97 Pengagl Creek Had a careful weighing of our cargo at the strip. We have 42 pounds over the 3000 pounds we are allowed for two charter flights. This after giving two drums of Kerosene to the Mission. If the pilot tomorrow insists on the 1500-pound limit for payload, we will dump the few surplus items of foodstuffs we have left. Have engaged as a sixth hand the Chimbu Tobram, who has been employed as an extra man at both our Mt. Wilhelm camps. A good hunter and trapper, he will be in the mammal team, replacing Hetanin, who will be #2 cook. This extra employee accounts for our being a bit over weight for the flights. The heaviest man of the six we now have on the payroll, he weighs 126 lbs. Saturday, August 1. The Mt. Wilhelm phase of our work was successfully concluded by two Otter flights (Capt. Bill Taylor) from Keglsugl and the safe deposit of our collections and gear in the government stores at Goroka. Had perfect weather conditions for the flights. Van and I and four boys came out on the first flight, John, the cook and Tobram on the second. Our take-off was at 8:10. The whole operation was concluded by the middle of the morning. At the Goroka airport to meet us were Joe Collins with our Land Rover, Ken James and Bill Seale. And, standing with Joe, I was surprised to see Russ Peterson, in field clothing, and looking rather heavy for a man who had been in the field for three months. The work of the Spalding-Peterson Expedition finished in North Queensland, he and Lionel Evennett (transport man) had flown to Port Moresby from Cairns and on to Goroka en route to Nondugl to visit Shaw-Mayer. They are waiting in Goroka for the arrival of Phil Spalding and their herps man ([illegible]) on Tuesday morning. Starting their work in Queensland in the Cairns area, they went through (by Land Rover) Ravenshoe, Mt. Garnet, Einasleigh, Forsayth and Georgetown to Normanton, thence to the lower Mitchell River, then west through Georgetown to Redbank Copper Mine, 15-20 miles west of Wologorang in the Northern Territory. Collected 45 species of mammals, but were restricted to six specimens per species by an official (McDougall) of the Department of Agriculture in Brisbane. This restriction allegedly required under a new (1952) fauna protection act. This act said to be a direct result of improper doings by Archbold Expeditions. The offending actions were on the part of George and Geoff Tate, about 1949 or 1950, who arranged with Jack Roberts of Shipton's Flat, near Cooktown, to make mammal collections supplementary to ours of 1948. This arrangement was made without application for a collecting permit, and the first consignment of skins was seized and held for a time in Cairns. I was at the Florida Station and had nothing to do with the arrangements. But as leader of our Cape York expedition in 1948 I am thought to have been behind it all, and I get the blame. Will try to do something about it while in Australia after this present trip is over. Again Van and I are enjoying the hospitality of Ken James, manager of Buntings in Goroka. Goroka has a splendid dry season climate, but at the 5000-ft. altitude the air seems heavy after our two months at over 9000 feet. Peterson and Evennett have traps and guns with them. We are helping them with the Land Rover, and John as guide. Summary of Van's mammal collection from the two Mt. Wilhelm camps: collection numbers 832 (including 79 skulls only); 564 numbers from Pengagl Creek Camp. Number of species 35. Rodents included Anisomys 9 specimens, Hyomys 2, Lorentzomys 7, Parahydromys 4, Crossomys 1, Pseudohydromys 7, Neohydromys 9,