-80- Leeches active in the forest after the rain. My boys have been scraping them off their feet with their big knives every day we have worked in gullies and damp hollows. Even today their numbers are few. As in the central and western parts of the country where these loathsome pests are much more numer- ous in my experience, the leeches here are ground dwelling. They stand on end on the ground humus waving back and forth in readiness to attach themselves to a blood supply. Scrub itch, strangely, is not nearly so troublesome here as in the forests at our top camp on the mountain. The effects of the damp to wet weather we have had at this camp are be- coming noticeable. Clothing washed days ago is not dry. Pinned-out mammal specimens stay as lax as when they were pinned. Moss specimens are flourish- ing on a drying rack under the peak of my tent. Mold is showing on the few leather articles we have. Monday, June 29, 1953: Have had built a new thermometer shelter thatched with the long, broad leaves of a bird's nest fern (Asplenium Nidus). Do not recall that during the war any of the survival boys hit on this as a thatch material often easily available in the Malaysian region. Weather much as yesterday. Most of the night is clear and moonlight. Hardly any sun during the day; sporadic mist and scattered light showers; increased mist and more rainy in afternoon and early evening. Gusts of rather strong wind this PM after 5 o'clock from easterly direction. Yesterday's good fortune was not repeated in the botanical field today. Worked in a wide semi-circle east, north and west of camp for poor results. Most interesting things were a medium sized pandan which is probably a new species, and a small shrub Rhododendron with red flowers growing high on a tree. Geoff has his boys out with headlamps tonight hunting for frogs. Several species very vocal these nights. Tuesday, June 30, 1953: Max. 20 C., Min. 14.5 degrees C. The thick weather continues with mist, drizzle, occasional heavier showers and rare, brief ap- pearances of the sun. The half peaty humus layer in camp mired by our tramping. Botanized up the trail to about 1650 m. Visibility poor; results likewise. Found Ken in camp when I returned after noon. He brought a small local mail which arrived by police runner from Baniara yesterday. Reports much rain down at Biniguni. He was out on an echidra hunt with local natives, and camped six hours up the Mai-U River when the rain began early in the morning of the 27th. Rain stopped the hunt and party had difficulty in crossing the rising river to get back to Biniguni. The hunt stimulated by the good pay given the councillor ([illegible]) for hunting on the mountain (30/- for a Zaglossus, two tree-clinging kangaroos, and several cuscus and Pseudocheirus). It is hard to establish standards of payment for such things as mammals which are highly valuable to us. This time it was too high. A second 6 o'clock cicada caught this evening. It flew into one of the