183. Education is free and compulsory up to the age of 14 years. Besides his appointed Council, the governor has advisers elected by the people, on adult franchise without qualifications. The voting age is 21 years. It is said that 25% of the population is illiterate. Roman Catholic is the dominant religion. Religion seems to be important in the lives of the colored people, and celebrations with churchly sanction, such as marriages and christenings, are occasions of special social enjoyment. The negroes love to laugh and to feast. There is no shortage of liquor bars, and rum is cheap, but I saw no one under the influence. The one long excursion made by Marie and I was to Maracas Bay, on the north side of the island, about 14 miles from Port of Spain, by a magnificent scenic road. Much of the road is 500 to 1500 feet above sea level. The last seven miles of it was built by the U.S. Seabees to open up Maracas Bay as a bathing beach and thus compensate the people of Port of Spain for the loss of their former beach, which is within the area of the U.S. Naval Base. The new part of the road is a splendid engineering feat in difficult mountain country. Most of its length is through primeval, very tall, [illegible] rainforest, growing on very steep slopes. A prominent lesser canopy tree is the "pui", now leafless and a mass of orange- red flowers. Pui is one of the best timber trees of the island. A Heliconia- like plant forms a large part of the second growths on steep road cuttings. Maracas Bay has a very good beach, curving between high rocky headlands, and fringed with coconut palms. There is an interesting fishing village in the bay. Port of Spain has a very pleasant botanical garden about 60 or 70 acres in area, established in 1818. A good proportion of the trees and other plants are labelled. There are some magnificent samaan trees (Pithecellobium saman), their tremendous, wide spreading branches laden with grey pendent masses of Rhipsalis, various bromeliads, and other epiphytes. A slat house devoted to orchids contains some attractive native species, now in flower. The orchids are grown on hanging pieces of wood of the sweet calabash tree. There is a guide service at the Gardens: charge 50 cents per person for a tour lasting about 2 hours. There is also a pleasant pavilion, where one is served a good lunch for a dollar. Had a good deal of amusement out of our guide — [illegible] who delivered a flowery spiel as we went along, and who was right in most of his information about the plants. Left Port of Spain about half hour after midnight of the 26th. We had put off there 2000 tons of refrigerated cargo from Australia— mainly beef and lamb and cheese. We also carried for Port of Spain a large quantity of corned beef in casks, and hundreds of cases of "Dino," a vile meat product after the style of "Spam" and "Wham" which we were obliged to eat at one time on Cape York. Friday Dec. 5: Tied up at the U.S. Navy docks in Boston soon after daylight. Having anchored in the harbor about 7 o'clock last night. Unloading of our wool cargo for Boston began in short time. It took us most of the morning to pass immigration and customs and establish ourselves in hotels in the town. Most of the delay was in waiting for the officials to arrive, then, in opening every item of baggage for customs. Some of Van's baggage (collections made by George on his reconnaissance in N.S.W. and Qld., and left at the Queensland Museum) was in nailed cases. After Boston, the ship would go on to St.Johns, New Brunswick, to unload more wool, then proceed to New York, her terminal port, to unload 5000 tons of lead ingots, frozed crayfish from West Australia, "heavy sands" from Queensland, and melted-down scrap metals from junked World War II military airplanes. Marie and I stayed at the Essex Hotel, Wan and his wife (who met him at the ship) at the Copley Plaza. Visited the Arnold Arboretum in the afternoon