Monday May 28: Still mild SE weather. Sharp shower between noon and 1 O'clock. Botanized the thermal area along the Fagululu track almost to the village, Few plants. The flora of the Melaleuca savanna/savanna-forest of the ridges and flats is extremely poor—not nearly as rich as the savanna forest seen briefly at Rapamoiwa in November 1953. Made about 30 photos (color) of fumaroles and hot springs. The local people apparently regard the thermal area with superstitious fear, although they have lived very close to it for a very long time. This morning, with the idea of attracting wallaby to green fresh food, I lit the grass in two places. Most of the glass too green to burn, so the fires could not have been extensive. However, the local village policeman came to camp during the afternoon with a story that my fires had started things in the thermal area. The sulphur flat was smoking hugely and hot water flowing all over the place. As it happened, I had sent my boys out to search for additional material of a pitcher-plant (Nepenthe) collected this morning. They returned when the VC was in the middle of his story. One of my fires had burnt a ridge; everything in the thermal area quite normal, they reported, to which the VC asserted that the rain about noon must have quieted the underground fires. Nothing in traps last night; no jacking or bat shooting. Rus has a cold. Six carriers arrived from Saibutu to take Lionel to the mountains tomorrow. They and their women brought a good quantity of taro, sweet potatoes and yams to sell. Tuesday May 29: Less cloud today; no rain. Worked up the creek near the camp for a good bag of second growth rain forest plants including 3 spp. of Macaranga, a rather common big tree-fern (Cyathea) and a tree of the Compositae. Three Pipistrellus, 1 Dobsonia and a cuscus shot last night. Nothing in traps, which have been shifted today. Rus this AM walked to Saibutu this morning and back to view the country. Lionel left camp at about 7:30 AM on the first stage of his second journey to the mountains. Has 6 carriers and the VC from Saibutu, who will do the whole trip. Several days ago, at the insistence of the local VC, I sent the cook to shoot a very big domestic pig which had lately gone bush and looked like a total loss of value- ble property. Kim put three loads of BB into, or at it. This morning Lionel had a try with a 38 Colt revolver. Three shots put into the pig's head, according to the VC who brought the revolver back to camp, but it is still alive and on the loose. Wed, May 30: SE weather continues. Heavy rain for perhaps 15 minutes just before noon; heaviest and most rainfall since we have been here. Botanized on coast. Big bag but all run of the mill species which have to be included in the collection. Ipomoea pes-caprae/Caravalia ensifolia community on sandy beaches, which occupied practically all the shore, Mangrove forest (Bruguiera/Avicennia) on creeks. The only mangrove collectable was Aegiceras. Nothing in traps. A cuscus, a Dobsonia and an Echymipera shot by the boys last night. Rus too chafed from yesterday's walk to go out. At last succeeded in capturing one of the big dusk-flying dragonflies of these islands (the same thing, apparently, east at Maikaluna). Flying here at the same time was a much smaller species which I had not noticed before. This place is even poorer in insects than Normanby. No doubt it is the off season. Here the big Ulysses and birds' wing but- flies are more common and come more frequently in the nets. I have started carrying a net