Diary - Van Deusen Masba Creek Camp 9 May 1974 (Saturday) Three Melomys in traps last night. I am skinning out and making all Melomys up these early days of the expedition for the simple reason that they are so very tender-skinned. I don't want Tobram and Davida to "break in" again on this particular rodent. Diwas, our "mail boy", came into camp from Pindiu with a note from Mrs. Ren Willard, the Patrol Officer's wife. She sent us a tin of home-made "biscuits" (cookies to an American!). No plane to Pindiu from Lae today, so again no mail from home. We put up a mist net across the small brook south of camp. New trap lines out. Tonight Stan and I went out on Tobram's newly completed jacking trail west of camp. Stan shot at a roosting bird, but it fluttered off into the forest. So many birds in the tropical forests roost in the open. Compare this with birds of the temperate latitudes! They hide themselves well. We heard flying foxes, but as usual in this big forest we could not spot them. I shone the eyes of a large ranid, and caught it on the ground without trouble. Later we were almost at the top end (west) of the trail when I stopped for a moment to listen, as one frequently does when jacking (torch off, too). I heard a leaf rustle almost at my feet, and looked down to see the head of a large snake gliding slowly towards me. Stan and I did not realize from the two plus feet that we could see of the snake that it was an olive python (as Ken later informed us!). I shot it in the body with the .410 gauge (#12 shot) and Stan fired several rounds of .22 bird shot into the body before it turned