The Lady and the Panda

by Vicki Croke

  189 After each raid North China Daily News, 15 Aug. 1937.

  189 “Half-thrilled” China Press, 15 Aug. 1937.

  189 In the late afternoon all hell Dong, Shanghai.

  190 When the smoke lifted North China Daily News, 15 Aug. 1937.

  190 Minutes later Dong, Shanghai.

  190 In a flash North China Daily News, 15 Aug. 1937.

  191 “Death from little bombs” China Press, 15 Aug. 1937.

  191 “All told” Dong, Shanghai. Number of dead also in “One Year of Undeclared War on China,” China Journal, July 1938, p. 6.

  191 “I naturally” Harkness to Perkins, 23 Aug. 1937.

  191 “Do not worry” Dan Reib to Hazel Perkins, 5 Oct. 1937.

  191 A lights-out curfew China Press, 16 Aug. 1937.

  192 By Tuesday North China Herald, 25 Aug. 1937, dispatch dated 17 Aug. 1937.

  192 With heavy Japanese fire North China Herald, 25 Aug. 1937, dispatch dated 18 Aug. and 25 Aug. 1937, dispatch dated 19 Aug.

  192 Harkness was not interested Harkness to Perkins, 27 Oct. 1937.

  192 Ever more determined Sergeant, Shanghai, p. 301.

  192 The “incessant bombing” Harkness to Pierce and Perkins, 23 Aug. 1937. “Machine guns,” has a typo and reads as “machibe guns.”

  192 And, yes Ibid., though she more than once refers to “the 1941 belief.”

  192 “I know that this War” Harkness to Perkins, 17 Aug. 1937.

  193 The China Journal China Journal, “Travel and Exploration Notes,” Sept. 1937, p. 145.

  193 But weeks later Ruth Harkness to Edward Bean and family, 24 Sept. 1937.

  193 a burning North China Daily News, 21 Aug. 1937, features pictures of billowing black smoke coming up out of Yangtzepoo.

  193 and battered “Vessels Leaving,” North China Daily News, 20 Aug. 1937.

  193 The launch Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery,” p. 10. We find out they are leather from the dispatch she writes from Vietnam after the train wreck, Sept. 4–6.

  193 The horror would Tuchman, Stilwell, p. 169; and Spence, Search for Modern China, pp. 422–423.

  193 Harkness was scrambling “Ruth Harkness Completes West China Expedition,” “Travel and Exploration Notes,” China Journal, Jan. 1938, p. 37.

  193 Aboard the coast-hugging “MM” is “Messageries Maritimes.”

  193 While she had never Harkness to Pierce and Perkins, 23 Aug. 1937.

  CHAPTER 10: SAIGON TO CHENGDU

  195 Inscribe on your heart Juan Chi (210–263), “Poems of My Heart,” in Anthology of Chinese Literature: From Early Times to the Fourteenth Century, ed. Cyril Birch (New York: Grove Press, 1965), p. 179.

  195 After a brief stop “Aramis Due To-Day,” South China Morning Post, 24 Aug. 1937, 195 Yet she turned Harkness to Perkins, 15 Sept. 1937.

  195 She had several letters Harkness to Pierce and Perkins, 25 Aug. 1937.

  195 Right away in Saigon Ibid., 1 Sept. 1937.

  196 She was drawn Robert J. Casey, “Four Faces of Siva: The Mystery of Angkor,” National Geographic, Sept. 1928.

  197 The great place W. Robert Moore, “Along the Old Mandarin Road of Indo- China,” National Geographic, Aug. 1931.

  197 Spreading out Barry Zwick, “Destination: Cambodia,” Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2003.

  197 The stone was known Moore, “Old Mandarin Road.”

  197 “funny little train” Harkness to Perkins, 2 Sept. 1937.

  197 “an oasis” Maynard Owen Williams, “By Motor Trail Across French Indo- China,” National Geographic, Oct. 1935.

