Wednesday Nov. 14: Northwesterly weather with light rain from about 9 am to early in the afternoon. There was radio news last night that the NW season has started a fortnight early at Manus, to the inconvenience of the Duke of Gloucester, now on tour in PNG. Sent the boys out to fell some big trees I marked yesterday, while I attended to materials on ha d. One of the plants collected by the boys was a fine Tecomanthe with red flowers about 7 cm long. I don't think I have previously collected the genus east of the mainland. Only a R. ruber in traps last night. Rus shot two small bats, we caught one in a butter- fly netin the house, and the boys swatted six Ascelliscus with switches. Twice now bats have been caught in the house. They could not very well choose a worse place to fly into. Lionel set out for the caves on the north coast about 7 in the morning and returned late in the afternoon. Got a canoe from the Dekoias people, who live a bit more than a mile inland, a and visited two caves in the high cliffs to the NE of Waspimat Bay. Caves of limited expent, difficult of approach and contained only a few Dobsonia moluccensis, of which Lionel collected three vy shooting. The caves of the island have been most disappointing. Fifteen caves and other holes in the ground have been examined by Lionel and only three contained bats. Nov. 15-16: Left Kuludadu at 12:50 on the 15th for Ulcinbad Bay and arrived back at 6 PM on the 16th. Accompanied Don Neate on the M.V. Murua. His was an inspection trip to visit Madau Plantation and native village copra makers in an effort to step up qua- lity of the product. Recently the Neates have had about 299 bags of copra condemned as not up to market quality. The Murua is a clumsily built cutter rigged vessel of 31 feet, powered with a 21 hp Lister diesel engine. Does about 6 mph. She was built principally for trade with the Laughlins. Carries 60 bags of copra. Skippered by a Bogaboga (Cape Vogel) native named Gladstone. S strong south east wind gave us a rather rough passage on the way out, although we were on the outside of the reef and only from the entrance of Kwaipan Bay to Lauani Passage. The passage is wide at the mouth, very narrow and crooked at the inshore end. Many coral patches in the shallow lagoon inside the barrier reef, and quite a choppy sea there. Reached Eudulia Point, on the east side of Unkinbod Bay, about 5 o'clock and anchored there in about a fathom of water. The bay very shallow, with bottom of mud and sand. Lapilapi pearl shell said to be very abundant there. Several small villages inland from its shores. We went ashore on a white sand beach, and while Don and a couple of the boat boys tried unsuccessfully for pigeons, I collected a few littoral plants (Seeveole, Cassytha, Euphorbia, Lumitzera coccinea, Sophora). Casuarina equisetifolia plentiful behind the beach. Boys with a Coleman lamp and coconut flares worked the shallows after dark and speared a few fish for themselves. This the only good SE anchorage in the bay. Somewhat exposed at that, and the ship rolled all night. At 4:45 on the 16th, just as day began to dawn, we upped anchor and steamed across the bayto anchor in less than a fathom of the mouth of a mangrove creek which leads in about ½ mile or so to Madau Plantation. This property of about 400 acres was planted, and is still owned by, a man named Hughes. Next to Lauani, it is the oldest plantation on Woodlark. Said to have been a very good bearer (the coconuts are described by Don as a sweet, orange- colored kind; the nuts small but with thick meat of very good quality), but is now much run down. The Neates have it on lease. Employ four Gosiago boys (Basima) to make copra on the rest part of the area. Village natives, at so much per bag, work other parts of the plantation. Inland about 100 yards from the landing place and copra house a track goes off the plantation road towards Madau village and medi- cal post and the west coast. Followed this for the best part of a mile and collected a few uninteresting plants on the coral limestone. Tall rain forest, but few big trees, and a very poor flora, especially in undergrowth, which in some parts is practically absent. The ground rose only a few feet above sea level. Got very thoroughly loaded with scrub