Page Twenty-nine 



vated region, but there wo had to take mules hcu'ause of the nanowness 

 and steepness of the mountain passes. 



"Of course you know that collecting here is not like it is anywhere 

 else on earth. One has to become accustomed to the entirely new condi- 

 tions. The pur})Ose of this side trij) was to give me an idea of how to work 

 over here, to train two taxidermists who have not before done mammal 

 work, and to break in an entirely new man. 



"That part of China is very interesting biologicalh' for several 

 reasons which may be summarized as follows: 



"Now it is an isolated forest island Avhich is fast being deforested. 

 The imperial protection was all that kept it from being made as bare as 

 the surrounding country. Soon hardly a tree wnl be left becau.se the 

 Chinese have entered and are destroying the forests at an unbelievable 

 rate. Every valley is completely filled with crops that in places even 

 climb the perpendicular sides of the mountains. 



"The mammalian fauna indicates a recent connection w4th the 

 forests farther south. However, all visible connection has been destroyed 

 and the intervening space is part of the bare plain of North China. 

 There are also signs of faunistical connection with the well-forested 

 area of the Amur basin. 



" From the herpetological point of view the field is almost unexplored. 

 So far as I know no authoritative work has been done there on frogs, 

 snakes, fishes, etc. . . . 



"Do not become discouraged if you cannot find places w^e name 

 on the map. It seems almost impossible to get good majjs of this 

 countr}'. . . . 



"As for my personal impressions of this land! — they are too numer- 

 ous and involved and too everything else for me to go into here. Suffice 

 it to say that I would not sw^ap the experiences I have had already for 

 years of existence at home and there are no signs of the petering out of 

 any of the sources of this wealth of interest. It would take one, two or 

 three years to ' do up ' Peking and so we have an abundance of amuse- 

 ment during our short inter-trip stays here. I am trying to learn a few 

 Chinese sounds so that I w411 be able to greet the Chinese farmer as he 

 'brushes wath hasty steps the dews away to meet' me early in the 

 morning with the day's first specimen. The work is always mixed with 

 fun because these people have such a good sense of humor. We are 

 going to adopt the policy of sending in to the mandarin of each village 

 near which we have camped, upon our departure, a bill headed: 



