There is much dissatisfaction with the lax administration of the fauna protection acts. A lot of feeling against the Italian cane farmers on the part of nature lovers. Firearms were taken away from all Italians on the outbreak of World War II. Now they have them back, and are follow- ing their usual custom of shooting all sorts of birds for the pot. They even slaughter laughing jackasses, their "Ha-ha pigeon," a bird which no Australian bushman will molest. Thursday March 11 Van and Geoff left for Mossman by White Car service at 8 am. Had arranged with Harold Lane to take them to the powerhouse in the Gorge, where they will camp. A cordial letter from the Shire Council of Cardwell, suggesting that we extend our itinerary to include the Herbert and Broad Water Gorges and the islands of Rockingham Bay. Another letter from the Qld. Dairyman's Organization of East Barron, asking advice on stocking freshwater streams with fish. Heard by word of mouth that we have chartered a vessel for marine investigations along the coast. These are penalties for being in the news. The best story of all is that plants and mammals are just a blind. What we are really here foralse to search for uranium ores and sands. I heard that one on the Peni- sula, and the same rumor is circulating in the mining country that George visited last week. What else could we be doing, poking into odd places, and collecting samples of dirt - for Chas. Pfizer's antibiotic research labs. There was no fooling about a bat-hunt George and I did this after- noon with Laurie, production engineer of the Cairns Regional Electricity Board. The place was the hydro plant at Barron Falls, near Kuranda, where the Barron River tumbles over the edge of the Main Divide in falls and cataracts 1200 ft. high. I'm not sure that either of us would have faced it had we known what we were in for. The first part was a comfort- able drive up a splendid military highway which took us to the top of the divide in half an hour from Cairns. An up and down track through rain-forest took us to the power station headquarters on the brink of the catastrophic gorge below the falls, where Laurie parked his car and we were joined by Vautin, the superintendent. It was then that we heard of a haulage way, called the "skip", and saw it. A pair of rails about 18" apart, with greasy black rollers set between them every few yards and re- volving under the pressure of a wire cable which was being drawn up over the edge of the gorge by an electric winch. George went back to the car for something he found he had forgotten. The winch was still winding when he got back about 10 minutes later. Then over the edge toward us came a little trolley, a low flat-topped affair about three by five, with something that looked like a section out of someone's cellar stairs bolted to the top of it. There were five steps to the section of stairway. Laurie and Vautin hooked their buttocks over the second step and set their feet on the lower one. George and I arranged ourselves likewise on the third and fourth steps, and against the fifth we placed a half kerosene can in which George had his flash- light, hypodermic, and odds and ends of collecting equipment. The first part of the descent was right enough and done at some speed. I caught a glimpse of the falls through trees to the right, and,