Smith, Mrs. Smith and their two children arrived in Suva a few days ago from Vanua Levu. Smith has done most of his collecting there. He has been in Fiji since April. Will return to the States on the returning Marine Phoenix. Is planning to spend his remaining two weeks in collecting near Suva. Many of Gillespie's types were collected in this locality, within about 10 miles of the town. Smith has collected about 3000 numbers and 25,000 specimens. Is taking 10 sets of each number when possible. Has about 200 numbers of bryophytes. Says a great deal of exploration remains to be done before the flora will be at all well known. Smith made another trip to Fiji in 1934. He plans to publish a flora of the islands. The only road of much importance in the Fijis is the one which encircles the island of Viti Levu - a distance of about 300 miles. Smith's travel has been mainly by small boats and native carriers. Mrs. Smith and the children have accompanied him, at least as far as his base camps. He was based at one place for 4½ months. Carriers have been hard to get in some localities. Has been paying them 5/- a day as against 2/- in 1934. Smith is very much interested to know if Dick is contemplating further expeditions to New Guinea. On our return to the hotel I was introduced to ______ Popham of the Dept. of Agriculture. Smith says he is the only person in Fiji with any knowledge of taxonomic botany, but his work and interest is in economic plants and weeds. Marshall seems weak in botany. A sizeable consignment of ford cars lying in crates on the wharf. A big British navy tanker filling the fuel storage tanks and unloading a vast quantity of fuel in 50 gallon drums. Sat. Dec. 27: Heading south for Auckland over a smooth sea. The decks were cleared of Christmas rubbish today. Was interviewed by a Mr. Robert Feldman, an American journalist going to Sydney to take up a job with the "Telegram." Most of the day spent in finishing Lambert's "Yankee Doctor in Paradise". Story of a pioneer doctor of the Rockefeller Foundation who spent over 20 years in the western Pacific, with headquarters at Suva. Worked in North Queensland, New Guinea, Solomons (including Rennel and Bolona), New Hebrides, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Cook Islands. Highly colored and in parts grossly exaggerated, but a good book by a man with a fine record of service and a profound and humane interest in the native. I should not like to be on this ship in an emergency. Was having a beer after bingo this evening when someone smelled smoke, someone said "fire," about half the passengers jumped to their feet in the lounge, and started to bolt, God knows where. The smell of smoke came through the air blower system for a motor which had burned out. Going on deck after the fuss had subsided, I found the captain, minus his teeth. He had scrambled into a shirt, but forgot his dentures, when the alarm sounded in his cabin. "Damned ship wouldn't burn anyhow," he said. "All steel. She's only a barge. Reminds me of one of those revolving peanut cookers you see in the streets." In conversation it developed that part of the trouble and unexpected expense in reconditioning the Matson lines passenger liners is that the company spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on wall linings of impregnated wood which was supposed to be fireproof, but which the authorities condemned as unsafe. Labor unions have gotten all the blame in the press. It is owing to unreasonable wages costs, says the press, that these ships are not back on their run.