Sport and science on the Sino-Mongolian frontier

"Sport and science on the Sino-Mongolian frontier" by Arthur de Carle Sowerby is a travel and scientific exploration narrative written in the early 20th century. It blends big-game hunting with natural history collecting and geographic observation along the Great Wall’s borderlands, from the Ordos Desert to the forested mountains of Shansi and the Mongolian Plateau, with notes on flora, fauna, geology, and local life. The opening of the book sets the stage with a historical sketch of the Chinese–Mongol frontier, distinguishes political from natural boundaries, and defines the “frontier” chiefly by the line of the Great Wall. It outlines a series of expeditions devoted to specimen collecting, mapping, and geology, and explains that publication was delayed by war. The narrative then follows an early journey with a zoological colleague from T’ai-yüan Fu toward the Ordos, detailing hard travel, crossings of the Yellow River, rich collecting near Yen-an Fu (notably small mammals in jujube thickets), and a first encounter with Mongol camps—hospitality mingled with superstition—before sandstorms and scarcity drive a retreat to Yü-lin Fu, where buying specimens proves highly productive. A return eastward along the Wall and back into Shansi yields further finds and observations. Next comes a winter expedition with the author’s wife up the Fên Ho basin: perilous river crossings, successful pig and pheasant hunts in extensive conifer forests below Lo-yah Shan, encounters with wolves and leopard sign, and the discovery of high mountain lakes that feed the Fên.

Sport and science on the Sino-Mongolian frontier, by Arthur de Carle Sowerby. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #78716.