73 Piunde-Aunde Every day John has been doing preliminaries for an ascent of the main peak. This afternoon, with two Chimbus, he climbed to the third lake of the Piunde-Aunde valley at 13,100 feet. Reports the lake a pond about 60 x 80 yards, the water clear and about 8 feet deep; edges swamps. He brought back a bag of plants from low tree growths and grasslands about the lake. Included were Podocarpus com- pactus, a small-leaved Drimys, and Eurya brassii? Tuesday, June 16. Blowy light rain began about 10:30 last night and continued on and off for at least 2 hours. Rain from down the valley. This morning as yesterday, followed by a clear afternoon. Ramu-Markham Valley full of cloud all day, and at 5:30 pm. spilling over the mountains into the head of the Chimbu. My night watch on the plant dryer kept me out of bed until almost one this AM. Got a chill, and consequently worked close to camp today. Morning mostly bleak and sunless. Collected a few grasses and the common buttercup of wet ground. Rest of day spent on dry material and preparing the nice lot of plants which John brought from the 3rd lake yesterday. Natives from down below brought a couple of the blackish Pseudocheirus, two ornate bandicoots, and a Melomys presumably from near Keglsugl. My guide of a week ago (Petrus) and a couple of young boys got food from our pile and are camped tonight at the rock shelter at the lower end of the Piunde-Aunde Valley. They are hunting for Van. John guessed right on the weather being as yesterday's and at 8:45 set out for the summit of Wilhelm with Wak and two other Chimbus. One of the Chimbus was back in camp within an hour. The other boys accompanied John to the top; the party returning at 4:45 pm. The altimeter read 11,900 ft. at camp, 14,850 ft. at the summit. Pullen & Hoogland in 1956 also made the summit about the same (15,000 ft.). The height of the mountain always has been in doubt, and probably there has been a little stretching. The most recent maps we have give the height at 15,400 ft. Wednesday, June 17. Morning almost completely overcast. Some hot sun for about 2 hours in mid afternoon. Clouds from about east, blotting out the mountain most of the day. No rain. Both of my boys sick with colds today, so Van lent me Liklik for field work in the morning. Went up to the second lake, called Piunde in some reports, at 3700 m. (12,200 ft.) and about 400 feet above camp. The Lake very deep, and longer and narrower than the one on which we are camped. Collected Callitriche in the western shallows, and saw submerged Scirpus fluitans in other edges. Got a good bag of plants new to the collection, some from the grasslands, some from the patches of subalpine forest along the south and west shores. The south slopes very steep indeed in places and barely providing foothold. A plunge into the lake would have been very cold. Logs and sticks laid along the trail in places indicate that this was formerly the trail to the summit. The trail is no longer used, and the going is very hard, especially in the forest patches. Principal forest elements are Podocarpus compactus up to 30-40 ft. high, a Rapaena with pale small leaves (collected), Quintimia with abbreviated recemes, Myrtus? Olearia 29808 is abundant on the forest edges and extends in a scattered tall-shrub (8-12 ft.) stand for perhaps 200-300 feet up the slopes beyond the limits of the forest patches. Yellow- flowered Hypericum macgregori is very abundant in a belt which includes the Olearia