtain the necessary visé for our passports. We wished first to go to Foochow, in Fukien Province, where we were to hunt tiger until Mr. Heller joined us in July for the expedition into Yün-nan. Fukien was still loyal to Yuan, but the strong Japanese influence in this province, which is directly opposite the island of Formosa, was causing considerable uneasiness in Peking. We were armed with telegrams from Mr. C.R. Kellogg, of the Anglo-Chinese College, with whom we were to stay while in Foochow, assuring us that all was quiet in the province, and through the influence of Dr. Reinsch, the Chinese Foreign Office viséd our passports. The huge red stamp which was affixed to them was an amusing example of Chinese "face saving." First came the seal of Yuan's impotent dynasty of Hung Hsien, signifying "Brilliant Prosperity," and directly upon it was placed the stamp of the Chinese Republic. One was almost as legible as the other and thus the Foreign Office saved its face in whichever direction the shifting cards of political destiny should fall. At a luncheon given by Dr. Reinsch at the Embassy in Peking, we met Admiral von Hintze, the German Minister, who had recently completed an adventurous trip from Germany to China. He was Minister to Mexico at the beginning of the war but had returned to Berlin incognito through England to ask the Kaiser for active sea service. The Emperor was greatly elated over von Hintze's performance and offered him the appointment of Minister to China if he could reach Peking in the same way that he had traveled to Berlin. Von Hintze therefore shipped as supercargo on a Scandinavian tramp steamer and arrived safely at Shanghai, where he assumed all the pomp of a foreign diplomat and proceeded to the capital. The Americans were in a rather difficult position at this time because of the international complications, and social intercourse was extremely limited. Dinner guests had to be chosen with the greatest care and one was very likely to meet exactly the same people wherever one went. Peking is a place never to be forgotten by one who has shared its social life. In the midst of one of the most picturesque, most historical, and most romantic cities of the world there is a cosmopolitan community that enjoys itself to the utmost. Its talk is all of horses, polo, racing, shooting, dinners, and dances, with the interesting background of Chinese politics, in which things are never dull. There is always a rebellion of some kind to furnish delightful thrills, and one never can tell when a new political bomb will be projected from the mysterious gates of the Forbidden City. We spent a week in Peking and regretfully left by rail for Shanghai. En route we passed through Tsinan-fu where the previous night serious fighting had occurred in which Japanese soldiers had joined with the rebels against Yuan's troops. On every side there was evidence of Japan's efforts against him. In the foreign quarter of Shanghai just behind the residence of Mr. Sammons, the American Consul-General, one of Yuan's leading officers had been openly murdered, and Japanese were directly concerned in the plot. We were told that it was very difficult at that time to lease houses in the foreign concession because wealthy Chinese who feared the wrath of one party or the other were eager to pay almost any rent to obtain the protection of that quarter of the city. A short time later it became known to a few that Yuan was seriously ill. He was suffering from Bright's disease with its consequent weakness, loss of mental alertness, and lack of concentration. French doctors were called in, but Yuan's wives insisted upon treating him with concoctions of their own, and on June 6, shortly after three o'clock in the morning, he died. Even on his death-bed Yuan endeavored to save his face before the country, and his last words were a reiteration of what he knew no one believed. The story of his death is told in the China Press of June 7, 1916: According to news from the President's palace the condition of Yuan became critical at three o'clock in the morning. Yuan asked for his old confidential friend, Hsu Shih-chang, who came immediately. On the arrival of Hsu, Yuan was extremely weak, but entirely conscious. With tears in his eyes, Yuan assured his old friend that he had never had any personal ambition for an emperor's crown; he had been deceived by his entourage over the true state of public opinion and thus had sincerely believed the people wished for the restoration of the monarchy. The desire of the South for his resignation he had not wished to follow for fear that general anarchy would break out all over China. Now that he felt death approaching he asked Hsu to make his last words known to the public. In the temporary residence of President Li Yuan-hung, situated in the Yung-chan-hu-tung (East City) and formerly owned by Yang Tu, the prominent monarchist, the formal transfer of the power to Li-Yuan-hung