File:The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (17538848034).jpg

Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo18amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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THE BLUE TIGER 879 his foniuT \ i^it ^Ir. Caldwell had inado friends with the head )iriest and we \\vw allowed to i'stal)li>li oiii->('l\('> upon the broad porch of the third ;md hii:li- cst biiildin,!;'. It was ;iii ideal place for a eidleetinii" eanip and would iiave been deliiiht t'ul exeepL J'or the tei'rihie heat which was rendered doubly disai^reeable bv the ahnost continual rain. Our stay at Tdnii'-suik was ))i-oduc- tive. and tlie temple life intei-esl Iiil;-. We slejit on the porch and each nioiMi- inji'. about half an hour het'oi-e daylight. the measured strokes of a great gong pounded from the tem))le just below us. Boom—boom — boom — boom" it went, then ra)ddly "bamj. bang, hang." It was a religious alarm clock to rouse the W(U-li). .V little later, when the upturned gables and twisted dolphins on the roof had begun to take definite shape in the gray light of the new day, the gong l)oomiMl out again, doors creaked, and from their cell-like rooms shuffled the priests to yawn and stretch themselves before the early service. The droning chorus of hoarse voices, swelling in a meaningless half-wild chant, harmo- nized strangely with the romantic sur- roundings of the temple and became our daily matin and evensong. At the first gong we slipped from be- neath onr mosquito nets and dressed to be ready for the bats which fluttered into the building to hide themselves be- neath the tiles and rafters. When day- light had fully come we scattered to the four winds to inspect traps, hunt bark- ing deer, or collect birds, but gathered again at nine o'clock for breakfast and to deposit our spoil. Caldwell and I always sjienl the afternoon at the blue tiger's lair but the animal had suddenly shifted his operations back to lAing-tao and did not appear at Ling-suik Avhile we were there. Our work in Fukien taught us mucli that may be of help to other natural- ists who contemplate a visit to the )n-ov- ince. ^^'e satisfied ourselves tliat sum- mer collecting is impi-aclicable, for the heat is so intense and th(> vegetation so liea\y that (udy lueagei' results can be ohtained fiu't he ell'orls expended. Con- tinual tramping o\-er the mountains in the hlazinn' sun necessarily must have its eU'ect upon the strongest constitu- tion, and e\en a man like Mr. Caldwell, who has liecouie thiM'oughly acclimated, is not immune. i'.oth Caldwell and 1 lost from fif- teen to twenty ))ounds in weight dur- ing the time we hnnte(l the blue tiger, and each of us had serious trouble from abscesses. 1 have never worked in a more trying climate—even that of Bor- neo and the Dutch East Indies where I collected in 1909-10 was much less de- l)ilitating than Fukien in the summer, 'idle average temperature was about 95 degrees in the shade, but the humidity was so high that one felt as though he were wrapped in a wet blanket. In winter the weather is raw and
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Tlie iiioiiasstcry ol' Jjing-suik is a beautiful temple, built into the hillside at the end of a long valley which swells out like a great bowl between lianiboo-clothed mountains two thousand feet in height

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