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Cover of Camps and Trails in China A Narrative of Exploration, Adventure, and Sport in Little-Known China

About this book

Camps and Trails in China is a detailed account of the 1916‑1917 Asiatic Zoological Expedition, undertaken by Roy Chapman Andrews and his wife Yvette Borup Andrews on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History. The opening pages explain that the work will ultimately be supported by technical reports, while this volume draws on Yvette’s photographs, daily journals, and six chapters she authored. The authors acknowledge a host of collaborators, from field assistant Edmund Heller, who preserved the mammal specimens, to Chinese interpreter Wu Hung‑tao and numerous diplomatic and commercial contacts, underscoring the expedition’s reliance on both scientific rigor and local assistance. The narrative is organized by geography and theme, moving from the political turmoil of Yuan Shih‑kai’s China through river voyages, mountain camps, and encounters with native peoples, all framed as a preliminary survey of Yunnan’s largely unknown fauna and cultures.

Written in a measured, early‑20th‑century prose style, the book blends scholarly observation with vivid travel storytelling. Roy Chapman Andrews’ authoritative voice is complemented by Yvette’s descriptive eye, producing a work that feels both like a field report and an adventure memoir. Readers interested in the history of natural‑history exploration, early anthropological fieldwork, or the geography and societies of pre‑Communist China will find its blend of scientific detail, personal anecdote, and richly illustrated passages particularly rewarding.

Who appears in this book

  • Roy Chapman AndrewsTall, rugged man in early 1900s explorer gear, khaki jacket, leather hat, moustache
  • Yvette Borup AndrewsPetite woman with dark hair, wearing modest travel dress, camera around neck, sensible hat
  • Edmund HellerMiddle‑aged man with beard and spectacles, field coat, pocket notebook, sturdy boots

The opening · free to read

The scientific reputation of the Expedition will rest upon the technical reports of its work which will be published in due course by the American Museum of Natural History. To these reports we would refer those readers who desire more complete information concerning the results of our researches. At the time the manuscript of this volume was sent to press the collections were still undergoing preparation and the study of the different groups had just begun.

Although the book has been largely written by the senior author, his collaborator has contributed six chapters marked with her initials; all the illustrations are from her photographs and continual use has been made of her daily journals; she has, moreover, materially assisted in reference work and in numerous other ways.

The information concerning the relationships and distribution of the native tribes of Yün-nan is largely drawn from the excellent reference work by Major H. R. Davies and we have followed his spelling of Chinese names.

Parts of the book have been published as separate articles in the American Museum Journal, Harper's Magazine, and Asia and to the editors of the above publications our acknowledgments are due.

That the Expedition obtained a very large and representative collection of small mammals is owing in a great measure to the efforts of Mr. Edmund Heller, our companion in the field. He worked tirelessly in the care and preservation of the specimens, and the fact that they reached New York in excellent condition is, in itself, the best testimony to the skill and thoroughness with which they were prepared.

Our Chinese interpreter, Wu Hung-tao, contributed largely to the success of the Expedition. His faithful and enthusiastic devotion to our interests and his tact and resourcefulness under trying circumstances won our lasting gratitude and affectionate regard.

The nineteen months during which we were in Asia are among the most memorable of our lives and we wish to express our deepest gratitude to the Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History, and especially to President Henry Fairfield Osborn, whose enthusiastic endorsement and loyal support made the Expedition possible. Director F. A. Lucas, Dr. J. A. Allen and Mr. George H. Sherwood were unfailing in furthering our interests, and to them we extend our hearty thanks.

To the following patrons, who by their generous contributions materially assisted in the financing of the Expedition, we wish to acknowledge our great personal indebtedness as well as that of the Museum; Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Bernheimer, Mr. and Mrs. Sidney M. Colgate, Messrs. George Bowdoin, Lincoln Ellsworth, James B. Ford, Henry C. Frick, Childs Frick, and Mrs. Adrian Hoffman Joline.

The Expedition received many courtesies while in the field from the following gentlemen, without whose coöperation it would have been impossible to have carried on the work successfully. Their services have been referred to individually in subsequent parts of the book: The Director of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs of the Province of Yün-nan; M. Georges Chemin Dupontès, Director de l'Exploration de la Compagnie Française des Chemins de Fer de l'Indochine et du Yün-nan, Hanoi, Tonking; M. Henry Wilden, Consul de France, Shanghai; M. Kraemer, Consul de France, Hongkong; Mr. Howard Page, Standard Oil Co., Yün-nan Fu; the Hon. Paul Reinsch, Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to the Chinese Republic, Mr. J. V. A. McMurray, First Secretary of the American Legation, Peking; Mr. H. G. Evans, British-American Tobacco Co., Hongkong; the Rev. William Hanna, Ta-li Fu; the Rev. A. Kok, Li-chiang Fu; Ralph Grierson, Esq., Teng-yueh; Herbert Goffe, Esq., H. B. M. Consul General, Yün-nan Fu; Messrs. C. R. Kellogg, and H. W. Livingstone, Foochow, China; the General Passenger Agent, Canadian Pacific Railroad Company, Hongkong; and the Rev. H. R. Caldwell, Yen-ping, who has read parts of this book in manuscript and who through his criticisms has afforded us the benefit of his long experience in China.

To Miss Agnes F. Molloy and Miss Anna Katherine Berger we wish to express our appreciation of editorial and other assistance during the preparation of the volume.

Roy Chapman Andrews Yvette Borup Andrews

Justamere Home, Lawrence Park, Bronxville, N. Y.

May 10, 1917.

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