s ship most
pleasant. On our way to Haiphong the vessel stopped at the island of Hainan
and anchored about three miles off the town of Hoi-hau. This island is 90
by 150 miles long, is mountainous in its center, but flat and uninteresting
at the northwest.

A large part of the island is unexplored and in the interior there is a
mountain called "the Five Fingers" which has never been ascended, for it is
reported that the hill tribes are unfriendly and that the tropical valleys
are reeking with deadly malaria. The island undoubtedly would prove to be a
rich field for zooelogical work as is shown by the collections which the
American Museum of Natural History has already received from a native
dealer; these include monkeys, squirrels, and other small mammals, and
bears, leopards, and deer are said to be among its fauna.

The next night's steaming brought us to the city of Paik-hoi on the
mainland. In the afternoon we went ashore with Captain Trowbridge to visit
Dr. Bradley of the China Inland Mission who is in charge of a leper
hospital, which is a model of its kind. The doctor was away but we made
ourselves at home and when he returned he found us in his drawing room
comfortably enjoying afternoon tea. He remarked that he knew of a Chinese
cook who was looking for a position, and half an hour later, while we were
watching some remarkably fine tennis, the cook arrived. He was about six
feet two inches high, and so thin that he was immediately christened the
"Woolworth Building" and, although not a very prepossessing looking
individual he was forthwith engaged, principally because of his ability to
speak English. This was at six o'clock in the afternoon and we had to be
aboard the ship at eight. The doctor sent a note to the French Consul and
the cook returned anon with his baggage and passport. Obtaining this cook
was the only really rapid thing which I have ever seen done in China!

When the _Sung-kiang_ arrived in Haiphong the next afternoon we were
besieged by a screaming, fighting mob of Annamits who seized upon our
baggage like so many vultures, and it was only by means of a few
well-directed kicks that we could prevent it from being scattered to the
four winds of Heaven. After we had designated a _sampan_ to receive our
equipment the unloading began and several trunks had gone over the side,
when Mr. Heller happened to glance down just in time to see one of the
ammunition boxes drop into the water and sink like lead.