177. Sunday Oct. 17: Geoff returned from Sydney about the middle of the week, reporting interest by Angus & Robertson in the book he proposes to write. Marie flew back from Sydney today. Since Wednesday I have been staying with my parents at Bulimba. Geoff is staying at the Canberra. The Pioneer Star has been further delayed and is now expected to sail from Brisbane on the 25th. These delays in sailing are costing us money in hotel bills, but they have eased the pressure in finalizing business. Van is spending his time at the Museum, going through the mammal collections and making notes on them. The Museum does not have very much to show in mammals. Have seen some mounts of mammals which Don Vernon is finishing, and they look very good to me. Don's Coen collections arrived on the Wandana, in good condition. His - or Mack's - methods of preservation worked well enough in the dry climate of the Coen area. At the Queensland Herbarium there is much interest in the botanical work which has been done by the Archbold Expeditions to New Guinea, and the staff is keen to work on the Cape York collections. New Guinea-Australian connections are being studied here, especially by White and Smith. For some years now the Queensland botanists have been regarded as the Australian authorities on the New Guinea flora, and their work on New Guinea plants has been greatly increased with stepped-up forestry and agricultural activities on the part of the new post-war administration in New Guinea. White is ill with heart and bladder trouble and looks as if he might not last very long. Lindsay Smith, who was with an AIF forest survey unit in eastern N.G. during the war, is being groomed to specialize in N.G. plants. He seems to be developing very well. Francis, who has done much work on the rainforest plants of Queensland and has done some work with White on N.G. plants, is mainly concerned with routine duties these days. Blake, specializing in sedges and grasses, and an exceptionally good botanist, has spent a good part of the past two years on loan to the 6x CSIR in connection with land use surveys being carried out in northern parts of the Northern Territory (e.g. Daly River) and on the Barkly Tableland. Selwyn Everist spends most of his time on pasture problems in the west. He is now studying regeneration of mulga. The work of White and Smith on New Guinea and Solomons plants (White, during the war, spent six months in the Solomons for the Imperial Forestry Institute) is being hampered by the failure of the Arnold Arboretum to send to the Queensland Herbarium its set of the Archbold collections from New Guinea. I wrote the Arboretum about this in January and I hear from Dr. Perry that the work of segregating the set is now well advanced. Was gratified to hear from Smith that he found my ecological papers useful in his field work in New Guinea. He carried my 1938-39 report as a handbook, and from it was often able to anticipate zonal changes as he traveled through the mountains, and know what trees he would find in the various types of forest. Arthur Bell, Under Secretary, Dept. Agriculture & Stock, and a good friend of our expedition, has returned from the Northern Territory, where, as a member of the advisory committee which is working on plans for development of the North, he has been inspecting experimental plantings of economic plants. He could not give me much information on the Arnhem Land Expedition of the National Geographic Soc. About all he knew was that members of the party have somewhat of a reputation for getting lost and meeting other sorts of difficulties. Bell inquired about possibilities for growing cane sugar on the Cape York Peninsula, and is especially interested in the Princess Charlotte Bay area for this purpose.