L. 12, S. 1 Saturday, Mar. 14. Got a couple of Radio messages off to Port Moresby this morning. Plenty of interference however. The Dugong caught yesterday is fairly well skeletonized today; still some meat to be taken off the bones however. Nothing in the rat traps this morning. Aia is to change a number of them this afternoon. So we ought to take some tomorrow. As a matter of fact though there was one thing caught: a very large [illegible] Cossid moth was almost cut in two by a rat trap. It is tongue-less so could not have been interested in the bait but must have come against the treadle accidentally. It is the first moth I have ever taken in a trap set for mammals. Heavy rain most of this morning. The "Kono" is to leave for Port Moresby tomorrow morning some time. She will probably not come back until Thursday or Friday of next week, as there is a good deal f equipment to be unpacked from the shipment Archbold sent by boat from Brisbane which she is to bring back with her. It being Saturday afternoon not very much work was done by the boys. I walked out to Beech's and Vernon's farms and picked a lot of old trapline up ready to have it reset in new places. In the evening went out to play bridge with the Woodwards and the Leydens at the latter's house. Collected quite a nice lot of moths at their lights. Sunday, Mar. 15. Traps gave two R. brachyrhinus. We have been working steadily to finish up the skeleton of the dugong. The job has just been completed. The planes left at 9.10 for Port Moresby. We were to keep in touch with her by radio but have been unable to raise her. The trip is only two hours, so they ought to be there by now noon). Hope the letters get safely into the postoffice. She was carrying official mail. Very hot today. 91 Far. this afternoon. Nobody had energy to do much of anything. I rode out with Beech to his farm but for the ride only and to get a breath of air. Yesterday with the road practically under water he had skidded into the ditch but having plenty of boys to pull him out again it didn't matter. Today the road was much drier. This evening out to supper with Dr. Vernon and Mr. and Mrs. Leyden joined us afterwards for their first lesson in "Contract". Vernon has played it before, but the Leydens are both good Auction players and picked it up quickly. Mrs. L. however had a touch of fever so we closed up the game early. At dinner Dr. Vernon had served canned salmon, a very nice salad, and for dessert a bread pudding with that coconut cream of which I once told you as sauce for it. It tasted "swell". The rest of our crowd went up to play poker at Woodwards'. Monday, Mar. 16. A bad day: thunder in the early morning and heavy rain clouds building up to the east of us and bearing down. The rain is just starting. Weather only moderated at noon. I went out to Vernon's and set new line of 33 rat traps. Found Doc. Vernon there and we had tea before walking back home. He had been planting tomato plants (cuttings) on an old megapode's nest. The nests are remarkable mounds of earth (about five tons of dirt each, said to be scratched up by a single pair of birds whose size is only slightly greater than that of a hen).This nest was about ten feet wide at the base, roughly circular, and about five feet across on the flat top which was roughly four feet above ground level. It is not known, according to Rand, whether the same nest is used for life (or added to), or whether a new nest is made each breeding season. In the evening I got Brass and Rand to give me the essentials of a Motuan vocabulary. Motuan is the chief language used among our boys. Some however use Gossiago,(I'm not sure whether that name really indicates a distinct tongue or whether it means a people who use a dialect of Motuan).