Camps and Trails in China
by
Roy Chapman Andrews and Yvette Borup Andrews
Part 1 out of 6
Produced by Paul Hollander, Christopher Lund and PG Distributed
Proofreaders
[Illustration: OUR CAMP ON THE SNOW MOUNTAIN
AT AN ALTITUDE OF 12,000 FEET]
CAMPS AND TRAILS IN CHINA
A NARRATIVE OF EXPLORATION, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT IN LITTLE-KNOWN CHINA
BY
ROY CHAPMAN ANDREWS, M.A.
ASSOCIATE CURATOR OF MAMMALS IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND
LEADER OF THE MUSEUM'S ASIATIC ZOOeLOGICAL EXPEDITION OF 1916-1917; FELLOW
NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES; CORRESPONDING MEMBER ZOOeLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
LONDON, MEMBER OF THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON; AUTHOR OF 'WHALE
HUNTING WITH GUN AND CAMERA'
AND
YVETTE BORUP ANDREWS
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE ASIATIC ZOOeLOGICAL EXPEDITION
1918
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO PRESIDENT HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN AS AN EXPRESSION
OF GRATITUDE AND ADMIRATION
"Let us probe the silent places, let us seek what luck betide us;
Let us journey to a lonely land I know.
There's a whisper on the night-wind, there's a star agleam to guide us,
And the Wild is calling, calling ... let us go."
--_Service_.
PREFACE
The object of this book is to present a popular narrative of the Asiatic
Zooelogical Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History to China in
1916-17. Details of a purely scientific nature have been condensed, or
eliminated, and emphasis has been placed upon our experiences with the
strange natives and animals of a remote and little known region in the hope
that the book will be interesting to the general reader.
The scientific reputation of the Expedition will rest upon the technical
reports of its work which will be published in due course by the American
Museum of Natural History. To these reports we would refer those readers
who desire more complete information concerning the results of our
researches. At the time the manuscript of this volume was sent to press the
collections were still undergoing preparation and the study of the
different groups had just begun.
Although the book has been largely written by the senior author, his
collaborator has contributed six chapters marked with her initials; all the
illustrations are from her photographs and continual use has been made of
her daily journals; she has, moreover, materially assisted in reference
work and in numerous other ways.
The information concerning the relationships and distribution of the native
tribes of Yuen-nan is largely drawn from the excellent reference work by
Major H.R. Davies and we have followed his spelling of Chinese names.
Parts of the book have been published as separate articles in the _American
Museum Journal, Harper's Magazine_, and _Asia_ and to the editors of the
above publications our acknowledgments are due.
That the Expedition obtained a very large and representative collection of
small mammals is owing in a great measure to the efforts of Mr. Edmund
Heller, our companion in the field. He worked tirelessly in the care and
preservation of the specimens, and the fact that they reached New York in
excellent condition is, in itself, the best testimony to the skill and
thoroughness with which they were prepared.
Our Chinese interpreter, Wu Hung-tao, contributed largely to the success of
the Expedition. His faithful and enthusiastic devotion to our interests and
his tact and resourcefulness under trying circumstances won our lasting
gratitude and affectionate regard.
The nineteen months during which we were in Asia are among
the most memorable of our lives and we wish to express our deepest
gratitude to the Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History, and
especially to President Henry Fairfield Osborn, whose enthusiastic
endorsement and loyal support made the Expedition possible. Director F.A.
Lucas, Dr. J.A. Allen and Mr. George H. Sherwood were unfailing in
furthering our interests, and to them we extend our hearty thanks.
To the following patrons, who by their generous contributions materially
assisted in the financing of the Expedition, we wish to acknowledge our
great personal indebtedness as well as that of the Museum; Mr. and Mrs.
Charles L. Bernheimer, Mr. and Mrs. Sidney M. Colgate, Messrs. George
Bowdoin, Lincoln Ellsworth, James B. Ford, Henry C. Frick, Childs Frick,
and Mrs. Adrian Hoffman Joline.
The Expedition received many courtesies while in the field from the
following gentlemen, without whose cooeperation it would have been
impossible to have carried on the work successfully. Their services have
been referred to individually in subsequent parts of the book: The Director
of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs of the Province of Yuen-nan; M. Georges
Chemin Dupontes, Director de l'Exploration de la Compagnie Francaise des
Chemins de Fer de l'Indochine et du Yuen-nan, Hanoi, Tonking; M. Henry
Wilden, Consul de France, Shanghai; M. Kraemer, Consul de France, Hongkong;
Mr. Howard Page, Standard Oil Co., Yuen-nan Fu; the Hon. Paul Reinsch,
Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to the Chinese Republic,
Mr. J.V.A. McMurray, First Secretary of the American Legation, Peking; Mr.
H.G. Evans, British-American Tobacco Co., Hongkong; the Rev. William Hanna,
Ta-li Fu; the Rev. A. Kok, Li-chang Fu; Ralph Grierson, Esq., Teng-yueh;
Herbert Goffe, Esq., H.B.M. Consul General, Yuen-nan Fu; Messrs. C.R.
Kellogg, and H.W. Livingstone, Foochow, China; the General Passenger Agent,
Canadian Pacific Railroad Company, Hongkong; and the Rev. H.R. Caldwell,
Yenping, who has read parts of this book in manuscript and who through his
criticisms has afforded us the benefit of his long experience in China.
To Miss Agnes F. Molloy and Miss Anna Katherine Berger we wish to express
our appreciation of editorial and other assistance during the preparation
of the volume.
ROY CHAPMAN ANDREWS
YVETTE BORUP ANDREWS
JUSTAMERE HOME,
_Lawrence Park,
Bronxville, N.Y._
_May 10, 1917._
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
THE OBJECT OF THE EXPEDITION
The importance of the scientific exploration of Central Asia--The region
which the Asiatic Zooelogical Expedition investigated--Personnel of the
Expedition--Equipment--Applicants for positions upon the Expedition
CHAPTER II
CHINA IN TURMOIL
Yuan Shi-kai--Plot to become emperor of China--The Rebellion--Our arrival
in Peking--Passports for Fukien Province--Admiral von Hintze, the German
Minister--_En route_ to Shanghai--Death of Yuan Shi-kai
CHAPTER III
UP THE MIN RIVER
Y.B.A.
Arrival at Foochow--Foochow--We leave for Yen-ping--The Min River--Our
first night in a _sampan_--Miss Mabel Hartford--Brigands at
Yuchi--Yen-ping--Trapping at Yen-ping
CHAPTER IV
A BAT CAVE IN THE BIG RAVINE
The Temple in the Big Ravine--Hunting serow--A bat apartment house
CHAPTER V
THE YEN-PING REBELLION
A message from Mr. Caldwell--Refugees from Yen-ping--Situation in the
city--Fighting on Monday morning--Wounded men at the hospital--We do Red
Cross work--More fighting--A Chinese puzzle--The missionaries save the
city--The narrow escape of a young Chinese--The mission cook--Return to
Foochow
CHAPTER VI
HUNTING THE GREAT INVISIBLE
Tiger lairs--Mr. Caldwell's method of hunting--His first tiger--Habits of
tigers--Experiences with the Great Invisible--Killing a man eater--Chinese
superstitions--Hunting in the lair
CHAPTER VII
THE BLUE TIGER
Arriving at Lung-tao--The blue tiger--Mr. Caldwell's first view of the
beast--The lair in the Long Ravine--Bad luck with the tiger--A meeting in
the dark--Ling-suik monastery--Life at the temple--Fukien Province as a
collecting ground
CHAPTER VIII
THE WOMEN OF CHINA
Y.B.A.
Schools for girls--Position of women--The Confucian rules--Woman's life in
the home--Foot binding--Early marriage--A Chinese wedding
CHAPTER IX
VOYAGING TO YUeN-NAN
Outfitting in Hongkong--Food--Guns--Cameras--_En route_ to Tonking--The
Island of Hainan--We engage a cook at Paik-hoi--Arrival in Haiphong--Loss
of our Ammunition--Hanoi--The railroad to Yuen-nan Fu--Yuen-nan--The Chinese
Foreign Office endorses our plans
CHAPTER X
ON THE ROAD TO TA-LI FU
Our caravan--The Yuen-nan pack saddle--Temple camps--Chinese
_mafus_--Roads--Country--Ignorance of a Chinese scholar--New
mammals--Village life--Opium growing--An opium scandal--Goitre--The
Chinese "Mountain schooner"--Horses--Miss Morgan--Brigands--Our guard
of soldiers
CHAPTER XI
TA-LI FU
Hsia-kuan--Summer temperature--Lake--Graves--Pagodas--Mr. H.G.
Evans--Foreigners of Ta-li Fu--Chinese mandarins--Mammals at Ta-li--Caravan
horses and mules--The cook becomes ill
CHAPTER XII
LI-CHIANG, AND THE "TEMPLE OF THE FLOWERS"
Traveling to Li-chiang--Our entrance into the city--The surprise of the
foreigners--The temple--Excellent collecting--Small mammals--The Moso
natives--Customs--The Snow Mountain--Baron Haendel-Mazzetti
CHAPTER XIII
CAMPING IN THE CLOUDS
Moso hunters--Primitive guns--Cross-bows and poisoned arrows--Dogs--A
porcupine--New mammals--We find a new camp on the mountain
CHAPTER XIV
THE FIRST GORAL
Killed near camp--A sacrifice to the God of the Hunt--Small mammals--The
second goral
CHAPTER XV
MORE GORALS
Gorals almost invisible--Heller shoots a kid--Collecting material for a
Museum group--A splendid hunt--Two gorals--A crested muntjac
CHAPTER XVI
THE SNOW MOUNTAIN TEMPLE
The first illness in camp--Serow--Death of the leading dog--Rain--Two more
serows--Lolos--Non-Chinese tribes of Yuen-nan
CHAPTER XVII
GORALS AND SEROWS
Relationship--Appearance of the serow--Habits--Gorals
CHAPTER XVIII
THE "WHITE WATER"
Y.B.A.
Our new camp--A serow--We go to Li-chiang--A burial ceremony--Ancestor
worship
CHAPTER XIX
ACROSS THE YANGTZE GORGE
Traveling to the river--Inaccuracy of the Chinese--First view of the
gorge--The Taku ferry--Caves
CHAPTER XX
THROUGH UNMAPPED COUNTRY
Along the rim of the gorge--A beautiful camp at Habala--New
mammals--Photographic work--Phete village--Stupid inhabitants--Strange
natives--The "Windy Camp"--Hotenfa
CHAPTER XXI
TRAVELING TOWARD TIBET
A hard climb--Our highest camp--A Lolo village--Thanksgiving with the Lolos
CHAPTER XXII
STALKING TIBETANS WITH A CAMERA
Y.B.A.
