380 



THE AMERLCAX Mi'SEUM JOURXAL 



damp, but collecting then would be 

 vastly easier than in summer, not only 

 on account of climatic conditions but 

 because much of the vegetation disap- 

 pears and there is an opportunity for 

 "still hunting."" 



Trapping for small mannnals in Fu- 

 kien is especially difficult because of 

 the dense population. The mud dykes 

 and the rice fields usually are covered 

 with tracks of civets, mongooses, and 

 wild cats, wliich come to hunt frogs or 

 fish, but if a trap is set, it either catches 

 a Chinaman or promptly is stolen. 

 ^Moreover, the small mammals are 

 neither abundant nor varied in number 

 of species, and the larger forms, such 

 as tiger, leopard, wild pig, and serow, 

 are exceedingly difficult to kill. 



While our work in the province was 

 done during an unfavorable season and 

 in only two localities, yet enough was 

 seen of the general conditions to make 

 it certain that a thorough zoological 

 study of the region would require con- 

 siderable time and hard work, and that 

 the results so far as a large collection of 

 mammals is concerned would not be 

 highly satisfactory. Work in the west- 

 ern part of the province among the 

 Bohea Hills undoubtedly would be more 

 ])rofitable. but even there hardly w^orth 

 while with limited time and money. 



The language of Fukien is a greater 

 annoyance than in any other of the 

 Chinese coast provinces. The Fuchow 

 dialect (which is one of the most diffi- 

 cult to learn) is spoken only within 

 fifty or one hundred miles of the city. 

 At Yenping Mr. Caldwell, who speaks 

 Fuchow perfectly, could not understand 

 a word of the "southern mandarin" 

 which is the language of that region, 

 and near Fu-tsing, where a colony of 

 natives from Amoy have settled, the 

 dialect is unintelligible to one who 

 knows only Fuchow. 



Travel in Fukien is an unceasing 

 trial, for transport is entirely by coolies 

 who carry from eighty to one hundred 

 pounds. The men are paid l)y distance 



or weight ; therefore, when coolies 

 finally have been obtained, there is the 

 inevitable wrangling over loads so that 

 from one to two hours are consumed 

 Ijefore the party can start. But the 

 worst of it is that one never can be 

 certain when his entire outfit will ar- 

 rive at the new destination. Some men 

 walk much faster than others, some will 

 delay a long tiine for tea or may give 

 out altogether if the day be hot, with 

 the result that the last load will arrive 

 ])('rhaps five or six hours after the first. 



As horses are not to be had. if one 

 does not walk, the only alternative is 

 to 1)0 carried in a mountain chair, which 

 is an uncomfortable, trapeze-like affair 

 and to be found only along the main 

 highways. On the whole, transport by 

 man-power is too uncertain and expen- 

 sive for a large expedition. 



It was hard to leave Fukien witliout 

 the Ijlue tiger, but we had hunted him 

 unsuccessfully for five weeks and there 

 was other and more important work 

 awaiting us in Yunnan. It required 

 thirty porters to transport our baggage 

 from the Ling-suik monastery to Daing- 

 nei, twenty-one miles away, where two 

 house boats were to meet us, and by ten 

 o'clock in the evening we were lying off 

 Pagoda Anchorage awaiting the flood 

 tide to take us to Fuchow. We made 

 our beds on the deck house, and in the 

 morning opened our eyes to find the 

 boat tied to the wharf at the Custom 

 House on the Bund, and ourselves in 

 full view of all Fuchow had it been 

 awake at that hour. 



The week of packing and repacking 

 that followed was made easy for us by 

 ]\Ir. Kellogg, who acted as our minis- 

 tering angel. I think there must be a 

 special Providence that watches over 

 wandering naturalists and directs them 

 to such men as Kellogg, for without 

 divine aid they never could l)e found. 

 When we last saw him, he stood on the 

 stone steps of the water front, waving 

 his hat as we slipped away on the tide, 

 to board the ship for Hongkong. 



