DIARY C 



LP J 



Beginning December 15, 1933, and ending July 6, 1934. 

 Relating to the collecting of natural history specimens 



for the Smithsonian Institution by - 



David C . Graham 



The last box filled was No. 260. The last mammal was 

 No. 1263. '{I 



December 15, 1933. The new netter Dai has been 

 working regularly, with meager success on account of the cold 

 weather. 



The netter Yao has returned from Kuanshien with 

 nearly a box of insects after they have been culled out or 

 picked over. 



We have used the night lantern and recently nothing 

 at all has been caught such as night moths. A curious thing 

 is that several species of butterflies are still to be found. 

 It seems as though the butterflies are more hardy than the 

 moths. I have forwarded the large shipment of skins to 

 Chungking in care of a friend, Rev. A. P. Quentin. I told 

 him to send them to Dr. Tompkins at Suifu, who would send them 

 on by steamer. I had a fine passport from the Szechuan. 

 Government in Dr. Tompkin's hands. Mr. Quentin sent them by 

 a Chinese cargo boat to Chungking, which is very much less 

 safe, although it is very much cheaper. I hope for good luck 

 in their reaching Chungking safely; I have telegraphed to 

 Dr. Tompkins to send the all-important passport on to Gordon 

 Jones at Chungking, who can ship them on to Shanghai by means 

 of a foreign steamship company. 



January 2, 1934. A few weeks ago the Wa SI 

 aborigine collector Li Song Hin was seriously ill and would 

 have died if I had not sent him to the hospital . 



Two days ago Ho Son Chuen came in with the news that 

 Yang Hong Tsang had been burnt to death by a forest fire while 

 hunting the tarkin on a very high mountain. We are trying to 

 recover his body and give him a decent burial. This will be 

 very hard on his family, for he was their main means of sup- 

 port • 



This is the hardest luck I have met in all my years 

 collecting. He was much more like a son to me than a hired 

 man. He has been one of my most dependable workers for many 

 years. My new year was not a very happy one. 