Caravans--Tibetans--Dress--Appearance--Photographing frightened
natives--Reason for suspicion
CHAPTER XXIII
WESTWARD TO THE MEKONG RIVER
Snow--Photographing natives--The Snow Mountain again--The Shih-ku
ferry--Cranes--"Brahminy ducks"--A well-deserved beating--Chinese soldiers
CHAPTER XXIV
DOWN THE MEKONG VALLEY
Arrival at Wei-hsi--The Mekong River--Lutzu natives--Difficulties in the
valley--An unexpected goral--Christmas--The salt wells--A snow covered
pass--Duck shooting--Return to Ta-li Fu
CHAPTER XXV
MISSIONARIES WE HAVE KNOWN
Our observations on work of missionaries in Fukien and Yuen-nan
Provinces--Mode of living--Servants--Voluntary exile--Medical
missionaries--A missionary's experience with the brigands at Yuchi
CHAPTER XXVI
CHINESE NEW YEAR AT YUNG-CHANG
Y.B.A.
Traveling to Yung-chang--New Year's customs--Inhabitants of the
city--Foot-binding--Caves--Water buffaloes--Chinese
cow-caravans--Yung-chang mentioned by Marco Polo
CHAPTER XXVII
TRAVELING TOWARD THE TROPICS
Shih-tien plain--Curious inhabitants of the city--A tropical valley at
Ma-po-lo--"A little more far"--A splendid camp--Many new mammals--Preparing
specimens--Sambur--Trapping
CHAPTER XXVIII
MENG-TING: A VILLAGE: OF MANY TONGUES
The first Shan village--Priscilla and John Alden--Meng-ting--The Shan
mandarin--Young priests--The market--Photographing under
difficulties--Suppression of opium growing
CHAPTER XXIX
CAMPING ON THE NAM-TING RIVER
A beautiful camp--The "Dying Rabbit"--Sambur hunting--Jungle
fowl--Civets--Pole cats and other animals
CHAPTER XXX
MONKEY HUNTING
Strange calls in the jungle--Our first gibbons--Relationship and
habits--Langurs and baboons--A night in the jungle
CHAPTER XXXI
THE SHANS OF THE BURMA BORDER
An unfriendly chief--Honest natives--Houses at Nam-ka--Tattooing--Shan
tribe--Dress
CHAPTER XXXII
PRISONERS OF WAR IN BURMA
Y.B.A.
The mythical Ma-li-ling--Across the frontier into Burma--The _mafus_
rebel--Ma-li-pa--Captain Clive--Guarding the border--Life at Ma-li-pa
CHAPTER XXXIII
HUNTING PEACOCKS ON THE SALWEEN RIVER
The valley at Changlung--The ferry--Peacocks--The stalker stalked--Habits
of peafowls
CHAPTER XXXIV
THE GIBBONS OF HO-MU-SHU
Climbing out of the Salween Valley--A Shan village--Ho-mu-shu--Camping on a
mountain pass--Gibbons--An exciting hunt and a narrow escape--Habits of the
"hoolock"
CHAPTER XXXV
TENG-YUEH: A LINK WITH CIVILIZATION
Tai-ping-pu--Flying squirrels--Lisos--A bat cave--Mail--Teng-yueh--Mr.
Ralph Grierson--Tibetan bear cubs
CHAPTER XXXVI
A BIG GAME PARADISE
Gorals at Hui-yao--Deer--Splendid hunts
CHAPTER XXXVII
SEROW AND SAMBUR
Monkeys at Hui-yao--Muntjacs--A new serow--We move camp to Wa-tien--A fine
sambur
CHAPTER XXXVIII
LAST DAYS IN CHINA
Return to Teng-yueh--Packing the specimens--Results of the Expedition--On
the road to Bhamo--The chair coolies--Burma _vs._ China--In civilization
again--Farewell to the Orient
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Our camp on the Snow Mountain at an altitude of 12,000 feet.
Yvette Borup Andrews with a pet Yuen-nan squirrel
Edmund Heller
Roy Chapman Andrews and a goral
A Chinese hunter and a muntjac
Brigands killed in the Yen-ping Rebellion
The Ling-suik monastery
A priest of Ling-suik
A Chinese mother with her children
Chinese women of the coolie class with bound feet
Cormorant fishers on the lake at Yuen-nan Fu
Our camp at Chou Chou on the way to Ta-li Fu
The Pagodas at Ta-li Fu
The dead of China
The residence of Rev. William J. Hanna at Ta-li-Fu
The gate and main street of Ta-li Fu
One of the pagodas at Ta-li Fu
A Moso herder
A Moso woman
The Snow Mountain
A cheek gun used by one of our hunters
The first goral killed on the Snow Mountain
Hotenfa, one of our Moso hunters, bringing in a goral
Another Moso hunter with a porcupine
A typical goral cliff on the Snow Mountain
A serow killed on the Snow Mountain
The head of a serow
The "white water"
A Liso hunter carrying a flying squirrel
The chief of our Lolo hunters
A Lolo village
Lolos seeing their photographs for the first time
Travelers in the Mekong valley
Two Tibetans
The gorge of the Yangtze River
A quiet curve of the Mekong River
The temple in which we camped at Ta-li Fu
A crested muntjac
The south gate at Yung-chang
A Chinese bride returning to her mother's home at New Year's
A Chinese patriarch
Young China
A Shan village
A Shan woman spinning
A Kachin woman in the market at Meng-ting
One of our Shan hunters with two yellow gibbons
Our camp on the Nam-ting River
The Shan village at Nam-ka
The head of a gibbon killed on the Nam-ting River
A civet
A Shan girl
A Shan boy
A suspension bridge
Mrs. Andrews feeding one of our bear cubs
A sambur killed at Wa-tien
The head of a muntjac
A mountain chair
The waterfall at Teng-Yueh
MAP I. The red line indicates the travels of the Expedition
MAP II. Route of the Expedition in Yuen-nan
CAMPS AND TRAILS IN CHINA
CHAPTER I
THE OBJECT OF THE EXPEDITION
The earliest remains of primitive man probably will be found somewhere in
the vast plateau of Central Asia, north of the Himalaya Mountains. From
this region came the successive invasions that poured into Europe from the
east, to India from the north, and to China from the west; the migration
route to North America led over the Bering Strait and spread fanwise south
and southeast to the farthest extremity of South America. The Central Asian
plateau at the beginning of the Pleistocene was probably less arid than it
is today and there is reason to believe that this general region was not
only the distributing center of man but also of many of the forms of
mammalian life which are now living in other parts of the world. For
instance, our American moose, the wapiti or elk, Rocky Mountain sheep, the
so-called mountain goat, and other animals are probably of Central Asian
origin.
Doubtless there were many contributing causes to the extensive wanderings
of primitive tribes, but as they were primarily hunters, one of the most
important must have been the movements of the game upon which they lived.
Therefore the study of the early human races is, necessarily, closely
connected with, and dependent upon, a knowledge of the Central Asian
mammalian life and its distribution. No systematic palaeontological,
archaeological, or zooelogical study of this region on a large scale has
ever been attempted, and there is no similar area of the inhabited surface
of the earth about which so little is known.
The American Museum of Natural History hopes in the near future to conduct
extensive explorations in this part of the world along general scientific
lines. The country itself and its inhabitants, however, present unusual
obstacles to scientific research. Not only is the region one of vast
intersecting mountain ranges, the greatest of the earth, but the climate is
too cold in winter to permit of continuous work. The people have a natural
dislike for foreigners, and the political events of the last half century
have not tended to decrease their suspicions.
It is possible to overcome such difficulties, but the plans for extensive
research must be carefully prepared. One of the most important steps is the
sending out of preliminary expeditions to gain a general knowledge of the
natives and fauna and of the conditions to be encountered. For the first
reconnoissance, which was intended to be largely a mammalian survey, the
Asiatic Zooelogical Expedition left New York in March, 1916.
Its destination was Yuen-nan, a province in southwestern China. This is one
of the least known parts of the Chinese Republic and, because of its
southern latitude and high mountain systems, the climate and faunal range
is very great. It is about equal in size to the state of California and
topographically might be likened to the ocean in a furious gale, for the
greater part of its surface has been thrown into vast mountain waves which
divide and cross one another in hopeless confusion.
Yuen-nan is bordered on the north by Tibet and S'suchuan, on the west by
Burma, on the south by Tonking, and on the east by Kwei-chau Province.
Faunistically the entire northwestern part of Yuen-nan is essentially
Tibetan, and the plateaus and mountain peaks range from altitudes of 8,000
feet to 20,000 feet above sea level. In the south and west along the
borders of Burma and Tonking, in the low fever-stricken valleys, the
climate is that of the mid-tropics, and the native life, as well as the
fauna and flora, is of a totally different type from that found in the
north.
The natives of Yuen-nan are exceptionally interesting. There are about
thirty non-Chinese tribes in the province, some of whom, such as the Shans
and Lolos, represent the aboriginal inhabitants of China, and it is safe to
say that in no similar area of the world is there such a variety of
language and dialects as in this region.
Although the main work of the Expedition was to be conducted in Yuen-nan, we
decided to spend a short time in Fukien Province, China, and endeavor to
obtain a specimen of the so-called "blue tiger" which has been seen twice
by the Reverend Harry R. Caldwell, a missionary and amateur naturalist, who
has done much hunting in the vicinity of Foochow.
The white members of the first Asiatic Zooelogical Expedition included Mr.
Edmund Heller, my wife (Yvette Borup Andrews) and myself. A Chinese
interpreter, Wu Hung-tao, with five native assistants and ten muleteers,
completed the personnel.
Mr. Heller is a collector of wide experience. His early work, which was
done in the western United States and the Galapagos Islands, was followed
by many years of collecting in Mexico, Alaska, South America, and Africa.
He first visited British East Africa with Mr. Carl E. Akeley, next with
ex-President Theodore Roosevelt, and again with Mr. Paul J. Rainey. During
the Asiatic Zooelogical Expedition Mr. Heller devoted most of his time to
the gathering and preparation of small mammals. He joined our party late in
July in China.