took place this morning at ten o'clock. Yuan Chi-jui, Secretary of State and Premier, as well as all the members of the cabinet, Prince Pu Lun as chairman of the State Council, and other high officials were present. The officials, wearing ceremonial dress, were received by Li-Yuan-hung in the main hall and made three bows to the new president, which were returned by the latter. The same ceremony will take place at two o'clock, when all the high military officials will assemble at the President's residence. The Cabinet, in a circular telegram has informed all the provinces that Vice-President Li-Yuan-hung, in accordance with the constitution, has become president of the Chinese Republic (Chung-hua-min-kuo) from the seventh instance. So ended Yuan Shi-kai's great plot to make himself an emperor over four hundred millions of people, a plot which could only have been carried out in China. He failed, and the once valiant warrior died in the humiliation of defeat, leaving thirty-two wives, forty children and his country in political chaos. CHAPTER III UP THE MIN RIVER Y.B.A. Three days after leaving Shanghai we arrived at Pagoda Anchorage at the mouth of the Min River, twelve miles from Foochow. We boarded a launch which threaded its way through a fleet of picturesque fishing vessels, each one of which had a round black and white eye painted on its crescent-shaped bow. When asked the reason for this decoration a Chinese on the launch looked at us rather pityingly for a moment and then said: "No have eye. No can see." How simple and how entirely satisfactory! The instant the launch touched the shore dozens of coolies swarmed like flies over it, fighting madly for our luggage. One seized a trunk, the other end of which had been appropriated by another man and, in the argument which ensued, each endeavored to deafen the other by his screams. The habit of yelling to enforce command is inherent with the Chinese and appears to be ineradicable. To expostulate in an ordinary tone of voice, pausing to listen to his opponent's reply, seems a psychological impossibility. There had been a mistake about the date of our arrival at Foochow, and we were two days earlier than we had been expected, so that Mr. C.R. Kellogg, of the Anglo-Chinese College, with whom we were to stay, was not on the jetty to meet us. We were at a loss to know where to turn amidst the chaos and confusion until a customs officer took us in charge and, judiciously selecting a competent looking woman from among the screaming multitude, told her to get two sedan chairs and coolies to carry our luggage. She disappeared and ten minutes later the chairs arrived. Dashing about among the crowd in front of us, she chose the baggage for such men as met with her approval and after the usual amount of argument the loads were taken. We mounted our chairs and started off with apparently all Foochow following us. As far as we could see down the narrow street were the heads and shoulders of our porters. We felt as if we were heading an invading army as, with our thirty-three coolies and sixteen hundred pounds of luggage, we descended upon the homes of people whom we did not know and who were not expecting us. But our sudden arrival did not disturb the Kelloggs and our welcome was typical of the warm hospitality one always finds in the Far East. No matter how long one has lived in China one remains in a condition of mental suspense unable to decide which is the filthiest city of the Republic. The residents of Foochow boast that for offensiveness to the senses no town can compare with theirs, and although Amoy and several other places dispute this questionable title, we were inclined to grant it unreservedly to Foochow. It is like a medieval city with its narrow, ill-paved streets wandering aimlessly in a hopeless maze. They are usually roofed over so that by no accident can a ray of purifying sun penetrate their dark corners. With no ventilation whatsoever the oppressive air reeks with the odors that rise from the streets and the steaming houses. In Foochow, as in other cities of China, the narrow alleys are literally choked with every form of industrial obstruction. Countless workmen plant themselves in the tiny passageways with the pigs, children, and dogs, and women bring their quilts to spread upon the stones. There is a common saying that the Chinese do little which is not at some time done on the street. The foreign residents, including consuls of all nationalities, missionaries, and merchants, live well out of the city on a hilltop. Their houses are built with very high ceilings and bare interiors, and as the occupants seldom go into the city except in a sedan chair and have "punkahs" waving day and night, life is made possible during the intense heat of summer. A telegram was awaiting us from the Reverend Harry Caldwell, with whom we were to hunt, asking us to come to his station two hundred miles up the river, and we passed two sweltering