U.S.A! Maybe I'll be there before you will, you never can tell!" Hamlin took a late start up the mountain, while Dr. Drowne and I collected on the side trails, spending the afternoon skinning the morning birds. Again we found nothing new, and the day's work added to what Hamlin brought down from the mountain, only enlarged our series of already acquired species. The best of the high al- titude catch were two redbreasts, a female and a young male, and two green paraqueets. The weather has improved in regard to the rain. The nights are clear and cold and the day's shower is now coming between three and four. In the approaching three weeks there is a rising moon, and we are depending upon more favor still. January 20th. Turned out to be amost noteworthy day. I left right after breakfast for the mountain top. It was a beautiful clear day similar to Hamlin's lucky Sunday on the Kokere side of the mountain. As we got higher and the weather continued clear I was determined to get as far as I could myself, and chance a sneaking look at his view. The sun was so bright that the birds kept off the ridges and we only got four shots between our camp and five thousmd two hundred feet. Going barefoot I find I am considerably slower on the climb but with the dull shooting we managed to get to the top by ten o'clock. We passed a delegation from the village of Kokere bound over the mountains to our camp with