March 25th. Left Darwin in grey dawn and flying by way of Melville Island reached Koepang in 3\frac{1}{2} hours. Melville Island (seen in poor light of early morning from 8000 feet) seems covered with savannah forest with extensive mangrove forest on some of the many arms of water which penetrate it from the north side. On S or SW side high pale (sand) slopes of cut off ridges conspicuous on coast. Struck Timor a few miles E of the Portuguese boundary. Originally the island was probably Covered with dry rain forest, with better forest on the high mountains and other favored localities. At the present time, from the coast to high up on the mountain slopes, the forests have been in large part destroyed and replaced by grass and park lands of dark, rounded trees looking very beautiful from the air. Towards the east end a large fan palm from which sugar is obtained by the natives, dominates the landscape, forming palm savannahs and actually palm forests. These palm communities are undoubtedly secondary and most likely the palms are planted by the natives on their old garden lands. Scattered population practising shifting patch method of cultivation. Only crop seen was maize, now ripening. Climate dry in SE season. Grass still green but maize now ripening, The big sandy rivers seen along the south coast were dry or carried only trickles of water. Casuarinas? on islands in rivers. Several pale green areas of distinctive appearance I take to be primary Eucalyptus savannah. Breakfasted at Koepang airport and crossed to see the plane of Broadbent who made a forced landing on a grass slope on the south coast some few miles E of Toren Gd? on a recent flight from England. Natives working about the spot had covered the plane with matting, built a thatched house nearby and cleared a good long runway for the plane to take off. Shifting cultivation also on Flores and large areas of grass in consequence. Perhaps not so dry as Timor. Passed Komodo and flew along S coast of Sumbawa. The east end of Sumbawa and the isl lands between it and Flores largely secondary grass, some large areas with hardly any trees and looking very brown and dry. At Chempi Bay the first paddy fields appear, on flat lands on coast and in valleys and from this point east practically