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DIARY C

Beginning December 15 ^[[[5]]], 1933, and ending July 6, 1934. Relating to the collecting of natural history specimens for the Smithsonian Institution by - 

David C. Graham

The last box filled was No. 260. The last mammal was No. 1263. 

December 15, 1933. The new netter Dai has been working regularly, with meager success on account of the cold weather. 

The netter Yao has returned from Kuanshien with nearly a box of insects after they have been culled out or picked over. 

We have used the night lantern and recently nothing at all has been caught such as night moths. A curious thing is that several species of butterflies are still to be found. It seems as though the butterflies are more hardy than the moths. I have forwarded the large shipment of skins to Chungking in care of a friend, Rev. A. P. Quentin. I told him to send them to Dr. Tompkins at Suifu, who would send them on by steamer. I had a fine passport from the Szechuan Government in Dr. Tompkin's hands. Mr. Quentin sent them by a Chinese cargo boat to Chungking, which is very much less safe, although it is very much cheaper. I hope for good luck in their reaching Chungking safely; I have telegraphed to Dr. Tompkins to send the all-important passport on to Gordon Jones at Chungking, who can ship them on to Shanghai by means of a foreign steamship company.

January 2, 1934. A few weeks ago the Wa Si aborigine collector Li Song Hin was seriously ill and would have died if I had not sent him to the hospital. 

Two days ago Ho Son Chuen came in with news that Yang Hong Tsang had been burnt to death by a forest fire while hunting the tarkin on a very high mountain. We are trying to recover his body and give him a decent burial. This will be very hard on his family, for he was their main means of support. 

This is the hardest luck I have met in all my years collecting. He was much more like a son to me than a hired man. He has been one of my most dependable workers for many years. My new year was not a very happy one.