ABBE DAVID'S DIARY

A translation, and editing, of the diaries of Abbe Armand David, a missionary priest and scientist who was stationed in China from 1862 to 1874 and who made three journeys into the interior for the Paris Museum of Natural History. Two of the three journeys are included in this volume, the first in Inner Mongolia, the second in Central and Western China at a time when the natural history of China was largely unexplored. In these diaries there are observations of all kinds; on the changing character of the country, the weather, the natives- lames and warriors, nomads and farmers, on religious rites and practices, on the ""miserable intoxications"" of opium, but primarily on birds (his favorite branch of natural history), animals and plants, the many specimens he identified and/or secured... The diaries, which have a definite scientific value, are pleasant to read- though a market is difficult to indicate.