Saturday 20 June 1953 (cOnt). Top Camp to Middle Camp After dinner Len and Geoff started c_elebrating the successful move down the mountain. They were pleasantly drunk when I went to bed at midnight. And they did not go to bed all night. Ken and I were up at 6 to do some repacking. Got all my extra skins and all skulls into a black box (#28) for carriers to take to Biniguni. Len and Geoff were standing around in a complete daze. Sunday 21 June Middle Camp. (see above). Carriers off to Biniguni about 9. Counselor off with his 2 dogs and wife, hunting. Caught 1 Rattus in work fly & my boys had an easy day skinning the 2 cusc_uses & 1 Ring-tail. Had just finished making up skins after lunch when our hunter came back with a big q Tree Kangaroo ! ! Grizzled head, thick brownish body, short hind feet, an indistinctly ringed tail. Weighed 18 lbs. Ken and I rigged him on tree trunk & I took several pictures. We are camped in the middle of oak-beech forest on one of the mountain ridges. No view. Skinned the tree c climber. Went jacking with Ken. Heard rats & saw bats but shot nothing. Back at camp to find Kim taking axe out to David who had located a cuscus. Animal went from tree to tree with boys following leaf noise. Went in circle ending in big tree near boys's fly. David shot but possum hung up, so Billy chopped tree down. Our 3rd Cuscus. They did a fine job to follow cuscus so well and patiently. Geoff snoring his head off when I went to bed. Not cold but slept in my bag. Boys put traps out (not yesterday). Camp shaking down well today. Monday 22 June I will remember this day for a long time. The boys and I were quietly at work preparing our Cuscus, the Rattus and Melomys when the counselor, his wife and 2 dogs walked into camp. The wife was carrying the morning catch in her forehead sl ing bag--1 Ring-tail possum (similar to the golden-green one at Top camp, but a different species), and a Zaglossus ! -- the famous long-beaked spiny ant eater of New Guinea. This is only the 2nd one taken on 4 Archbold Exp. to N. G. Quite rare in the big mammal collections. Much more hair than the short-beaked Cape York "porcupines" and fewer spines--these almost concealed by the hair. I tried to take pictures but light very poor. Ken didn't want me to show my elation in front of the counselor since haven't settled on prices yet. The animal is evidently well known to the Maneau people (in Daga dialect--Kutayo). In the P.M. David brought in 2 more brown-headed Ring-tails, that he found in tree hole. He jacked another at night and Ken also shot a small one (as usual with #4 !). I had 3 specimens to fill after dinner so I did not go out. These woods are rich with life. We will have a busy winter. Len found a primitive "fish-tail" fern today. Rare. Tuesday 23 June More excitement. This morning the counselor walked in with another q Tree climber with a hairless "Joey" (pouch young). I can't get over my good luck ! I took pictures of the c. with the tree - cl. draped over his shoulders. After lunch I skinned Zaglossus--the long beak was quite a job but the rest was an old story after my Cape York experience with Tachyglossus. The boys skinned the tree-c. while I filled skins. The counselor gets the meat which he smokes and has his wife carry back to Biniguni. He leaves tomorrow as he wants to go to a local pig feast. Ken goes down, too, and he promises to send up another hunter with dogs. I hope so because without dogs it is only luck that brings in some of these mammals. Thick cloud and rain & dark caught me in the middle of my work so I closed shop for the day. After dinner wrote letters to K., Dr. Anthony, Uncle Will, General and Lou. 2 rolls of Maneau film also go out with Ken. Frank leaves Biniguni for Baniara in a day or so & takes the mail with him. No jacking. Too wet.