Tuesday April 20. Instead of arriving at RIP at daylight, we got there at 9.30. At grey dawn we were passing Eborac Light, off the tip of Cape York proper and the northernmost point of Australia. About 8 o'clock we passed Pos- session Island, where Captain Cook hoisted his flag and proclaimed Brit- ish possession of this country. Cook landed on a sandy beach and raised the flag on a little rocky promontory to the west of it, on a spot now marked with a stone or concrete monument. According to reports Cook raised his flag on top of a gold-bearing reef. Gold has been mined off and on in the vicinity for many years. From the sea we could see old workings only a few yards from the monument. The mine tunnels are said to be inhabited by thousands of bats. Tom Holland told us about the bats. He and some others visited the mine a week or so ago. Terry the cook came good with his promise of a turtle egg omelette for breakfast - rich yellow, mealy in texture, flavored well with onions, and very good eating. Later, George examined some of the eggs and select- ed three embryos, with nicely developed eyes, for Kesteven. At RIP, Joe McLaughlin, whom I engaged as cook two months ago, was on the wharf to meet us. He had been camping in the wharf shed for some weeks. Soon after we arrived, two blackboys rode in from Cowal Creek Mission, some 8 or 10 miles to the south, and an hour or so later the third of our native helpers made an appearance. All are mainlanders. Robert Massey, who will be my boys, is a mission-educated lad of twenty odd years, and a councillor of the mission village. Bob McDonnell, who will help Van, is an intelligent, genial chap of 35 or 40. George More- ton, George's helper, is a good deal older, pretty much of a "binghi" or bush native, but anything but guileless, and reputed to be a first class hunter. He brought along three spears and a womera. The cargo was unloaded in good time, and sorted into first and second load stacks for truck transport to Lockerbie. We had eaten lunch before old Dick Holland and his young son Dick arrived with a 4-wheel drive blitz buggy and trailer. He had thought the regular road impass- able after recent heavy rains, and had made a long detour by an all- weather road which does not appear on the military maps. Our gear, weigh- ing perhaps 2½ tons, could have been carried on truck and trailer, but as the day was getting on, we decided to load the truck alone, and try the direct road (11 miles) rather than follow the 18-mile detour. The creek crossings, and some tea-tree flats were soft, but capably driven by Dick senior, the truck went through with no trouble and in less than an hour we were at Lockerbie. Nothing could be done until Mrs. Holland had provided tea, with fresh cooked bread and rolls. Selected a camp site under a group of shady mango trees, and by sundown we poled in, ground cleared, and two big flys rigged for shelter. Everything went very smoothly for a first camp. Wednesday April 21 Holland had our second lot of cargo in camp, and gathered a load of firewood for the cook, before noon. On a final checking, we find we are short of an 8xl0 tent and a sack of tow, presumably carried off in the hold of the Lochiel. By about 4 pm camp was comfortably rigged and equipment set out ready for full scale collecting tomorrow. After some tuition, the two mammal boys were given five rat traps each and told to set them out for their first trial at trapping.