Karonie, Coonana, Zanthus.

Kildana. Start of Kanandah fence to south[?]. Lime kilns. Got in touch with Ruth at 3.30 and they collected a lot of small lizards and some snakes, all under bit of wood - more under tin.

Drove in the Kandandah. Ruth and Eric all at home, Susie inepiasible as ever. Ruth and Eric well, delighted to see them. They have had a very poor season. Carrying about 30,000 from the 40 ooo of two years ago. An excellent wool clip last year but only 3 inches so far.
Had a most pleasant evening to bed at 9.30, a very cold night. How nice to have a good bed.

Told Eric about the Wedgetail sitting on the fence post about 10 ft. from four half-grown lambs which were watching it (it was measuring dinner[?]) - we drove over and it flew off & as it did so the lambs moved forward in concert. Eric tells of an Eagle he watched in Qld. which struck a half-grown roo but he was too slow as the on the ground so he made repeated air strikes tumbling[?] over the swinging[?] kangaroo each time until he killed it.

> 18th August 1970 (Tuesday)
Kanandah, put in 12 gals.
Trainline, stopped at gate & collected Gymnodactylus milii under sleeper.
Sleeper, collected Heteronotia binoei and Mus musculus underneath.
Rawlinna.

Abandoned camp. Collected under sleepers and rocks H. binoei, and a small Asleplous[?] elegans. This was the place where Butler previously collected S. murina under sleepers. Fantastically unlikely for murina ! Took photos [C6524, 5]. Trachysaurus rugosus on track. Very rugose like a pine cone. Collected.

Haig. Stopped for lunch in a little patch of Casuarina. Very pleasant in the sun. Wind died a bit and no longer bitterly cold. Photographed Gymnodactylus [C6626,7] and also the Trans train which came through while we were lunching [C6628]. All people sitting in the Diner. We were probably more comfortable than they - at any rate would not have swapped !

Nurina. Stopped to turn over sleepers, collected a couple of geckoes Phyllodactylus (laminated toes, bifid pad, claw on each digit - Gelya has non bifid pad & no claw on inner digit - Butler's diagnostics), Heteronotia binoei.

Road very rough indeed milage scarcely 20 mph much of the time.

Loongana. Very slow progress. Decided to camp for the night before the light goes. Camped in a little clump of  "dead finish" Acacia (? aphylla) and desert willows Pittosporum (will collect seed).

Collected wolf spiders, running on the ground. Some salt and blue bush, Temp. 53*F.

> 19th August 1970 (Wednesday)
Camped 9.3 E. of Loongana. A good night, fairly warm, cloud coming up, wind shifted fr. N into due West. Off at 0810.
Butler found a small Ablepharus butleri under a stone. Collected a bag of seeds of native willow Pittosporum which I must try to grow.
Mundrabilla Siding. Small sprinkle of rain at intervals but little risk of it developing.
Stopped at a donga to photograph an Acacia [C6629] collected a few of the very scarce and small puffball flowers. Phyllodes and twisted..
Forrest. Posted letters to M & Jim. Crossed to south of track, stopped at Gurney [?] near Reid for lunch - looked for fossils in fissure fils[?] nothing.
Reid. Track comes off for airfield. Collected Tympanocryptus running , went under a stone.
XD140 Benchmart, Lands & Surveys WA.

Harry's diagram of cave. The cave has a compacted earth floor & scraps of bone, easy to get into. No evidence of H. sap. but flakes collected on surface within 1 mile of cave. Worth excavation someday.

Investigated cave alongside road (to east). Harry collected bones of Perameles, Leporillus, Dasycereas, a small macropod, 2 small Drymidae, Notys?, Pseudemys. Collected Trapdoor spider, no door on brow but copious silk sleeve. Unfortunately burro between stues & destroyed in excavating it. Collected land shells 3spp.& slater.
Bad mark XD155.

Camped among myalls to the west of the track. Collected Huntsman spider T50F, 3/4 moon on the wane. Turned in at 10.00 pm. Few meals around. Saw a couple of rabbits along the trans line & two foxes. Country very poor. Salt and bluebush in reasonable condition but grass all black & grey. No water anywhere. Red kangaroo & ten greys as we entered the myall zone at 87.9.

> 20th August (Thursday)
Camped in myall, a good night. Cold morning west gone road to N.W. Off at 8.10, only 140 m. yesterday, must make Ceduna tonight. Eucla. Put in 15 3/4 gals super, gauge showing empty, 302.2 m. since Kanandah average 18.8 mpg.
S.A. / W.A. border mallee & saltbush. Wombat holes on Nullarbor Stn. in saltbush, took some photos and collected land snails and a wombat palate & teeth. The holes are common between mileposts 28 and 26 to Nullarbor Homestead.
Nullarbor Homestead turnoff, collected bobtail on road just past the turnoff. Myall comes in again after a stretch of the plain which started before the wombat holes (although there was scattered Myall there).
Ivy Tanks.
Start of the Yalata reserve: Bluebush, Eucalypts (woolly butts) and myall. First wheat starts after cleared grazing in open myall and eucalypt "parkland" for some miles.
Fuel pump at Nindroo, Fowlers Bay turn off.
Wolf spider in hole under stone in a small roadside "reserve". Collected.
Penong fuel 15 gals average 18.6 mpg. Ceduna X road.

Stayed in Poochera to phone in. All well at home. Seds a bit off colour but Jim's operation seems to be successful. Dark 8.15 and cold.

Turnoff main road at Minnipa to go south to find camp in the dark. Find a place behind a small belt of trees and off the road. After meal wrote decisions in cases for International Commission until about 11.00 pm, to bed, cold & windy. Harry got some spiders.

> 21st  August (Friday)
Camped 5 miles south of Minnipa in a small clump of eucalypts at a bend in the road among paddocks of wheat. A nice morning. Alice Springs sched starts at 8.00 on 5410, can hear perfectly well, off at 0840.
Back on Eyre Highway, Kimba 18 1/4 gals.

Drove on to Port Augusta across country which at first was mallee rather like Lake Grace but soon became less strong and then changed to myall, sheoak, bluebush/saltbush. Finally coming up to the Middleback Range before Iron Knob to the south of Lake Giles the country might virtually be a cross between the flats between the Wooramel and Brown Range of the Nullarbor. come through the Middleback Range the country gets even worse until Port Augusta reached.

Port Augusta left Hwy with vehicle after lunch to get 4000 miles service done & roofrack welded where it had fractured. Went to the Public Library where the girls let me wash before handling books ! I then worked on Commission business and got it posted.

Drove out into the Flinders Ranges to Quorn and camped on a tributary of Willochra Creek just north of Gordon [Kanyaka Creek 6m. S. of Wilson]

Camped in rain. Got the fly up - leaks ! Bats flying low and very fast. Spotlighted while Harry shot. He collected a Tadarida australis, male, wt:37gr, H & B 84 mm, T.V. 49mm, H.I 10 mm, E26mm, forearm 62 mm (wt & measurements taken by Butler). A beautiful chocolate brown with a well marked golden pouch with raised globular rim (bone) and with two dense clusters of marvellous rich brown chocolate hair which, when wanted for the pouch stood up like two dense bristly fans. Photographed pouch b&w. A male trapdoor walked into the tent & onto Harry's leg ! Collected. T.52* a very fine wolf spider about in the rain.

> 22nd August (Saturday)
Rained hard all night. Was awakened about 03.30 and did not sleep much after that. Fly leaks and water splashing in my face.Sound of running water gave me some concern that we would have difficulty in getting up the bank out of this valley - but looked better in daylight! Still raining , but much more lightly during breakfast, which was leisurely. Harry collected a Pardelote.
Rail coming at Wilson [Halt]

Hawker[?]. Still raining but asked a bus driver who had just driven down the Wilpena Pound road what it was like. He said slippery but we would have no bother. Country very interesting. Callitris in hills rather like European hill scenery with firs. Triodia starts among the Callitris and bluebush eucalypts along the creeks looking like silver birch. Stopped at a flat with callitris and grass alongside the road at the foot of Rawnsley Bluff and opposite Moongarie Gap. Dry out spiders.[C6633].

Turned off into Wilpena Pound turnoff. The view is incredibly beautiful pastoral scenery. The Chalet is a privately owned property & camping area. Tents among the trees. Drove into the area and then walked up into the pound by the tourist track. A wonderful isolated woodland of tall eucalypts. Photographs [C6635-36]. Dry out 3 trapdoor spiders, more photos into the entrance of the Pound[C6701-2]. Stopped raining.
Back at main road.Through heavily-grazed hill country, Reds and Euros grazing, rabbits and fox.

Blinman, an isolated hill town. Drove down the road to Mt Mary and Parachilna. A  very beautiful and spectacular descent high hosting defiles. Rocky and dry[C6703]. Harry shot a rabbit. Saw several Euros. Down into the mud and desolate plains at the foot - to Parachilna 4002.6. Camped on Green Well Creek, collected spiders. Tadarida flying. V. cold.

> 23rd August (Sunday)
Camped in Greenwell Creek 7 miles N. of Parachilna. The creek's a rock strewn bed lined by quite tall rivergums and flowing along the top of a crest. Coming into it last night, up hill from Parachilna, I found it difficult to believe it was a creek at all.
An excellent night and lovely morning, clouds are still hanging around the Flinders and there is light cloud cover as a front passes over - but not enough to keep the sun off.

Country bare with low sand - looks badly eaten out. Breakfast-Time Creek is a lovely name in a dreadful area of eaten out country ; some of the most desolate I have seen.
Beltana - dreadful. Trying to make living on tourists in hopeless country.

Arrived at Leigh Creek township. An incredible place in such desolation. Sealed roads, brickbuilt houses, green trees and a little park with green lawns and wonderful flowering trees filled with birds.

Went to the police station (Sgt Marple & Const Cavanaugh) who say that the trees in park were Disto Lothian at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. Wish that Bond had turned his energy to this sort of thing in W.A. Sgt Marple's boy is a keen fossil rock collector & hopes to be a geologist. Harry gaven him advice on Physics, Chemistry & Maths.

Drove back to Copley and fuel 14 1/2 gals - 15 mpg. Stopped for lunch in the bed of Leigh Creek. Dug out scorpions, Harry showed an excellent technique with water for folling tiosty burrows.

Went back to Leigh Creek and tried to phone Grant Inglis in Adelaide to find out why they had not turned up. No luck. Police advised checking with Johnny Akbar in Copley whether the Crusers were still out at Callabonna on Moolawatana stn. Went & checked and found out they were still there so decided to go back to Leigh Creek until 3.30 and then if they didn't want to go on out to Moolawatana to contact Michael Sheehan - manager. Did this and left message with Const. Cavanaugh to pass on to Grant. Tel from Briston : Collecting N.T. O.K. fuel Warburton O.K.

