fishing tackle to trade with natives.Then I watched the Aorangi steam out.The dentist in addition to the broken tooth found four swell cavities. August 26 This morning I discovered that all our luggage was in imminent danger of being chucked into Sydney Harbor;we suppos- ed that we had left it under customs bond,but this privilege does not entail responsibility for over 24 hours.I had it trans- shipped to the Mataram wharf.The S.S.Ventura brought us each a couple of letters.Spent the afternoon and evening in the Libra- ry.Thunder showers somewhat relieved the impending drought. August 27 What is duller than a morning in a White de luxe mo- tor bus? The answer is,an afternoon.I had resigned myself af- ter the first stop for morning tiffin,but after lunch the scen- ery began to excite interest and wonder;added to the comfort of half a whole back seat,which was vacated at Katoomba,it made the afternoon quite enjoyable.Blue Mountains they are and reminiscent of Vermont,very rugged and peopled with iron-wood forests.From one o'clock we climbed to over 3000 feet,eventual- ly running along a ridge that overlooked a broad valley.There upon the summit was a monolisk erected to the memory of the three men that first blazed a trail over the mountains,led by Captain Lawton(1815).The view down the valley resembles the Yellowstone in spots.Nothing else except tea in a ramshackle hotel.Very little habitation which gave the scenery a pristine beauty.We slid over a hill and dropped into the valley of the caves,passing G.R.about five miles from town on his afternoon overland.Coasting through a vaulted grotto called the Devil's Coach House where the wind rushes,the expectant traveller pas- ses all the entrances to the various caves and suddenly finds the Caves House bursting about his ears.This lies in the ex- act bottom of a huge draw and roughly wooded slopes confront every window.No heat except open fire-places which are not much help.The place is government-run and provides sanctuary in a surrounding area for wild birds and animals.There are rock wallabies,possum,goats,and rabbits in profusion;bird life is prolific,the Australian kingfisher(laughing jackass),king parrots,jays,magpies,crows,and numerous small birds that we could not recognize. The caves are a result of geosyncline weakness in th under-strata;great pressures have creased the surface strata in to indistinguishable layers,while it has given way below,form- ing the caves.The upper crust is really a great mountain from external appearance.One enters them from the lowest level and climbs.An underground river keeps the cave bed cut out by a con- stant process of erosion.The roof is gradually settling and th openings are slowly closing because of this and the lime car- bonate growths in the interior.Stalagmites,which grow up from the floor are more rapid in process than the stalactites,which grow down from the ceiling. August 28 Yesterday a month we sailed from Vancouver.To-day be- ing Sunday we sought God in the earth,visiting two of the best caves.Guides are most solicitous and point out all the forma- tions,chemical and plastic.Most of them have developed stock answers of humorous intent for all possible questions.For in-