Tuesday Aug. 31: Left Laura by rail motor at 12:30 and arrived in Cooktown about 4 pm. A very informal railroad. Bill Gladwell, stationmaster at Cooktown, drives the railmotor and controls the railroad. His only assistant seems to be a boy porter who helps in small ways. Travel- ing through the mountains, he slowed down to grab wildflowers for three war nurses who were making the round trip as tourists. When we were about to load our gear in the box-trailer at Laura, Bill hunted for a consignment note so that the shipment could be made in proper manner. No consignment note could be found on the railmotor (there is no station at Laura), so we agreed to fix the matter in Cooktown. Half way down Bill leaned back over his driving seat to ask if I really wanted to go through formalities re our gear. I said that was up to him. Whereupon Bill decided we were entitled to carry the whole lot (about 30 cwt.) as passenger's baggage. Leaving Laura, the railroad soon leaves behind the sandy blood- wood and messmate country and enters a rangy area timbered with low- teatrees and wattles of several spp forming dry scrubs. Rocks mainly sediments weathered down to leave scarped residual peaks. Shrub com- munities, which look as if they would be very interesting to collect in the wet season, occur on shallower soils over rocks. After leaving the mountains, the track crossed a ridgy coastal plain apparently with rainfall considerably higher than the country about Laura. In Cooktown we stayed at the Commercial Hotel (managed by Mrs. Cotmore for Moffat Construction Coy.) and parked our gear in the back of Lewis' General Store. Lewis are our Cooktown agents. Spare gear and supplies sent down from Portland Roads by boat awaited us in Cook- town, but we had left over from the Coen area practically all we needed for the final phase of our work in the Cooktown district. Wed. Sept. 1: Called up Burns Philip in Cairns and learned that the latest given date for our sailing from Sydney on the Pioneer Star is Oct. 15, and Dupain of B.P. advised that we allow ourselves 25 days in which to get our cargo from Cairns south to Sydney for shipment. Decided to ship by the Pioneer Line boat sailing after the "Star", if necessary", and carry on with field work until Sept. 23. The weekly boat from Cooktown to Cairns sails on the 29th. Marie arrived on the ANA plane at 1 pm, carry a sugar bag of lettuce which had been presented to her at Mona Mona Mission the day before. Stores (food) bought from Lewis' Store. Wed. Sept. 2: Traveled from Cooktown to Shipton's Flat on a 2½ ton Chev truck chartered from Norman Watkin of Helenvale. The first time on the expedition that we have had a truck big enough to carry our stuff comfortably and without high stacking. Left Cooktown about 11 am (Marie with us), had an hour or more out for lunch at Kate Watkin's Lion's Den Hotel at Helenvale (21 miles) and got to Shipton's Flat (9 more miles) about 3:45. Road has been worked on in spots since I was here in February, and is reasonably good for a bush track in mountain country.