Leave Leigh Creek. Turn off at Copley on East. Passed Mt. Searl turnoff. This is incredibly desolate hill country almost completely bare of vegetation. [C6705] . Nepabunna Mission, houses in good condition, a school.   Wooltana H.S. in the plain at the N side of the range. country beautiful plains - quite good condition.

Camped in Arkaroola Crk. 6.4 m. N.E. of Wooltana H.S. Collected spiders T 54*F a nice (comparatively) warm evening. Pleasant sitting around the fire writing.

The general impression I get of this country is of incredibly desolate, thrashed saltbush country to the West of the Flinders Range which lies like a dividing rampart NpS through the country. he range itself has been destroyed by pastoral activity but is picturesque desolation with adits here & there. Very rough rather reminiscent of Nullagine and the Warraweena[?] series. And then over the other side, quiet plains in much better condition, apparently better watered, with good trees along numerous creeks feeding out of the range. Good grasses. Why do so many of the creeks on the other side (ie the West) seem to flow along the tops of ridges ?!

Telegram at Leigh Creek
"RIDE. COLLECTING; PERMIT APPROVED DARWIN COPY AVAILABLE ONCE NO REPLY YET ADELAIDE STOP FUEL OKAY WARBURTON NO REPLY GILES AM CABLING AGAIN REGARDS BANNUTER"

> 24th Aug. 1970 (Monday)
Camped at Arkaroola Creek. A beautiful night, windy in the middle of the night but woke to a still clear morning. Warm enough to sit comfortably in a pullover. Listened to Alice Springs sched, nothing for us, off at 0850. After leaving creek took 2 photos back at Creek & range [C6706] and Right ls of Range.[C6707]. Then stopped while Harry walked up a couple of quail thrushes of which he collected are - a very beautiful pale bird rising between little tussocks and small bushes, male.

[C6708] Creek and hills across gibber and sandy plain. N. Mulga (entrys). N. Mulga Homestead. Moolawatana H.S. a beautiful modern Homestead. The home paddock is full of bush but the rest is desolation. Met a young geologist and wife who were mapping the area. They told us where Tedford and party were working. We then met a truckdriver who also gave us a road map, v. useful in relation to mills and fences [see over]. Drove out to Tedford's camp and on the way were caught up by the rest of the party.
   Grant Inglis   S. A. Museum
   Paul Lawson  S.A. Museum
   Jim Warren  Monash
   Mike Plane  Bureau Of Mineral Resources
   Alan Bartholomai  Queensland Museum

We then followed Paul into the camp, a desolate wind-blasted spot. They have a caravan and two bedrooms[?] with open backs. They had left a note for us to come out to the lake so we had lunch and then drove out on their tracks to the lake. The site is fantastic. Skeletons outcropping on the surface into a ventenesd[?] zone of gypsum and sands below this a blue clay interbedded with thin sands and then going into sand at 2ft6 to 3 ft in most places. The skeletons are all in the grey clay except where deflation has brought them into the weathered zone. Took numerous photos, went for Side 4 ; where they were working to a place where Diprotodon trackings were visible on the surface. These arplute explicable as follows :
[Sketch] [blue clays] "bioturbation" (Tedford's name)

The deflation removes the less compact material and leaves the actual treads. Took photos. Aso took photos of giant bird remains as well as concentrations of clay[?] stones.Drove to Side 1 where Tedford demonstrated the sequence of beds which were Upper sands, Upper clay, with Emu[?], smaller birds, fish otalites, then an apparent disinfinity with the Diprotodon-bearing clays break down. The only aquatic animals in these lower beds are Coriellas. So Tedford believes that these were saline at the time of deposition. He also believes that the distortion of the skeleton is due to "bioturbation" - or simply animals walking on each other !
Sand blowing like hell - really a wretched place. They say that this is the worst day they have had.
Back to camp to an excellent dinner cooked by Paul Lawson.
After yarning with the party went out and collected spiders. Strong wind. T54*F.
Mudmap to site of camp on Woolatchi Creek.

> 25th Aug 1970 (Tuesday)
Camp on Woolatchi Creek, Lake Callabonna. Up at dawn after a very windy night, but slept v. well. drove to Homestead and filled with fuel.
Homestead. Took northwards road through Lyndhurst cb house. Incredibly desolate country here. All the bush and most of the larger shrubs have been killed leaving only Mitchell Grass as the staple. Mile Shean says that they have had no rain for 2 years and that he is down to 6,000 head from 12,000 - obviously that is too much.
Mt Fitton H.S.
Signpost "Talc Mine 3 miles" on turnoff to our right. Photo[C6801] of typical desolation.
Mt. Freeling H.S. An old camp with incredible stone corral and post & rail fence - photos :[C3802, 03] collected - few bib of worthwhile gear.
Farina. Incredible place - "On western plains where shade is not.." [C3804,5]

Maree [Marree ?] Fuel 171/2 gals to fill. Sent Telegram to Jim on his birthday, "Many happy returns of the day All going well Love Dad". Ran into Warren Bonython. Incredible place to meet one's friends ! He was going to look at a new National Park at Lake Eyre North.
On the Birdsville Track.

Clayton Bore. Camped by the bore stream. Collected a good series of spiders.  Saw in the water (a large black water spider) a few small greenish ones in bushes but not on the sand. T 56* F, Slight showers.

> 26th August 1970 (Wednesday)
Camped at Clayton Bore. Up before dawn. Harry started the day well by lamping into a Sminthopsis crassicaudata [WR218] as it had the misfortune to walk within the circle of lamplight - Incredible performance.
Hayes Hill where Dick researches[?] the contact between the Cretaceous Blanchewater Fn. and the Lower Testing Murnpeowie Fn. and the relation of  test to the "silicated Dricrest"[?] the feral crugent [?] at the place.
Sketch of silicated land forms e.g. Hays Hill.

The Blanchewater is probably the equivalent of the Winton Fri [?] which contains dinosaurs The Murnpeowie is probably the equivalent of the Plutagents, M. contains plant impressions in the silcrete near Hays Hill.

[C6806,7] Dick Tedford study on the Basal beds of the Murnpeowie [C6808,9] Mike Plane standing in one section showing the deflated gibbers on the top.

[C6810,11]A good shot of Hays Hill showing how the contact mantles a basin in the Blanchewater Fn. Sketch of [C6810,11] : the dip of the Blanchewater is about 13* to the NW into the basin which is filled with the Etadunna Fm. The Winton Fm. shows up in a bore underlying the Etadunna Fm.
[C6812] Sketch : Geological map of the area.

Unfortunately the contact between the Etadunna Fm. and the Murnpeowie do not show on the surface. Outcrop on side of road seems to be Murnpeowie Fm.

Cannuwankaninna Bore. Stopped here and had a bath while the Holden went up to Etadunna Station Homestead. Camped in under the lee of a large Dune in the Cooper (between it and L. Palankarinna) M.R. 66435. Reached SW. corner of lake to look at the contact between the Cretaceous and the Etadunna Fm with the B.M.R. and the S.A. Mines Dept.

The Etadunna fm here lies on top of a silveted[?] and ladinized[?] horizon which Dick says is typical of the lowest[?] horizon of a massive[?] denicrest[?]. Mary Lindsay (S.A. Mines) points out that there is similar silcected[?] Nullarbor bestie[?] at Lake Pidinga N. of Yalata Mission on the track to Watson.) The least[?] part of the Etadunna Fm. is Dolomitic limestone with Both-like gastropods and some Rhaggada-like shells. Collected a good swag. On top of this is the remnant of gibbers which Dick believes is transported[?] from an adjacent area of limestone.
Sketch.

Photographed a channel of Katapiri cut into the Etadunna Fm.[C6815]   Moved along the W. side of the lake and looked at typical exposures of the 3 fms present here.

[C6819] Sketch looking west   Tirari

C6820  looking north [C6821] [C6822] Sketch Katapiri, Tirari, Etadunna, note that the Tirari has been pinched out with the Katapiri cut into the Etadunna fm. Tedford points out that the Tirari overlies the Mampuwordu  but not the Katapiri. It is not known what the relationship with Wipijiri is (this is only known at Ngapakaldi) T. does not believe that Tirari is the lateral equivalent of the Wipajiri Tirari is not fossiliferous anywhere.

C6823 Taken at the top of the syncline where the Etdunna is thickest [Sketch] Tirari , Dolomitic limestone of the top of the Etadunna.

C6827, 28 Lawson Quarry, a Mumpuwordu channel in the Etadunna overlain by Tirari.
C6829 Keane Quarry: - note the ?ypcrete in the Tirari above the contact.

Started to look for fossils and found a lot of scrap bone from the Etadunna. Fantastically rich. Paul found some teeth  with a curious sclandent[?] fn of two sets of 3 cusps.[6824 after excavation]
Started back to camp. Camp alongside the large N.S. dune.

Collected spiders. A very warm night with an incredible sandstorm which got out in the night and could have torn everything to shreds if we had had tents.

> 27th August (Thursday) 1970
Camp at Palankarinna in lee of the dunes on west side of lake. We collect the teeth and mandible found by Paul Lawson yesterday. Photos of mandible in situ.[C6824]. Photos down the line of exposures looking south [C6825]. Photo [C6826] looking across the lake to the Dricrusted[?] sediments to fossils which Dick believes the Silcrete[?] clants in the sediments are derived C6826,27 See notes of previous day.[error in transcribing fm pencil notes]. Drove back to camp for  lunch after collecting all moving. Sched. [6832] Landrover in Dunes on my way back to camp. Perth 3.48 pm. 25th Dr Ride 8WNX

PERMIT GRANTED SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES AND FOR COLLECTING ON R1028 SELF BUTLER STOP COLLECT AUTHORIZATION SUPERINTENDENT DOCKER RIVER NO WORD YET GILES HAVE REQUESTED SOUTH AUSTRALIAN AUTHORITIES CONTACT YOU DIRECT  BANNISTER.

C6829 Shows the Mampuwordu sands in quarry face.
C6830 Same scene of above / Tiari Hand pointing , say where D M ends.
Yellow gohere of Mampuwordu Sands, Etadunna in hole.
C6831 Dipnotodited plate in situ.
Set off for Lake Kanunka. Passage up the broad valley to the Cooper.
Cooper Creek photo C6828

Continued along Cooper to a point recognised by Tedford as been away northwards up a dune valley wth a seismic track running along it with shot holes. Lake Kanunka, excellent exposures of sediment.

