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BULLETIN FIELD MUSEUM of NATURAL HISTORY Volume 41, Number 1 January 1970 EDEN REVISITED

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BULLETIN FIELD MUSEUM of NATURAL HISTORY Volume 41, Number 1 January 1970 EDEN REVISITED BULLETIN FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Volume 41, Number 1 January 1970 EDEN REVISITED A Tour of Britain and its Gardens A few places still remain on Field Museum's tour, "Eden Revisited: A Tour of Britain and Its Gardens," according to Tours Chief Phil Clark, former editor of Horticulture magazine, who will lead the tour. Historic places, such as the Cawdor Castle of Macbeth fame, above, in northern Scotland will be among (All photos by Phil Clark) those featured. Price of the May 30-July 4 tour, including a $600 tax deductible donation to Field Museum, is $2,445. Reservations may be made by sending a $600 deposit check to: Natural History Tours, Field Museum, Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, III. 60605. Mr. David Hunt, of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in Cornwall, will lead the tour on a boat trip in the Scilly Islands area, to see puffins and other birds. The group will also visit Tresco Isle and its semi-tropical Abbey Gardens. During the 5-week tour, a variety of British specialists will address the group or spend from one to four days with it, including Mr. Roy Hay, garden editor of the London Times and author of the recently published "The Color Dictionary of Flowers and Plants;" H. F. W. Cory, a bird watcher of the Wiltshire Trust for Nature Frances author of An ancient Rhododendron of historic Conservation; Perry, gardening books; Will Ingwersen, garden writer and nurseryman; Mrs. Poppy Davenport importance is proudly pointed out by of the Scottish Garden G. C. Colmer, naturalist of the Mr. A. C. Gibson, owner of Glenarn, near Scheme, National Trust for Scotland, and others. The tour will also feature Loch Lomond, Scotland. The great archaeological sites. botanist-horticulturist. Sir Thomas (^j^^^^^ Qgrden below). Hooker, presented this Rhododendron to Glenarn 130 years ago; it was then a new creation of Hooker, who had crossed the Himalayan Rhododendron arboreum with R. catabiense from all the way across the world, in the U.S. south, to produce it. Page 2 JA.XUARr ^_.oajj»' SL-LIN Super Star ef the Thirties Jbfy Patricia Ai.H'llliaitis JANUARY Pages — — — Lassie a dog,— Mr. Ed. a horse, Flipper a dolphin, and tains. As described by the Roosevelts in Trailing the Giant Gentle Ben a bear, have all become national celebrities Panda, ". Unexpectedly close I heard a clicking chirp. within the past few years. Their pictures stare out from One of the Lolo hunters darted forward. He had not gone cereal boxes, t-shirts, comic books and games. These ani- forty yards before he turned back to eagerly motion to us mals all became famous via television, movies and big to hurry. As I gained his side he pointed to a giant spruce budget advertising, but in the thirties a sad-faced, roly- thirty yards away. The bole was hollowed, and from it poly panda became equally popular without network or emerged the head and forequarters of a bei-shung (giant financial hook-ups. panda). He looked sleepily from side to side as he sauntered On December 18, 1936 the giant panda, Su-Lin, arrived forth and walked slowly away into the bamboos. As soon in San Francisco to a tumultuous welcome rivalling any as Ted came up we fired simultaneously at the outline of the given a human celebrity. In fact, "The final consensus of disappearing panda. Both shots took effect. He was a the press was that not since Bernard Shaw had a foreign splendid old male, the first that the Lolos had any record celebrity received such a reception as Su-Lin." Again, on of as being killed in this Yehli region." Su-Lin's arrival in Chicago the press turned out in full force The skin of this adult male panda was sent back to the as the clamored to see beast. to public the cuddly On New Museum along with another specimen obtained from local York and the crunch of crowds and headlines. bigger hunters. The success of this expedition inspired other Amer- Su-Lin was a coast-to-coast sensation. undoubtedly ican museums to pack off panda expeditions to China and Su-Lin had never made a couldn't do Why? movie, villagers who had seldom seen white men must have been tricks and showed no of Granted any signs learning any. amazed at the increased traffic of great white hunters the was cute and but the littered panda lovable, world was through the mountains. with cute animals and the press didn't accord them a recep- Floyd Tangier Smith led the Marshall Field Zoological tion on a with Bernard Shaw's. The par headline-grabbing Expedition to Southeast Asia from 1930 to 1932 and sent