able to come but the other three of us, with one of Len's flower-flower boys to carry a haversack, set out at 0830 to walk the four miles and make a call. We get there without incident though none of us felt too secure in crossing the long, single-log bridges over some of the creeks, particularly as we know they are in- fested with crocodiles. When we got to Abouara, the village on the mainland oppo-site to Baniara Island (it is on an island with a smaller one nearby where the bad criminals are kept) it soon became evident that no look-out was being kept for our coming. We set up a smudge fire, Tomi, Len's boy, hoisted his red lava-lava as a flag to a tall pole, and still nothing happened. Finally a fisherman came along but by that time rain had begun to pour down. We hired the fisherman, with four tobacco sticks, to paddae over to the island with Ken, and eventually a canoe came over for Len, me and Tomi. We found a very strained atmosphere when we got there and have not been able to make out what caused it; the two officers are about to go walkabout and are likely to reach some part of Mt. Maneau at the same time as we; we thought that Ken's completed climb might have something to do with it. I thought also that perhaps we had stumbled on some purely domestic rumpus between them (the position is strained there perhaps, because Tony Skewes, a more refined type than peter, has been in sole charge for some time and has done a good job, but nevertheless has had to take second place on Peter's return) but the whole thing be- came rather embarassing and the rain continued to thunder down. We waited until after 1700 hours and still it poured, so we started back. The canoe trip to the mainland took about half an hour and then we started to walk back, first sending Tomi ahead to warn the cook of our coming and to ask Van to send out some of the other boys with more light (we had one flashlight between the three of us). We went on and on, light getting dimmer and dimmer, the log bridges looking longer and longer and actually becoming more and more slippery, while the streams beneath them, swollen with the rain and completely mud-colored, looked as though they were completelyx literally crawling with crocs. We made the trip without any mishap at all, because we were especially cautious, and when we were just about half a mile from Menapi, the reinforcements met us. Both my boys, Niko and Bili, had come out, and I think we have arrived at an understanding that we all look after each other; Len was mad because none of his flower-flower boys had troubled to come, and the third of them was David, Ken's permanent boy, on whom Ken looks rather as a son. Of course we were completely saturated but buckets of hot water and a couple of slugs fixed us up, and with a good supper we are as right as rain and glad that we returned and did not spend the night there. There is talk of a Government boat coming to Baniara as one of Bill Mason's boys is on trial; He had been stealing Bill's copra and selling it back to him, and is to be tried by the District Officer; he will come by boat, of course, and we hope that he will not only take mail out for us, but he may bring some in. 13 April. We all recovered from last night's walk without any undue ill-effects but this morning Ken was still so upset over the behaviour that we met at Baniara yesterday that he decided to go again and get things settled with Peter O'Sullivan. Ken feels a great deal of responsibility both towards us and over the treatment which we receive from local authorities. Consequently he left about 0800 a again this morning and, just as yesterday, it started to rain about 1000; It has been much too heavy a downpour to do any hunting at all, and none of us has a dry rag of clothing to put on. Ken returned late afternoon, before dark, this time, with word that everything was amicably settled and there was nothing in the way of expla- nation of yesterday, which rather confirms my belief that we had run into some quite domestic affair which was none of our besiness. Peter has received official in- structions to let us do what we please and simply to stand by to get us out of trouble if we get into it. This is not likely. Ken also brought word that a Govt. boat had been 'sighted coming in to Baniara; it was the one carrying the A.D.O. for the trial of Bill's boy who has been selling his copra back to him, and an hour or so after Ken came home, a runner came through from Baniara with a batch of mail for us. Incidentally the rain of yesterday came with a change of wind from the