Camped at the foot of a large bluff - the eastern side of the lake. Very cold night. Too tired to collect. Harry went out and got some spiders while I talked palaeontology. On the way up the country was very impressive little vegetation and almost no signs of water. A beautiful little mob of brumbies came down and investigated the convoy of Landrovers and galloped along waiting about 23-25mph for several miles. V. impressive. Dunes about 20-30 ft high, fairly well vegetated except the crests.

> 28th August 1970 (Friday)
Camped at Lake Kanunda. Up at 5 am, dreadfully cold. The Sminthopsis had died in the night. A female with large teats but no young. Preserved in formalin [WR218] F. Sminthopsis crassicaudata centralis, very large ears (rather like lirtipes) tail, invanited but not fat, white patches behind the ears very marked. Ears without the the distinct dark triangle of sunken S. crassicaudata. Tail shorter than H and B., feral colour a display four al white indourifers.

Clayton Bore shown on Birdsville Track between Marree and Etadunna H.S. ; W.H.Butler by hand, HB. 80, HF16, FA19, TV68, F22. Photographed the stratigraphy at the camp site. C6824,35 Sketch.

Collected for the scree of Katapiri, very rich indeed.
C6836,37 C6838 Map of the Etadunna localities. Scheds.

1. ADELAIDE RIDE : SCIENTIFIC PERMIT TO COLLECT PROTECTED FAUNA EXCLUDING RARE SPECIES RECOMMENDED TO MINISTER WILL DESPATCH TO PERTH OLSEN
2. PERTH RIDE : SUGGEST YOU CONTACT GILES DIRECT THEIR ADDRESS OUTPOST ALICE SPRINGS  BANNISTER

Drove north along the lake then out to Lake Pitikanta, a remarkable lake with excellent exposures of Etadunna fm. Saw how whole skeleton Dyprotodontidae were collected on earlier expeditions where driver presence is indicated by signs of surface bane.
Mandible of small Dyprotodon Ngapakaldia as found by weating pattern.

General view of above. Etadunna fm with tigia and a Katzini channel in mesa background. Another skeleton revealed by ducertution.

5 skeletons revealed in valley. Mandible 04 excavated and shellac added. Plaster badged for removal. Had lunch and then drove back to Lake Ngapakaldi.

Very unimpressive. Low exposures on the Eastern side. An island in the middle and the Western side have better exposures but no vertebrate fossil locs. C6810 general scene of exposures. Walked northwards for a little bluff midway along the Southern side of the lake and came to the Wipajiri loc. This is a very strange locality walked by small clasts reaching out into the beach. They found it by avere and some turtle bones which weakened out. They then put in a trench and find that it was a channel rising parallel to the beach and below the present surface: it is in the Etadunna but there is no Tirari fms to give superimprintual control ? Where does it come in the sequence ? The fauna is very strange indeed. the channel enters Etadunna clasts. Is there some possibility that the channel is itself laid down in Etadunna times and not post-Etadunna ?

Clasts on the beach.
Clasts of fossil plants (Detail)

Drove up into the dunes to find a little valley for the night. The evening started warm 67*F - collected spiders & wrote up diary. Got cold by 11.00. To bed.

> 29th August 1970 (Saturday)
Camped at Lake Ngapapaldi. Left to drive south via Pitikanta to pick up the mandible in plaster block. Dick Tedford and Mike Plane decided to go north with the Bureau party to investigate some as yet unexplored lakes which had good exposures in the photos. Left at 0810 after sched and sent RIDE PHONE 862242 PERTH LEAVING ETADUNNA TODAY ON WAY ALICE SPRINGS STOP TELL JOHN PERMITS OK LOVE DEE

Passed old well. Harry shot 2 Babblers that he is not familiar with. Took photos of the locality which is approx  1.5 m. north of Wyalta Waterhole in Cooper Creek (654448) [C690].

Cooper Creek. We joined the truck we took work at his place. We had got one dune too far east on the way back and did not have the advantage of the seismic track. [C690].
Crossing of the Cooper.

Cannuwaukaninna Bore. had a wonderful bath in hot water, washed the spilt oil off the roof of the Toyota (due to oil cans being insuffiently stood and splitting in the roof rack) and washed our clothes.

Clayton Bore. Met the others and camped for the night. Had a good talk, especially with Jim Warren. He will write to me about the need for an Australian Carbon Dating Ind. to be run on a commercial(?) basis. I have told him that I will have a go at the WAIT

> 30th August 1970 (Sunday)
Camped at Clayton Bore, said goodbye.
Started on the Birdsville Track and photographed Marree [C6916]
Marree 24 gals of super, All new supplies of vegetables and meat $9.52
Signpost Oodnadatta road.
Gate in Dog Fence.
Photo of country - very desolate Margaret Siding !
Mount Hamilton Homestead
William Creek Hotel - Turned west off the Oodnadatta road at a signpost Oodnadatta  130
Anna Creek Homestead turned left at road marked to Coober Pedy.
Gibber plain (photo[c6919].

Camped beside creek in good eucalypts, the first we have seen all day of any size. The country we have been through is very desolate and heavily grazed. For the first part (i.e. Birdsville Track - William Creek mostly "bush" or mitchell grass, very little ground cover). After William Creek a few sandhills but not much cover. After Anna Creek low vegetated dunes with extensive gibber between. Altogether very little vegetation left but enough to show that there must have been pretty good cover prior to stocking - but now virtually nothing. There does not seem to be any plant (like spinifex in Pilbara) which has taken advantage of the situation.

Blew a tyre (staked) coming into amp - Harry fixed it as well as that we did the other day. H collected spiders, a beautiful yellow one. Temp 43*, I prepared maps.

> 31st August 1970 (Monday)
Camped on creek to east of Coober Pedy. Photo [C6920] of map with Etadunna Formation locs. filled in for teaching.
0800 Sched sent.
OFFICER IN CHARGE ANIMAL INDUSTRIES BRANCH N.T.ADMIN. , ALICE SPRINGS. AM INFORMED COPY OF MY PERMIT IS WITH YOU STOP WISH TO AVOID DEVIATING THROUGH ALICE SPRINGS THROUGH KULGERA UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY PLEASE ADVISE RIDE

[C6528]Photo of Coolibahs along creek bank at camp. Spiders cone osteid (the new yellow one) in burrows about 8" degs" in sediment above creek bank. Sediments sandy gossels did not find in the soft lam. Bruno with silk-lined rim and lined with silk. Photographed spider & bread bin - also a small-chosed scorpion which we found about 12 inches down in a Trapdoor spider burrow [6521-27].

Coober Pedy. A remakable place which looks like an outback town which has been set down in the middle of a mine. Heaps of mullock all over them place, dirt roads anywhere anyone wanted to take a vehicle a cloud of dust & vehicles parked all over the place, an increddible mixture of built places (pub,  post office, store etc.) as well as the traditional dugouts. Called on Eric Smith of "Aladdin's Cave"- a contact of Harry Butler's. Eric sells opals and anything else which will catch a tourist. Had coffee with him in his 11 room dugout. It cost him $20,000 dollars only a couple of years ago. He is the chairman of the Progress association. They are fighting hard for local government and were responsible for the recent clear up of some hard cases following the recent robbings and stabbing of an opal buyer. Had a few drinks with him and agreed to identify a shell for him. Fuel 16 gals supplies $4.22 (total to date $13.54).

Drove over to the rubbish tip to see if we could find any small shells which Harry found last time he was here. Nothing except 2 small boys spending a useful morning breaking bottles ! Wrote to Sunes & Kathy.

Mt. Willoughby Homestead. Oodnadatta Rd. joins from the east. Welbourn Hill. Camp in mulga on a stray plane. After we had eaten we went out and collected spiders. V. few species here but many individuals. The country here is pretty poor. For the first 70 miles north of Coober Pedy it was gibber plain with very little vegetation at all, a little low scrub here a cheae and an occasional mulga. At about 60-70 m. N. of Coober Pedy stands of mulga become common and for the next 50 or so miles one almost continues. However since then there have been alternate gibber plains & mulga. The camp is in mulga with virtually no industry - much frequented by cattle. The gibber plain surrounding it is very bare.
Approx 24 m. S. of Gibber Downs Homestead on the Coober Pedy Rd.

> 1st Sept. 1970 (Tuesday) 1st day of Spring.
Camp 24 m. S. of Granite Downs H.S.
Recd. following. RIDE 8WNX ALICE SP. PERMIT OK PROCEED DIRECTLY STOP LETTER RE EXPORT OF SPECIMENS FOLLOWING:CHIEF ANIMAL INDUSTRIES.
Sent 1.BANNISTER 284411 PERTH OMITTING ALICE SPRINGS BY ASSESSMENT N.T.A. PROCEEDING KULGERA AYRES ROCK DIRECT TODAY  RIDE
2. OFFICER IN CHARGE 8SCG (GILES) ALICE SPRINGS. HAVE I PERMISSION TO REFUEL AT GILES UP TO 30 GALS 3RD SEPTEMBER RIDE DIRECTOR W.A.MUSEUM
Drove northwards, a lovely day, country badly affected by grazing.
Photo of degraded mulga country [C6933].

Granite Downs turnoff. out of fuel in tank (consumption p - 250 miles at 12 1/2 mpg : not good enough). Very nice patch of good mulga & grevillea[C6934,5].
Border of N.T./S.A.. Country still generally rather poor but rather more grass.

Victory Downs turnoff. Victory Downs. Now running a motel business, fuel 22 1/2 gals. Lunch stop. Photo of a rather nice Cassia [C6926] collected a bit too. It occurs as a rather pale green bush in sandhills.

Sched. Telegram recd. RIDE 8WNX PERTH10.12am
PERMISSION NECESSARY FROM DIRECTOR WEAPONS RESEARCH ESTABLISHMENT TO ENTER PROHIBITED AREA INCLUDING GILES STOP FAMILY WELL STOP THEY WILL CONTACT YOU SOONEST STOP LETTER AT WARBURTON STOP REGARDS BANNISTER

Photo of Musgrave Ranges at N.E. end [C7001].

Mulga Park H.S. Looks a nice place, lovely country with excellent mulga and various shrubs including the Cassia and native poplar Codnocarpus. Good grass. Photo of road lined with native poplars [C7002].

First Triodia we have seen in the whole trip! From here on the whole plant association begins to look more familiar and typical of the Western Desert as we know it. Occasional sandhills, grasses and spinifex seeding. Plenty of water, Euros in rocky places.
Mt Connor looking as striking as I expected from the air [C7003]

Curtin Springs, Mrs Dawn Severis (husband Peter away), a motel & petrol station. Dawn very pleasant to us, gave us a cup of tea (she was a Qld friend of Harry Butler who visited with the U.S. Exped. and also with Rolf Harris) and let us have a shower. Very nice. Felt well dressed afterwards despite lack of ironing. At least our clothes did not call attention to us. A busload of schoolgirls (from Melburne S.C.E.G.G.S.) had broken down there  (50 tourist buses a day!) - schoolgirls are rather more attractive than I remember!

