The Asiatic Zoological Expedition of the 

 American Museum of Natural History 



Bv ROY (HAPMAX AXDRKWS 



PROBABLY IK) region of tlu- world 

 is of more zoiilogical interest 

 than central and eastern Asia, 

 for it was there that many of our most 

 remarkable mannnals originated. It is 

 also believed by eminent authorities 

 that there will be foimd somewhere in 

 the vast Thibetan region north of the 

 Himalaya Moinitains, remains of the 

 earliest types of men, who doubtless 

 followed the large mammals which 

 eventually spread into Europe and 

 America. The study of Asiatic zoology 

 has therefore an especial interest. 



The natural approach to central Asia, 

 for geographical reasons if for no other, 

 is by way of China where the American 

 Museum's Zoological Expedition will 

 begin its work. Until 1907, when the 

 British Museum dispatched the Duke 

 of Bedford's expeditions to northern and 

 western China under the leadership of 

 Mr. Malcolm P. Anderson, our knowl- 

 edge of the fauna of this country rested 

 principally upon the work of the two 

 Jesuits, Pere David and Pere Huede, and 

 upon that of Messrs. Robert Swinhoe 

 and A. Milne-Edwards. Pere David's 

 collections, made more than fifty years 

 ago and containing many important 

 types, were largely sent to the Paris 

 Museum. The Duke of Bedford's expe- 

 ditions yielded the first extensive modern 

 collections of Chinese mammals and 

 focused zoological interest on China. 

 As a result, a number of large expedi- 

 tions and se^'eral sportsmen went into 

 this attractive region, discovering many 

 animals new to science and throwing 

 light on many of the dark spots of 

 Asiatic zoology. 



Although Yun-nan in the west, adjoin- 

 ing Burma, had l)een visited in lS(iS 

 and 187o by Dr. John Anderson, and 

 scattered localities in the pro\inces of 

 Fo-kien and Kwang-tung had yielded a 

 few^ small collections, most of the vast 

 region lying south of the Yang-tse River 

 remains at the present time practically 

 an untouched field. The wild and 

 mountainous province of Kwei-chau in 

 the far west is probably the most inter- 

 esting of all and is certainly one of the 

 least known; part of it is thinly popu- 

 lated by a so-called independent tribe, 

 the Miao-tse, who themselves have been 

 but little studied. 



The American Museum's expedition 

 will spend considerable time in Kwei- 

 chau and will make a reconnaissance of 

 the other unstudied provinces south of 

 the Yang-tse Ri\er — as far as circum- 

 stances will permit. 



After visiting Pekin, to obtain letters 

 to the viceroys of various provinces, the 

 expedition will proceed to Foochow, a 

 large city on the coast between Shanghai 

 and Hongkong, near which some time 

 will be spent hunting with Mr. Harry R. 

 Caldwell in an endeavor to secure speci- 

 mens of a tiger which he believes to be 

 new to science. Mr. Caldwell, who is 

 an excellent amateur naturalist and has 

 done much tiger shooting, writes under 

 date of November 9, 1915: 



I have been especially anxious to obtain 

 skins of a certain species of tiger which I 

 have discovered in the wilds of these moun- 

 tains. This is a handsome beast with a 

 maltese ground color. I have been pre- 

 vented from getting a specimen of this 

 variety only by lack of time. I fully expect 



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