endent upon, a knowledge of the Central Asian
mammalian life and its distribution. No systematic palaeontological,
archaeological, or zooelogical study of this region on a large scale has
ever been attempted, and there is no similar area of the inhabited surface
of the earth about which so little is known.

The American Museum of Natural History hopes in the near future to conduct
extensive explorations in this part of the world along general scientific
lines. The country itself and its inhabitants, however, present unusual
obstacles to scientific research. Not only is the region one of vast
intersecting mountain ranges, the greatest of the earth, but the climate is
too cold in winter to permit of continuous work. The people have a natural
dislike for foreigners, and the political events of the last half century
have not tended to decrease their suspicions.

It is possible to overcome such difficulties, but the plans for extensive
research must be carefully prepared. One of the most important steps is the
sending out of preliminary expeditions to gain a general knowledge of the
natives and fauna and of the conditions to be encountered. For the first
reconnoissance, which was intended to be largely a mammalian survey, the
Asiatic Zooelogical Expedition left New York in March, 1916.

Its destination was Yuen-nan, a province in southwestern China. This is one
of the least known parts of the Chinese Republic and, because of its
southern latitude and high mountain systems, the climate and faunal range
is very great. It is about equal in size to the state of California and
topographically might be likened to the ocean in a furious gale, for the
greater part of its surface has been thrown into vast mountain waves which
divide and cross one another in hopeless confusion.

Yuen-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 Yuen-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 Yuen-nan are exceptionally interesting. There are about
thirty non-Chin