Camp. Went spider collecting T. 52*F, very few individuals about. None in the dune. Shot a rabbit with the .410 pistol. Got one Lialis burtonis being not spinifex, H. shot a Tadarida australis in the firelight! m. [WR219], ivB 85 mm, TV 47 mm, HF12 mm., E 29 gm., forearm 55 mm., Wt. 34 gms., gulmar pouch of moderately developed Hairs in two tufts but not bristle or strikingly rich brown as in [217]

> 2nd Sept 1970 (Wednesday) 
Camp 6m. w. of Curtin Springs in mulga in a slight clay flat with desert oaks and mulga. A sandhill behind, some spinifex. [C7004] First photos of Ayres Rock. Sched 1 recd DR RIDE 8WNX WEAPONS RESEARCH ESTABLISHMENT SALISBURY S.A. SUGGEST YOU PICK UP FUEL AT DOCKER RIVER AS GILES IS NOT SET UP TO SUPPLY FUEL AND IS IN ANY CASE A RESTRICTED AREA. WEAPONS SALISBURY

Ayres Rock Warden's Office & letter box. Talked to Derek Roth, Curator of the Rock (Ranger). They are having real problems over controlling people and keeping them in camping areas and on roads. They had 27,000 last year and 15 tourist buses a day at present. His offsider is Ian Carwood and Lance ?. He was particularly bitter about so-called naturalists etc who seem to think that they need special treatment. He gave an example of a group from the University of Adelaide who were not aware that they needed permits. He is an ex-policeman from Nairobi and seems competent.
Collected owl pellets, and bones from ambast in a ledge.

Met Dave Simpson and (aboriginal) wife Trixie, he is a motor mechanic and is trying to get set up at the Rock. He is performing unofficially under canvas (a camp - with corrugated iron under the canvas!) and has a small museum of artifacts. He would like to get some lainduley points.
8.00 left Rock.

Took a lot of photos round the Rock and also over towards Olgas. Desert oaks lovely. Left circular track in the NW of Mt. Olga, joined Giles track [C7014] last photo at Mt Olga, joined Giles track at Nat. Park sign. Collected Ampliboleus inernis in flat burrow after it ran across the road. Collected noteu.

Armstrong Creek. Photographed beefwood and blackwood on the flat (beefwood's a drooping Acacia, bloodwood is a Eucalypt) [C7018]

Camp on the edge of a dune 6 miles east of the Irving Creek crossing on the Giles Road. Sandhill alive with small mammal tracks. Set all the Elliott traps (20) and also set about 26 breakbacks. Went out in the evening to look for spiders, again very few induviduals here T.55*F. Collected a gecko as well. Back in camp H. shot a Nycticeius in the spotlight. [WR220] Nycticeius , H B 53 mm., Ear 13mm., TV37 mm. forearm 35mm. HF 8 wt 10 gm. The bats are flying low over a profusely flowering Acacia, very difficult photo, they were so close. The Acacia is a lovely white-stemmed little tree (?shrub) about 8ft. tall.[C7019].

Very tired,  I don't know why because we rose late and have not done much today. To bed at 10.30

> 3rd Sept. (Thursday)
Camped on the Westward facing of a sandhill 6 miles East of Irving Creek. Mulga on the flat, spinifex and grass on the sandhill with flowering acacias and a few mallee-form Eucalypts with broad leaves. Trapped one Notomys alexis f. [WR221] H & B 98, E 24, O+2=4, tv139, Wt 36 g , Hf 32, Incisors not grooved. Made him a stall. Gular pouch a rather confusing feature. It is a whorl of white hairs with a bare area in the centre. When the animal is relaxed it looks like a pouch but when it is examined closely & stretched it can be seen that there is barely enough of a raised rim to call it a pouch Nevertheless there is little doubt that it is alexis. The book might be improved by the words "(sometimes a saucer-like depression of bare skin)" inserted after "pouch". Pregnant 4 foetuses approx 18 x 13 in utero. Note: When the animal was skinned the pouch showed as a thin window-like area in the throat. The creamy white hair of the actual area also shows through the skin. Both areas are separate [C7020] locality of N. alexis (sandhill). Holes common, tracks everywhere.

Photos of the two eucalypts of the country. Collected species for honesis Blackwell [C7021,2] opposite leaved small fruit.(mallee form but also as a tree about 40 ft high).[C7023,4] alternate leaved bigger fruits.

Small rock cistern on side of road in a low outage of granite. Typical Desert rockhole bad dry and not maintained.

A tree of Duboisia hopwoodi, Pitcheri, about 10 ft tall [C7025, 6, 7,8] also a mob of about 20 camels.

[C7028] photo of the edge of the Petermann country [C7030] of Bloods Range in distance.  This is lovely country ; by groves of Desert oaks, some white backed Eucalypts in addition to the mallees, mulga and gidgee None of it has been grazed and there is no browse line. The grass and spinifex is in high seed and it all looks golden and wonderful.

Shaw Creek.
Chirnside River, lots of Wirlies on the flat [C7031] - deraded.
Hull River Lasseter's Cave where they found his log.[C7032,3]. A lovely place under these conditions - but woeful without hope of relief.
A grindstone and pieces of ochre on the river flats.

Petermann range - view across to the gap behind the Ruined Ramparts [C7034].  Docker River Crossing.

Docker River Settlement. Met Supt who runs it for the N. T. Administration. This is not a mission but a Govt. Welfare place. Well equipped with canares about 300 people here. Supt hopes to run cattle - this will be the end of this wonderful place. 12 gals.

Sent to BANNISTER  PHONE 284411 PERTH
WIRELESS U/S PLEASE SEND FURTHER TRAFFIC WARBURTON REGARDS RIDE (CHARLIE 8WNX)
W.A. Border. Just before that saw a grove of blackboys also took [C7035] to the north.

Rebecca Creek. T.O. to Sandy Blight Junction, photo of white eucalypts [C7036] Giles Corner NOT  41 miles as per map BUT 31. To road down a track to camp at 714.4. Collected spiders. 52* F.

> 4th Sept (Friday) 1970
Camped some miles down a track to the east of the main track in an attempt to find a rock-hole marked approx 16 m. s. of Giles Corner on the map. These maps are difficult to me because of the lack of features. Must tell John Morgan.
Back on main track.
Northern edge of area excluded from Native Reserve (identified by "F.E.Govt" signs)
Photo of a new Mallee [C7101]

Blackstone Camp turnoff. Photo of a dead mulga and regenerating mulga is a situation that stock could not be involved. Mt. Aloysius in background [C7102]. Track joins far west along northern flank of range. T. O. to the Wingellina Camp. Wingellina Camp. Met John Smith and Mrs. Smith (camp manager), Dave Louth (Manager of Alice office of International Nickel), Cliff Hall. The men have all left preparatory for the total shut-down and John Smith expects to move out in a week or so. They invited us to use their hot showers (bliss) and took the opportunity to do a little washing as well. They gave us lunch and afterwards they all took us around the sites which were reported on by Crawford and Tomlinson.

S.A. Border nearest Mt. Davies [C7103]. Cleft in range making Irundju waterhole, this is part of the Papa myth. Crawford's site 1.[C7104-7]

Butler noticed grinding grooves in the rocks and immediately identified these as ochre grinding places for ceremonial - but I am suspicious because I find no ochre lumps at these sites.

Drove up the hill to Crawford's site 12 the place where the dog split in the hillside this is Njugali. Photographs [C7108-11] including a set of stones and sticks and leaves arranged on top of an adjacent rock. Flakes common around this site. Photo[C7112] of Aicotinium.

Arrived at the next site in the Papa myth (Crofonds site 3); the red sandhill where the puppies played. Njiguwalgu. This is a sticky isolated sandhill - quite out of place. International Nickel have fenced it and put up signs.

Drove on to Giani's claim. This is being worked by a group of whites Reg Hockley (manager) & wife, Des..., Norm ... who set up the ground with a bulldozer and then employ natives on piecework to pick up drums of chrysoprase or moss agate. Reg estimates that in a 10 day period a man can at the current rate of working about $20  and that he works about 6 hrs per day. This compares unfavorably with the International Nickel rate for natives of $61 per week (6 days ; 8 hrs day) or for casuals $55 which John says he has to reduce to $45 for late starting, etc. This should be looked into. The per drum rate is $10 for chrysoprase and $5 for moss agate.

Drove over Wingellina Hill where took photos of cave Njangalba, and hill with pyrics (pieces of magnesite) Ngangguna  [C7118-21]. Some of the magnesite is clearly placed in position, one small cave had yellow ochre on the floor, the larger cave had ayle charcoal (Site 13). Also took photos [C7122,3] of the ruins of the place where the dingo bitch had been. This had been destroyed by rock hunters.

Back at camp took photos of Stran's instructions to employees re sacred sites [C7124]
Mining camp at Wingellina.
Main road to Blackstone, Giles, etc.
Blackstone turnoff - took it. Blackstone camp and mill. Seems deserted.
Camp on side of road, probably  a couple of miles short of the Cavenagh Range turnoff.
Collected spiders and turned in. A very warm night - no wind.

One huge spider - very beautiful with very long striped legs and small body ; Red eyes, adpressed to a round boulder in a wash. Most memorable. Very few spiders of about 5 species. A mulga thicket in a creek with gravels.

> 5th Sept 1970 (Saturday)
Camped in a mulga flat on the side of the road. The site is a wash of black sand and boulders and has nothing to commend it except a total absence of bindiie! It is incredibly dead and no tracks around the camp.
Cavenagh Range track to south, stayed on main road.
Bilbring and Lightning rocks. The rockhole is completely dry. Looked over Bilbring, there has been no defacementof the pictographs since I was last here but tyremarks show that the rock at wayside is visited.[C7125,26]

Giles Tank still has a little water in it - very low in incredibly dry season. Main tank empty i.e. we have done 277 miles since Docker River on the main tank much of it at 50-60 mph. Tank on roadside: mill and tank.

Warburton Mission. There had been a message over our fuel and they will only let us have 20 gals to fill the main tank. Very irritating because we counted on the extra to get us down to the sticknest rat locality. 3 girls at the hospital having trouble with severe cases (one a dehydrated baby). Hoped I was a medic, felt sorry for them.

They have had a very poor season about 150 points altogether although they say Cosmo "just down the road" (i.e. 300 miles away)had over 300. No wonder the rockholes are dry.
Native Welfare Reserve sign.