Mrs. Andrews was the photographer of the Expedition. She had studied
photography as an amateur in Germany, France, and Italy, as well as in New
York, and had devoted especial attention to the taking of photographs in
natural colors. Such work requires infinite care and patience, but the
results are well worth the efforts expended.
Wu Hung-tao is a native of Foochow, China, and studied English at the
Anglo-Chinese College in that city. He lived for some time in Teng-yueh,
Yuen-nan, in the employ of Mr. F.W. Carey, Commissioner of Customs, and not
only speaks mandarin Chinese but also several native dialects. He acted as
interpreter, head "boy," and general field manager. My own work was devoted
mainly to the direction of the Expedition and the hunting of big game.
In order to reduce the heavy transportation charges we purchased only such
equipment in New York as could not be obtained in Shanghai or Hongkong.
Messrs. Shoverling, Daly & Gales furnished our guns, ammunition, tents, and
general camp equipment, and gave excellent satisfaction in attention to the
minor details which often assume alarming importance when an expedition is
in the field and defects cannot be remedied. All food and commissary
supplies were purchased in Hongkong (_see_ Chapter IX).
* * * * *
When the announcement of the Expedition was made by the American Museum of
Natural History it received wide publicity in America and other parts of
the world. Immediately we began to discover how many strange persons make
up the great cities of the United States, and we received letters and
telegrams from hundreds of people who wished to take part in the
Expedition. Men and boys were the principal applicants, but there was no
lack of women, many of whom came to the Museum for personal interviews.
Most of the letters were laughable in the extreme. One was from a butcher
who thought he might be of great assistance in preparing our specimens, or
defending us from savage natives; another young man offered himself to my
wife as a personal bodyguard; a third was sure his twenty years' experience
as a waiter would fit him for an important position on the Expedition, and
numerous women, young and old, wished to become "companions" for my wife in
those "drear wastes."
Applicants continued to besiege us wherever we stopped on our way across
the continent and in San Francisco until we embarked on the afternoon of
March 28 on the S.S. _Tenyo Maru_ for Japan.
Our way across the Pacific was uneventful and as the great vessel drew in
toward the wharf in Yokohama she was boarded by the usual crowd of natives.
We were standing at the rail when three Japanese approached and, bowing in
unison, said, "We are report for leading Japanese newspaper. We wish to
know all thing about Chinese animal." Evidently the speech had been
rehearsed, for with it their English ended abruptly, and the interview
proceeded rather lamely, on my part, in Japanese.
Japan was reveling in the cherry blossom season when we arrived and for a
person interested in color photography it was a veritable paradise. We
stayed three weeks and regretfully left for Peking by way of Korea. But
before we continue with the story of our further travels, we would like
briefly to review the political situation in China as a background for our
early work in the province of Fukien.
CHAPTER II
CHINA IN TURMOIL
During the time the Expedition was preparing to leave New York, China was
in turmoil. Yuan Shi-kai was president of the Republic, but the hope of his
heart was to be emperor of China. For twenty years he had plotted for the
throne; he had been emperor for one hundred miserable days; and now he was
watching, impotently, his dream-castles crumble beneath his feet. Yuan was
the strong man of his day, with more power, brains, and personality than
any Chinese since Li-Hung Chang. He always had been a factor in his
political world. His monarchial dream first took definite form as early as
1901 when he became viceroy of Chi-li, the province in which Peking is
situated.
It was then that he began to modernize and get control of the army which is
the great basis of political power in China. Properly speaking, there was
not, and is not now, a Chinese national army. It is rather a collection of
armies, each giving loyalty to a certain general, and he who secures the
support of the various commanders controls the destiny of China's four
hundred millions of people regardless of his official title.
Yuan was able to bind to himself the majority of the leading generals, and
in 1911, when the Manchu dynasty was overthrown, his plots and intrigues
began to bear fruit. By crafty juggling of the rebels and Manchus he
managed to get himself elected president of the new republic, although he
did not for a moment believe in the republican form of government. He was
always a monarchist at heart but was perfectly willing to declare himself
an ardent republican so long as such a declaration could be used as a
stepping stone to the throne which he kept ever as his ultimate goal.
As president he ruled with a high hand. In 1913 there was a rebellion in
protest against his official acts but he defeated the rebels, won over more
of the older generals, and solidified the army for his own interests,
making himself stronger than ever before.
At this time he might well have made a _coup d'etat_ and proclaimed himself
emperor with hardly a shadow of resistance, but with the hereditary caution
of the Chinese he preferred to wait and plot and scheme. He wanted his
position to be even more secure and to have it appear that he reluctantly
accepted the throne as a patriotic duty at the insistent call of the
people.
Yuan's ways for producing the proper public sentiment were typically
Chinese but entirely effective, and he was making splendid progress, when
in May, 1915, Japan put a spoke in his wheel of fortune by taking advantage
of the European war and presenting the historical twenty-one demands, to
most of which China agreed.
This delayed his plans only temporarily, and Yuan's agents pushed the work
of making him emperor more actively than ever, with the result that the
throne was tendered to him by the "unanimous vote of the people." To "save
his face" he declined at first but at the second offer he "reluctantly"
yielded and on December 12, 1915, became emperor of China.
But his triumph was short-lived, for eight days later tidings of unrest in
Yuen-nan reached Peking. General Tsai-ao, a former military governor of the
province, appeared in Yuen-nan Fu, the capital, and, on December 23, sent an
ultimatum to Yuan stating that he must repudiate the monarchy and execute
all those who had assisted him to gain the throne, otherwise Yuen-nan would
secede; which it forthwith did on December 25.
Without doubt this rebellion was financed by the Japanese who had intimated
to Yuan that the change from a republican form of government would not meet
with their approval. The rebellion spread rapidly. On January 21, Kwei-chau
Province, which adjoins Yuen-nan, seceded, and, on March 13, Kwang-si also
announced its independence.
About this time the Museum authorities were becoming somewhat doubtful as
to the advisability of proceeding with our Expedition. We had a long talk
with Dr. Wellington Koo, the Chinese Minister to the United States, at the
Biltmore Hotel in New York. Dr. Koo, while certain that the rebellion would
be short-lived, strongly advised us to postpone our expedition until
conditions became more settled. He offered to cable Peking for advice, but
we, knowing how unwelcome to the government of the harassed Yuan would be a
party of foreigners who wished to travel in the disturbed area, gratefully
declined and determined to proceed regardless of conditions. We hoped that
Yuan would be strong enough to crush this rebellion as he had that of 1913,
but day by day, as we anxiously watched the papers, there came reports of
other provinces dropping away from his standard.
On the _Tenyo Maru_ we met the Honorable Charles Denby, an ex-American
Consul-General at Shanghai and former adviser to Yuan Shi-kai when he was
viceroy of Chi-li. Mr. Denby was interested in obtaining a road concession
near Peking and was then on his way to see Yuan. His anxiety over the
political situation was not less than ours and together we often paced the
decks discussing what might happen; but every wireless report told of more
desertions to the ranks of the rebels.
It seemed to be the beginning of the end, for Yuan had lost his nerve. He
had decided to quit, and one hundred days after he became emperor elect he
issued a mandate canceling the monarchy and restoring the republic. But the
rebellious provinces were not satisfied and demanded that he get out
altogether.
About this time we reached Peking, literally blown in by a tremendous dust
storm which seemed an elemental manifestation of the human turmoil within
the grim old walls. Our cousin, Commander Thomas Hutchins, Naval Attache of
the American Legation, was awaiting us on the platform, holding his hat
with one hand and wiping the dust from his eyes with the other.
The news we received from him was by no means comforting for in the
Legation pessimism reigned supreme. The American Minister, Dr. Reinsch, was
not enthusiastic about our going south regardless of conditions, but
nevertheless he set about helping us to obtain the necessary vise for our
passports.
We wished first to go to Foochow, in Fukien Province, where we were to hunt
tiger until Mr. Heller joined us in July for the expedition into Yuen-nan.
Fukien was still loyal to Yuan, but the strong Japanese influence in this
province, which is directly opposite the island of Formosa, was causing
considerable uneasiness in Peking.
We were armed with telegrams from Mr. C.R. Kellogg, of the Anglo-Chinese
College, with whom we were to stay while in Foochow, assuring us that all
was quiet in the province, and through the influence of Dr. Reinsch, the
Chinese Foreign Office vised our passports. The huge red stamp which was
affixed to them was an amusing example of Chinese "face saving." First came
the seal of Yuan's impotent dynasty of Hung Hsien, signifying "Brilliant
Prosperity," and directly upon it was placed the stamp of the Chinese
Republic. One was almost as legible as the other and thus the Foreign
Office saved its face in whichever direction the shifting cards of
political destiny should fall.
At a luncheon given by Dr. Reinsch at the Embassy in Peking, we met Admiral
von Hintze, the German Minister, who had recently completed an adventurous
trip from Germany to China. He was Minister to Mexico at the beginning of
the war but had returned to Berlin incognito through England to ask the
Kaiser for active sea service. The Emperor was greatly elated over von
Hintze's performance and offered him the appointment of Minister to China
if he could reach Peking in the same way that he had traveled to Berlin.
Von Hintze therefore shipped as supercargo on a Scandinavian tramp steamer
and arrived safely at Shanghai, where he assumed all the pomp of a foreign
diplomat and proceeded to the capital.
The Americans were in a rather difficult position at this time because of
the international complications, and social intercourse was extremely
limited. Dinner guests had to be chosen with the greatest care and one was
very likely to meet exactly the same people wherever one went.
Peking is a place never to be forgotten by one who has shared its social
life. In the midst of one of the most picturesque, most historical, and
most romantic cities of the world there is a cosmopolitan community that
enjoys itself to the utmost. Its talk is all of horses, polo, racing,
shooting, dinners, and dances, with the interesting background of Chinese
politics, in which things are never dull. There is always a rebellion of
some kind to furnish delightful thrills, and one never can tell when a new
political bomb will be projected from the mysterious gates of the Forbidden
City.
We spent a week in Peking and regretfully left by rail for Shanghai. _En
route_ we passed through Tsinan-fu where the previous night serious
fighting had occurred in which Japanese soldiers had joined with the rebels
against Yuan's troops. On every side there was evidence of Japan's efforts
against him. In the foreign quarter of Shanghai just behind the residence
of Mr. Sammons, the American Consul-General, one of Yuan's leading officers
had been openly murdered, and Japanese were directly concerned in the plot.
We were told that it was very difficult at that time to lease houses in the
foreign concession because wealthy Chinese who feared the wrath of one
party or the other were eager to pay almost any rent to obtain the
protection of that quarter of the city.
