quired
the way directed us to a road at nearly right angles to the one we should
have taken, and it was late in the afternoon before we finally found the
caravan.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

LAST DAYS IN CHINA

It was of paramount importance to pack our specimens before the beginning
of the summer rains. They might be expected to break in full violence any
day after June 1, and when they really began it would be impossible to get
our boxes to Bhamo, for virtually all caravan travel ceases during the wet
season. Therefore our second stay at Hui-yao was short and we returned to
Teng-yueh on May 24, ending the active field work of the Expedition exactly
a year from the time it began with our trip up the Min River to Yeng-ping
in Fukien Province.

Mr. Grierson had kindly invited us again to become his guests and no place
ever seemed more delightful, after our hot and dusty ride, than his
beautiful garden and cool, shady verandah where a dainty tea was served.
Our days in Teng-yueh were busy ones, for after the specimens were packed
and the boxes sealed it was necessary to wrap them in waterproof covers;
moreover, the equipment had to be sorted and sold or discarded, a caravan
engaged, and nearly a thousand feet of motion-picture film developed. This
was done in the spacious dark room connected with Mr. Grierson's house
which offered a welcome change from the cramped quarters of the tent which
we had used for so many months.

Much of the success of our motion film lay in the fact that it was
developed within a short time after exposure, for had we attempted to bring
or send it to Shanghai, the nearest city with facilities for doing such
work, it would inevitably have been ruined by the climatic changes.
Although cinematograph photography requires an elaborate and expensive
outfit and is a source of endless work, nevertheless, the value of an
actual moving record of the life of such remote regions is worth all the
trouble it entails.

The Paget natural color plates proved to be eminently satisfactory and were
among the most interesting results of the expedition. The stereoscopic
effects and the faithful reproduction of the delicate atmospheric shading
in the photographs are remarkable. Although the plates had been subjected
to a variety of climatic conditions and temperatures by the time the last
ones were exposed in Burma, a year and a half after their manufacture, they
showed no signs of deterioration even when the ord