The unwellness still up me, especially in the stomach. Wednesday Dec, 19: The drought was broken last night. Was awakened at 9 o'clock by a heavy rain squall from the southwest blowing into the resthouse. Rain was still falling when I went to sleep again. Today overcast, Light SW breeze. Squally light showers until about the middle of the afternoon. Should think there has not been more than ½ inch of rain all told. Prepared yesterday's plants, and not feeling up to field work, sent the boys cut. They managed to get six species not previously collected here. Doing some letter writing. I can never catch up on letters I owe on this trip. Thursday Dec. 20: Sunny day with light SW breeze; no rain. Still unwell, but went into the field for what will be the last day of botanical collecting on the expedition. Worked the big creek 1½ miles east of camp. Rather my boys did most of it. I had to sit down and let them do most of the searching. Bes t plants of about a dozen are further material of the queer epiphytic orchid which was col- lected a few days ago, and a tall, slender Caryota. The latter quite a different looking palm from the stout species widely distributed in this region. I have never before, that I recall, seen a slender Caryota. Every evening one or more men walk past the resthouse towards the village carrying fat cylindrical bundles of sago wrapped in fresh palm leaves. In this season of short- age of food in the gardens, sago is an important food here. It grows in good supply on small bits of groundthat is swampy in the rainy season. Reaches a good big size. All the plants have been the spimeless sort. Friday Dec. 21: Day mostly overcast. Breeze back in SE but only a small swell dumping on the beach. A slight shower in mid-afternoon. Still have some nausea, but an utter weariness, which has oppressed me for days, is disappearing. Still think the trouble is a "virus condition." Drying materials. Sent all boys out insect hunting. Results not very good. The day too dull. Botanical collections for the area add up to the miserable total pf 84 numbers, 629 herbarium sheets. I made a mistake in coming to the mainland to botanize. Should have gone with the others to the Trobriands. There, if as expected, plant collecting proved poor on the coral limestone, at least I should have had opportunity to see and photograph one of the most interesting people in the SW Pacific. The influence of mis- sions on the Modowa coast dates back to the '70s, and the people show it. They are a most colorless churchgoers. In insects, collecting for butterflies has been very good. The mainland richness, lacking on the islands. is apparent in new things coming in every day. Today there was a swallowtail of a most curious blue. Odonata have been few- not more than four or five species of the dragonflies, and about the same in damselflies. Catches at the lamp have been very meager. The weather has been too dry for any night swarming except one night, a few ants. My recently Christianized Gara friend turned up late this afternoon with his wife carrying, as a present, a basket containing 2 mud crabs, a pineapple, a couple of papawa, and some nice big red sweet-potatoes. I gave tobacco in return. He remarked that the Modowa people were all right in their way, but they won't give you anything. Part of the conversation was carried out through Kim the cook, in the local Susu language, which I did not know Kim understood. He appeared to speak it quite well.