  197 But the passing scenes Harkness to Perkins, 2 Sept. 1937.

  198 Her feelings of general foreboding Ibid., 6 Sept. 1937; On 4 Sept. 1937, Harkness wrote in detail of a train wreck in Vietnam in a dispatch she hoped would be published back home:

  The brave little engine that screamed and whistled so courageously all of last night thru the jungle has been defeated—by the jungle. Her lights are twisted and buried in mud; her smoke stack is wreathed in twisted lianas, her little nose peers out from the fallen bamboo and bananas. She leans at a crazy but almost debonair angle, her wheels buried deep in mud; her whole expression is almost a malicious “I told you so.” Even the little engine knows that the jungle is hard to defeat.

  Ahead is just the narrow line of steel tracks thru endless green; to the left steep wet green shooting abruptly upward, the red dripping earth torn up by the landslide is a raw wound in the hillside. From my compartment window the other side offers masses of ragged banana trees whose roots are washed by the Fleuve Rouge—it is brick red—that churns by in full flood, the muddy reddish color broken by masses of driftwood and debris. And then jungle, jungle. Low hills with masses of steamy clouds settling at their feet as if too heavy or too tired to rise again. Or perhaps beaten down by the straight heavy rain that covers the train, the jungle and the river with a gray curtain.

  There was only a series of jerking movements at five o'clock this morning. That had been going on all night so I merely turned over and went to sleep. We were to have changed trains at Lao Kay at six o'clock this morning, so it wasn't until I was up and dressed that I knew we were wrecked. I found someone who spoke English (I am the only American on this train, the rest are Colonial French, Annamite, Chinese or Tonkinese) and we walked up ahead to look at our engine in the ignominious defeat. Monsieur le Directeur of this line who is also making the journey stood in his bedroom slippers, wrapped in a raincoat, sadly shaking his head. “Ah Madame,” he said as I approached, “we may be here indefinitely; the only diversion here would be tigre hunting.” He waved his arms in a vague Gallic gesture. “There are plenty here in this jungle.”

  So I am here on a silly little train deep in the jungle, for how long I do not know. The situation is somewhat complicated by the fact that there is no dining car. I have had for my breakfast a glass of beer, but food there is not. Novelists and people out here are fond of saying “Anything can happen in the East” and one does find oneself in fantastic situations at times.

  198 “a night which I shall” Harkness, 4 Sept. dispatch.

  198 A certain blackness Ibid.

  198 a fancy Michelin train Harkness to Perkins, 6 Sept. 1937.

  199 She arrived at the hotel Ibid.

  199 She was alone Ibid., 6 and 10 Sept. 1937.

  199 Smoking and drinking Harkness to Perkins, 6 Sept. 1937.

  201 nimble little Stinsons Harkness to Perkins, 10 Sept. 1937; 7 Oct. description lists five passengers on her Stinson to Chengdu.

  201 Things were jumbled Telegram, Edward H. Bean to Ruth Harkness, 9 Sept. 1937.

  201 In fact, matters weren't very good Tuchman, Stilwell, p. 172.

  201 While Jones gladly pledged Harkness to Perkins, 10 Sept. 1937.

  201 In fact, while she thought Ruth Harkness to Hazel Perkins, 1 Dec. 1937.

  201 her departure date from Shanghai Mrs. Robert McCombs to Brookfield Zoo—“Dear Sirs”—8 Sept. 1937.

  202 Hazel Perkins had wired Telegram, Hazel Perkins to Edward Bean, 9 Sept. 1937, Brookfield Zoo archives.

  202 Harkness received Perkie's Telegram, Edward Bean to Hazel Perkins, 9 Sept. 1937.

  202 She found that he “Study Mystery of Su-Lin's Death,” Chicago Daily Tribune, 2 Apr. 1938.

  202 “I really got it” Harkness to Perkins, 10 Sept. 1937.

  202 “For the first time in months” Ibid.