A short time later it became known to a few that Yuan was seriously ill. He
was suffering from Bright's disease with its consequent weakness, loss of
mental alertness, and lack of concentration. French doctors were called in,
but Yuan's wives insisted upon treating him with concoctions of their own,
and on June 6, shortly after three o'clock in the morning, he died.
Even on his death-bed Yuan endeavored to save his face before the country,
and his last words were a reiteration of what he knew no one believed. The
story of his death is told in the _China Press_ of June 7, 1916:
According to news from the President's palace the condition of Yuan
became critical at three o'clock in the morning. Yuan asked for his old
confidential friend, Hsu Shih-chang, who came immediately. On the
arrival of Hsu, Yuan was extremely weak, but entirely conscious.
With tears in his eyes, Yuan assured his old friend that he had never
had any personal ambition for an emperor's crown; he had been deceived
by his _entourage_ over the true state of public opinion and thus had
sincerely believed the people wished for the restoration of the
monarchy. The desire of the South for his resignation he had not wished
to follow for fear that general anarchy would break out all over China.
Now that he felt death approaching he asked Hsu to make his last words
known to the public.
In the temporary residence of President Li Yuan-hung, situated in the
Yung-chan-hu-tung (East City) and formerly owned by Yang Tu, the
prominent monarchist, the formal transfer of the power to Li-Yuan-hung
took place this morning at ten o'clock. Yuan Chi-jui, Secretary of
State and Premier, as well as all the members of the cabinet, Prince Pu
Lun as chairman of the State Council, and other high officials were
present.
The officials, wearing ceremonial dress, were received by Li-Yuan-hung
in the main hall and made three bows to the new president, which were
returned by the latter. The same ceremony will take place at two
o'clock, when all the high military officials will assemble at the
President's residence.
The Cabinet, in a circular telegram has informed all the provinces that
Vice-President Li-Yuan-hung, in accordance with the constitution, has
become president of the Chinese Republic (Chung-hua-min-kuo) from the
seventh instance.
So ended Yuan Shi-kai's great plot to make himself an emperor over four
hundred millions of people, a plot which could only have been carried out
in China. He failed, and the once valiant warrior died in the humiliation
of defeat, leaving thirty-two wives, forty children and his country in
political chaos.
CHAPTER III
UP THE MIN RIVER
_Y.B.A._
Three days after leaving Shanghai we arrived at Pagoda Anchorage at the
mouth of the Min River, twelve miles from Foochow.
We boarded a launch which threaded its way through a fleet of picturesque
fishing vessels, each one of which had a round black and white eye painted
on its crescent-shaped bow. When asked the reason for this decoration a
Chinese on the launch looked at us rather pityingly for a moment and then
said: "No have eye. No can see." How simple and how entirely satisfactory!
The instant the launch touched the shore dozens of coolies swarmed like
flies over it, fighting madly for our luggage. One seized a trunk, the
other end of which had been appropriated by another man and, in the
argument which ensued, each endeavored to deafen the other by his screams.
The habit of yelling to enforce command is inherent with the Chinese and
appears to be ineradicable. To expostulate in an ordinary tone of voice,
pausing to listen to his opponent's reply, seems a psychological
impossibility.
There had been a mistake about the date of our arrival at Foochow, and we
were two days earlier than we had been expected, so that Mr. C.R. Kellogg,
of the Anglo-Chinese College, with whom we were to stay, was not on the
jetty to meet us. We were at a loss to know where to turn amidst the chaos
and confusion until a customs officer took us in charge and, judiciously
selecting a competent looking woman from among the screaming multitude,
told her to get two sedan chairs and coolies to carry our luggage. She
disappeared and ten minutes later the chairs arrived. Dashing about among
the crowd in front of us, she chose the baggage for such men as met with
her approval and after the usual amount of argument the loads were taken.
We mounted our chairs and started off with apparently all Foochow following
us. As far as we could see down the narrow street were the heads and
shoulders of our porters. We felt as if we were heading an invading army
as, with our thirty-three coolies and sixteen hundred pounds of luggage, we
descended upon the homes of people whom we did not know and who were not
expecting us. But our sudden arrival did not disturb the Kelloggs and our
welcome was typical of the warm hospitality one always finds in the Far
East.
No matter how long one has lived in China one remains in a condition of
mental suspense unable to decide which is the filthiest city of the
Republic. The residents of Foochow boast that for offensiveness to the
senses no town can compare with theirs, and although Amoy and several other
places dispute this questionable title, we were inclined to grant it
unreservedly to Foochow. It is like a medieval city with its narrow,
ill-paved streets wandering aimlessly in a hopeless maze. They are usually
roofed over so that by no accident can a ray of purifying sun penetrate
their dark corners. With no ventilation whatsoever the oppressive air reeks
with the odors that rise from the streets and the steaming houses.
In Foochow, as in other cities of China, the narrow alleys are literally
choked with every form of industrial obstruction. Countless workmen plant
themselves in the tiny passageways with the pigs, children, and dogs, and
women bring their quilts to spread upon the stones. There is a common
saying that the Chinese do little which is not at some time done on the
street.
The foreign residents, including consuls of all nationalities,
missionaries, and merchants, live well out of the city on a hilltop. Their
houses are built with very high ceilings and bare interiors, and as the
occupants seldom go into the city except in a sedan chair and have
"punkahs" waving day and night, life is made possible during the intense
heat of summer.
A telegram was awaiting us from the Reverend Harry Caldwell, with whom we
were to hunt, asking us to come to his station two hundred miles up the
river, and we passed two sweltering days repacking our outfit while Mr.
Kellogg scoured the country for an English-speaking cook.
One middle-aged gentleman presented himself, but when he learned that we
were going "up country," he shook his head with an assumption of great
filial devotion and said that he did not think his mother would let him go.
Another was afraid the sun might be too hot. Finally on the eve of our
departure we engaged a stuttering Chinese who assured us that he was a
remarkable cook and exceptionally honest.
If you have never heard a Chinaman stutter you have something to live for,
and although we discovered that our cook was a shameless rascal he was
worth all he extracted in "squeeze," for whenever he attempted to utter a
word we became almost hysterical. He sounded exactly like a worn-out
phonograph record buzzing on a single note, and when he finally did manage
to articulate, his "pidgin" English in itself was screamingly funny.
One day he came to the _sampan_ proudly displaying a piece of beef and,
after a series of vocal gymnastics, eventually succeeded in shouting:
"Missie, this meat no belong die-cow. Die-cow not so handsome." Which meant
that this particular piece of beef was not from an animal which had died
from disease.
The first stage of our trip began before daylight. We rode in four-man
sedan chairs, followed by a long procession of heavily laden coolies with
our cameras, duffle-sacks, and pack baskets. The road lay through green
rice fields between terraced mountains, and we jogged along first on the
crest of a hill, then in the valley, passing dilapidated temples with the
paint flaking off and picturesque little huts half hidden in the reeds of
the winding river. It was a relief to get into the country again after
passing down the narrow village streets and to breathe fresh air perfumed
with honeysuckle.
A passenger launch makes the trip to Cui-kau at the beginning of the
rapids, but it leaves at two o'clock in the morning and is literally
crowded to overflowing with evil-smelling Chinese who sprawl over every
available inch of deck space, so that even the missionaries strongly
advised us against taking it. The passengers not infrequently are pushed
off into the water. One of the missionaries witnessed an incident which
illustrates in a typical way the total lack of sympathy of the average
Chinese.
A coolie on the Cui-kau launch accidentally fell overboard, and although a
friend was able to grasp his hand and hold him above the surface, no one
offered to help him; the launch continued at full speed, and finally
weakening, the poor man loosed his hold and sank. This is by no means an
isolated case. Some years ago a foreign steamer was burned on the Yangtze
River, and the crowds of watching Chinese did little or nothing to rescue
the passengers and crew. Indeed, as fast as they made their way to shore
many of them were robbed even of their clothing and some were murdered
outright.
Our first day on the Min River was the most luxurious of the entire
Expedition, for we were fortunate in obtaining the Standard Oil Company's
launch through the kindness of Mr. Livingston, their agent. It was large
and roomy, and the trip, which would have been worse than disagreeable on
the public boat, was most delightful. The Min is one of the most beautiful
rivers of all China with its velvet green mountains rising a thousand feet
or more straight up from the water and often terraced to the summits.
Perched on the bow of our boat was a wizened little gentleman with a
pigtail wrapped around his head, who said he was a pilot, but as he
inquired the channel of everyone who passed and ran us aground a dozen
times or more to the tremendous agitation of our captain, we felt that his
claim was not entirely justified.
The river life was a fascinating, ever-changing picture. One moment we
would pass a _sampan_ so loaded with branches that it seemed like a small
island floating down the stream. Next a huge junk with bamboo-ribbed sails
projecting at impossible angles drifted by, followed by innumerable smaller
crafts, the monotonous chant of the boatmen coming faintly over the water
to us as they passed.
When evening came we had reached Cui-kau. The _sampans_ in which we were to
spend eight days were drawn up on the beach with twenty or thirty others.
Right above us was the straggling town looking very much like the rear view
of tenement houses at home. Darkness blotted out the filth of our
surroundings but could do nothing to lessen the odors that poured down from
the village, and we ate our dinner with little relish.
Our beds were spread in the _sampans_ which we shared in common with the
four river men who formed the crew. There was only a mosquito net to screen
the end of the boat, but all our surroundings were so strange that this was
but a minor detail. As we lay in our cots we could look up at the stars
framed in the half oval of the _sampan's_ roof and listen to the sounds of
the water life grow fainter and fainter as one by one the river men beached
their boats for the night. It seemed only a few minutes later when we were
roused by a rush of water, but it was daylight, and the boats had reached
the first of the rapids which separated us from Yen-ping, one hundred and
twenty miles away.
In the late afternoon we arrived at Chang-hu-fan where Mr. Caldwell stood
on the shore waving his hat to us amidst scores of dirty little children
and the explosion of countless firecrackers. Wherever we went crackers
preceded and followed us--for when a Chinese wishes to register extreme
emotion, either of joy or sorrow, its expression always takes the form of
firecrackers.
There had been a good deal of persecution of the native Christians in the
district, and only recently a band of soldiers had strung up the native
pastor by the thumbs and beaten him senseless. He was our host that night
and seemed to be a bright, vivacious, little man but quite deaf as a result
of his cruel treatment. He never recovered and died a few weeks later. Mr.
