IQIO. | J. Coccin Brown: The Fauna of Yunnan. 195 
Mammals are by no means common in Yunnan owing to the 
destruction of the forests and food supplies, and to the extermina- 
tion of the larger species by hunters. Few opportunities for 
collecting them arose. 
Fishes are plentiful in the larger rivers and lakes, in the 
smaller streams they are rare, owing to the enterprise of the 
Chinese. Lake Erh-hai, from which various specimens were 
obtained, is a picturesque sheet of water 30 miles long and from 
5 to 7 miles broad, bounded on the east by low bare hills, and on 
the west by a narrow but highly cultivated plain which quickly 
gives place to the Ts’ang Shan mountains rising to 14,000 feet 
above the sea. This plain contains the city of Ta-li Fu (Long. 
100° 5’, Lat. 25° 42’), at an elevation of 6,900 feet above the sea. 
Along the greater part of the western shore the fields come down 
to the water’s edge, but in places the waves beat up on to 
extensive shel! banks which are largely made up of the remains of 
Margarya. Water-weeds flourish for many yards out from the 
shore and provide food and shelter for various forms of aquatic 
life. Fish are very plentiful and fleets of junks are always 
engaged in netting them. In the shallow waters near the shore, 
the smaller kinds are caught by the aid of a trained diving bird 
which appears to be a kind of cormorant. The fishing industry 
is in the hands of the Minchia, a tribe of aborigines who inhabit 
the T'a-li Fu plain. All round the shore wading birds find their 
food, while ducks of many kinds are to be seen on the waters. 
In the outlet of this lake near Hsia-kuan almost the only sponges 
found in Yunnan up to the present, are to be obtained. They con- 
sist of small rounded or irregular growths of a brilliant green 
colour, which grow on pieces of stone, wood or old shells. 
In Western Yunnan insect life is not very abundant, probably 
on account of the temperate climate, but further southwards a 
great variety prevails. 
Few reptiles were seen, the specimens which were obtained 
coming mainly from the rocky lava-covered downs of the Tengyueh 
district. Batrachians are common on the flooded fields in the 
early part of the year. The Salamander Tylototriton verrucosus, 
Anderson, is common in damp ditches and old walls around 
Tengyueh. 
I wish to express my thanks to Dr. N. Annandale, Superin- 
tendent of the Indian Museum, who supplied me with a complete 
collecting outfit and through whose kind offices I was given a 
grant of Rs. 500 to meet expenses, without which it would have 
been impossible to have carried out this work. 
