where the suspension bridge is. It is a crocodile marsh, but so very populated by foot travellers that I assume the bridge must have fallen in. I found very little activity in the insect world, none whatever in that of the reptiles, and I sweated like a bull. It was a hot day anyway, with very little breeze, and the ten-foot grass prevented that from getting down to where one walks normally. I may have mentioned earlier here that Peter and Tony, the two officers at Baniara, were to go out and patrol last Wednesday week, but it has not come to pass. There was a killing in their territory and one of them had to go and apprehend the mur- derer; then whichever one of them it was had to hold the first trial and remand the culprit to jail pending the arrival of the judge who would pronounce sentence. The Judge was said to be arriving at Baniara today but there has been no loud cry of "Sail-Ho" with which any boat is hailed, whether coming her or not, so they are still waiting and the patrol has gone with the wind. No doubt the murderer was quite in the right, according to his lights, and his sentence will probably be something like four years on a penal island, where he will work not nearly as hard as he does at home (though he will not have his wife to do it for him) and get free food. The law here listens to the case and judges with a lenient hand when the native knows no better and his crime has not been directed at a white person. Instead of staying out all night last night as he had planned, Ken returned about 2330, very put out and convinced that puri-puri (magic) had worked against him because it rained the moment he reached his hunting area and he and Jimmy did not see or hear a thing; they smelled a possum and that was all. Ken has gone again tonight, taking Jimmy and David (the breech there now being healed) and as soon as they had got a reasonable distance from camp, about to the selected ground, what do you think? It began to rain again. Somebody is making mighty strong puri-puri against Ken these last two days. 24 April. Puri-puri is still strong against Ken and while he and his boys got a little flying possum which they brought in, they also got a large one which stuck up in a tree and was gone when they went out this morning. Some time ago, while I was alone here, I spoke of Losima asking for an advance of ten shil- lings; it developed that he wanted the money to buy a white lap-lap at the trading store as he felt ashamed of his dirty old red one when waiting on the table. Later on when we offered the boys their "Sunday money" - overtime, that is - he drew out a pound, but learning what he wanted it for, we presented him with the desired white garment. Now he has given his pound to Ken to keep for him, as the other boys, who virtuously refused any Sunday money and wanted it all to mount up till the end of their contracts, have been trying to borrow Losima's pound. They are due for a new issue of lap-laps and those we recently received from Bunting have red monkeys crawling all over them; it would be a good idea to take their pic- tures when they are freshly garbed in the monkeys. Both Losima and Niko have now recovered from the malaria which hit them two days ago! I dosed them both with Aralen, and then had to do up an open ulcer on Niko's thigh. The soccer ball is getting a lot of punishment in the evenings too, and things just seem to float along quietly. Bill's boat, the Ruru, we hear is on the stocks at Samarai, and held there until some parts come up from Sydney. Consequently our departure from here is a very uncertain thing just at the moment.