Caldwell had come to investigate the affair, for the missionaries are
invested by the people themselves with a good deal of authority.
We spent that night in the parish house just behind the little church, a
bare schoolroom being turned over to us for our use, and it seemed very
luxurious after we had set up our cots, tables, chairs, and bath tub; but
the house was in the center of the town and the high walls shut out every
breath of pure air. The barred windows opened on a street hardly six feet
wide, and while we were preparing for bed there was a buzz of subdued
whispers outside. We switched on a powerful electric flashlight and there
stood at least forty men, women and children gazing at us with rapt
attention, but they melted away before the blinding glare like snow in a
June sun.
That night was not a pleasant one. The heat was intense, the mosquitoes
worse, and every dog and cat in the village seemed to choose our court yard
as a dueling ground in which to settle old scores. The climax was reached
at four o'clock in the morning, when directly under our windows there came
a series of ear-splitting squeals followed by a horrible gurgle. The
neighbors had chosen that particular spot and hour to kill the family pig,
and the entire process which followed of sousing it in hot water and
scraping off the hair was accompanied by unceasing chatter. Boiling with
rage we dressed and went for a walk, vowing not to spend another night in
the place but to sleep in the _sampans_.
On the whole our river men were nice fellows but they had the love of
companionship characteristic of all Chinese and the inherent desire to
huddle together as closely as possible wherever they were. On the way up
the river to Yuchi every evening they insisted on stopping at some
foul-smelling village, and it was difficult to induce them to spend the
night away from a town. Moreover, at our stops for luncheon they would
invariably ignore a shady spot and choose a sand bank where the sun beat
down like a blast furnace.
The Chinese never appear to be affected by the sun and go bareheaded at all
seasons of the year, shading their eyes with one hand or a partly opened
fan. A fan is the prime requisite, and it is not uncommon to see coolies
almost devoid of clothing, dragging a heavy load and with the perspiration
streaming from their naked bodies, energetically fanning themselves
meanwhile.
Mr. Caldwell was _en route_ to Yuchi, one of his mission stations far up a
branch of the Min River, and as there was a vague report of tiger in that
vicinity we joined him instead of proceeding directly to Yen-ping. The
tiger story was found to be merely a myth, but our trip was made
interesting by meeting Miss Mabel Hartford, the only foreign resident of
the place. She has lived in Yuchi for two years and at one time did not see
a white person for eight months with the exception of Mr. Caldwell who was
in the vicinity for three days. It requires four weeks to obtain supplies
from Foochow, there is no telegraph, and mails are very irregular, but she
enjoys the isolation and is passionately fond of her work.
She has had an interesting life and one not devoid of danger. In 1895 she
was wounded and barely escaped death in the Hwa Shan (Flower Mountain)
massacre in which ten women and one man were brutally murdered by a mob of
fanatic natives known as "Vegetarians." The Chinese Government was required
to pay a considerable indemnity to Miss Hartford, which she accepted only
under protest and characteristically devoted to missionary work in Kucheng
where the massacre occurred.
Conditions at Yuchi when we arrived were most unsettled and for some months
there had been a veritable "reign of terror." A large band of brigands was
established in the hills not far from the city, and we were warned by the
mandarin not to attempt to go farther up the river. A few months earlier
several companies of soldiers had been sent from Foochow, and the result of
turning loose these ruffians upon the town was to make "the remedy worse
than the disease."
The soldiers were continually arresting innocent peasants, accusing them of
being brigands or aiding the bandits, and shooting them without a hearing.
At one time accurate information concerning the camp of the robbers was
received and the soldiers set bravely off, but when within a short distance
of the brigands the commanders began to quarrel among themselves, guns were
fired, and the bandits escaped. A Chinaman must always "save his face,"
however, and when they returned to Yuchi they arrested dozens of people on
mere suspicion and executed them without the vestige of a trial. Finally
conditions became so intolerable that no one was safe, and after repeated
complaints by the missionaries, a new mandarin of a somewhat better type
was sent to Yuchi.
As it was impossible to do any collecting farther up the river because of
the bandits, we left for Yen-ping two days after arriving at Yuchi.
Yen-ping is a wonderfully picturesque old city, situated on a hill at a
fork of the river and surrounded by high stone walls pierced and
loopholed for rifle fire. Such walls, while of little use against
artillery, nevertheless offer a formidable obstacle to anything less than
field guns as we ourselves were destined to discover.
The Methodist mission compound encloses a considerable area on the very
summit of the hill, backed by the city wall, and besides the four dwelling
houses, comprises two large schools for boys and girls. Mr. Caldwell's
residence commands a wonderful view down the river and in the late
afternoon sunlight when the hills are bathed in pink and lavender and
purple a more beautiful spot can hardly be imagined.
But the delights of Yen-ping are somewhat tempered by the abominable
weather. In summer the heat is almost unbearable and the air is so nearly
saturated from continual rain that it is impossible to dry anything except
over a fire. From all reports winter must be almost as bad in the opposite
extreme for the cold is damp and penetrating; but the early fall is said to
be delightful.
The larger part of Fukien, like many other provinces in China, has been
denuded of forests, and the groves of pine which remain have all been
planted. This deforestation consequently has driven out the game, and
except for tigers, leopards, wolves, wild pigs, serows and gorals, none of
the large species is left. However, the dense growth of sword grass and the
thorny bushes which clothe the hills and choke the ravines give cover to
muntjac, or barking deer, and many species of small cats, civets, and other
Viverines. These animals come to the rice paddys, which fill every valley,
to hunt for frogs and fish, but it is difficult to catch them because of
the Chinese who are continually at work in the fields.
We spent a week trapping about Yen-ping and although we caught a good many
animals they were almost always stolen together with the traps. We had this
same difficulty in Yuen-nan as well as in Fukien. None of us had ever seen
natives in any part of the world who were such unmitigated thieves as the
Chinese of these two provinces. The small mammals are hardly more abundant
than the larger ones for the natives wage an unceasing war on those about
the rice paddys and have exterminated nearly all but a few widely
distributed forms.
CHAPTER IV
A BAT CAVE IN THE BIG RAVINE
A few days after our arrival in Yen-ping we went with Mr. Caldwell and his
son Oliver to a Taoist temple seven miles away in a lonely ravine known as
Chi-yuen-kang. The walk to the temple in the early morning was delightful.
The "bamboo chickens" and francolins were calling all about us and on the
way we shot enough for our first day's dinner. Both these birds are
abundant in Fukien Province but it is by no means easy to kill them for
they live in such thick cover that they can only be flushed with
difficulty.
Early in the morning we frequently heard the francolins crowing in the
trees or on the top of a hill and when a cock had taken possession of such
a spot the intrusion of another was almost sure to cause trouble which only
ended when one of them had been driven off.
For two miles and a half the Big Ravine is a narrow cut between
perpendicular rock walls thickly clothed to their very summits with bamboo
and a tangle of thorny vines. In the bottom of the gorge a mountain torrent
foams among huge bowlders but becomes a gentle, slow moving stream when it
leaves the cool darkness of the canon to spread itself over the terraced
rice fields.
About a mile from the entrance two old temples nestle into the hillside.
One stands just over the water, but the other clings to the rock wall three
hundred feet above the river, and it was there that we made our camp.
The old priest in charge did not appear especially delighted to see us
until I slipped a Mexican dollar into his hand--then it was laughable to
see his change of face. The far end of the balcony was given up to us while
Mr. Caldwell and Oliver put up their beds at the feet of a grinning idol in
the main temple.
We had come to Chi-yuen-kang to hunt serow (_see_ Chapter XVII) and had
brought with us only a few traps for small mammals. Harry had seen several
serow exhibited for sale on market days in towns along the river, and all
were reported to have been killed near this ravine. There was a village of
considerable size at the upper end and here we collected a motley lot of
beaters with half a dozen dogs to drive the top of a mountain which towered
about two thousand five hundred feet above the river.
Never will we forget that climb! We tried to start at daylight but it was
well toward six o'clock before we got our men together. A Chinaman would
drive an impatient man to apoplexy and an early grave for it is well-nigh
impossible to get him started within an hour of the appointed time, and
with a half dozen the difficulty is multiplied as many times. Just when you
think all is ready and that there can be no possible reason for delaying
longer, the whole crowd will disappear suddenly and you discover that they
have gone for "chow." Then you know that the end is really in sight, for
chow usually is the last thing.
We waited nearly two hours on this particular morning before we started on
the long climb to the top of the mountain. The sun was simply blazing, and
in fifteen minutes we were soaked with perspiration. When we were half way
up the dogs disappeared in a small ravine overgrown with bamboo and sword
grass and suddenly broke into a chorus of yelps. They had found a fresh
trail and were driving our way.
Harry ran to a narrow opening in the jungle, shouting to us to watch
another higher up. We were hardly in position when his rifle banged,
followed by such a bedlam of yells and barks that we thought he must have
killed nothing less than one of the hunters. Before we reached them Harry
appeared, smiling all over, and dragging a muntjac (_Muntiacus_) by the
fore legs. He had just made a beautiful shot, for the clearing he had been
watching was not more than ten feet wide and the muntjac flashed across it
at full speed. Caldwell fired while it was in mid-air and his bullet caught
the animal at the base of the neck, rolling it over stone dead.
This beautiful little deer in Fukien is hardly larger than a fox. Its
antlers are only two or three inches in length and rise from an elongated
skin-covered pedicel instead of from the base of the skull as in all other
members of the deer family. On each side of the upper jaw is a slender
tusk, about two inches long, which projects well beyond the lips and makes
a rather formidable weapon.
We hoped that this muntjac was going to prove a "good joss," but instead a
disappointing day was in store for us. When we had worked our way to the
very summit of the mountain under a merciless sun and over a trail which
led through a smothering bamboo jungle, we saw dozens of fresh serow
tracks. The animals were there without a doubt and we were on the _qui
vive_ with excitement.
We selected positions and the men made a long circuit to drive toward us as
Caldwell had directed. After half an hour had passed we heard them yelling
as they closed in, but what was our disgust to see them solemnly parading
in single file up the bottom of the valley on an open trail and carefully
avoiding all thickets where a serow could possibly be. As Harry expressed
it, "all the animals had to do was to sit tight and watch the noble
procession pass." The beaters very evidently knew nothing whatever about
driving nor were we able to teach them, for they seriously objected to
leaving the open trails and going into the bush.
