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Transcription
(149)
Sept 15-Oct 5th
The interim of 20 days was spent in Samarai,
during which time considerable communication with
New York was carried on to the final effect that the
toerhaling of the "France" be done by Handley & Clay of
this port. The advisability of this was immediately ap-
parent upon consideration of only one - not the multi-
tude of difficulties presented by a trip to Sydney. On
Saturday the 15th we watered the ship at the Steamship &
Trading Co's wharf, and on the 17th steamed over to the
slip where a shipwright (Mr. Groufors) spced the lip
of the forecast - which was almost cut through by the action
of the heavy swy which holds the weight of the two jibs. This
extremely serious fault had gone unnoticed - at least, un-
mentioned, until "Timmy" a Malaita boy, one of the
new boats' crew warned us about it. To attempt a
passage to Sydney with this would have been fatal.
At this time I had not contravened the Museum Com-
mittee's plans because I imagined particular rea-
sons for the trip, regarding itinerary. When I urged
the purchase of a new engine in my letters from Gizo
in June I had no idea of the facilities of Samarai.
Handley & Clay and the local engineer - Mr. Izod can
meet our requirements cheaper quicker and much more
to our satisfaction. David went out shooting behind the
slip on Sept. 17, and I went out on the next day. The
result was several interesting birds - most of them new
to my limited range of recognition. A yellow-bred-of-
paradise is the only protected species rumored to be
in those parts. A white-eared Kingfisher take along the
mangrove creek resembles the Solomon type.
The final result of my negotiation with Dr. Murphy
was, that I order the engine and place the contract
for the entire job in Samarai. On Sept 22, Mr. O'muller,
BP's manager wired to London the exact specifica-
tions, which had been measured when we were up on
the slip, for a 55 h.p. DEUTZ diesel, a German
engineering product of the latest type. It has an ex-
cellent reputation and is reasonably priced.
Since we found 7 plates of the copper