what would appear to be a big, cutting Scleria. Cattle eats the heart out of young Pandanus. The wild cattle, estimated at 3000 or more, originated on Sewataitai plantation. Have been going wild for years; process hastened during the war, when the plantation was abandoned. Lionel returned to Wakaluna this morning. The round trip took about 12 hours. Sun.May13. Dry weather continues , and the heat, too. No rain and very little cloud. My day spent in looking after undried material brought down from the mountains and in preparing the 50-odd plants collected yesterday. The latter bring my collections for the mountain trip to 226 numbers (52 bryophytes and 1 fungus included) and 1015 herbarium sheets. Only of the small gray Rattus in traps. Liklik , out jacking last night, got nothing; Tinker wounded a pig and after it again this morning encountered a local man with a big boar bailed up, which he shot. Our boys got half the meat. Some time before we went up the mountain, a local boy who works for Izod told Lionel of a bat cave near a waterfall some little distance up a [illegible] small stream which runs into Awawiwi Bay about 1½ miles S along the coast. It was arranged yesterday- for this boy to guide Lionel and Rus to the place today. The local, however, was engrossed in a game of cards on the beach and refused to go. Some of those natives are pretty poor types. The Councillor of Sewa Bay who was supposed to join us on Mt. Pabinama with his dogs did not turn up. His story was that a crocodile ate one of his dogs and the remaining one would be useless alone. Cupidity pro- probably solved our transport problem At least one family did well out of it--that of a village policeman who brought his wife and her sister and his two sons to carry both trips at 7/-per load. According to custom, the VC himself got a day's pay. Monday May 14: Dry and hot. Breeze remains N or NW. This soil must hold water well; there is no wilting of the softest vegetation. Botanized down to Wakaluna Bay and back up the government track and home by an old timber hauling trail. Nothing of special interest. Several substage trees have come into flower since we went up the mountain One of the big dipterocarps showing great numbers of young fruits. Have still to collect this. My boy Edawawa got a nasty cut over an eye by a flying stick and I went back to camp early to dress his wound. Sent Buntings a radiogram about collecting supplies for Fergusson Id. (all supplies were organized before we left Samarai.) A young, spiny brown rat in traps last night. A Petaurus and a small Pteropus shot by Lionel and Rus; a purplish cuscus by Lionel's boy. The mammal department suddenly finds itself clean out of bait. Not a scrap left from 6 quarts brought five weeks ago. Traps must have been baited with lavish hands. Fortunately we have in foodstuffs the ingredients necessary to make enough bait to see us through this camp.