We worked hard for serow but the men were hopeless and it was impossible to
"still hunt" the animals at that time of the year. The natives say that in
September when the mushrooms are abundant in the lower forests the serow
leave the mountain tops and thick cover to feed upon the fungus, and that
they may be killed without the aid of beaters, but at any time the hunt
would involve a vast amount of labor with only a moderate chance of
success. After we had left Fukien, Mr. Caldwell purchased a fine male and
female serow for us which are especially interesting as they represent a
different subspecies (_Capricornis sumatrensis argyrochcaetes_) from those
we killed in Yuen-nan.
Chi-yuen-kang did yield us results, however, for we discovered a wonderful
bat cave less than a mile from our temple. Its entrance was a low round
hole half covered with vegetation, and opening into a high circular
gallery; from this three long corridors branched off like fingers from the
palm of a giant's hand. The cave was literally alive with bats. There must
have been ten thousand and on the first day we killed a hundred,
representing seven species and at least four genera. This was especially
remarkable as it is unusual to find more than two or three species living
together.
The cave was a regular bat apartment house for each corridor was divided by
rock partitions into several small rooms in every one of which bats of
different species were rearing their families. The young in most instances
were only a few days old but were thickly clustered on the walls and
ceilings, and each and every one was squeaking at the top of its tiny
lungs. The place must have been occupied for scores, if not hundreds, of
years for the floor was knee-deep with dung.
When we returned the day after our first visit we found that many of the
young bats had been removed by their parents and in some instances entire
rooms had been vacated. After the first day the odor of the cave was so
nauseating that to enable us to go inside it was necessary to wear gauze
pads of iodoform over our noses.
The bats at this place were killed with bamboo switches but later we always
used a long gill net which had been especially made in New York. We could
hang the net over the entrance to a cave and, when all was ready, send a
native into the galleries to stir up the animals. As they flew out they
became entangled in the net and could be caught or killed before they were
able to get away. It was sometimes possible to catch every specimen in a
cavern, and moreover, to secure them in perfect condition without broken
skulls or wings.
If a bat escaped from the net it would never again strike it, for the
animals are wonderfully accurate in flight and most expert dodgers. Even
while in a cave, where hundreds of bats were in the air, they seldom flew
against us, although we might often be brushed by their wings; and it was a
most difficult thing to hit them with a bamboo switch. Their ability in
dodging is without doubt a necessary development of their feeding habits
for, with the exception of a few species, bats live exclusively upon
insects and catch them in the air.
It is a rather terrifying experience for a girl to sit in a bat cave
especially if the light has gone out and she is in utter darkness. Of
course she has a cap tightly pulled over her ears, for what girl, even if
she be a naturalist's wife, would venture into a den of evil bats with one
wisp of hair exposed!
All about is the swish of ghostly wings which brush her face or neck and
the air is full of chattering noises like the grinding of hundreds of tiny
teeth. Sometimes a soft little body plumps into her lap and if she dares to
take her hands from her face long enough to disengage the clinging animal
she is liable to receive a vicious bite from teeth as sharp as needles.
But, withal, it is good fun, and think how quickly formalin jars or
collecting trays can be filled with beautiful specimens!
CHAPTER V
THE YEN-PING REBELLION
On Sunday, June 18, we went to the bat cave to obtain a new supply of
specimens. Upon our return, just as we were about to sit down to luncheon,
four excited Chinese appeared with the following letter from Mr. Caldwell:
DEAR ROY:
There was quite a lively time in the city at an early hour this
morning. The rebels have taken Yen-ping and it looks as though there
was trouble ahead. Northern soldiers have been sent for and the chances
are that either tonight or tomorrow morning there will be quite a
battle. Bankhardt, Dr. Trimble and myself have just made a round of the
city, visiting the telegraph office, post office and other places, and
while we do not believe that the foreigners will be molested,
nevertheless it is impossible to tell just what to expect. It is
certain, however, that the Consul will order all of us to Foochow if
news of the situation reaches there. Owing to the uncertainty, I think
you had better come in to Yen-ping so as to be ready for any
eventuality.
After talking the situation over with Dr. Trimble and Mr. Bankhardt, we
all agreed that the wisest thing is for you to come in immediately. I
am sending four burden-bearers for it will be out of the question to
find any tomorrow, if trouble occurs tonight. The city gates are closed
so you will have to climb up the ladder over the wall behind our
compound. Best wishes.
HARRY.
P.S.--Later: It is again reported that Northern soldiers are to arrive
tonight. If they do and trouble occurs your only chance is to get to
Yen-ping today.
H.C.
The camp immediately was thrown into confusion for Da-Ming, the cook, and
the burden-bearers were jabbering excitedly at the top of their voices.
The servants began to pack the loads at once and meanwhile we ate a roast
chicken faster than good table manners would permit--in fact, we took it in
our fingers. We were both delighted at the prospect of some excitement and
talked almost as fast as the Chinese.
In just one hour from the time Harry's letter had been received, we were
on the way to Yen-ping. It was the hottest part of the day, and we were
dripping with perspiration when we left the cool darkness of the ravine and
struck across the open valley, which lay shimmering in a furnace-like heat.
At the first rest house on the top of the long hill we waited nearly an
hour for our bearers who were struggling under the heavy loads.
Three miles farther on a poor woman tottered past us on her peglike feet
leaning on the arm of a man. A short distance more and we came to the
second rest house. We had been there but a few moments when three panting
women, steadying themselves with long staves and barely able to walk on
feet not more than four inches long, came up the hill. With them were
several men bearing household goods in large bundles and huge red boxes.
The exhausted women sank upon the benches and fanned themselves while the
perspiration ran down their flushed faces. They looked so utterly miserable
that we told the cook to give them a piece of cake which Mrs. Caldwell had
sent us the day before. Their gratitude was pitiful, but, of course, they
gave the larger share to the men.
It was not long before other women and children appeared on the hill path,
all struggling upward under heavy loads, or tottering along on tightly
bound feet. Probably these women had not walked so far in their entire
lives, but the fear of the Northern soldiers and what would happen in the
city if they took possession had driven them from their homes.
Farther on we had a clear view across the valley where a long line of
people was filing up to a temple which nestled into the hillside. Half a
mile beyond were two other temples both crowded with refugees and their
goods. Hundreds of families were seeking shelter in every little house
beside the road and were overflowing into the cowsheds and pigpens.
At six o'clock we stood on the summit of the hill overlooking the city and
half an hour later were clambering up the ladder over the high wall of the
compound, just behind Dr. Trimble's house. We were wet through and while
cooling off heard the story of the morning's fighting. It seemed that a
certain element in the city was in cooeperation with the representatives of
the revolutionary organization. These men wished to obtain possession of
Yen-ping and, after the rebellion was well started, to gather forces, march
to Foochow, and force the Governor to declare the independence of the
province.
The plot had been hatching for several days, but the death of Yuan Shi-kai
had somewhat delayed its fruition. Saturday, however, it was known
throughout the city that trouble would soon begin. Sunday morning at half
past three, a band of one hundred men from Yuchi had marched to Yen-ping
where they were received by a delegation of rebels dressed in white who
opened to them the east gate of the city. Immediately they began to fire
up the streets to intimidate the people and in a short time were in a hot
engagement with the seventeen Northern soldiers, some of whom threw away
their guns and swam across the river. The remaining city troops were from
the province of Hunan and their sympathies were really with the South in
the great rebellion. These immediately joined the rebels, where they were
received with open arms. It was reported that the _tao-tai_ (district
mandarin) had asked for troops from Foochow and that these might be
expected at any moment; thus when they arrived a real battle could be
expected and it was very likely that the city would be partly destroyed.
We had a picnic supper on the Caldwell's porch and discussed the situation.
It was the opinion of all that the foreigners were in no immediate danger,
but nevertheless it was considered wise to be prepared, and we decided upon
posts for each man if it should become necessary to protect the compound.
Hundreds of people were besieging the missionaries with requests to be
allowed to bring their goods and families inside the walls, but these
necessarily had to be refused. Had the missionaries allowed the Chinese to
bring their valuables inside it would have cost them the right of Consular
protection and, moreover, their compound would have been the first to be
attacked if looting began.
On Monday morning while we were sitting on the porch of Mr. Caldwell's
house preparing some bird skins, there came a sharp crackle of rifle fire
and then a roar of shots. Bullets began to whistle over us and we could see
puffs of smoke as the deep bang of a black powder gun punctuated the
vicious snapping of the high-power rifles. The firing gradually ceased
after half an hour and we decided to go down to the city to see what had
happened, for, as no Northern troops had appeared, the cause of the
fighting was a mystery.
We went first to the mission hospital which lay across a deep ravine and
only a few yards from the quarters of the soldiers. At the door of the
hospital compound lay a bloody rag, and we found Dr. Trimble in the
operating room examining a wounded man who had just been brought in. The
fellow had been shot in the abdomen with a 45-caliber lead ball that had
gone entirely through him, emerging about three inches to the right of his
spine.
From the doctor we got the first real news of the puzzling situation. It
appeared that all the men who had arrived Sunday morning from Yuchi to join
the Yen-ping rebels were in reality brigands and, to save their own lives,
the Hunan soldiers quartered in the city had played a clever trick. They
had pretended to join the rebels but at a given signal had turned upon
them, killing or capturing almost every one. Although their sympathies were
really with the South, the Hunan men knew that the rebels in Yen-ping could
not hold the city against the Northern soldiers from Foochow and, by
crushing the rebellion themselves, they hoped to avert a bigger fight.
As we could not help the doctor he suggested that we might be of some
assistance to the wounded in the city, and with rude crosses of red cloth
pinned to our white shirt sleeves we left the hospital, accompanied by four
Chinese attendants bearing a stretcher. In the compound we met a chair in
which was lying an old man groaning loudly and dripping with blood. Beside
him were his wife and several boys. The poor woman was crying quietly and,
between her sobs, was offering the wounded man mustard pickles from a small
dish in her hand! Poor things, they have so little to eat that they believe
food will cure all ills!
The bearers set the chair down as we appeared and lifted the filthy rag
which covered a gaping wound in the man's shoulder, over which had been
plastered a great mass of cow dung. Just think of the infection, but it was
the only remedy they knew!
We took the man upstairs where Dr. Trimble was preparing to operate on the
fellow who had been shot in the abdomen. The doctor was working steadily
and quietly, making every move count and inspiring his native hospital
staff with his own coolness; the way this young missionary handled his
cases made us glad that he was an American.
