Monday March 8 Inquiry at the Lands Office showed that Mossman Gorge has not been gazetted a national park. It is only a timber reserve, and we are free to do any kind of collecting in timber reserves. Mr. Sharman, manager of the Regional Electricity Board, has granted us permission to camp at the power house in the gorge. George and Van returned this evening with 63 mammal specimens in all. About 30 bats of six species collected by George in the Chillagoe caves and in mine shafts at Lappa Lappa and Irvinebank, and preserved in pickle. Collecting on the Maalan-Suttee Road was hampered by extremely wet weather most of the time, and by disturbance as a result of road- making operations with bulldozers and explosives. The catch from there includes a good series of Rattus assimilis and two specimens of Uromys. But the great prize of the whole trip was the purchase by Van of four very good pickled specimens of Acrobates, the rare marsupial flying mouse. Bought them for 10/- a piece from Mrs. N. B. Palmer of Ravenshoe. When Mrs. Palmer's cat stated bringing in Acrobates last year, she knew their rarity and put them in a bottle of methylated spirits. In that way she got five specimens. One of these was sold last year to a man (name unknown) who was collecting for an American museum. Van's purchase comprises three females and one male. The specimens came from savanna- forest. Results of the trip very satisfactory in general. Van's speci- mens are beautifully prepared. But he has yet to learn to work fast as well as well. Tuesday March 9 The wharfies are unloading the Mackay cargo of the Time so that the ship can go on to Bowen with foodstuffs. Railwaymen trickling back to work - 130 trains ran today. Six bombers arrived in Cairns with 27000 lbs. of flour for outlying communities. Scouring the town for collecting supplies. Plans for Van and Geoff to work in the Mossman Gorge. George making arrangements for a visit to Devil Devil Creek, in the mountains between Mossman and Julatten, where he has a report of a mammal which is probably Hypsoprymndon, a curious pygmy kangaroo. The Mossman Gorge camp will be a shaking-down trip and introduction to insect and reptile collecting for Geoff, with Van as instructor and demonstrator in teehniques. Mammals will also be collected. Having some trouble in gathering together makeshift collecting sup- plies. As a substitute for tow we have plumber's hemp packing, which has to be unravelled and teased out by hand. For packing dry insects, in boxes, we have sheets of black wadding of a kind used for padding by milliners. A pharmacist offered to make up killing jars for me. Having no plaster of paris, which is very scarce in Australia, he begged some dental plaster from a friend across the street. Results, a paste in the bottom of the jars which will not set. Evening spent at the monthly meeting of the Naturalist's Club, where George gave a good talk on comparisons between South America and Australia. Got away, by air freight, our first lot of soil samples for Chas. Pfizer & Co., New York; 35 samples - about half collected by George, and half by myself. Air Freight to San Francisco, on a parcel weigh- ing about 1-2 pounds, was 34/3. Air freight on to New York will be extra.