Bulolo-Lae 24 Tuesday, April 7. Finished preparation of the week-end collection. Have from it 42 numbers including bryophytes. Tidied away sundry insect collections which have been given to us. Prepared plant collecting supplies for the bush. Jacking last night in the Budebum area until about 11 o'clock, Van (accompanied by John) shot a Pteropus neohibernicus, largest of the fruitbats, and one of only two seen. Nothing in traps except a couple of largish brown skinks, common in this area but not previously collected by us. A bandicoot seen. Van and John up the Bulolo road today as far as Mumeng, fifty-seven miles, to see Mark Schultz, owner of the house on the best site for a collecting camp in the Oomsis area on the lowlands. I did not know on Sunday, when we travelled that road, that Schultz lived at Mumeng. He is reputed to be a hard and shifty man to deal with. Was warned against him by John Womersley. Schultz and the Forests Department are at daggers drawn over a fight about timber rights. Schultz, according to John Womersley, took up a block of land some years ago as a speculation, thinking that the timber went with the lease. The Department of Forests claimed the timber, and in a battle which went as far as Canberra, established its right and duly cut the logs of marke value. Today, Schultz and his wife were found most cordial. I was prepared to go to £5 a week rent for the house, but Schultz accepted our starting price of £3. They want to clean the place out before we move in (for a period up to 4 weeks), so we can not take possession until Friday. On the outward journey Van and John called in at the Bends forest camp, 5 miles the other side of Schultz', and confirmed my impression that this would not be a good place for a collecting base (no activity there for a couple of years; much disturbance; logging roads grown over). At Gurakor they called in on the Horrolts and were fed to their none too small limits with all kinds of foods with afternoon tea. Mrs. Horrolt most hospitable in the gold old German style. She has had some training in botany. They also spent some time at Zenag, the property of Mick Leahy (now in the U.S.), where 17-year old Richard, in charge of the place, had a Petaurus (living) and several pickled Miniopterus brought in on call by local natives. The Petaurus is small and may be P. tafa. The bats are of another species from a single large one (M. schreibersi magnator ?) which Van shot at the Bulolo hotel on Saturday night (not mentioned before in journal). A very successful trip by Van and John. There is no end to special requests when one goes out on a trip like this. Today I have one from Dr. Hj. Eichler, State Herbarium of South Australia, asking for a special set of the Ranunculaceae to be put aside and sent to him. He realizes that his herbarium can not share in the general distribution of the plant collection, and he is a recognized specialist in the buttercup family. He is asking more than I can offer to do. I will recommend that he ask the National Herbarium to send him the Ranunculaceae for study. It is usual for the specialist working on a collection to be given a set. Wednesday, April 8. Morning spent on the preparation of collecting supplies for the proposed Oomsis Camp, and odd items of business in town. In the afternoon I started reading galley proof of my 1956 report (Results 79 of the Archbold Expeditions).