  202 She said her roundabout route Ibid.

  202 Later to the Beans in Chicago Harkness to Edward Bean and family, 24 Sept. 1937, Brookfield Zoo archives.

  203 Chengdu was yet another Harkness to Perkins, 15 Sept. 1937.

  203 It contained a massive bed Harkness to Perkins, 5 Oct. 1937.

  203 She had been trying Tuchman, Stilwell, p. 63.

  204 If it were possible Harkness to Perkins, 24 Sept. 1937.

  204 “Kay God dams” Ibid.

  204 “sun helmet” Ruth Harkness, “Our correspondent in China,” unpublished dispatch, 7 Oct.
1937.

  205 “I find myself sunk” Harkness to Perkins, 5 Oct. 1937.

  205 She had her very best Harkness to Edward Bean and family, 24 Sept. 1937.

  205 Cavaliere uncorked a bottle Harkness to Perkins, 18 Oct. 1937.

  205 In part too Full name taken from back of photo in Ruth Harkness family archive. It reads: “Wang Whai Hsin my one servant.”

  205 Still, by muddling through “Second Baby Giant Panda Caught Alive Arrives Here,” China Press, 14 Jan. 1938, p. 1.

  205 Harkness so indulged Harkness to Perkins, 5 Oct. 1937.

  207 But as weeks passed Harkness to Perkins, 24 Sept. 1937.

  CHAPTER 11: HIGH-ALTITUDE HELL

  209 The Face of the autumn moon freezes Poems of the Late T'ang, trans. and with an introduction by A. C. Graham (Middlesex, Eng.: Penguin Books, 1965; reprint 1970), p. 68.

  209 A miserable, drenching rain Harkness to Perkins, 10 Oct. 1937.

  209 She and Wang “New Trip Planned by Mrs. Harkness,” New York Times, 27 Feb. 1938, says there were ten porters and “squads of carrying porters.”

  210 Pulling the page Harkness to Perkins, 10 Oct. 1937.

  210 Many friends called Ibid., 18 Oct. 1937.

  210 One night, a familiar hunter Harkness to Perkins, 10 Oct. 1937.

  210 As a staging area “Panda Hunter Tells Story of Patient Quest,” Chicago Sunday Tribune, 20 Feb. 1938.

  210 Here Harkness and Wang Harkness to Perkins, 15 Nov. 1937.

  210 “no bigger than a boy” Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery,” p. 10.

  210 Seeing him now Harkness to Perkins, 15 Nov. 1937.

  211 In the shadow Harkness to Perkins, 5 Nov. 1937.

  211 Set against a stubbled Harkness to Perkins, 15 Nov. 1937.

  211 They scrambled up Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery,” p. 58.

  211 There were battered Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 159.

  211 “ancient, spicy odor” Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery,” p. 10.

  212 The adventurer Ibid.

  212 A small terrace “New Trip Planned.”

  212 Containing a small Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery,” p. 10.

  212 Harkness rummaged Harkness to Perkins, 24 Oct. 1937.

  212 She would decorate Harkness to Perkins, 15 Nov. 1937.

  213 As night fell Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 159.

  213 Some days Tibetan Harkness to Perkins, 27 Oct. 1937.

  213 Often they came to sell food Harkness “In a Tibetan Lamasery,” p. 57.

  213 Sometimes people would hike Harkness to Perkins, 5 Nov. 1937.

  213 Through it all, a surprising number Harkness to Pierce, 10 Dec. 1937; and Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery,” p. 10.

  213 “They come, lift up Harkness to Pierce, 10 Dec. 1937.

  213 The people were achingly poor Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery,” p. 57.

  214 An opium addict Harkness to Perkins, 15 Nov. 1937.

  214 Harkness spent time Per Kvaerne, professor of the history of religions and Tibetology, University of Oslo, author of The Bon Religion of Tibet, e-mail correspondence with author, May 2004.

