28 Afternoon spent at Victoria Barracks (Army H.Q. for Queensland). Met Major General Nimmo (G.O.C.), Colonel , Major McBride (l/c Intelligence), Lt. Hurren and Sergeant Chalk (map section of Survey. Major Lockwood A/D Survey was away.) All very pleasant people. Nimmo was bron an a cattle station in the Gulf country and has been there ref recently to see the home property (I knew his brother years ago). McBride probably a recent arrival from England. Spent a couple of hours with Hurren and Chalk, looking through files of maps and selecting those we can use. Will go back tomorrow to see their air photos. Lunch with R. Oldham, an old resident of Port Moresby. Found him working behind the counter at Harrington's photo shop. An excellent photographer, and a keen am信息ru naturalist. Has specialized in the collection of cowrie shells, of which he has nearly 200 species from various parts of the country. Oldham informed/that Goodfellow is not collecting in Madagascar. Wednesday Jan. 21: A good part of the morning used up in getting in touch with the RAAF command and finding out the position re military control of Cape York airfields. The RAAF has gone into a decline in parts north of Sydney, where I find the officer commanding all the north is stationed. Queensland is split into at least three wing minor commands. Group Capt. Douglas at Amberley, some 30 miles west of Brisbane; Group Capt. Pierce at Townsville and commanding the east side of the Cape York Peninsula; and Group Capt. Fyve at Darwin and commanding the west side of the Peninsula. The Amberley field is on a telephone line in the 45 minute delay category. Finally got hold of Douglas, and was referred by him to Pierce in Townsville. This means I shall have to break my journey at Townsville en route Cairns Monday. Douglas says Jacky-Jacky airfield is still under military control. Looked over Cape York air photos at Victoria Barracks and finalized a list of maps we need. Will buy the maps of Watson Ferguson & Co. in town. Most Australian military maps are obtainable from this firm. Afternoon tea with McBride of Intelligence, who has his back up about the tactics of the press. The press is hostile to Government and distorts information from the military press liaison officer in efforts to discredit Government leaders. The military maps are in color and show types of vegetation as they interest military men. That is, they show different types of cover, with, as a rule, specific designations for rain-forest. Saw some of the air photos on which the maps are based and am not so sure that the vegetation has always been correctly interpreted. Still, they are most useful maps and far better than anything we have. An interesting new contact was Mr. C. Ogilvie, a hydrologist on the staff of the Bureau of Investigation, Lands Dept. A rugged, unconventional chap, past middle age, who spends his vacations roaming remote parts of the north on a push bike. Was attached to MacArthur's staff in Dutch New Guinea (Hollandia, Wake) as adviser on water supply and timber. On one of his bike trips, two years ago, he visited Iron Range. Got little new information from him. Thursday Jan. 22: Received our plant-collecting permit from Dept. Agriculture, and a special licence for use of a monthly 150 gal. of gas from the Fuel Control Board. Watson Ferguson & Co. were able to supply most of the maps we need and will have the others tomorrow. Am getting two sets. It would not be surprising if these military maps are taken off the market at any time.