Deviated several times from the road search for the way into the Neale Jn. road without success. Finally found a good road 34.7 miles from Warburton Mission and went down it bearing approx 113*, and heading straight on the skyline for the Simpson Hill group of heights.

Left main road to go down the road , stopped at Hwy , collected a banded whiteface [Aphelocephala nigricinata].
A lovely patch of mallee sandplain between sandhills.
3 White crosses - probably a datum point for aerial photography.
Reluctantly decided to turn back ; too dangerous without wireless and not enough petrol to get us to Cosmo. Camped in the mallee sandplain seen before.

Harry shot a Tadarida australis [222] f. with much white, a white collar and two white patches on the lower thorax on either side extending to the red vertical line from the two round white stripes. Garlai(?) pouch very obvious , but tuft of hair and small all within the pouch. H. made a skin to show colour. H & B 88 mm., E.26, TV46, fuermn 60, HF 13, Wt. 34 g. body in spirit.

Collected spiders, not many around despite reasonably warm eveving, moths numerous while at Warburton we collected mail and telegrams, mail for me with news of family. Telegram:
1. 4.9.70.  10am.RIDE
JUST HEARD FITZGERALD HEARING PROBABLY WEDNESDAY SEPT 9TH. CAN YOU MAKE IT.
 BANNISTER.
2. 4.9.70. 10.37 RIDE
THANKS FOR LETTER ALL GOING WELL LOVE MARGARET
3. 5.9.70 Perth RIDE
FITZGERALD HEARING NOW THOUGHT MORE LIKELY 14 SEPT 1970 BUT TO BE CONFIRMED.
 BANNISTER WA MUSEUM.
SENT. RIDE PHONE 862242 PERTH PASSED THROUGH WARBURTON SATURDAY WILL PHONE FROM LAVERTON MONDAY IF WE   GET THERE TELL BANNISTER LOVE   DEE.

> 6th Sept 1970 (Sunday)
Camp in mallee in sandhills. We recorded this locality on the label of the Tadarida as approx 25 m. ENE of Winduldana Rock Hole approx 25 m. SSW of Warburton Mission. [C7129, 30] of eucalypts at the site.

Curved back at main road, airstrip across the road. Road curves away northwards towards Sutherland Range. - all these factorsa point towards the road we are on being Dick Huotham's road to Neale Junction.

Winduldarra Rock Hole . The rockhole is very similar to Gamba R.H. but less well-shaded and is dry. It badly needs cleaning. We walked out the breakaway behind the rockhole. These extend around a wide depression to the NE and have numerous caves and holes. The rock and stick piles of the "rat" are common, but H. is very sceptical about them. He will not agree that they are modern and claims that the aborigines do not know such an animal. Personally they
 look recent to me al some have recent scats of bark fibre on the outside. We did not open any up.

Collected a group of 20 E. purilis from a small hole in the ceiling of a cave shelter. I arescaped col the other 11 were all femane, probably a wholly female colony. We took 8 and let the rest go. [WR223-230] Very little sign of life. The cave shelters look interesting and would be worth an excavation. Collected some owl pellets with what seems to be Leggadina hermannsburgensis.

Gamba (Gahnda) R.H. Went to the caves in the cliffs at the back and Harry showed me where he got the Macroderma many years ago. The cave seems to be a solitary roost - still occupied. Also visited a much larger dune cave which has a floor covered by old Macroderma deposits. Not in use and no obvious skeletal remains. Found disguised jaws in cave.

After Gahnda we ran into two parties of natives with a car and a lorry in trouble. Harry gave advice. The lorry seemed to have a huge number of old people and children in the back and everywhere - amazing how they all got in.
Mannida Rock Hole.
Muggan R.H.
26th //road south to Hunt oil camp. (disused)
Terhan R.H.

Harry shot E. pumilus flying at dusk.[WR231]Fem. H&B 39mm, E. 9 16.2 miles SW, T.V. 36 forearm 34  Tehran R.H., Hf 5, Wt 5.3 Warburton Rd.

Sign after lake entry saying 2.8 miles to water to N of road. Followed in to Watchole with water. Camped in a flat plain with Eremophila bushes in a rather kopi-like deposit.

Collected spiders (T.56*F) very numerous. Harry set net over water.
Bats collected at Winduldarra R.H. E. pumilus (females)
No  H B  TV  E  Hf  Forearm  Wy. g.
223  41    39   11        6   34            4.5
224  44    42   10        6   35            5
225  41    39   11        6   34            5
226  41    39   11        6   34            5
227  42    39   10        6   32            4.8
228  44    37   11        6   32            5
229  45    41   11        7   35            5.3
230  39    36   10        6   33            5.
No 223 Skin & body in formalin. Remainder in formalin.

> 7th Sept 1970  (Monday)
Native well at Paine & Barclay Peg PB84

A good warm night & cloudless morning after yesterday morning which looked like rain. Took photographs of the well & birds at it [C7131,2,3]. Galahs, spiny-cheeked honeyeaters, crested pigeons. Collected a small spider, camouflaged on back for the stem of an eremophila.

The well is signposted at main road "Paltju Soak".  Main Road.
Beegul Rockhole, tiliqua crossing road.
Minnie Creek (Yamarna) turn off. New turnoff signposted Yamarna 23 m.
Cosmo Newberry. Filled up.
Windana T.O.
Laverton Pub.
Menzies turn off Xroad, took direct route and avoided Leonora.
Kookynie. Main road -- Bitumen !!
Menzies filled up. Kalgoorlie Post Office.

Rang Margaret and discovered that Seds had had an emergency operation for acute appendicitis and had been seriously ill. Now O.K. sounded v. forlorn. Coolgardie. Rain building up, cold night ; decided to drive through rather than get bedding etc. out. Both feeling very fresh. Southern Cross 21+ gals, had meal.
6 Florence Rd. at 01.30 am.
end of trip.

> 28th August 1967 (Monday)
Listened to VSQ and let them know we were out again. John Flower gave me the Sched ties for Meekatharra. Walked down to exposure gave it a v. close examination. Nothing new, decided that I will sieve exposures after making sure that this is Bert's. Bob will walk upstream to Ederga Springs & see what he can make of it. Walked back to vehicles to get news and came up on Sched to VKS and let Thelma know we are in the area and will listen on 40.10 at 0700 for any telegrams. Back to river. Walked downstream past fenceline to where stream broadens out , turned back. Walked over top of small hill on E bank of River to see if there are any sediments. No luck at all. All metamorphosed pyrites, schists, vein quartz etc. Hopeless.

Hill, in former times there must have been an edge to this broad valley. Will have to go out to the hills right over to the west & see what we can see there. Lunch at 2.15 Bob back from his walk to Ederga Springs. He did not quite get there. He met Neil Mitchell and told him that I am camped at my usual place & would be calling to see him later in the day. We found no fossils but frustrated because the deposits look as though they should be good.

3.30 Drove out to Ederga Springs and walked out due west of the exposure not seen by Bob. Drove over to Barnong and was invited to stay for the evening meal. Judy in good form, just missed Geoff & Carol Bolton who had been there to stay & left the day before. Judy spent evening showing her rock collection including a great deal of nice fossil bood[?] from the Kennedy Range. Looks as though it could be worth a visit. Neil has a pilot on the station at present mustering (at 400 ft! - 4200 acres) they are trying it as an experiment & it seems to be working. I think that we may hire the aircraft to look at exposures - $25 per hour.

Excitement. News this evening announced that the Govt. had approved the Cultural Centre project which our committee has put up. The museum building will be completed by the end of 1969. Back at camp.

> 29th August 1967 (Tuesday)
Camped at Ederga. A misty morning after a heavy dew. Bright sunlight & clear sky. Tried Sched with Meekatharra - theirs is so clumsy for a station like ours that I switched over to VSQ on S360 at 7.30. 1 telegram.
GEORGE PHONE 284411 PERTH
WONDERFUL NEWS MANY THANKS TO DOEPEL AND YOURSELF STOP PLEASE SEND 8WNX MEEKATHARRA TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS SIR THOMAS : RIDE.
When I get time I will send to SIR THOMAS MEAGHER MV KOOLAMA DERBY DELIGHTED NEWS NEW BUILDING APPROVED STOP PLEASE ACCEPT THANKS OF MUSEUM STAFF AND SELF FOR ALL YOUR SUCCESSFUL GUIDANCE DAVID

Looked over maps and decided on a flight plan. Bob most difficult over it - he is unable to make up his mind what to fly. In the end I worked out a plan which takes in all the upper parts of the Wooramel and the Gascoigne which cut through Tertiary sediments. Drove over to Barnong and fixed things up with the pilot (Harry Van Wees) who phoned Perth & made a booking. Went to Gullewa. Photos of Red-backed Spider [C4005-9]. Back to the Ederga, 2 photos of Gense[?] on the way, he maintained 25 mph for over a mile [C4010-11].

Sent telegram: TERRELL PHONE 284411 PERTH
 HAVE BOOKED AIRCRAFT 21ST PLEASE CONFIRM WITH MURCHISON AIRCHARTER HAY ST. : RIDE.

Set mist net over the Ederga. Bob walked over south of camp and found a wonderful artifact, like a stone bullroarer. Had a good meal and turned in about 22.30 hrs, a clear warm night.

> 30th August 1967 (Wednesday)
A clear crisp morning with the smoke lying low like mist. Nothing for me at either Meekatharra or Kalgoorlie beyond a query for VSQ about someone who might have been in our party - but he was not. Nothing in the mist net. Bob caught a gecko in firewood, preserved in formalin.
Drove out over the other side of the Ederga to see if we could get to the breakaways seen a few miles to the East. These look as though they could be sediments.

Telegram sent to TERRELL PHONE 284411 PERTH
NO REPLY YET MY REQUEST FOR SIR THOMAS TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS : RIDE.

Walked over to the breakaways - a complete dead loss, these are diorite. All the hills are schists, quartz, diorite and generally much metamorphosed. Took 2 colour photos of the Ederga looking SE from a hill about a mile south of the road [C4012,3]. After lunch drove back up to the Yalgoo road to walk out the sediments in the main channel of the river.

Telegram from Bob Terrell. 255 pm 30th, Perth.
DR RIDE. 8WNX SIR THOMAS MEAGHER ARRIVES DERBY 1ST WYNDHAM 4TH SEPT ADDRESS MV KOOLAMA AT EITHER PORT STOP NO COMMUNICATIONS AT SEA : TERRELL.

While walking out exposures light aircraft flew over and dropped message from Harry Van Wees to say that he will stand by at Barnong from 7am for the charter. No luck at the exposures. Back to camp at nightfall. Took down the mist net, too windy.