  214 Lying among Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 159.

  214 There might be a serene Schell, Virtual Tibet, p. 20.

  214 Harkness loved these Three of these cards archived by Linda Ash. One card bears a note in Harkness's handwriting, above and below the prayer: “November 1937/The Ruined Castle/Tsaopo”—and below, “Tibetan Border/China.”

  215 Sometimes she would Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery.”

  215 squash, Chinese turnips, cabbage soup Harkness to Perkins, 15 Nov. 1937.

  215 pheasant, and a few times a week, chicken Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery.”

  215 And he cooked Ibid.

  215 If something was lost Harkness to Perkins, 27 Oct. 1937.

  215 Wang, who was married Harkness to Perkins, 5 Nov. 1937.

  215 his two-piece wives Harkness to Perkins, 15 Nov. 1937.

  215 There were no bed Ibid.

  215 At its center Harkness to Perkins, 21 Oct. 1937.

  216 As he would go off Harkness to Perkins, 27 Oct. 1937.

  216 The kindness and loyalty Ibid.

  216 It was the first step Harkness to Perkins, 24 Oct. 1937 (many typos that I have not put in).

  216 Her typewriter Harkness to Perkins, 5 Nov. 1937.

  217 Even though mail Harkness to Perkins, 2 Nov. 1937.

  217 Her first words to Hazel Perkins Harkness to Perkins, 24 Oct. 1937.

  217 She said the renovated Ruth Harkness to “Danbury Title Company” (Hazel Perkins), 27 Oct. 1937.

  217 She also pored over Harkness to Perkins, 24 Oct. 1937.

  217 Standing out on the balcony Harkness to Perkins, 27 Oct. 1937.

  217 Wang remained optimistic Harkness to Perkins, 27 Oct. 1937 and 15 Nov. 1937.

  218 Combing the ridges Harkness to Perkins, 1 Dec. 1937.

  218 Occasionally, though Harkness to Perkins, 5 Nov. 1937.

  218 Years later, Harkness would Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery,” pp. 10, 58.

  218 After the drop-off Ibid., p. 10.

  219 Harkness was overjoyed Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 167.

  219 “With no companionship” Harkness to Perkins, 2 Nov. 1937.

  219 There was a clipping Harkness to Perkins, 27 Oct. 1937.

  219 She clambered through Harkness to Perkins, 15 Nov. 1937.

  219 Collapsing into bed Harkness to Perkins, 27 Oct. 1937.

  219 In the morning, as light Ibid.

  220 Days of laziness Harkness to Perkins, 2 Nov. 1937.

  220 set in a beautiful forest Harkness to Perkins, 22 Aug. 1936. She was then calling it “Panther Stones.” The manuscript-in-progress was presently locked up with clothes and ammunition in the bank in Shanghai.

  220 The drizzly nights Harkness to Perkins, 2 Nov. 1937.

  220 By this time Harkness to Perkins, 5 Nov. 1937.

  221 Wang arranged with the hunters Harkness to Perkins, 15 Nov. 1937.

  222 “he came rushing” Harkness to Perkins, 5 Nov. 1937.

  222 As for a trip into the forest Ibid.

  222 With all the preparations Harkness to Perkins, 15 Nov. 1937.

  222 By mid-November Harkness to Perkins, 15 Nov. 1937.

  222 Her humor blackened Harkness to Perkins, 5 Nov. 1937.

  222 She feared Harkness to Perkins, 27 Oct. 1937.

  223 “This year I'm” Harkness to Pierce, 10 Dec. 1937.

  223 a bowl of pale tea Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery,” p. 57.

  223 tiger balm Ibid., p. 10.

  223 and stoke the fire Harkness to Perkins, 15 Nov. 1937.

  223 Sometimes it was comforting Harkness to Perkins, 2 Nov. 1937.

  223 horrible images Harkness to Perkins, July, n.d., 1938.

