XIV RESEARCH IN CHINA. 
used each other’s notes, reviewed each other’s manuscript, and freely 
discussed all mooted points with a view to welding our statements into 
a consistent whole. 
In the course of the research I have come under obligations to many 
persons who, in official or personal relations, aided the expedition. 
Secretary Hay and representatives of the United States abroad gave 
valuable assistance, and the Hon. E. H. Conger, minister to China, espe- 
cially facilitated the establishment of satisfactory relations with the imperial 
authorities. The ministers at Washington, of England, France, Germany, 
and Russia, courteously advised their governments of the disinterested 
purpose of the expedition, and we were officially accredited to the repre- 
sentatives of the respective governments at Peking. 
Sir Chen-tung Liang-cheng, Chinese minister to Washington, not only 
gave aid officially, but personally interested himself in making the work, 
in part at least, available to the Chinese in their own language. The 
characters on the maps were prepared under his direction and the descrip- 
tion in Chinese, which accompanies the atlas, was written by him. 
In China His Excellency the Viceroy of Chi-li, and the Governors of 
Shan-tung, Shan-si, and Shen-si forwarded our purposes, and many of 
the magistrates through whose jurisdiction we journeyed gave us material 
assistance. 
Professor Friedrich Hirth of Columbia University has kindly superin- 
tended all matters pertaining to the correct translation and transliteration 
of the Chinese names. Only one who has attempted to catch the sounds 
of such names in the different dialects, or who, through familiarity with 
the Chinese language, appreciates the many meanings which one sound 
may have, can realize how great is the difficulty of ascertaining the correct 
names of geographic features. By means of the Chinese gazetteers and 
maps, made available to us through Professor Hirth’s extensive knowledge 
of the language and literature, and through his personal consideration of 
the data submitted to him, we have been able to avoid many errors into 
which we would otherwise have fallen. Professor Hirth has also gone 
to the labor of transliterating all the Chinese names in a spelling which 
most nearly expresses the correct pronunciation. The system is fully 
explained in the Syllabary which he has contributed to this volume and 
to which the reader is referred. 
To many colleagues in science, abroad as well as at home, to numbers 
of friends, American, European, and Asiatic, and to my comrades who 
made this work possible, including our interpreter Li-san, more acknowl- 
edgment is due than can here be expressed. 
BAILEY WILLIS. 
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 28, 1906. 