> 31st August 1967
Camped at Ederga on Barnong Stn. Drove out to Barnong at 07.15 but pilot not yet there due to having to refuel at Yalgoo. Sent telegram to Sir Thomas Meagher through VSQ.

Aeroplane arrived at 08.30 but we delayed take off because of drizzle and low cloud. Did not appear to be any better in the N.W. so took off at 9.00 in Piper Comanche. Cruised railway line at Wurarsa. Woolgorong [2C   ] at Murchison bridge Nototherium locality. Flew on up river. Good exposures between the bridge at Billabalong homestead. These will be worth doing. Probably best done from the northern end. 0935. Nothing worthwhile between Billabalong homestead and Twin Peaks. Good pitch in bend of river (Western side) closest to Meeberrie Homestead. Rain closing in. Decided to go up the road to the testing at Byro. Mt Narryer, Byro. No exposures visible. Innovealdy[?] on Wooramel River. Turned up river from NE boundary of Byro. Mogil [?] SP. Flew along river , v. poor exposures to Irrida Pool then N. to Landor. Flew downstream along Gascoigne R. to Mt. Puckford. Excellent exposures, flew and took photos. Seems to be limestones[?] underlying inclusion cement [?]. Well worth a visit [C   ], on to Mt. Steere, a strange looking hill on the N. side of the river, took photos [C   ]. 11.10 Strange looking breakaway near Yinnietharra, 11.20 Mt Sandiman. 11.45 Reached Merlinleigh Homestead. [C    ]. Flew down along the Kennedy Range, seems to be a sandstone in lower part. The thing must dip because as you go further south[?] it rises in the range. Possible that this is the Permian and the paler beds overlying it are the Merlinleigh Sandstone. If so, these are excellent exposures in the vicinity of the homestead. Turned East towards Lyons River homestead. Kennedy River seems to be covered on top with dunes & spinifex. Lyons R. Homestead. Flew S.W. to Gascoyne, very flat no good exposures here. Pilot says same all the way down to Carnarvon. Photos at Weedarra homestead. Left river setting course for Wooramel at Callatharra. Fuel flow began to drop off and loss of engine power - down to 50%. Electric fuel pump makes no difference. CARY Downs airstrip within easy reach. Down at Cary Downs 12.00 hrs. Harry and I walked over to the homestead, noone in - all at the races. Eventually found a gin who said she would get us something to eat if we needed it. Walked back to plane and called through to D.C.A. asked for another plane for Carnarvon.

Plane arrived (another Comanche) and we took off for Barnong about 3.00 leaving the u.s. machine on the ground. Had a ride to end at Barnong & drove back to the camp. Shot rabbit for evening meal and decided to go North next morning to look at the exposures at Mt. Puckford and at Merlinleigh. Will do those at Billabalong some time later.

> 1Sept 1967 (Friday)
Camped at Ederga. A beautiful sunny morning. Packed up and left for Mullewa at 10.45 Mullewa : 20 1/2 gals. super, checked tyres, had lunch, left at 1400 hrs for Billabalong Crossing. 95 milepost from Mullewa. 908.7 Sand dune, first seen near road, close to a large claypan full of water, red dune. Narrayer turnoff. Muggan turnoff on left. Empty tank. 154 miles on tea full 10 gal tank. Filled up with 2 jaeercans. This seems to be a normal consumption with trailer on gravel roads in speeds of 50-55 mph. 160 m. Road junction. Byro homestead, looked at exposures in bed of creek south of homestead. seems to be poor exposures c. 6" of Murchison cement seem no obviously tertiary exposures. Occasional quartz slaus[?] and Permian breakaways away to the West. Should have come into the 10 mile Carnarvon sheet - getting dark. Turnoff on left to Stations on the coast at Shark Bay, Woodleigh & Carsla. Innouendy turnoff. Wooramel River, poor exposures of a light grey stone - did not stop in dark. Turnoff near Gascoyne Jun. road at signpost to Glenburgh 2 miles, Dalgety Downs 14 m.. Gate signpost D.Downs 12 miles road goes right along a fenceline to Glenburgh straight on to D. Downs. Camped in a creek alongside Precambrian hills of quartz. 21 hrs. Warm night, howling wind from N.

> 2nd Sept 1967 (Saturday)
Camped between Glenburgh & Dalgety Downs.
8008.1 Sched with USQ. Charlie back we are getting through very well "Booming"! Telegram to Margaret - husen[?] closed.
RIDE PHONE 862242 PERTH WORKING VICINITY LANDOR PLEASE INFORM TERRELL MONDAY
LOVE : DEE.

It was a warm night, rain about 5am just a sprinkle but enough to make me pull a groundsheet over. Breakfast in a dried creek bed, surrounded by Precambrian outcrops. Off to Dalgety Downs at 10.00. Dalgety Downs homestead : Eastern boundary of Dalgety Downs, turned north along a mill track along the west side of the boundary fence. Passed one mill and then an old disused well with pole & windlass & then on to a corner in the paddock nearest to Mt. Puckford. No gate. Decided to go back to Landor because we could mess around with fence lines and get nowhere.Arrived at Landor. Noone in except a cook with hair in curling pins.

We asked if the race course was on the road to Mt Augustus (obviously everyone at the Landor Races) "I don't know" but if you follow the tracks" - I asked if one of the gates led to Yimmietharra (to get to the river). "He was asking me because I don't know"!!

Drove to the Races, met Ainsley & David Stedman of Dalgety Downs. Ainsley v. hospitable ! wants us to stay for the party. Saw their boss Puckford lose, lets hope the Mount of that name does better for us. A chap called McDonald mentioned fossil wood but Bob let him get away. Will try to catch him tomorrow. Also met Will   . Ainsley gave us a map of directions to River.

Left races. Landor Homestead. Across river turn rt off Meekatharra Rd to Dalgetty Downs. reach Dalgetty Downs boundary. Go through run through. Turn N along the fence line past mill. Just before reaching old well go through gate in fence (this is still Dalgetty Downs). Left trailer, put in jerrican.

Continued staying along the fence line for about 1/2 mile & thendiagonally across the paddock. Full of dead snake wood. Light going fast. Go to Gregory creek : high breakaways. this is a tributary of the River and joins it just near the Mt Puckford sal. Camped. Mud-map provided by Ainsley Stedman. [Map of area].

Had a quick look at the section before light failed altogether. The top is grey calcareous and sometimes siliceous cement - a duricrost about 5-10 feet thick. Underneath it is a softer material. Sometimes I suspect a breakdown product in the latugertin[?]  profile, other times there appears to be bedded sandstone. Bob found gneiss (Precambrian) in the bottom. If this is Tertiary it is probably Pre-Miocene but does not look terribly good for fossils. Reminds me very much of the Oakover beds.
Very tired. Turned in at 20.00 hrs.

> 3rd Sept (Sunday)
Camped above Gregory Creek/Gascoyne River (see below) in Dalgetty Downs Eastern Boundary. Rabbits, Dingo, Marloo, Emu.
[4031-2] camp.[4033-4] Breakaways below camp showing gneissic basement rock
[4035-6] Relationship of mudstones & sandstones  to gneiss.

Walked on to Mt. Puckford to try to reach the breakaway at junction of Gregory Creek. Climbed Mt. Puckford. Photos [4101-2], back i.e. S towards camp to show relationship of beds to the river.[4102] back  (N) towards Mt. Gascoyne. View from top shows that our camp is approx 4 miles (1 hr 10 mins. straight walk) from Mt Puckford and on the river about 1/2 miles N of junction of river and Gregory Creek. The exposure of sediments from a peninsula bounded on the East by Gregory Creek and the Gascoyne & in the West by a claypan. Walked straight back to camp, time 1hr 10 mins. After lunch walked S. along the river [C4104] Exposures S. of camp. The top beds of silica seem to overlie directly an evaporite of platelike al spicular crystals with massive opaline silica deposited within it. Sequence seems to be: [Sketch of deposits from Duricrost of silica down to gneiss at base.]

Collected blocks of mudstones about 4 ft. above the gneiss 1/2 mile N of camp for pollen estimation by B E Baker. [4105] Snakewood near camp. Packed up and drove back to race-track to see if we could get fuel. Made camp across road from racetrack.

> Monday 4th Sept. 1967
Camped on other side of road from Landor Racecourse. Drove over to racecourse to see Ainsley and David Stedman. Ainsley was able to arrange for 8 gals of fuel for us enough to get us across to Gascoyne R.

Flat tyre soon after leaving. 

Turn off Meekatharra Rd to Dalgetty Downs. Bidy of Dalgetty Downs - trailer brake gone. Check at mill & holding paddock before D.D. homestead. The usual sequence of loess-like blocks on the top, red grit and green grit below repeated here. Only about 3 feet of exposures & no sign of fossils. Remarkable how uniform this sequence is over 1000s of squ miles of W.A. from the Oakover (DeGrey) to the Ederga. Bed of river, had lunch [C4106,7]  Dalgetty Brook, trib of Gascoyne.

Mooloo Downs turnoff. This is east of the fenceline of the Dairy Creek homestead paddock and not West as mapped in the 10 mile series. Dairy Creek homestead N. of river. Crossed river and joined Mullewa Rd. Low grey breakaways about a mile away, look like Tertiary or Quaternary sediments probably those mapped as Naddara from McWhere et al.

Tertiary equivalent of Oakover ; BMR Bull Courtney[?]. Drove over to iken[?] clearing & kangaroo on way [B&W]. He kept up 30 mph for a considerable distance (Marloo, m.).
[4108] These are a ring of breakaways around the southern edge of a clay pan feature of crabhole country and clay. They consist of evaporates containing[?] silicified bands of a thin silica on the top. they seem to be intrdiate[?] in character of deviant form[?]. Between the evaporates of Lake Baker and those of the Gregory Creek (or Oakover) beds. I think that in these sands a tentative guating[?] eye is justified. No frills.

Back on road i.e.  next breakaway is 1 mile S. of road.

Arrived at Gascoyne Junc. 281/2 gals of fuel. Got hold of mechanic and stripped off both trailer brake-drums. These are a mess. Both sets of bearings are very dry and it is clear that the whole set-up is most inefficient; the toggle only expands one of the shoes and these are very small indeed. Merv Johns the mechanic says that he thinks that they came off an English make of car, possibly a Vauxhall or a Morris Minor ! One toggle cam has pulled out altogether - a complete mystery. I left the other side in and  he will try to copy it. Repacked the bearings and reassembled trailer. Merv meanwhile repaired the tyre. Becoming very clear that for working use Michelins are no good because of their very thin walls. The steel only runs through the tread and they are useless where stakes are liable to go through. Put a small patch on the wall but it really needs welding. No small criss-cross patches available.