days repacking our outfit while Mr. Kellogg scoured the country for an English-speaking cook. One middle-aged gentleman presented himself, but when he learned that we were going "up country," he shook his head with an assumption of great filial devotion and said that he did not think his mother would let him go. Another was afraid the sun might be too hot. Finally on the eve of our departure we engaged a stuttering Chinese who assured us that he was a remarkable cook and exceptionally honest. If you have never heard a Chinaman stutter you have something to live for, and although we discovered that our cook was a shameless rascal he was worth all he extracted in "squeeze," for whenever he attempted to utter a word we became almost hysterical. He sounded exactly like a worn-out phonograph record buzzing on a single note, and when he finally did manage to articulate, his "pidgin" English in itself was screamingly funny. One day he came to the sampan proudly displaying a piece of beef and, after a series of vocal gymnastics, eventually succeeded in shouting: "Missie, this meat no belong die-cow. Die-cow not so handsome." Which meant that this particular piece of beef was not from an animal which had died from disease. The first stage of our trip began before daylight. We rode in four-man sedan chairs, followed by a long procession of heavily laden coolies with our cameras, duffle-sacks, and pack baskets. The road lay through green rice fields between terraced mountains, and we jogged along first on the crest of a hill, then in the valley, passing dilapidated temples with the paint flaking off and picturesque little huts half hidden in the reeds of the winding river. It was a relief to get into the country again after passing down the narrow village streets and to breathe fresh air perfumed with honeysuckle. A passenger launch makes the trip to Cui-kau at the beginning of the rapids, but it leaves at two o'clock in the morning and is literally crowded to overflowing with evil-smelling Chinese who sprawl over every available inch of deck space, so that even the missionaries strongly advised us against taking it. The passengers not infrequently are pushed off into the water. One of the missionaries witnessed an incident which illustrates in a typical way the total lack of sympathy of the average Chinese. A coolie on the Cui-kau launch accidentally fell overboard, and although a friend was able to grasp his hand and hold him above the surface, no one offered to help him; the launch continued at full speed, and finally weakening, the poor man loosed his hold and sank. This is by no means an isolated case. Some years ago a foreign steamer was burned on the Yangtze River, and the crowds of watching Chinese did little or nothing to rescue the passengers and crew. Indeed, as fast as they made their way to shore many of them were robbed even of their clothing and some were murdered outright. Our first day on the Min River was the most luxurious of the entire Expedition, for we were fortunate in obtaining the Standard Oil Company's launch through the kindness of Mr. Livingston, their agent. It was large and roomy, and the trip, which would have been worse than disagreeable on the public boat, was most delightful. The Min is one of the most beautiful rivers of all China with its velvet green mountains rising a thousand feet or more straight up from the water and often terraced to the summits. Perched on the bow of our boat was a wizened little gentleman with a pigtail wrapped around his head, who said he was a pilot, but as he inquired the channel of everyone who passed and ran us aground a dozen times or more to the tremendous agitation of our captain, we felt that his claim was not entirely justified. The river life was a fascinating, ever-changing picture. One moment we would pass a sampan so loaded with branches that it seemed like a small island floating down the stream. Next a huge junk with bamboo-ribbed sails projecting at impossible angles drifted by, followed by innumerable smaller crafts, the monotonous chant of the boatmen coming faintly over the water to us as they passed. When evening came we had reached Cui-kau. The sampans in which we were to spend eight days were drawn up on the beach with twenty or thirty others. Right above us was the straggling town looking very much like the rear view of tenement houses at home. Darkness blotted out the filth of our surroundings but could do nothing to lessen the odors that poured down from the village, and we ate our dinner with little relish. Our beds were spread in the sampans which we shared in common with the four river men who formed the crew. There was only a mosquito net to screen the end of the boat, but all our surroundings were so strange that this was but a minor detail. As we lay in our cots we could look up at the stars framed in the half oval of the sampan's roof and listen to the sounds of the water life grow fainter and