collections from the Coen series of camps. Sat. Oct. 2: The last of our crates was nailed and strapped this morning, we have our State permits for export, and all is ready for the shipping people to make out the documents on Monday. We were careful to save all the crates and packing cases in which our equipment and supplies came from the U.S.. I am more than glad that we did this, for lumber suitable for crates is hard to find in Cairns, and I doubt if we could have had crates made in the time we had at our disposal. We did not find our agents of much use in the rush job of getting our cargo ready for shipment. They did not live up to a promise to supply us with a carpenter, who could have made short work of adapting and bracing bracing crates and saved us considerable hard work and time wasted in laboring with inadequate tools. Our cargo must be on the wharf on Monday, ready for loading on the "Wandana." Our local agents, Burns Philp & Co., have been very helpful most of the time, but not to the extent, I feel, that they should claim a fee of fifty guineas (about $180 at present rate of exchange) for their trouble. This, I was blandly informed by Dupain the manager, would be their charge to cover services and use of storage space. I had to pay it of course, but I paid it on protest, and Dupain will refer the matter to his directors who, he says, set the fee. I have never heard of a scientific expedition being treated thus by local merchants who, while acting as their agents, reaped a profit by supply of stores and collected regular trade commissions and fees for handling shipping and forwarding business. Our packing job has been hampered by friends and strangers coming in to look, and ask questions. I have had various calls to make, and there has been no lack of social activity in the evenings. The whole party of us have been entertained by the Bates and Stephens in their homes. This afternoon we had a last look at one of the local beauty spots. Marie, Van and I were the guests of Hazel Heale at an afternoon tea and swimming party at Barron Waters. We all dined with Mr. & Mrs. Jack Warner, in town. Hazel Heale is daughter of a wealthy farmer of the Atherton Tableland, has lived in a tin mining area in Malaya, and writes feature articles for the Cairns evening paper. Warner is a sugar farmer. A town medicc, Dr. Clarke, was in the party. We are taking back to the States only equipment; and articles of supply worth the freight. In Cooktown I gave to the public hospital most of our medical supplies. Mammal collecting supplies, of which we had a large surplus, were given to the Queensland Museum, and some to the North Queensland Natural- ists' Club of Cairns. To the Naturalists' Club I have given a complete plant- drying outfit, and my surplus supplies, which did not amount to much except in corrugates and seed packets. Since we left Cairns for the field in April, the Naturalists's Club has made good progress in getting settled in their new quarters. The Harbour Board has given them the use of two military huts on the waterfront, for temporary headquarters and a museum. The collections of the club have been moved into the buildings and display groups are being installed in the museum section. The herbarium is by far the most valuable of the collections. It is the only collection on which sustained work has been done. Due very largely to the efforts of Dr. Flecker, who founded the club, and whose chief interest is plants, a very good collection of plants has been got together. Most of the plants are from the Cairns district, which has an extremely rich and varied flora. All the specimens are poisoned and mounted. With the exception of some of the older specimens, which were attacked by insects before Flecker learned