and instructed us to go in the "place with the bicycle in front of it" but it turned out to be a much less crowded and more pleasant joint than the other. There we had a little more beer and then wandered as far as we could go up the side of the nearest mountain. Returning from our climb, we walked along the harbor shore and there were captured in a sudden very heavy rain shower, after which we returned to the ship, it being lunch time. Immediately after lunch we hoisted the anchor, took our hawser aboard again and started off for Fiji, travelling about WSW. We cross the date line tonight and therefore Wednesday, 11 February 1948 will not appear in this journal at all. Tomorrow is Thursday, 12 February 1948. Temperature ashore was [illegible] about 92 and in the dining saloon it was 95. Dr. Lilley engaged one of the local chiefs in conversation and was told that the Samoans feel they are being exploited by the U.S. It is not a new story, of course, but the feeling may have been rather intensified by the fact that British Samoa has recently been raised to the status of Crown Colony, and is self-administered. We steamed out of the harbor at 2 PM and a plane circled overhead and then headed away in the opposite direction from ours. I was able to [illegible] some air-mail away and trust it was being carried on that plane. Thursday, 12 February 1948. The island on which Pago Pago is situated is named Tua Tula, just for the record, and on waking this morning we were abreast of another island Nauafua, a not very large place planted extensively with coconut palms. It was about seven or eight miles on our starboard. The newspaper this morning contained the disturbing news that all the rail- ways in the state of Queensland are on strike and the government proposes to fight them. We cannot take any chances in the matter of getting to Cairns so I wired to a friend of Wilmot's (radioed, of course, not wired) at the British Education Council to make plane reservations for us from Sydney to Brisbane on the 23rd. Copy of the radio follows:- Thomas, Britcoun, Sydney. Assistance requested please reserve two air passages Sydney Brisbane 23rd Febru- ary names Tate and Vandeusen excess baggage hundred pounds. Wilmot. Full address: A.J. Thomas, British Council, 104 Hunter Street, cor. Phillip. I can get a letter off to Len from Suva tomorrow to keep him informed and should receive word of any new developments on my arrival at Sydney. This has to be finished this day in order to be ready for mailing at Suva. We arrive at 8 AM and leave at 11, everybody having to be back on board at 10.30 AM. If I have breakfast on board, there will not be time to do much else but mail my letters. Frank, the cabin steward, just came in to ask about landing baggage at Sydney and in several respects the trip seems to be drawing to a close. We had a birth on board a couple of nights ago and in general the passengers have been behaving very well, everything considered. There have been many things hap- pen that should not and many things have not happened which should have and for which the line is extremely culpable; they have fully lived up to their reputation for taking as much and giving as little as possible.