National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

»A la Fédération etc.

Je propose d'avoir comme membres de l'expédition cinq savants chinois savoir pour les sciences suivantes: Géologie, Météorologie, Ethnographie, Ethnologie et quatre étudiants.

Pendant cette Mission on ne doit pas faire des fouilles archéologiques du tout. Si on fait pendant le voyage des découvertes archéologiques elles seront mises à la disposition de la Chine.

Si l'Union désire qu'une autre science à coté des quatre mentionées sera representée dans le nombre des cinq chinois j'accepte avec plaisir leur proposition. »

I,IU Fu was now to convene a meeting of the Federation for the 17th to discuss my proposal. He told me that the meeting of April 14th had been attended by twelve members and that three votes had been taken. The first was over the motion: that no antiquities at all should be taken out of China and that no duplicates should be given to me. Two of those present voted that nothing should be given to me, and ten that duplicates could be conceded. The second vote referred to the promise on their word of honour, but not in writing, to let me have duplicates. All twelve voted in favour. The third vote: to give me a written guarantee that I would receive duplicates. Here there was one vote for and eleven against.

In these circumstances I went over to my second alternative: to exchange archaeology for geology in the expedition.

At a meeting that Professor ANDERSSON, Dr HUMMEL, and I had with Dr WONG WEN-HAO, Professor LI, the librarian, YUAN TUNG-LI, also a librarian, and Hst, the director of the Historical Museum, the four Chinese advised me to accept the second of the votes mentioned above, i. e. the oral assurance concerning duplicates, without a written guarantee.

PREPARATION AND DISCUSSIONS OF CONTRACT

On April 16th Professor Lm Fu informed me that five of the Federation's fourteen members accepted my proposal to drop archaeology altogether.

Professor Liu FU went on to say that the Federation was now occupied in drawing up the contract, which was then to be gone over at a new meeting, translated into English and finally signed by the chairman of the Federation, Governor CHOU, and myself. After the signing, twelve further days were considered necessary for the equipment of the Chinese contingent. For the duration of the expedition a special committee in Peking would look after its interests. Professor Liu Fu had been appointed chairman of this committee. Among the other members were noted our reliable friends YUAN TUNG-LI, the librarian, and Professor LEE, the geologist. The chief of the Chinese contingent in the expedition was to be Professor Sm PING-CH'ANG. From among the large number of students who

47