news was that Su-Lin was the first ever seen giant panda the Museum two more panda specimens obtained from alive the Western world. by Chinese hunters. For decades following its official Western discovery in So far, all of the pandas arriving in this country were 1869 by Pere David, the giant panda was one of the rarest dead. Then, in 1934 William Harvest Harkness, Jr. left animals known to man. Again and again hunters unsuc- New York and his bride of two weeks determined to bring cessfully prowled the mountains of Szechuan in search of one back alive for the Bronx Zoo. Following a chain of the elusive giant panda. Explorers yearned for just a disasters and delays Harkness found himself alone in China, glimpse of the living animal in the wild and for a time feared his expedition in complete collapse. In February 1936 he that it had become extinct. The difficulties of locating a died of a mysterious illness in Shanghai. panda only seemed to enhance its desirability and big game Harkness' bride, Ruth, a dress designer with no prac- hunters considered it a supreme challenge. tical experience in or animals, was In 1928 Colonel Theodore and Kermit Roosevelt, sons hunting collecting appar- ently an independent and adventurous woman. In of Teddy Roosevelt, decided to take an expedition to Indo- April she left for China planning to take up her husband's expe- China and West China with the main goal of killing a giant dition and fulfill his dream of a live to the panda. Sponsored by Field Museum, the brothers vowed bringing panda United States. that they wouldn't return home until they had shot a panda Four months Ruth Harkness was stalled in and made a pact in which it was agreed that if a panda was later, Shang- hai to an the sighted both brothers would fire simultaneously. In this trying get expedition going. Then she met and of way, they would share the distinction of being the first white Young brothers. Jack Quentin, a pair American- born Chinese man to kill a panda. hunters. Together Ruth Harkness and the brothers the and with- The party worked its way across the mountains between Young gathered necessary equipment out for red to be set China and Tibet without detecting a whiff or a track of a "waiting government tape unwound," off for the interior. panda. Undismayed, they moved on into Lololand—an area where explorer Lt. J. W. Brooke was murdered in Following a 1500-mile boat trip up the Yangtze, the 1910. The Lolos were apparently susceptible to the Roose- group endured a 300-mile overland trek best described as velt charm and instead of murdering them, helped the a travel agent's nightmare. Opium addicted porters and Roosevelts. an unwanted bodyguard of 16 soldiers prefaced a stretch in Finally, on April 13 the Roosevelts found giant panda which the former dress designer rode in a wheelbarrow. tracks in the snow near Yehli, in the Hsifan Moun- Fatigue and frustration mounted, but occasional clues kept Page 4 JANUARY Left, Mei Lan at Brookfield Zoo in the early 1950s; right, "Happy" at the Leipzig Zoo. In his book Davis notes that young pandas are active and playful. Like many wild animals they may become surly and dangerous with age. One keeper at Brookfield lost an arm to Mei Lan. Davis quotes W. D. Sheldon, who hunted the panda : "My experience con- vinced me that the panda is an extremely stupid beast . Driven out by four dogs and warned by several high-powered bullets whistling about them, neither animal broke into a run. The gait was a determined and leisurely walk." This month's Cover is a profile of a giant panda, taken from Davis' book. reviving their sagging hopes and the party pressed on. Ac- Mrs. Harkness set about getting Su-Lin to the United States. cording to Desmond Morris in Men and Pandas, there is Because of customs, Su-Lin's feeding needs and the press, some question as to whether Mrs. Harkness actually cap- this was no simple matter. One punster summed it up in a tured the prized giant panda or merely bought it from headline reading, "Panda-monium in Shanghai Customs Floyd Tangier Smith, an experienced hunter who led the House." But on December 2 Mrs. Harkness and Su-Lin, Marshall Field Expedition in 1930-32. now tagged "One dog, $20.00," set sail for America and As Mrs. Harkness tells it, however, she and Quentin fame. Young were pushing through a wet, dripping bamboo Even before the welcoming furor faded away, Mrs. thicket when they heard a baby's whimper coming from Harkness was busy negotiating for a permanent home for an old dead tree. Mrs. Harkness wrote, "I must have been Su-Lin. Chicago zoo director Edward Bean wanted Su-Lin momentarily paralyzed for I didn't move until Quentin but was unable to arrive at a satisfactory financial arrange- came toward me and held out his arms.
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