From Lung-ling I had sent a runner to Mr. Evans at Ta-li Fu asking him to forward to Teng-yueh the specimens which we had left in his care, and the day following our visit to the bat cave the caravan bearing our cases passed us at Tai-ping-pu.  We, ourselves, were about ready to leave and two days later at ten o’clock in the morning we stood on a precipitous mountain summit, gazing down at the beautiful Teng-yueh plain which lay before us like a relief map.  It is as flat as a plain well can be and, except where a dozen or more villages cluster on bits of dry land, the valley is one vast watery rice field.  Far in the distance, outside the gray city walls, we could see two temple-like buildings surrounded by white-walled compounds, and Wu told us they were the houses of the Customs officials.

Teng-yueh, although only given the rank of a “ting” or second-class Chinese city, is one of the most important places in the province, for it stands as the door to India.  All the trade of Burma and Yuen-nan flows back and forth through the gates of Teng-yueh, over the great caravan road to Bhamo on the upper Irawadi.

An important post of the Chinese Foreign Customs, which are administered by the British government as security for the Boxer indemnity, is situated in this city, and we were looking forward with the greatest interest to meeting its white population.  At the time of our visit the foreigners included Messrs. H.G.  Fletcher and Ralph C. Grierson, respectively Acting Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner of Customs; Messrs. W.R.  Palmer and Abertsen, also of the Customs; Mr. Eastes, H.B.M.  Consul; Dr. Chang, Indian Medical Officer, and Reverend and Mrs. Embry of the China Inland Mission; Mr. Eastes, accompanied by the resident mandarin, was absent on a three months’ opium inspection tour so that we did not meet him.

We reached Teng-yueh on Sunday morning and camped in a temple outside the city walls.  Immediately after tiffin we called upon Mr. Grierson and went with him to the Customs House where Messrs. Abertsen and Palmer were living.  We found there a Scotch botanist, Mr. Forrest, an old traveler in Yuen-nan who was en route to A-tun-zu on a three-year plant-hunting expedition for an English commercial firm.  We had heard much of Forrest from Messrs. Kok and Hanna and were especially glad to meet him because of his wide knowledge of the northwestern part of the province.  Mr. Forrest was interested chiefly in primroses and rhododendrons, I believe, and in former years obtained a rather remarkable collection of these plants.

From Mr. Grierson we first learned that the United States had declared war on Germany.  It had been announced only a week before, and the information had reached Teng-yueh by cable and telegraph almost immediately.  It came as welcome news to us Americans who had been vainly endeavoring to justify to ourselves and others our country’s lethargy in the face of Teuton insolence, and made us feel that once again we could acknowledge our nationality with the pride we used to feel.