468 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1919. 
I decided to abandon the project of exploring the Amur till a more 
suitable occasion, meanwhile returning to Harbin, and thence pro- 
ceeding to Imienpo once more to put in another autumn in the forest 
of that district. 
To show the attitude of the Russians at this time, it may be stated 
that hardly had my companion, an American, and I left Imienpo for 
a trip into the forest than we were arrested as spies and narrowly 
escaped confinement in Vladivostok, if not a quick and sudden de- 
mise with our backs to a brick wall. It was only through the good 
offices of a friendly engineer on the railway, who got into communica- 
tion with our respective consuls in Harbin, that we were finally 
released. 
While on the lower Sungari I had an opportunity of seeing and 
talking with some of those strange people, the Fishskin Tartars, 
descendants of the old aboriginal Tartar inhabitants of Manchuria. 
But a small remnant of this tribe now exists, living in small com- 
munities along the banks of the Sungari and Amur, and obtaining 
a precarious subsistence by fishing, hunting, and a very little culti- 
vation of the soil. Their chief town, La-ha-su-su, where about 500 
families exist, lies at the junction of the Sungari and Amur; but 
there are a number at Fuchinhsien, and, I was told, at the mouth of 
the Ussuri River and up some of the side streams. Those I saw had 
taken to Chinese dress, except for hunting coats and caps of deer- 
skin; but they could easily be distinguished from the Chinese. 
Mention should be made of an attempt, which I believe is proving 
very successful, to clear and cultivate on a large scale the low-lying 
land on the north (Heilungkiang) bank of the Sungari, near Fuchin- 
hsien. The scheme is under the management of Europeans, who 
have imported American machinery for the purpose. Up to the 
time of our visit floods and the ravages of insects and disease had 
seriously hindered successful operations; but by diking in an enor- 
mous area of swampy land, and with the use of powerful pumps, 
splendid results have at last been achieved and bountiful harvests 
secured. This is in the nature of pioneer work, but its success will 
doubtless lead to further enterprise in the same direction, and we 
may shortly see wide tracts of rich and highly fertile land brought 
under the steam plow in this part of the country. Manchuria lies 
in the track of the great wheat belt of the world, and as the forests 
are cleared away we shall see a steady development of wheat growing 
and a corresponding increase in prosperity of the whole country. 
In regard to the clearing away of the timber, which is only a 
matter of time, it seems a great pity that so large a timber reserve 
as that of Heilungkiang Province, not to mention that of Kirin, 
should be exploited, as it is now, in so wasteful a manner. Then 
again one would like to put in a word for the fast diminishing game 
ee ee eee 