  223 He must have been reproaching Harkness to Perkins, July 1938.

  223 She felt that Harkness to Perkins, 2 Nov. 1937.

  224 What she saw was real Schaller, Last Panda, p. 98.

  224 One night, the rhythms Harkness to Perkins, 2 Nov. 1937.

  224 Out here, she had faith Harkness to Perkins, 5 Nov. 1937.

  224 In this mood Harkness to Perkins, 1 Dec. 1937; and 24 Oct. 1937, says she knows what she is going to do with Nya-Nya; she mentions the story again to Perkie in letter of 10 Dec. 1937.

  224 Her agent would Harkness to Pierce and Perkins, 16 Dec. 1937.

  224 It was fresh Harkness to Perkins, 15 Nov. 1937.

  225 In a dark corner China Press, 16 Jan. 1938, gives Su-Lin's weight at the time as seventy-five pounds. Yin was said to be Su-Lin's size.

  225 The sorry state Harkness to Perkins, 1 Dec. 1937.

  225 But Yin wanted Ibid.

  226 He told her Harkness to Perkins, 10 Dec. 1937.

  226 “Really I can't describe” Harkness to Perkins, 1 Dec. 1937.

  226 At least poor Yin finally Ibid.

  227 The bamboo-obsessed Lumpkin and Seidensticker,
Smithsonian Book of Giant Pandas, p. 79. George Schaller, in conversation with author, 19 Apr. 2004, says both males and females display this behavior. E-mail from biologist Devra Kleiman, 23 July 2004: “I don't know whether you are speaking of headstands or handstands; it is the latter that pandas use when they scent mark. Males do most of these behaviors, but females also do so very occasionally. Pandas stand on their heads during other behaviors, in my experience, but not during scent marking.”

  227 Since she couldn't go Harkness to Perkins, 1 Dec. 1937.

  227 The new, loftlike Ibid.

  227 So she moved in Ibid.

  227 Through experimentation Harkness to Pierce and Perkins, 16 Dec. 1937.

  228 With fewer comforts Harkness to Perkins, 10 Dec. 1937.

  228 If she failed Harkness to Pierce, 10 Dec. 1937.

  228 “I've been plotting” Harkness to Pierce and Perkins, 16 Dec. 1937.

  228 Cavaliere had begun Harkness to Perkins, 1 Dec. 1937.

  228 What she was hearing Harkness to Perkins, 27 Oct. 1937.

  228 On November 11 Spence, Search for Modern China, p. 423.

  228 But within no time Tuchman, Stilwell, pp. 176, 177.

  228 She would find a way Harkness to Perkins, 1 Dec. 1937.

  228 In the meantime Harkness to Perkins, 27 Oct. 1937.

  229 She mentioned the capture Pierce to Perkins, dated only “Tuesday,” probably from Jan. 1938, though filed in Dec. folder because it makes reference to Harkness's letter of 10 Dec. 1937.

  229 Harkness didn't seem Harkness to Perkins, 1 Dec. 1937.

  229 Within weeks Harkness to Perkins, 10 Dec. 1937.

  229 Her letters were peppered Harkness to Pierce, 10 Dec. 1937.

  229 Quaker Oats Harkness to Perkins, 10 Dec. 1937.

  229 Seven panels Anadarko Oklahoma News, 11 Nov. 1937; and Palestine (Tex.) Advocate, 5 Nov. 1937.

  229 Two American women “Su-Lin Doesn't Mind Winter at All,” Martinsville (Ill.) Planet, 23 Dec. 1938. One of hundreds of similar articles kept in the Brookfield Zoo archives. Same article, headline, and photo in papers from Montana, Iowa, Ohio, Missouri, Brookfield Zoo archives.

  229 fifty-cent children's book Ruth Ann Waring and Helen Wells, Su-Lin (New York: Rand McNally, 1937).

  230 A clothing company Newspaper ad from the Brookfield Zoo archives—no date or company name, but ad encourages readers to visit Su-Lin at Brookfield.