79 
sultry and depressing; I do not hope' to be com- 
pelled to spend another summer in this region. 
Political conditions are very unsettled in 
this T/hole land. Robbery is rife in many provinces 
and if Europe v;asn't in her death struggle, some 
attention would have been paid to this country 
here long ago. 
I am enclosing a letter concerning lumbang 
and perilla oils; T ansv/ered it to Mr. Cunningham, 
but both oils are rarely or never met v;ith in 
China. Perhaps the oil specialist of our De- 
partment can infoi'm these people v/here to get 
exact information. 
I also enclose a set of duplicate inventory 
notes, belonging to a shipment I wrote Mr. Dor- 
sett about a few days ago. T have not heard 
X from the shipping agency in Shanghai as yet 
v/hether it has been received or not. Mail 
routes are upset in China just now. Communi- 
cation by rail with Peking is impossible, since 
big stretches of roadbed have been washed out 
and S.S. service on the Yang tze has become quite 
irregular since several boats have been withdrawn 
and drafted into war service. 
On August 18, 1917, from Suichow, Hupeh, China, Mr. Meyer 
sent us a post card on which he wrote the following message: 
After a march of ?-l/? days from Kwang 
sui , on the R.R,, I am now here, en route for 
the Ta hung shan; after having explured that 
little known range, I'll leave for An lu foo 
and then on to King men for my wild pears. 
The days are quite hot, but the nights are 
turning cool, thank heavens! 
On September 8, 1917, from King men, Hupeh, Mr. Meyer 
wrote the following very interesting letter: 
Last night a bulky envelope came to me from 
Hankow and among the contents I also found some 
welcome letters from you. 
I feel very grateful for your kind v;ords 
in your message of June ?9, I917. Yes, such 
things as being unwell come to a man from time 
to time, just like periods of bad v/eather; one 
December 31, I917. 
