With a half bald councillor named Raiga (one of the four village councillors as ?odema) as guide, I spent five hours in the field in an approximate direction towards the Gara River. My guide was supposed to take to the river, but collecting delayed us, and apparently we were still some distance from the big stream when the time came to turn back. The small path that we followed went inland from the beach about a 1/4 mile from the mouth of the river, first through grass and coconuts, then a strip of dry saga swamp. After that came what appeared to be an old beach line, then more saga, and finally to slightly ridgy ground, covered with tall primary forest, on which we skirted the hills that rise to the east of the river and behind Modena. Crossed in the forest two or three small streams on which Sago grew. Away from the saga, the ground was very dry. The undergrowth of the forest was wilted and drooping; most epiphytes, which are mainly ferns were shrivelled and dry. An unusually dry condition for rain forest developed under a rainfall of probably somewhere about 100 inches a year. The dark sandy soil of the old beach line between the strips of saga swamp, 100 yards or so in width, was largely under native gardens newly planted to taro yams and casava, and bananas. The ground in the gardens was dry and dusty. A small experimental plot of coffee seen, apparently about a year old. Much saga had been made in the little swamps during the past few months. (the palms are all of the smooth sort) and grow to a good large size here. The only gardens seen were on the old beach line, but formerly there had been cultivation on the foothills. I judge that the people of the village at this time are living mainly on saga and store foods. No pig fences round gardens. Could collect only a dozen species. A poor take for a long morning in new territory, and nothing of special interest. Insects are turning up fairly well. Last night the boys and I managed to net five big dusk-flying dragonflies. The same species seems to occur on all the islands, but there would seem to be local variations, and the dusk-flyers are always good to have. They are difficult to catch, especially with the inadequate Ward nets with which I am supplied. The rest house is well built and comfortable. There is a good small barracks for the boys. As always in anything but a new thatched house, pale yellowish [illegible] borer droppings powder every exposed object in the resthouse. Thursday Dec. 13: SE wind further subsided; did not start to blow until about 11 am. High clouds drifting over from the north. Rain clouds and thunder over the mountains. Again with Reiga as guide went eastwards in the bay about 1 1/2 miles or more to Boroweisau village. Crossed a big tidal creek (by canoe) which runs in behind Modewa village, then a little way along the coast to a mangrove stream bringing a trickle of clear fresh water down from the hills. There on flat ground under the steep rise of the hills, a plot of 35 coffee trees had been planted with a tall Orotalaria and some young leguminous trees as shade. Only 11 of the coffee trees, 2-3 feet high survived. A little further on, crossed the rock bed of a dry creek, rises in rocky headlands here, hence the inland position of the road here, which came out of the hills close to Borowaidau village. Several rocky gullies carry a little water in the hills. Having low tide for the return journey, we followed the rocky shore most of the way under the hills. Collected another dozen numbers, the most interesting being two small feather palms of the primary forest undergrowth, and an oak. The latter grow in mixed rain forest above the coffee garden, its roots not more than about 5 m above sea level. An unusually low altitude for the genus, which really belongs to the mountains. From our terminal point at Borowaidau, I photographed the Cloudy Mts. rising behind Modewa Bay. Questioning Raiga on the mountains, he told me that, long ago the missionary known to the natives as "Tamate" (Rev. James Chalmers) climbed a fronting peak of the Cloudy Mts. and placed a flag there. The peak is called Bio, and might be the Mt. Nelson of the 4-mile map (Samurai sheet), the height of which is given as 2095 feet, Gugu Sari the main peak of the range is 4450 feet high, and there are peaks of intermediate height