176. and I Friday Oct.8: Business well in hand. Marie left by bus to spend weekend at Toowoomba and Crows Nest. Geoff arrived from Cairns by plane yesterday and leaves for Sydney today. He wants to sell Angus & Robertson a book on the expedition. The Wandana, with Van and our cargo on board, left Cairns on the 5th. Clearance of our cargo for the U.S. will be a matter of course in regard to the equipment and supplies we are taking back with us. Since arrangements for our coming here were made on ministerial level, the Collector of Customs here in Brisbane feels that permission to export our collections will have to come from Canberra, and the machinery has been set in motion. No one seems to have precise knowledge as to the whole process of personal clearances for the U.S. Have learned of different requirements from the U.S. Consul (Peck), Wilson who handles passenger traffic for Burns Philp, and Chief Inspector Degnan of Customs. Requirements learned so far are: Income tax clearance (which has proved a mere formality); permission to remove U.S. funds (arranged through our bank, and we can get a permit to take out as much as we brought in); smallpox vaccination (a requirement of the U.S. of recent innovation for boat passengers. Certificate of vaccination within last 12 months, and reaction thereto, is accept- able, but Marie and I do not have such document. Commonwealth Health Dept. does the vaccination at the very nominal charge of 2/6 per person); general health certificate (U.S. requirement, only applicable to aliens; arranged for Geoff by the shipping agents); payment of U.S. head tax in advance (concerns only aliens resident in U.S.); baggage clearance from Customs (Fill in form in advance; get clearance on dock. Export of gold and some other items prohibited, and one can take out only L10 in Australian currency. Baggage liable to search); food ration cards - return to Customs man on dock; alien registration cards - return to Immigration agent on ship. Official calls, on winding up of expedition, have been made on Gair, Acting Premier of Queensland; Kemp, head of Main Roads Commission; McLean, Under Secretary for Lands, and Chairman, Land Administration Board; Grenning, Director of Forests. Some other men I have to see are out of town. Grenning most apologetic about the refusal of his department to grant permission for us to collect mammals in the Bellenden-Ker National Park, or any other national park, when we were strikebound in Cairns at the beginning of the expedition. Puts the blame on Trist, secretary of the dept., who administers national parks, and who took it upon himself to knock us back in Grenning's absence on some official tour. Grenning's excuses do not hold water, and they do not explain his omission to reply to a letter I wrote him on the subject, or the Minister's failure to acknowledge representations I made to him. I let the matter lie where Grenning dropped it. Nothing to be gained by making a fuss now. But perhaps the next American party will get more sympathetic treatment from the Forestry Department. It is the only government setup in the country which has not been wholly cooperative, and very nice about it, in our project. Grenning is a forestry graduate of Harvard. Did a short broadcast on the expedition over the national network last evening. Am booked for another for next Tuesday evening. Monday Oct.11: Got back to Brisbane, and Lemmons, during the afternoon. Van arrived on the Wandana during the morning and is staying at the Canberra Hotel. Tuesday Oct.12: Marie left by air on a short visit to Sydney. My first business call was to Burns Philp, where I learned that the "Pioneer Star" has been delayed in southern ports and is now expected to leave Brisbane on the 20th or 21st.