Friday, 20 Februa ry 1948. When I first woke this morning, disturbed by loud voices outside the cabin, the lights of Sydney were lining the distance horizon to our west. I went back to sellp, finally rising about 6.30 for medical inspection. We had been issued with numbered tickets though I cannot tell why. The tickets were taken up as we passed the doctor and there had been no attempt made to get us into numeri- cal order. The diseases specifically looked for were typhus, plague, smallpox and yellow fever and apparently they all show on the forearms some- how. That was the only part of our bodies exposed, other than our faces. After the medical inspection we were directed into the lounge where the immigration officers held forth but there was no single way into the place and mobs of people collided from three directions, ending in a milling mass like a cattle stampede. After that I returned to the cabin, Van having to register as an alien and appear before the police, to find that my express orders to leave all our bags there had been ignored and they were out on the deck mixed in with everybody else. Finally we we were buttonholed by the press and made to talk and have our pictures taken, after which the plank was put across and passengers were allowed to disembark. We located our letters with some difficulty and then Van went aboard again to extract our belongings; fortunately he was able to find and bring them to the head of the gangway where I met him and put them under our respective letters. Then, after having made a little broadcast, I brought out my Dept. of External Affairs letter and asked the broadcasting man to introduce me to the chief Customs Inspector, a man named Latham, who procured inspectors for us and rushed us through as I told him we had to depart for Cairns as rapidly as possible. There were no taxis on the dock and I had to walk some distance away from the pier to find one but did so and after that it was plain sailing. Our room at the Carlton Hotel was reserved, though it is far from elaborate; apparently in Australia if you want a room with a bath, you say so. However, we have separate and comfortable looking beds and there is a wash basin in the room. We sent off some mail and them lunch ed, after which we set about the important chores there were to be done. First we called at the British Council and found that plane reservations to Brisbane had been made for us. There will be little difference between that and rail fares as we should be eating a day and a half by train whereas the plane does the journey in one and a half hours. Then we went up to the Australian Museum and I found that the missing documents covering George's freight shipment had arrived later and I need not have worried after all. Then we saw Mr. Troughton, one of the leading mammalogists, with whom George has done a lot of work, returned to the British Council, and were invited out for drinks by Mr. Thomas, the local representative, to his house. Van left me then as he had some private letters to present and I returned to the hotel to write this up after having a re- freshing shower. That brings me up to date. There was a terrific storm here last night and even sixty miles out at sea we were able to see the glare of the lightning. One inch of rain fell in about five minutes, they tell me; it has been a humid, moist day and now looks as though another storm might break at any minute. A letter from George reached us on board before disembarking but there was no news and it had been written on February 5th. I expect some word from Len tomorrow.