divide and cross one another in hopeless confusion.

Yün-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 Yün-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 Yün-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 Yün-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 Zoölogical 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