only a few months or weeks. The cabins on B and C decks, with no direct ventilation, are far too hot for either children or mothers to sleep and in consequence they are running around the decks up till all hours of the night, their little brassy voices making the evening hideous. Fortunately they are all at the first meal sitting so we can escape them there for a few minutes each day, and they are not permitted on the sun deck. All the lounges are crawling with them. Sunday, 8 February 1948. This must be closed up and ready for mailing by tomorrow night as we are due in Pago Pago at 8 AM on Tuesday, the 10th. There are to be buses to drive people around the island, I understand, but think I would prefer to walk and see the sights. The buses are to take people out to a place where native dances are being held but it does not appeal to me and I think I can [illegible] ferret out more interesting things than the trippers bene- fits by myself. This, therefore, will be mailed without any particulars and opinions on Pago Pago. Those will be mailed from Fiji. Likewise impressions of Fiji will be mailed from Auckland and comments on Auckland will be sent off after arrival at Sydney. Monday, 9 February 1948. The closing entry must now be made and this made ready for mailing tomorrow. Last night Van got two sooty terns which struck parts of the ship and dropped on deck and this morning Gobel, the third mate, came in to the cabin to tell us that he had procured another one dur- ing the small hours of the morning. That one turns out to be something that Van does not recognize and is probably due to become our first specimen, in spite of my urging that we are not bird collectors but mammal people.