Dec. 12 - Friday Our ship, Matson Line, "Marine Phoenix"; Captain Johansson; left Pier 32 San Francisco at 5 P.M. A full passenger list of 500 adults and children. Conditions crowded. Very poor organization for getting passenger's baggage from pier to cabins. Have lost my flight bag and typewriter in the confusion. Most of my clothing is in the flight bag. The Marine Phoenix is a partly converted U.S. troopship on charter to the Matson Line, 12,400 tons, diesel-steam. Ship said to be much better now than formerly. She used to be known as the "Hell Ship". All gacilities apparently inadequate. The food, however, is good - very good, so far. Ten men in my cabin, "Room 108"; most of them going to New Zealand. Most of them seem to have wives aboard. One or two of the younger men are ex GI's going out as immigrants. Room 108 is about 20 x 20 feet with 5 sets of 2-tier bunks, 3 chairs, a small table and 3 sinks and mirrors. No closets or lockers, but plenty of hang- ing space for clothing, and ample room under bunks for bags. No mats or rugs on the painted steel floor. No floor covering of any kind in the public shower room and toilets which we use. Each steward looks after 40 people. There is no room service. A laundry does the ship's small linen and accepts one lot of passenger's laundry on the voyage. Passengers for Australia, like myself, have their laundry done day after the ship leaves Auckland. H.E. Patterson, who wrote the first New Guinea Shangri-la article in the press was on the pier to see me. He corresponded during the war but had not met before. Was also interviewed by a couple of San Francisco newsmen and a Reuters correspondent. Have place #3 at the captain's table. There are 12 places at our table, 20 at other tables of the same length. In San Francisco this morning I went early to the Matson line office to cme my reservation and pick up my mail. After that took a taxi to Golden Gate Park to see Bill Richardson at the Steinhart Aquarium. Golden Gate Park is likened to Central Park in New York. To me it is much more attractive. It is not so overrun with people. The buildings in it are finer. Owing to the equable mild climate the plantings are much more luxuriant. The land was waste sand hills originally. It has been well landscaped, planted with trees and shrubs suited to the climate, and developed with roads. The original director did a good job in screening service buildings with trees, and in refusing to have statuary in his park. The plantings generally are informal and unlabelled, but there are good lawns and flower beds to give color. There is an arboretum, in which the plantings are by families and properly labelled. I did not have time to visit this. The museums and study collections of the California Academy of Sciences are in the park. A rather ornate building houses the bird collections and aviaries. The modern Steinhart Aquarium is in another building, one of a group comprising African Museum, Herbarium and other institutions. Had time to see only the aquarium and the herbarium. Richardson is in charge of the aquarium, or at least he has the actual care of the fishes. A very fine show of over 500 species of salt and freshwater fishes, local and exotic, well displayed and well kept. Saw the whole set-up, from laboratories to boiler room and display halls. Richardson says the collection of tropical