The botanical outlook for Rossel, the New Guinea ultima thule, fabled as being so"different" does not look bright at this stage. A euscus was shot last night. by Lionel. Nothing in traps. A slow start in mammals. Quit work about 4 o'clockto go on the "Yelangili" out to the bar. Got stuck on soft sand when nearly over, and the tide had started to run out. Engines run very well and the ship handled nicely. She is on the sand , with perhaps no more than a foot of water at low tide until tomorrow evening. Sunday Sept. 30: A change in the weather pattern. Only small scuds of rain through the morning; more or less cloudy afternoon; no rain last night (it has been coming mostly in a couple of hours after dawn). SE continues. Took the dinghy and as far as it would go up a right-hand branch of Abaleti Creek on which the Osbornes say there is a waterfall Over 100 feet high. Found vestiges of an old track, which crossed and recrossed the creek several times, the crossings be- coming more and more difficult for wading as the bottom changed from gravel and shingle to hard slippery, loose small boulders. Did not get within hearing of the waterfall, and collected very few plants. Nothing in traps again. Jacking by the boys last night yielded a cuscus of purplish-gray color, recalling some that were shot on Normanby. A boy out after pigeons bagged a Pteropus conspicillatus from a tree. The Yelangeli was got off the bar and safely to anchorage on the rise of the tide in the afternoon. Monday October 1: Slight showers through the morning; afternoon mostly overcast; Very heavy rain for hours in evening and during the hight; some thunder with start of the rain. Completed the botanical examination of the circular track the boys have cut on the slopes immediately to the NE of camp. Forest is well grown and good to look at, [illegible] but produces for mw very little. Practically nothing in flower or fruit. Very poor undergrowth as regards species, even in the gullies. Collected the common, very tall fan-palm of the ridges (Livistone?). Another interesting plant was a small Barring- tonie? with very big, clustered leaves and showy pink flowers. Nothing in traps. No jacking to-night. We three whites went to the Osbornes for dinner, to celebrate the trial run of the Yelangili, carried out in the afternoon. The rain prevented the boys from going out. The Catholic Mission ketch "Morning Star" came in this afternoon with cargo for the Osbornes and with Fathers Earle and McGhee on board. Earle is stationed at Jinju, a and the NE side of the island. Name of the station locality properly Njin-njiu. Rainfall records have been kept for three months past. Fifteen inches in September, and only three rainless days. Twelve to fourteen inches in the two previous months. Much more rain fell at Abaleti, the settest spot on the island. Eric Osborne admits a mistake on the part of his brother Frank in settling at Abaleti. It should have been Bamba, the best anchorage on the island, with a good shore for a slipway, and good soil for coconuts, Abaleti plantation is poor, Rain prevented our getting home and we slept at the Osbornes. Tuesday October 2: Heavy showers soon after dawn, and again in the afternoon. Had to stay in camp to look after yesterday's plants a nd insects (a big catch lighttrap catch last night). Sent the boys out to collect in the morning but they did not get much.