'possum dog, which very materially assisted in the last night's hunting before our departure from the Bend, is named Teddy, and he is the grandson of a Best of Breed at the Brisbane Dog Trials. His owner is old Joe Fisher, who took part in the hunt which probably would have been the foundation of his alibi in the matter of the sixteen 44 gallon drums of petrol, had he not discovered that they belonged to old Joe Keppel. About the only other thing in the note-book is a memo concerning Len's watch. He lost it when we stopped the night at Falls Creek (Horne Creek) and I found it buried in the dust on the trail. He lost it again last night somewhere along the trail he and George rode to the Scrub and I am afraid this time it will stay lost. George started up to the Scrub again this morning to make camp and stay there. He took with him Don Vernon, the youngest of us and consequently the most energetic, and Willie, the best axe-man. With the horse-boy and three loaded pack animals, the procession was quite imposing. They expect to reach the camp spot, its exact location still undecided, about 4 P.M. this afternoon and the horse-boy, with all the animals, will start back, camping for the night at a place called Camp-Oven Pocket, where there is water and grass for the horses. He will get in tomorrow some time, the horses will be rested for the rest of the day and tomorrow night, and I think Van and I go up next, probably with Moreton. Len, Roy and I went out shortly after George's party started this morning to cut a trail which will eliminate a deep bend and about an hour's travel. During one of our rest spells Roy told me of his war experiences, such as they were. I believe he guarded Thursday Island, for some reason, but was one of several of the Cowal Creek boys who were formed into the T.S.L.I. Roy said he did not know what it meant but it is Torres Straits Light Infantry. The T.S.L.I. was clad in shorts and its members went long trousers, he informed me, petting his skinny calves proudly. "Me, I got some meat, but them other boy skinny too much. Them boy put on boots and shorts and feet stick out too, too much." Which means that even the Cowal Creekers became aware of the size of their feet and the thin-ness of their legs, once they were in uniform. Our camp here is about twenty or thirty yards from the edge of the Pench River, in green, cool open forest, but I am very surprised at the scarceness of specimens of all kinds. My theory about no snakes if there are no rats seems to be born out again. There are no rats and so far I have seen only one snake, which I failed to get. It was sitting right beside me on the river bank but I did not see it until it slid into the water and swam away. It was quite a harmless one, and Willie also brought me one, harmless too, which he found in a tree; I comment on this particularly as this is the place where the first specimen of the almost fabulous taipan was said to have been taken. George and Van have had little luck in their efforts though I saw a big wallaroo the first day I went out over the hot land over which we passed to get here. About the only things I can find are spiders; there are lots of them, and quite different from those I have from other places. These in the main are big reddish things and their eyes gleam so vividly in my head-light beam that they are easy to pick up. I have become expert in the use of long forceps for that and many other purposes. Friday, 13 August 1943. In spite of the ominous date, nothing has gone wrong so far, and it is past noon. I have to write this up now as I have to get my stuff packed ready to move up to the scrub first thing tomorrow morning. Van and Roy come with me. The only thing of moment was the arrival about 10 A.M. of a couple of