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CHAPTER XV 
OMEI-SHAN TO SHANGHAI AND HOME 
Departure from Oméi-shan—Find Mr. Kricheldorff at Kia-ting—His 
difficulties at Mou-pin—Packing up—Bad conduct of collectors— 
Flood of Min river—Dangerous position of boat—Expedition to 
Mantzu caves—New species of bat—Arrival of collectors—Live 
stock—Leave Kia-ting-fu—Lolo raiders—Leave Sui-fu—Dangerous 
state of river—Ba-sa-tou—Chung-king—Delayed by state of river— 
Murders of native converts—Quei-chau collector—Desertion of 
pilot—Sampan stove in at Hu-lin—Mortality among Crossoptilon— 
Delay at Wu-shan-hsien—Rapid at Niu-kan-tan—Quick travelling— 
Arrival at Ichang—Sale of boat—Shanghai—The collection of Prince 
Henri—Leave for Southampton. 
On August 17 [left the summit of Oméi-shan on my 
return to Kia-ting-fu, reaching Su-chi on the evening of 
the 18th, just at dusk. 
Being anxious to reach my boat as soon as possible, 
I hired two sampans, for myself and my coolies, hoping 
that with the favouring current the short distance 
would be quickly and safely traversed. 
It soon became very dark, however, and the boat- 
men seemed to lose either the way or their heads, for 
before I apprehended any danger, I found that the sam- 
pans had been swept into a rapid, and that in the dark- 