On the way down the hill several soldiers passed us, each carrying four or
five rifles and slung about with cartridge belts--plunder stripped from the
men who had been killed. A few hundred yards farther on we found two
brigands lying dead in a narrow street. The nearest one had fallen on his
face and, as we turned him over, we saw that half his head had been blown
away; the other was staring upward with wide open eyes on which the flies
already were settling in swarms.
There was little use in wasting time over these men who long ago had passed
beyond need of our help, and we went on rapidly down the alley to the main
thoroughfare. Guided by a small boy, we hurried over the rough stones for
fifteen minutes, and suddenly came to a man lying at the side of the
street, his head propped on a wooden block. An umbrella once had partly
covered him but had fallen away, leaving him unprotected in the broiling
sun. His face and a terrible wound in his head were a solid mass of flies,
and thousands of insects were crawling over the blood clots on the stones
beside him. At first we thought he was dead but soon saw his abdomen move
and realized that he was breathing. It did not seem possible that a human
being could live under such conditions; and yet the bystanders told us that
he had been lying there for thirty hours--he had been shot early the
previous morning and it was now three o'clock of the next afternoon.
The man was a poor water-carrier who lived with his wife in the most utter
poverty. He had been peering over the city wall when the firing began
Sunday morning and was one of the first innocent bystanders to pay the
penalty of his curiosity. I asked why he had not been taken to the
hospital, and the answer was that his wife was too poor to hire anyone to
carry him and he had no friends. So there he lay in the burning sun, gazed
at by hundreds of passers-by, without one hand being lifted to help him.
Our hospital attendants brushed away the flies, placed him in the stretcher
and started up the long hill, followed by the haggard, weeping wife and a
curious crowd. On every hand were questions: "Why are these men taking him
away?" "What are they going to do with him?" But several educated natives
who understood said, "_Ing-ai-gidaiie_" (A work of love). They got right
there a lesson in Christianity which they will not soon forget. It is
seldom that Chinese try to help an injured man, for ever present in their
minds is the possibility that he may die and that they will be responsible
for his burial expenses.
We left the stretcher bearers at the corner of the main street with orders
to return as soon as they had deposited the man in the hospital and, under
the guidance of a boy, hurried toward the east gate where it was said seven
or eight men had been shot. Our guide took us first to a brigand who had
been wounded and left to die beside the gutter. The corpse was a horrible
sight and with a feeling of deathly nausea we made a hurried examination
and walked to the gate at the end of the street.
A dozen soldiers were on guard. We learned from the officer that there were
no wounded in the pile of dead just beyond the entrance, so we turned
toward the river bank and rapidly patrolled the alleys leading to the
_tao-tai's yamen_ (official residence) where the firing had been heaviest.
The _yamen_ was crowded with soldiers, and we were informed that the dead
had all been removed and that there were no wounded--a grim statement which
told its own story.
The _yamen_ is but a short distance from the hospital so we climbed the
hill to the compound. The sun was simply blazing and I realized then what
the wounded men must have suffered lying in the heat without shelter. We
returned to the house and were resting on the upper porch when suddenly,
far down the river, we saw the glint of rifle barrels in the sunlight, and
with field glasses made out a long line of khaki-clad men winding along the
shore trail. At the same time two huge boats filled with soldiers came into
view heading for the water gate of the city. These were undoubtedly the
Northern troops from Foochow who were expected Monday night.
Even as we looked there came a sudden roar of musketry and a cloud of smoke
drifted up from the barracks right below us--then a rattling fusillade of
shots. We could see soldiers running along the walls firing at men below
and often in our direction. Bullets hummed in the air like angry bees and
we rushed for cover, but in a few moments the firing ceased as suddenly as
it began.
We were at a loss to know what it all meant and why the troops were firing
upon the Northern soldiers whom they wished to placate. It was still a
mystery when we sat down to dinner at half past seven, but a few minutes
later Mr. Bankhardt rushed in saying that he had just received a note from
the _tao-tai_. The mandarin's personal servant had brought word that the
Northern soldiers, who had just entered the city, were going to kill him
and he begged the missionaries for assistance. Bankhardt also told us of
the latest developments in the situation. It seems that the city soldiers
supposed the Northern troops to be brigands and had fired upon them and
killed several before they discovered their mistake. A very delicate
situation had thus been precipitated, for the Northern commander believed
that it was treachery and intended to attack the barracks in the morning
and kill every man whom he found with a rifle, as well as all the city
officials.
The story of the way in which the missionaries acted as peacemakers, saved
the _tao-tai_, and prevented the slaughter which surely would have taken
place in the morning, is too long to be told here, for it was accomplished
only after hours of the talk and "face saving" so dear to the heart of the
Oriental. Suffice it to say that through the exercise of great tact and a
thorough understanding of the Chinese character they were able to settle
the matter without bloodshed.
The following day twenty brigands were given a so-called trial, marched off
to the west gate, beheaded amid great enthusiasm, and the incident was
closed. In the afternoon a messenger called and delivered to each of us an
official letter from the commander of the Northern troops thanking us for
the part we had played in averting trouble and bringing the matter to a
peaceful end.
An interesting sidelight on the affair was received a few days later. A
young man, a Christian, who was born in the same town from which a number
of the brigands had come, went to his house on Monday night after the fight
and found seven of the robbers concealed in his bedroom. He was terrified
because if they were discovered he and all his family would be killed for
aiding the bandits. He told them they must leave at once, but they pleaded
with him to let them stay for they knew there were soldiers at every corner
and that it would be impossible to get away.
While he was imploring them to go, a knock sounded at the door. He pushed
the brigands into the courtyard, and opened to three soldiers. They said:
"We understand you have brigands in your house." He was trembling with
fear, but answered, "Come in and see for yourself, if you think so."
The soldiers were satisfied by his frank open manner and, as they knew him
to be a good man, did not search the house, but went away. The poor fellow
was frightened nearly to death, but as his place was being watched it was
impossible for the brigands to leave during the day.
At night they stripped themselves, shaved their heads, and dressed like
coolies, and were able to get to the ladder down the city wall just below
the mission compound where they could escape into the hills.
The day after this occurrence, about four o'clock in the afternoon, a
breathless Chinese appeared at the house with a note to Mr. Bankhardt
saying that his Chinese teacher and the mission school cook had been
arrested by the Northern soldiers and were to be beheaded in an hour. We
hurried to the police office where they were confined and found that not
only the two men but three others were in custody.
The mission cook owned a small restaurant under the management of one of
his relatives and, while Bankhardt's teacher and the other man were sitting
at a table, some Northern soldiers appeared, one of whom owed the
restaurant keeper a small amount of money. When asked to pay, the soldier
turned upon him and shouted: "You have been assisting the brigands. I saw
some of them carrying goods into your house." Thereupon the soldiers
arrested everyone in the shop.
The police officials were quite ready to release the teacher and the other
man upon our statements, but they would not allow the cook to go. His hands
were kept tightly bound and he was chained to a post by the neck. The
soldier who arrested him was his sole accuser, but of course, others would
appear to uphold him in his charge if it were necessary.
The cook was as innocent as any one of the missionaries, but it required
several hours of work and threats of complaint to the government at Foochow
to prevent the man from being summarily executed.
We were not able to get any mail from Foochow during the rebellion because
the constant stream of Northern soldiers on their way up the river had
paralyzed the entire country to such an extent that all the river men had
fled.
The soldiers were firing for target practice upon every boat they saw on
the river and dozens of men had been killed and then robbed. The Northern
commander told us frankly that this could not be prevented, and when we
announced that we were going to start will all the missionaries down the
river on the following day, he was very much disturbed. He insisted that we
have American flags displayed on our boats to prevent being fired upon by
the soldiers.
Although it had taken eight days to work our way laboriously through the
rapids and up the river from Foochow to Yen-Ping, we covered the same
distance down the river in twenty-four hours and had breakfast with Mr.
Kellogg at his house the morning after we left Yen-Ping. In two days our
equipment was repacked and ready for the trip to Futsing to hunt the blue
tiger.
CHAPTER VI
HUNTING THE "GREAT INVISIBLE"
For many years before Mr. Caldwell went to Yen-ping he had been stationed
at the city of Futsing, about thirty miles from Foochow. Much of his work
consisted of itinerant trips during which he visited the various mission
stations under his charge. He almost invariably went on foot from place to
place and carried with him a butterfly net and a rifle, so that to so keen
a naturalist each day's walk was full of interest.
The country was infested with man-eating tigers, and very often the
villagers implored him to rid their neighborhood of some one of the yellow
raiders which had been killing their children, pigs, or cattle. During ten
years he had killed seven tigers in the Futsing region. He often said that
his gun had been just as effective in carrying Christianity to the natives
as had his evangelistic work. Although Mr. Caldwell has been especially
fortunate and has killed his tigers without ever really hunting them,
nevertheless it is a most uncertain sport as we were destined to learn. The
tiger is the "Great Invisible"--he is everywhere and nowhere, here today
and gone tomorrow. A sportsman in China may get his shot the first day out
or he may hunt for weeks without ever seeing a tiger even though they are
all about him; and it is this very uncertainty that makes the game all the
more fascinating.
The part of Fukien Province about Futsing includes mountains of
considerable height, many of which are planted with rice and support a
surprising number of Chinese who are grouped in closely connected villages.
While the cultivated valleys afford no cover for tiger and the mountain
slopes themselves are usually more or less denuded of forest, yet the deep
and narrow ravines, choked with sword grass and thorny bramble, offer an
impenetrable retreat in which an animal can sleep during the day without
fear of being disturbed. It is possible for a man to make his way through
these lairs only by means of the paths and tunnels which have been opened
by the tigers themselves.
Mr. Caldwell's usual method of hunting was to lead a goat with one or two
kids to an open place where they could be fastened just outside the edge of
the lair, and then to conceal himself a few feet away. The bleating of the
goats would usually bring the tiger into the open where there would be an
opportunity for a shot in the late afternoon.
Mr. Caldwell's first experience in hunting tigers was with a shotgun at the
village of Lung-tao. His burden-bearers had not arrived with the basket
containing his rifle, and as it was already late in the afternoon, he
suggested to Da-Da, the Chinese boy who was his constant companion, that
they make a preliminary inspection of the lair even though they carried
only shotguns loaded with lead slugs about the size of buckshot.