Had a drink and left the junction at 22.10. Lyme River/Mt. Sandiman boundary. Camped in stunted mulga for night. A clear cool but not cold night. 0030hrs. NOTE: In Gascoyne Jun. met a couple of stone collectors who said that a small party of Fremantle Rock Collectors  (some club or other) had been through and that they had a fossil"flying lizard", Address of the person with the fossil: Richard House, 3 Dunkley Ave., Applecross. He will be in Perth on the 11th.

> 5th Sept (Tuesday)
Camped at Mt. Sandiman Stn south of homestead. 6.45 up. A lovely morning, slight wind from East. Sched: Spoke to Ruth & Margaret Hogg. No sign of Athol's toolkit. Charlie says that he has now rectified trouble in 6675 and, in future, will be using that for all scheds except 07.30. Suggests that I check it later in the day. Turnoff to Minnie Creek on right. Mt Sandiman homestead. Met [manager] who said that he will drive us out to a paddock where there are lots of fossil wood in the Merlinleigh boundary.

Right fork goes to Mulgerie & Willinby. Woolshed end yards. Did not go through gate into enclosure but west and north of paddock to a gate at the N.W corner. Through gate. Wooden gate on Merlinleigh boundary, turned N. along fence line to corner in fence and then East for small distance. Left fence line, turned South into open paddock with a little mulga and smaller gibbers, also much-silicified fragments of shell.

Back at fence-line. Climbed hill.

Description of hill at 24.8:

The breakaway seems to consist almost entirely of Permian shales and mudstones. Much crossbedded. White in colour with bands of purple and some with ferruginized bands. At the base there is a grey mudstone which contains in some places small Chonetes brachiopods. The higher-up ferruginized bands contain spirifecs and productids. About 8ft from the top there is a coarse pebble layer with silicified wood, at least 3 species of polycepeds, Aturia. Fossils are not plentiful. The matrix is rather variable ranging from sands to a fairly coarse pebble conglomerate. This is obviously the Tertiary Merlinleigh Sandstone. It is Lagorchestes[?] on the top.

After lunch we went back down the breakaway from Merlinleigh homestead and walked around the breakaway to the east. V. poor exposures of the M. sandstone. As far as can be seen, completely unfossiliferous. They tend to pick out to the south and are thickest in the northern ends of the breakouts, most interesting finds were a number of v. large rounded stones of reef quartz and quartzites. These can only be glacial ; there are traces of a large coarse pebble (or small boulder) bed at the same level. Seems little doubt that this is a Permian tillite. It seems to be about 1/3 up the section - rather surprised that it is so high. Photographs south along the Range[4109-11]. Back to the homestead. Rather depressed by the poor quality of the beds.

Found owl (Boobook) roosting in the remains of the bathroom. Good owl pellets.
 Took b&w of the owl in tree outside where he flew to get away from us. Took 2
 c. of a large spider's web and also 1 c. of two crested pigeons on the edge of
 the water tanker.[4112,13,14].

W.A. Notebook No. 1: Oct 1957.
Pilbara district and journey south along coastal highway.

> 12 Oct. 1957. Flew to Marble Bar from Perth by air. Francis Ratcliffe in aircraft. Marble Bar 106* at 1400 hrs.
Trip from Marble Bar to Bamboo Creek with A. Douglas, Landrover. M. robustus shot 2 miles W. of homestead on Talga station. Spinifex flat. Sitting, did not attempt to move. male, H.F. 24.7 cms., total length (. 311 cms.[R.I.] 21 lbs.
Phascogales seen at Bamboo Creek on arrival [late dusk in headlights]
[Brushy tail - appeared to be size of P. pencillata]
10pm. - 2400. Visited cave mine with Athol D. entered middle drive. 3 specimens of  Taphosous seen in upper drive. These were not copulating. No specimen of Vespadelus seen. No Macroderma seen. Two piles of Macroderma droppings seen. Average depth of droppings 3 inches to 6 inches. Approx 3 ft wide. Surface droppings contained no feathers seen on surface. 1 dried out skeleton of young Macroderma [No.D.1.] on surface. Surface samples previously collected by A.D..
A.D. mentioned that prey was brought into roost when young are present which they are not at this time of year.  A subsurface sample was taken [D.2] to check this.
The cave was infested with large black wingless cockroaches which appeared to be associated with the Macroderma droppings. These were collected [D3. specimen] There were no specimens seen of the Terrebrionical beetle Pterobeloeus which A. D. had seen in Nov. and Jan. but not in this particular cave.
Large spiders seen, red eyes in torchlight, leg span up to 5" approx. Peculiar droppings collected D4.
"Exploratory adit" at Bamboo Creek. Droppings of Macroderma and small droppings possibly V. pumilis. 3 specimens of V. pumilis seen in cave. No Macroderma seen in cave. Peculiar droppings seen and not collected, same as D.4. Macropus shell collected D.11.

> 13th Oct. 1957 - 300hrs. 100*F.
"Exploratory Adit" Bamboo Creek. netted and collected.
No Macroderma, 5 Taphosus, 3 collected all m.[D5,6,7]
Cave also contained Vespadelus 3 collected 1 f., 2 m. [D8,9,10]
Rock wallaby skull collected from skeleton[D12] at MacCallum's house (a driller) Bamboo Creek.
"Prophecy West" Bamboo Creek. Adit inhabited by Taphozous and numerous Vespadelus. 1 Taphozous taken [D13] and small lizard[D14]. Few Macroderma droppings and cockroaches (latter put in with D.13).
"Cave Mine" lowest level.
No Macroderma.  2 Vespadelus & 3 Taphozus but more collected.
3 mummified Macroderma collected from under surface of pile of Macroderma droppings and 1 small bat lying on surface of pile slightly covered by Macroderma droppings [D15]. The specimen appeared to be fresh. 1 rodent tail [D16] in pile of droppings, 2 cockroaches associated with Macroderma droppings.
Left Bamboo Creek 15.30 hrs.
2 m. west of Bamboo Creek male euro shot Ride HF25.2, overall 149.5, Spinifex Hills, did not attempt to move off, sitting [R2].
[Douglas had collected previously Hyla sp. at Green Pool, Little de Grey R. 10 m. N.E. of Bamboo Creek, nr Marble Bar - natural included in this collection]

> 14th Oct. 1957
Mines Office Marble Bar Mus H & B 7.6 mm. [R3] T8.3, HF 1.79 poisoned in Mines office.
1330 hrs 110*F ;1530 hrs. arrived at Klondyke Queen Mine, Warrawoona 17 m. E of Marble Bar. Temp. 102*F. Decided not to disturb the bats until following morning.

> 15 Oct 1957 -05.30 hrs. 60*F, 06.00 hrs. 65*F.
Entered KQ 6.30.
Macroderma disturbed by erection of nets and 3 captured alive 4 dead [Douglas using squash raquet effectively in adit] also 1 Tychozus and 1 Vespadelus. These two were the only specimens seen of non-Macroderma bats. Douglas estimates numbers of Macroderma in mine at vicinity of 100. I saw about 12 at one time, i.e. lowest possible number 12. Probably about 70 specimens seen in all. dead Macroderma injected and placed in spirit. Living specimens will be brought back to Perth. Vespadelus & Typhozous injected and placed in bag and dated. Specimens of droppings taken and Pterohelaeus and larvae. 1 extra beetle found at net which might be escape, so placed in spirit with Bamboo Creek cockroaches.
Also in bag are the pellets which were found in cave ; two of them in a vertical Echidna - like shape. 1 quill found in a pile of Macroderma droppings. Left K.Q. at 09.15 hrs 91*F
Road to Copper Hill., 12.00hrs 99*F. Arrived Woodstock Station 1900 hrs.

> 16 Oct 1957 - Woodstock Stn.
10.00 hrs. Taken by Tim Ealey & Francis Ratcliffe to see Thalaconey's lagotis diggings (photographed). Next moved to small stone piles made by a small rodent. These are about 4-6 ft across and consist of small stones collected from the area (photographed).
To Eagle 11 granite. Found Macroderma droppings (collected), Taphozous seen. Diggings of some small mammal. Many Euros. Highly polished Petrogale rocks and Petrogale-type droppings. A number of small lizards collected, shot with .22 among spinifex on flat [D16, 17, 18, 19].
 Recommendation: F. S. Bodenheimer, Hebrew University Jerusalem, The Ecology of Mammals in Arid Zones, in "Human and Animal Ecology".
14.15 hrs left Woodstock on road to Abydos Stn. 14.45 104*F.
1/2 mile beyond Abydos Station small Varanus collected on spinifex flat. Shot Douglas [D20].
Turner River about 12 mles beyond Abydos. Brown-winged wren shot in dry river bed [D21]
15.15hrs. River 30 miles beyond Abydos Stint [D22] solitary wading in permanent pool, shot. Also small fish [D23] shot by concussion with .22 hollow-nosed Water fish. Fish moving around in schools in about 6 inches of water. Rushes surrounding pool growing in water.
62 miles beyond Abydos 3 small parrots about 6 inches long. Steel blue above and a flash of red underneath when taking off. Seen on spinifex plain.1920 hrs. One of our Macrodermas found dead. Skinned. other two not at all happy. Pectoral muscles of stint placed in cage with them. Their feet are in a bad state from hanging onto the jolting cage in the moving Landrover. Skull of skinned macroderma labelled [D24].
Went into Port Hedland and then, after refuelling, out again towards Roebourne on coastal highway. Camped at E. Turner River.

> 17th Oct 1957 - East Turner River 0730 hrs 85*f.
At 06.30 shot small brown bird on bank of dry river. It moved from patch of dry brushwood to patch of dry brushwood along the top of the main bank [D25]. Caught cockroach (Polyzosterias sp.), placed in alcohol. Brown with fawn edges. M. rufus, Plains kangaroos seen in fairly large numbers.
W. Turner River 8911.5 on speedometer, 15 m. w. of Port Hedland.
8945 Woodswallow shot. 76 miles from Roebourne. Flock of them in a small seeding acacia [D26].
8949 Outcrop. Euros (72 m. n.e. of Roebourne) Douglas shot a female [D27]. Examined caves in outcrop for bats but no Macroderma vespadelus present. 11.20 hrs. 1008F, 13.20 hrs. 105*F, 15.00 102* F.
9050 m. M. rufus shot [D28] sheltering under a small tree on dry grass plain. Skinned, very large, many M. rufus seen.
9054 Karratha Stn., 9107 Artifact picked up & skull of M. rufus [D29].

