Another piece of bad luck is that the Reds have made collections 

 all along the Western borderland impossible. There are tens of 

 thousands of them there. That region has been blocked for this 

 summer, collecting so we have tried to collect on Mt. Omer^where-- ^er«L 

 bad luck has met us. • 



With the skinner Ho I tried to go south to the high mountains on 

 the Szechuan Zunnar border. A band of Communists with over 600 

 rifles and about 1000 people are raiding that section -nd they are 

 very fond of capturing foreigners and holding them for large ransoms. 

 The officials stopped us and that trip was fruitless, although we 

 went within one day's jouimey of where the reds and the ordinary 

 Chinese troops were having a battle. 



But I will probably get about fifty boxes of insects, a few snakes, 

 and a few frog$,the smallest catch for many years, but worth something. 

 This summer* g collecting will be the least expensive for many years, 

 which will enable us to accumulate a small balance at Shanghai so as 

 to enable us to work more easily financially in the future. 



I will soon mail all the insects yet collected up here. I will put 

 Mr. Ho to collecting on the mountain. 



Aug. 19 - Filled 531 to 555. Insects from the summit of Mt. Omer and Gien 

 Lao Deng, gathered in July, 1955. 



Aug. 21 - Mailed 16 boxes of insects, and prepared seven more boxes to be 



shipped. 



It seems certain that Zen, the netter, has stolen the equipment in 

 his hands and skipped the country. 



Today I sent Ho Son Chuen away to tran, net, and catch frogs, snakes, 

 etc. ^ 



Aug. 28 - Ho Son Chuen cain.e back yesterday with one box of dry insects and 



several bottles (small) of insects and one frog. He had poor luck 

 as he could trap no rodents. 



Filled box 554, insects and fossils, and 555, insects from Hong^^ 

 Ghuen-'-^ Pin^, a temple whose altitude is about 6000 feet. 



Mr. Ho the skinner h^s brought in the report that Zen, the netter, 

 ran away with the collecting outfit to sell them, but was arrested 

 as a spy at Omeishien and probably will have all his possessions 

 confiscated including his money, and is even in danger of losing 

 his life. I am having Ho, the skinner, do all kinds of collecting 

 instead of only trapping and skinning. 



<3 m e t 



It is much harder to collect on Mt. Omer or anjrwhere this summer 

 than usual. This is now the main military training ca?r.p for all 

 China. Very large electric lights are visible for long distances 

 in several places. This makes moth catching at night much harder 

 in lower altitudes. A very strict guard in kept on the roads and 

 paths on the mountain, and this makes it more difficult for collectors 

 to move about. It is not advisable to do much shooting lest the 

 soldiers get unduly excited. 



