-114- Paid off Geoff's two boys, Bili and Sigimotu. We will return them to their villages on our way to Goodenough. Ken and his boy David have broken up again, this time for keeps. So we will go to Goodenough with only 7 native helpers. David, a Morima (Fergusson Id.) boy, has been exceptionally good as a hunter of mammals. He has been paid six pounds a month. Very high pay for this country and it seems to have gone to his head. Passage to England from Sydney has been booked for Geoff on the Orient liner "Oronsay" due to sail October 10. The "Malaita", on which he will go to Sydney from here, is delayed on her New Guinea - northern Solomons run and will not arrive until next Thursday at the earliest. Monday, September 21, 1953: Heavy rain through most of the morning, but managed to get our cargo loaded. Left Samarai 2:25 P.M. on the "Jessie"; native skipper named Roach - abbreviation of Cockroach. No rain after we left Samarai. Calm sea and bright moon when we reached Esa'ala (ca. 75 miles from Samarai) at 4:25 A.M. Jessie on charter at L17/10/- per day. Carried some cargo for points in the D'Entrecasteaux Group, especially for Sewataitai Plan- tation, Sewataitai Bay, Normanby Island, which the boat will drop on her return voyage. Tuesday, September 22, 1953: At 6 A.M. called on Patrol Officer R.M. (Bob) Orsenay and were invited for early morning coffee, then break- fast. Greeney a fair-haired energetic down-to-earth type, probably not over 30, in administrative service 2 years, Patrol Officer in rank, acting as District Officer. Assisted by Bill Hunter, Cadet Patrol Officer: heavy, slow, red-faced young Scot speaking with a thick burr. District takes in all of D'Entrecasteaux Group; popu- lation of about 50,000 natives and 30 whites, the latter nearly all missionaries (mostly Methodist, of whom 12 are stationed at Salamo on south end of Fergusson Id.; a few Roman Catholics who have opened missions since the war). Esa'ala is on the NE corner of Normanby Id., and in Dawson Strait. Good anchorage at all seasons. Small wharf at end of a causeway of loose stones; tramway; water very clear (said to be the best at any Papuan port) piped down from nearby mountains; toilets and showers on wharf. Qantas flying boat on run from Port Moresby and Samarai to Rabaul calls fortnightly. Esa'ala government station was established by ANGAU (military administration) in 1946. On low ground; foreshore has been mangrove-fringed, and is only partly re- claimed with soil. Mountains rise steeply behind to 1000 ft. or more; lower slopes populated and partly grassy. Station laid out on a grand scale, the central feature being a playing field surrounded by a circular road hedged on both sides with clipped hibiscus. Gardens planted to peanuts, pineapples, etc., occupy an outer circle. Buildings partly of sawn lumber and galvanized iron, partly of native materials. Twelve police stationed here; usually about 30-50 pris- oners in the jail. Mosquitoes said to be numerous and the locality malarious; houses of Europeans mosquito-screened.