177 in the Moluccas. Fairchild will collect live plants and botanical specimens and wishes me to join the party to take care of this work. He will arrive at Ambon in November on a yacht fitted with a laboratory. March 16, 1939. First rainless day since my arrival here on the 4th: sunny morning with some mist on ridges after 9 AM; PM overcast. Teerink and Toxopeus returned from Bernhard Camp. Spent a very unprofitable morning in the Agathis forest about 50-100 m. above camp. My half-caste German, Max Drekner, gave me some instruction in tapping for dammar. As Archbold plans another New Guinea Expedition, to begin about April 1940, I cannot see my way clear to accompany Fairchild to the Moluccas in November. It would mean giving up my trip to the United States and there would be little time between expeditions for either work or rest. March 17, 1939. Day of rain and mist culminating in a series of thunderstorms in late afternoon and evening. River up about 1 m. and flowing very rapidly (about 10-12 m. p. h.). Gathered some few plants, left for such a day, close about camp. Tonight the river rises and falls, the racing water thinly muddy, and rocks in the bed grind and crack together under the force of the current. This is so far only a mild spate, but it turns one's thoughts to what must surely happen in the event of a high flood. Camp is built on ground slightly higher than the surrounding terrain. A high flood would surround us before flowing through camp and the only place of safety would be in the trees. Waxin Floods certainly cover the whole camp site at times. A flood channel separates the native quarters from the European. The ground is everywhere