They tethered a goat just outside the edge of the lair and the tiger
responded to its bleating almost immediately. Caldwell did not see the
animal until it came into the open about fifty yards away and remained in
plain view for almost half an hour. The tiger seemed to suspect danger and
crouched on the terrace, now and then putting his right foot forward a
short distance and drawing it slowly back again. He had approached along a
small trail, but before he could reach the goat it was necessary to cross
an open space a few yards in width, and to do this the animal flattened
himself like a huge striped serpent. His head was extended so that the
throat and chin were touching the ground, and there was absolutely no
motion of the body other than the hips and shoulders as the beast slid
along at an amazingly rapid rate. But at the instant the cat gained the
nearest cover it made three flying leaps and landed at the foot of the
terrace upon which the goat was tied.
"Just then he saw me," said Mr. Caldwell, "and slowly pushed his great
black-barred face over the edge of the grass not fifteen feet away.
"I fired point-blank at his head and neck. He leaped into the air with the
blood spurting over the grass, and fell into a heap, but gathered himself
and slid down over the terraces. As he went I fired a second load of slugs
into his hip. He turned about, slowly climbed the hill parallel with us,
and stood looking back at me, his face streaming with blood.
"I was fumbling in my coat trying to find other shells, but before I could
reload the gun he walked unsteadily into the lair and lay down. It was
already too dark to follow and the next morning a bloody trail showed where
he had gone upward into the grass. Later, in the same afternoon, he was
found dead by some Chinese more than three miles away."
During his many experiences with the Futsing tigers Mr. Caldwell has
learned much about their habits and peculiarities, and some of his
observations are given in the following pages.
"The tiger is by instinct a coward when confronted by his greatest
enemy--man. Bold and daring as he may be when circumstances are in his
favor, he will hurriedly abandon a fresh kill at the first cry of a
shepherd boy attending a flock on the mountain-side and will always weigh
conditions before making an attack. If things do not exactly suit him
nothing will tempt him to charge into the open upon what may appear to be
an isolated and defenseless goat.
"An experience I had in April, 1910, will illustrate this point. I led a
goat into a ravine where a tiger which had been working havoc among the
herds of the farmers was said to live. This animal only a few days previous
to my hunt had attacked a herd of cows and killed three of them, but on
this occasion the beast must have suspected danger and was exceedingly
cautious. He advanced under cover along a trail until within one hundred
feet of the goat and there stopped to make a survey of the surroundings.
Peering into the valley, he saw two men at a distance of five hundred yards
or more cutting grass and, after watching intently for a time, the great
cat turned and bounded away into the bushes.
"On another occasion this tiger awaited an opportunity to attack a cow
which a farmer was using in plowing his field. The man had unhitched his
cow and squatted down in the rice paddy to eat his mid-day meal, when the
tiger suddenly rushed from cover and killed the animal only a few yards
behind the peasant. This shows how daring a tiger may be when he is able to
strike from the rear, and when circumstances seem to favor an attack. I
have known tigers to rush at a dog or hog standing inside a Chinese house
where there was the usual confusion of such a dwelling, and in almost every
instance the victim was killed, although it was not always carried away.
"There is probably no creature in the wilds which shows such a combination
of daring strategy and slinking cowardice as the tiger. Often courage fails
him after he has secured his victim, and he releases it to dash off into
the nearest wood.
"I knew of two Chinese who were deer hunting on a mountain-side when a
large tiger was routed from his bed. The beast made a rushing attack on the
man standing nearest to the path of his retreat, and seizing him by the leg
dragged him into the ravine below. Luckily the man succeeded in grasping a
small tree whereupon the tiger released his hold, leaving his victim lying
upon the ground almost paralyzed with pain and fear.
"A group of men were gathering fuel on the hills near Futsing when a tiger
which had been sleeping in the high grass was disturbed. The enraged beast
turned upon the peasants, killing two of them instantly and striking
another a ripping blow with his paw which sent him lifeless to the terrace
below. The beast did not attempt to drag either of its victims into the
bush or to attack the other persons near by.
"The strength and vitality of a full grown tiger are amazing. I had
occasion to spend the night a short time ago in a place where a tiger had
performed some remarkable feats. Just at dusk one of these marauders
visited the village and discovered a cow and her six-months-old calf in a
pen which had been excavated in the side of a hill and adjoined a house.
There was no possible way to enter the enclosure except by a door opening
from the main part of the dwelling or to descend from above. The tiger
jumped from the roof upon the neck of the heifer, killing it instantly, and
the inmates of the house opened the door just in time to see the animal
throw the calf out bodily and leap after it himself. I measured the
embankment and found that the exact height was twelve and a half feet.
"The same tiger one noon on a foggy day attacked a hog, just back of the
village and carried it into the hills. The villagers pursued the beast and
overtook it within half a mile. When the hog, which dressed weighed more
than two hundred pounds, was found, it had no marks or bruises upon it
other than the deep fang wounds in the neck. This is another instance where
courage failed a tiger after he had made off with his kill to a safe
distance. The Chinese declare that when carrying such a load a tiger never
attempts to drag its prey, but throws it across its back and races off at
top speed.
"The finest trophy taken from Fukien Province in years I shot in May,
1910. Two days previous to my hunt this tiger had killed and eaten a
sixteen-year-old boy. I happened to be in the locality and decided to make
an attempt to dispose of the troublesome beast. Obtaining a mother goat
with two small kids, I led them into a ravine near where the boy had been
killed. The goat was tied to a tree a short distance from the lair, and the
kids were concealed in the tall grass well in toward the place where the
tiger would probably be. I selected a suitable spot and kneeled down behind
a bank of ferns and grass. The fact that one may be stalked by the very
beast which one is hunting adds to the excitement and keeps one's nerves on
edge. I expected that the tiger would approach stealthily as long as he
could not see the goat, as the usual plan of attack, so far as my
observation goes, is to creep up under cover as far as possible before
rushing into the open. In any case the tiger would be within twenty yards
of me before it could be seen.
"For more than two hours I sat perfectly still, alert and waiting, behind
the little blind of ferns and grass. There was nothing to break the silence
other than the incessant bleating of the goats and the unpleasant rasping
call of the mountain jay. I had about given up hope of a shot when suddenly
the huge head of the man-eater emerged from the bush, exactly where I had
expected he would appear and within fifteen feet of the kids. The back,
neck, and head of the beast were in almost the same plane as he moved
noiselessly forward.
"I had implicit confidence in the killing power of the gun in my hand, and
at the crack of the rifle the huge brute settled forward with hardly a
quiver not ten feet from the kids upon which he was about to spring. A
second shot was not necessary but was fired as a matter of precaution as
the tiger had fallen behind rank grass, and the bullet passed through the
shoulder blade lodging in the spine. The beast measured more than nine feet
and weighed almost four hundred pounds.
"Upon hearing the shots the villagers swarmed into the ravine, each eager
not so much to see their slain tormentor as to gather up the blood. But
little attention was paid to the tiger until every available drop was
sopped up with rags torn from their clothing, whilst men and children even
pulled up the blood-soaked grass. I learned that the blood of a tiger is
used for two purposes. A bit of blood-stained cloth is tied about the neck
of a child as a preventive against either measles or smallpox, and tiger
flesh is eaten for the same purpose. It is also said that if a handkerchief
stained with tiger blood is waved in front of an attacking dog the animal
will slink away cowed and terrified.
"From the Chinese point of view the skin is not the most valuable part of a
tiger. Almost always before a hunt is made, or a trap is built, the
villagers burn incense before the temple god, and an agreement is made to
the effect that if the enterprise be successful the skin of the beast taken
becomes the property of the gods. Thus it happens that in many of the
temples handsome tiger-skin robes may be found spread in the chair occupied
by the noted 'Duai Uong,' or the god of the land. When a hunt is
successful, the flesh and bones are considered of greatest value, and it
often happens that a number of cows are killed and their flesh mixed with
that of the tiger to be sold at the exorbitant price cheerfully paid for
tiger meat. The bones are boiled for a number of days until a gelatine-like
product results, and this is believed to be exceptionally efficacious
medicine.
"Notwithstanding the danger of still-hunting a tiger in the tangle of its
lair, one cannot but feel richly rewarded for the risk when one begins to
sum up one's observations. The most interesting result of investigating an
oft-frequented lair is concerning the animal's food. That a tiger always
devours its prey upon the spot where it is taken or in the adjacent bush is
an erroneous idea. This is often true when the kill is too heavy to be
carried for a long distance, but it is by no means universally so. Not long
ago the remains of a young boy were found in a grave adjacent to a tiger's
lair a few miles from Futsing city. No child had been reported missing in
the immediate neighborhood and everything indicated that the boy had been
brought alive to this spot from a considerable distance. The sides of the
grave were besmeared with the blood of the unfortunate victim, indicating
that the tiger had tortured it just as a cat plays with a mouse as long as
it remains alive.
"In the lair of a tiger there are certain terraces, or places under
overhanging trees, which are covered with bones, and are evidently spots to
which the animal brings its prey to be devoured. On such a terrace one will
find the remains of deer, wild hog, dog, pig, porcupine, pangolin, and
other animals both domestic and wild. A fresh kill shows that with its
rasp-like tongue the tiger licks off all the hair of its prey before
devouring it and the hair will be found in a circle around what remains of
the kill. The Chinese often raid a lair in order to gather up the quills of
the porcupine and the bony scales of the pangolin which are esteemed for
medicinal purposes.
"In addition to the larger animals, tigers feed upon reptiles and frogs
which they find among the rice fields. On the night of April 22, 1914, a
party of frog catchers were returning from a hunt when the man carrying the
load of frogs was attacked by a tiger and killed. The animal made no
attempt to drag the man away and it would appear that it was attracted by
the croaking of the frogs."
"One often finds trees 'marked' by tigers beside some trail or path in, or
adjacent to, a lair. Catlike, the tiger measures its full length upon a
tree, standing in a convenient place, and with its powerful claws rips
deeply through the bark. This sign is doubly interesting to the sportsman
as it not only indicates the presence of a tiger in the immediate vicinity
but serves to give an accurate idea as to the size of the beast. The trails
leading into a lair often are marked in a different way. In doing this the
animal rakes away the grass with a forepaw and gathers it into a pile, but
claw prints never appear."
CHAPTER VII
THE BLUE TIGER
After one has traveled in a Chinese _sampan_ for several days the prospect
of a river journey is not very alluring but we had a most agreeable
surprise when we sailed out of Foochow in a chartered house boat to hunt
the "blue tiger" at Futsing. In fact, we had all the luxury of a private
yacht, for our boat contained a large central cabin with a table and chairs
and two staterooms and was manned by a captain and crew of six men--all for
$1.50 per day!
In the evening we talked of the blue tiger for a long time before we spread
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