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in China are sometimes inclined to think that "Honest John Chinaman" is a literary fiction, more legendary than real. 

Aug. 28. It will be some relief of mind when I get to Suifu with my collecting outfit and specimens. Brigands, petty thieves, mold, rust, breakage by carriers, and wreckage of boats are some of the possible sources of loss. Last night a thief broke into a foreign compound in Kiating, probably hoping that he might secure the Smithsonian guns, which I had taken to the house where I spent the night. 

After losing my folding cot when the coolie was drowned near Nen Chuan, I spread my blankets on flat boards. It would not do to use Chinese beds, on account of the fleas, bedbugs and lice. 

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It is about as much work caring for for the specimens, labelling them, packing them, etc. as it is to collect the specimens. Under caring for the specimens I would include drying, wrapping, etc. 

It was a wise thing to take the Songpan trip. It might be several years before that road is again as free from brigands as it is this year, and before the trip is again possible because there is no civil war in Szechuen. Now that the Mission has asked me to go to Ningyuenfu next spring, it is certain that I could not go to Songpan next year, although I could go to Moupin, ^[[?]] ^[[OK]] probably. The Washan trip could be taken practically any year so that it may well be postponed until the other important trips are all taken. Washan is so near Mt. Omei that there is apt to be quite a close resemblance in the species found at Washan and those at Mr. Omei. Places more widely separated are more apt to produce a different variety of specimens. 

Sept. 18th. Already the warclouds are gathering over China, and there are rumors that the thunders of war will soon be heard in Szechuen. If there had been similar conditions during the summer I could not have gone to Songpan. I have hurried up the packing and shipping of specimens, and today the last box of specimens has gone off by parcel post. Here's hoping that they all get safely out of China before the Yangtse River becomes closed to steamer traffic and that none of the fifty boxes of specimens are lost or injured.