fainter as one by one the river men beached their boats for the night. It seemed only a few minutes later when we were roused by a rush of water, but it was daylight, and the boats had reached the first of the rapids which separated us from Yen-ping, one hundred and twenty miles away. In the late afternoon we arrived at Chang-hu-fan where Mr. Caldwell stood on the shore waving his hat to us amidst scores of dirty little children and the explosion of countless firecrackers. Wherever we went crackers preceded and followed us--for when a Chinese wishes to register extreme emotion, either of joy or sorrow, its expression always takes the form of firecrackers. There had been a good deal of persecution of the native Christians in the district, and only recently a band of soldiers had strung up the native pastor by the thumbs and beaten him senseless. He was our host that night and seemed to be a bright, vivacious, little man but quite deaf as a result of his cruel treatment. He never recovered and died a few weeks later. Mr. Caldwell had come to investigate the affair, for the missionaries are invested by the people themselves with a good deal of authority. We spent that night in the parish house just behind the little church, a bare schoolroom being turned over to us for our use, and it seemed very luxurious after we had set up our cots, tables, chairs, and bath tub; but the house was in the center of the town and the high walls shut out every breath of pure air. The barred windows opened on a street hardly six feet wide, and while we were preparing for bed there was a buzz of subdued whispers outside. We switched on a powerful electric flashlight and there stood at least forty men, women and children gazing at us with rapt attention, but they melted away before the blinding glare like snow in a June sun. That night was not a pleasant one. The heat was intense, the mosquitoes worse, and every dog and cat in the village seemed to choose our court yard as a dueling ground in which to settle old scores. The climax was reached at four o'clock in the morning, when directly under our windows there came a series of ear-splitting squeals followed by a horrible gurgle. The neighbors had chosen that particular spot and hour to kill the family pig, and the entire process which followed of sousing it in hot water and scraping off the hair was accompanied by unceasing chatter. Boiling with rage we dressed and went for a walk, vowing not to spend another night in the place but to sleep in the sampans. On the whole our river men were nice fellows but they had the love of companionship characteristic of all Chinese and the inherent desire to huddle together as closely as possible wherever they were. On the way up the river to Yuchi every evening they insisted on stopping at some foul-smelling village, and it was difficult to induce them to spend the night away from a town. Moreover, at our stops for luncheon they would invariably ignore a shady spot and choose a sand bank where the sun beat down like a blast furnace. The Chinese never appear to be affected by the sun and go bareheaded at all seasons of the year, shading their eyes with one hand or a partly opened fan. A fan is the prime requisite, and it is not uncommon to see coolies almost devoid of clothing, dragging a heavy load and with the perspiration streaming from their naked bodies, energetically fanning themselves meanwhile. Mr. Caldwell was en route to Yuchi, one of his mission stations far up a branch of the Min River, and as there was a vague report of tiger in that vicinity we joined him instead of proceeding directly to Yen-ping. The tiger story was found to be merely a myth, but our trip was made interesting by meeting Miss Mabel Hartford, the only foreign resident of the place. She has lived in Yuchi for two years and at one time did not see a white person for eight months with the exception of Mr. Caldwell who was in the vicinity for three days. It requires four weeks to obtain supplies from Foochow, there is no telegraph, and mails are very irregular, but she enjoys the isolation and is passionately fond of her work. She has had an interesting life and one not devoid of danger. In 1895 she was wounded and barely escaped death in the Hwa Shan (Flower Mountain) massacre in which ten women and one man were brutally murdered by a mob of fanatic natives known as "Vegetarians." The Chinese Government was required to pay a considerable indemnity to Miss Hartford, which she accepted only under protest and characteristically devoted to missionary work in Kucheng where the massacre occurred. Conditions at Yuchi when we arrived were most unsettled and for some months there had been a veritable "reign of terror." A large band of brigands was established in the hills not far from the city, and we were warned by the mandarin not to attempt to go farther up the river. A few months earlier several companies of soldiers had been sent from Foochow,...