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-4- return. Weighed and repacked all the boxes. I was given a feast by Pastor Lan, an old friend of mine, Chinese, who helped a great deal in the preparations for the trip. July 14. Made ninety li to Uin Gin Shien, passing over the mountain pass called Gi Tsi Gang, which is probably at least 4000 feet high. Filled the cyanide bottle to overflowing with insects. Purchased a pheasant and killed two crows. The Chinese friends gave me a supper in our chaple at Uin Gin Shien. They urged me very hard to stay over tomorrow and lead the services, but when so much money is being invested in this trip and the time is so short, I should move right along. Our stage tomorrow is only 40 li, which leads us to a fine collecting spot, with a half a day and an evening in which to work. At the top of the pass I saw the head of a robber who had been robbing people on that pass. When the robber was caught he was promptly beheaded. July 15. The journey today was only forty li, but they were long li and up hill, and it was terribly hot. Got a good catch of insects. Spent the night at Huang Li Pu. It seems to me that I have what the aborigine and Ho the skinner have, malaria. It is a good thing that I came well prepared for such things. Ho and Yang [[underline]] Song [[/underline]] ^[[Fong]] Tsang, the aborigine, are practically cured now. Killed four birds. There was a light thunder shower about an hour before dark. There are woods all about this place. I was anxious to have the netter and the aborigine work this afternoon along the hillsides. The dinner meal was very late after we had been here an hour or more. While we were eating it began to thunder. I said to the aborigine Yang Fong Tsang, "You see that you could have been hunting an hour, and now it is going to rain, and you will probably not get to hunt at all." He was not half through eating, but he immediately, and without a word, left the table, picked up the shotgun, and went to the woods. As he started out of the door I asked, "Have you eaten enough?" But he did not answer. I thought he was mad at me because of my light rebuke and felt it because he has never been mad at me before. After it began to rain hard he came in with a bird. I waited until I thought his anger had time to cool, and then began to talk to him about the incident. (None of us knew it would be so long before dinner). What he said was practically this. He felt that he had done wrong in not going out before dinner. He wanted this undertaking to succeed, and thought that helping it succeed was more important than eating. He had not been mad. I told him that I was very anxious for the undertaking (expedition) to succeed, and wanted him to do the best he could, but that the Smithsonian secretaries and curators are gentlemen, and that neither they nor I wanted him to injure his health. Then I told him that such work as we are doing is to some extent a little contribution to scientific knowledge, and that not only America but China and other countries would to some little extent be benefited by such work. Our three helpers, Ho, Chen, and Yang, are really working hard and anxious to do well this summer. All four of us are walking and do not expect to do anything else until our return to Yachow.
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