-119- Tuesday, September 29, 1953: Mountains clear in early morning and day not quite so windy. No rain. Botanized along the old military road as far as Jowett's coconut plantation on Nuatutu Point. Scraps of rain forest here and there. Scattered gardens and two garden houses along the shore. Relics of strand forest of Hibiscus tiliaceous, Terminalia catappa. Shore itself mostly stony; carrying a thin line of Scaevola, Bauhinia, etc. and on sandy beaches Ipomoea pes-caprae. Imperata dominant grass on coastal flats of black soil. In an old military parking area at the site of the former wharf are fuselages of four planes, and various road-making machinery, bits of trucks, etc. One yellow-painted power grader carries the name "Lockhart Shire Council" across the front of the cab. Nothing of any value. MacArthur's forces were advancing when Goodenough was occupied by a reputed 30,000 men, and practically all materiel was moved on to Hollandia or points beyond. Ken and Bob Greeney returned from the mountains during the morning. Bob walked around the northern part of the island and attempted to climb the range from Kuduia. Locals denied knowledge of a trail going up from there, so went further to the south and struck a trail from Lauwela to Eweli. Had hard going with rain and overloaded carriers (boxes on poles). Camped one night at 1500-2000 ft. and another at 4500 ft. and reached Wakonai on the 28th. Ken left Wakonai on the 25th (150 m.), camped that night at a waterfall on the Walawala River (800 m.), and next day reached his topmost point, 1570 m. by doubtful aneroid reading. First day mostly grassy slopes with forested gullies; travel not too bad; populated valley slopes. Second day traveled up the crest of a long grassy spur for 1 hr. 40 min., then through primary forest 30 minutes to his camp site; first part very steep, rising about 600 m. in about an hour. His top camp in forest badly entangled with climbing bamboo. His guides said he was near the top of the range. Stayed there a day, clearing a camp site and rigging a tent and a fly. No local exploration done. Much rain and wind. Travel time with a carrier train would be: first day Wakonai to the waterfall 3-31/2 hours; 2nd day, waterfall to Top Camp about 3 hours. Considers loads should not be more than 30 lbs. He saw no place suitable for a middle level camp unless it is the waterfall area. No information on the scope offered by the Top Camp site. We will just have to go up and see. I don't like the report on the climbing bamboo. If it is all through the upper forests it will greatly restrict our activities. Bob noticed little bamboo on his route, so Ken's occurrence may be local. We are afflicted with a sudden outburst of petty thieving. I should say, I. After early morning tea I looked for my tobacco and found it gone. Then my toilet soap. My pocket knife. And this evening I found myself lacking two pairs of shorts. No clues, but circumstances seemed to point to the local boy who empties our small house can. The can had been emptied last night or this morning early. The suspect was a patient in the native hospital nereby. A search by Bob and one of his police failed to turn up