L. 21, P. 16. we sent a party around to east melton to search for rice & gas. And almost now four more locals came in carrying rice. Some rice had been spoiled by last night's rain, but some must have been picked up and put under cover, for it was perfectly dry. For "wild" brushmen there looks a how very considerable savory. Both welles & Healy say they have never come across Papuanos like them. Needless to say they were well paid. Barometer (3 pm) 8 10 meters. We have been sorting over equipment, choosing what may be discarded in emergency & selected what we hope to bring out. It is not easy. I have left collecting job by the board - too busy with radio work & planning our movements. Anyway we are on the "conglomerate" which seems no more productive of mammals than elsewhere. But my half-formed plan to put another night or two of trapping at south Bucker camp on the limestone tract now be discarded. Welles is keeping one my traps with him in case anything turns up in the way of mammals or birds. Have taken a scattering of insects too. But so far as such stations for this one must be labeled "wash-out". 4.15 pm. A quite astonishing thing! A long file of our boys and villagers came divided up the clearing stream from east station. They had found eight more bags of rice and one of the gallons of gasoline, the latter having a small parachute attached. So the plane must have thrown out more rice than they could remember. Now, so far as we know, only the accent yellow if gas is missing. Of the rice about half has been