Tues. July 13 (Cont'd) Following the creek down for perhaps half a mile, I collected a big lot of plants (33 numbers, 224 sheets) from brushy forest in the floodbed, small billabong waterholes in a flood channel, and Agonis scrub and Leptospermum scrub on dry country back from the creek. Most of the plants were familiar species collected in other localities. The Leptospermum scrub of small "Japanesie" trees contains several tree spp. which I have not collected, but all are sterile. Hugh Fisher, passing through on his return to Wenlock, brought a 5 gal. drum of kerosene kindly loaned by the men of the Main Roads camp. With that, the stores position is safe for this camp. A goat en route New Guinea brought word to P.R. yesterday that the Leisha had left Cooktown northward bound. There is also news that our old friend the "Lochiel" caught fire from an explosion on board and was scuttled in 30 ft. of water near the Flinders Group. That leaves all freighting along the coast in the hands of John Burke. Wed. July 14: Overcast, showery weather has followed us from Tozer Gap. Today we have not seen the sun. A gusty southeaster blows, the grass is wet, water drips from the trees in a tattoo on our tents, but the ground is dust-dry. Having room for only a hundred sets of plants today, I spent the morning in the dry hills a little west of north from camp. The prevailing vegetation is turkey bush of Agonis lysisepale, growing to about 4 to 7 ft. high on dry sandy grey soil. The Agonis scrub is developed level-topped ridges, scarped in low purplish bluffs in which a fine- grained conglomerate, carrying white quartz pebbles, outcrops. The higher ridges of the area rising above the Agonis ridges are of rotten, reddish-brown granite. The beautiful Japanesie Leptospermum forms patches of low-tree scrub on the granite hills where rock lies exposed, and on the points of the conglomerate bluffs. Great termite mounds, grey or yellowish, are a conspicuous feature of the Agonis scrub. Sunday, July 18: Night work on collections has allowed me no time for writing since the middle of the week. Collections have piled up. Not counting a few spp. gathered today while making 4 x 5 photos between showers, I have for five days at this camp 118 numbers, 804 sheets. The camp has been good for insects and reptiles, and for birds, and four spp. of fish have been taken from the creek by netting and by shooting with a .303 rifle. But mammal collecting has been poor. Two very good mammals have turned up, however. These are the queer rodent Mesembryomys (not represented in the Museum collections) and a white bellied Taphyzeus bat. The overcast showery weather continues through the daylight hours, although nights are fine. Last night was typical. Waking about one o'clock, I heard the loud quarrel- some noise of fruitbats and got up to investigate. A thin, sharp breeze was coming out of the southeast. High white whips of cloud scudded across a bright moon, and the night was full of subdued sound. Frogs down in the creek. Crickets out in the timber. Now and then the shooching sweep of a fruitbat's wings as it shifted its feeding place in the flowering teatrees on the banks of the stream. Rousing Van, we went down with guns and added another Pteropus Gouldi to the collection. Friday night we had as guests George Nancurvis and Luke Wilson, bound by truck from Wenlock to P.R. to get stores which arrived from Cairns two days earlier. They brought with them a fine roan wallaroo which they had shot as they crossed the Sir William Thompson Range. They also had a very dead marsupial cat, contributed by a miner at Wehlock; a live bowerbird for Don, and a snake for Geoff.