> 18th Oct. 1957
Camped previous night at 9168 which is approx 40 miles east of Onslow.
0745 hrs 728F
Shot male honeyeater solitary in mulga. Area surrounded by mulga scrub [D30]
Large number of termite mounds seen about 20 m. E of Onslow (9194.5)
Photographed. 3 miles N of Onslow, pair of white-backed swallows [D31m] [D32f] shot by A. Douglas. Undulating grass plains.
Onslow 11.45 86*F, 88* F
Minderoo Stn. Ashburton River. Low sandhills timbered with ghost gums, acacia, saltbush and gums.
Shot small finch [D33m]. Gregarious in dead brushwood.
Sandplain with sparse broadleafed mulga. Varanus shot by A. D. [D34] Skull picked up. Macrop ashybrown with black feet, located as above.
Koordanie Stn. 9264 1530 hrs 92*F
[D35] Lizard shot by A.M.D. Mixed broadleafed mulga and acacia with spinifex, red loam.
[D36] shot small male Acanthiza or robin by A.M.D., scrubby plain, acacia (Karara) dominant. Solitary in dry bush.
Yanrey Stn.
Spinifex and broad-leafed mulga, sandplain lizard shot [D37]took refuge in hole.
Wolf spider found on side of road 19.50hrs, mixed mulga.

> 19th Oct 1957
67 miles N of Carnarvon. Rhytidoponera and trapdoor spider [D30] collected by Douglas. Red soil on Mulga.
Yalobia Stn. 56 m. to Carnarvon, 0700 hrs. 78*F
[D40] f. M. rufus shot young m. in pouch [D40] Also one at heel but not collected, Length 76" 173 cm.
[D41] Acanthiza shot by Douglas in m. Mulga scrub, red soil, Acanthiza in pairs. Rain 0825 hrs.
52 m. N of Carnarvon. [D42] f. M. rufus and young F. at heel [D43] shot in mulga. f.42 was lactating. Stopped.
Mixed acacia and sparse scrub. Small dove [D44] and honeyeater [D45] shot by A.M.D. 24 m. N. of Carnarvon. Carnarvon. Discovered that belt with knife & compass lost, probably left at 461. Turned back, Carnarvon turnoff, found knife, 29 m. to Carnarvon, 15.40 hrs. 84*F, 15.20hrs,
600 milepost to Perth.
Douglas shot Demansia saltbush plain. Tank no. 2.
Wooramel River Bridge, 17.30 hrs, 73*F
Breakaways. Collected rock sample, apparently limestone.
Woodleigh Stn. turnoff.
Just before No. 4 tank m. M. rufus, shot [D47] overall 72" 178cm. Mulga.
Stopped at Overlander Cafe for meal. Friendly people. Owner claims to be Ex Long Range Desert Group. Offered to take collecting tank.
Address : Mr. S. St. John, The Overlander, Hamelin Pool, Roadside Mail, via Geraldton.
m. rufus shot [D48] overall 7ft 7".
Mulga. Eucalypts begin. Decided to drive all night.

> 20th Oct 1957 - 0325 hrs 66*F, Murchison River.
Euro seen north of the Murchison, F. grey, seen south of Geraldton.
Darling Ranges 1330 68*F.
 
> 15th December 1957
Trip to Fossil site on Ederga River nr Gullewa.
A. R. Main had previously found a fossil vertebra in the bed of the dry river.
Party:
A. R. Main
V. N. Serventy
W. D. L. Ride
Speedo at 6 Florence Rd. Nedlands. 44441 whole miles.
Causeway 0540 hrs 70*F.
Rabbit dead on road
"     "   "   0805 hrs.. Had breakfast at Main's opal hill.
Fox dead on road 0840 hrs, kestrel feeding on carcass.
Miling air temp. 92*F
Dalwallinu 0925
Wubin
102*F )953 Buntine.
Varanus gouldi dead on road,
Sandplain vegetation. Hakea Casuarina Grevillea.
Latham 1020, Caron 1042.
Rabbit (juv.) dead on road. Signs of a large rabbit population, burrows, runs, droppings & fresh ? fox droppings, 11.10 hrs, 107*F. Dust devils.
Koolanooka 11.35, Morawa 11.44. Rabbit dead on road.
Turn off to Gullewa, dirt road off bitumen 12.05 hrs 110*F.
(See Mapsheet H50/2 Zone1 2nd ed1942)
Gullewa Turi Ari Hill (mine). Cross roads take right turn, turn off track obliquely to right along fence just before stock gate 436455.
Well, and then on to well east of this 455454 and then due east of this to cut Salt River at 446454. The sides and approaches are all loose sand and vehicle became bogged down, dug out and walked down to river.
W. bank sloped but E bank cut into deposits. Section at 446454 :
"Sketch of bank of river, weathered and unweathered greenstone."
No sign of invertebrate remains but in the upper sands (loess) there are hollow tubes and cylindrical fillings which appears to be moulds of tree roots and casts of tree roots (specimens collected), gastropods? coxiella.
Walked further north along west bank and here the sands are eroded off right down to the greenstones leaving sea hued rounded pebbles from the gravels all over the erosion surface. Just before this erosion stage is reached the sands are exposed on the upper surface back from the edge with erosion products freely visible. Aboriginal flake found here not worn.
Back at Gullewa mine 1730 hrs, 106*F. Fox  2 cubs seen in spotlight.
Ebano Creek, spent night .

> 16th Dec. 1957
Road between Morawa and Mingenew. Bert says that Permian shales along the green river contain shallow water deposits.
Way into Green River series south of road. 200 yards east of Bushfire sign.
Rabbits in paddocks.
Mingenew Hill. Triassic redbeds, isolated, dated on plant fossils.
Bridge S. of Mingenew.
Sandstone with copper at well on road to Eneabba Creek and Donkeys Creek. First turn-off to right south of Arriano approx. 3 miles S. of Arriano.
Three Springs, Prowaka, Carnamah, Coorow, Watheroo, Gingin.

> 26th February 1958
Perth-Wongan Hills - Perth.
Journey made with R. P. McMillan & Kaye Vollprecht to collect Buprestidae from flowering mallee in the Wongan Hills area.
(Full data in McMillan's notes)
Museum
Midland P. O. 0640hrs. F64*
White necked heron at 0710 hrs standing in pool.
Emu 0720 hrs.
Helen in flight 0755
Piawanning turnoff
0930 Wongan Hills turnoff. 79*F
Walked around at Wongan Hills saw signs of fresh digging of several different types. Collected droppings at one of these scrapes.
Saw hole that is possibly T. lagotis. This area should be surveyed as soon as possible.
No Buprestidae.
Elphin 11.30 hrs.
Wongan Hills turnoff
12.25 Cockroach with light stripes. Found in blackboy.
Highway
Collecting
Main road.
Grey kangaroo dead on roadside, skull destroyed (65 m. to Perth on northern highway). Grey kangaroo dead on roadside skull destroyed.
Juv. magpie dead on road, collected.
Guilford. Town Hall.

> June 5th 1958.
Crossing Nullarbor by Train.
I had heard that there had been rain on the Nullarbor and wanted to see it. I was going to a Unesco conference & travelled by train instead of air.
Left Perth by train for Kalgoorlie.
Very cold night. No heating at all. v. poor train.

> 6th June 1958
0820 hrs arrive Kalgoorlie
0845 hrs leave Kalgoorlie Commonwealth train. Excellent. Warm !!
Both before and after Kalgoorlie
(?) Mulga with mallee-form (?) Salmon gums
10.10 Very little mulga. Saltbush and scattered but larger salmon gums. Sheep grazing.
1100hrs First spinifex seen among mallee & mulga.
1200 hrs Zanthus, spinifex, salmon gums and mallee.
12.30 a gum, both mallee form and larger with a very copper-coloured stem. Others here have salmon upperworks with peeled stems except on lower parts of main stems which are unpeeled, scruffy and rough grey-red.
1240 Buildings (?) Kitchen
1300 Stopped. (no apparent reason - 2 huts on roadside) Spinifex disappeared.
1310 Eucalypts finish
1315 Collection of buildings
1345 6 houses and no name, double line, Naretha.
1405 left Naretha scattered mulga, small grassy vegetation. No saltbush, no spinifex.? Heavily grazed.
1420 Very scattered scrubby bushes, gibbers.
1425 886 mile post
1427 884 mile post
1445 Left Rawlinna - quite a large town by Trans standards
1455 Kestrel hovering
1540 "Grassy plain" stopped at next town (Haig)
1545 Colour exposures. - 1 at 1/100 1 at 1/60
1615 A large number of patches of vivid billiard-table-green. purple flowers, white flowers, bushes with yellow berries.
1620 Puddles of water lying about.
1620 Sun going down.
Advance watch 1 1/2 hrs.

> 7th June 1958
0650 hrs Kingoonya
0809 Wirraminna
All the country here is mulga and saltbush. Before Wirraminna there is very little mulga and appears to be the result of sheep grazing. Occasional bushes and stumps among the saltbush.
0845 Macropus rufus, a grey heron
0915 Pimba
0930 Macropus rufus in groups of 4-6. more than 12. Saltbush with no top cover. Undulating country.
0945 (?) Wirrapen - rounded hills with tendency to breakaway.
1130 Felis on roadside looking at train. Saltbush with considerable mulga. Flat with one high hill with breakaway to the south.
Adelaide - after change of train !
 
> 16th July 1958
The Hamersley Expedition.
The expedition is planned to collect extensively in the area of the Hamersley Range and Roebourne Tableland in the hope of gaining a better understanding of
 the so-called Tovesian Outliers which occur in the area south of the Canning basin.
The party comprises :
Ride leader and
K. M. Buller  Preparation
G. F. Mees Birds & Fish
K. Vollprecht Fish
W. H. Butler Reptiles
Athol Douglas - Mammals
John Mitchell (S. A. Mus.) - Reptiles
R. P. McMillan - Insects
Tony Watson - Insects
& Joan Jacoby - Women's Weekly reporter
10.15 pm. Ken Buller picked up John Mitchell and self in taxi and then on to M.M.A. in Perth
11.45 Met Kaye Vollprecht, Butler, Joan Jacoby (Womens Weekly) and Tony Watson at Airport. Peter Lefroy also on plane. Plane held up by weather & finally took off at approx 01.45 on the 17th.

> 17th July 1958
Geraldton
Carnarvon - dawn. Wittenoom Gorge. Met Athol Douglas  (who with McMillan & Mees had gone up by road in Landrover) who reported that Rover u.s. with worn main brake-cylinder. Off-loaded Butler to travel with Athol to Coolawanyah and took the rest of the party in by air. Arrived Coolawanyah at approx 0945 hrs. Had excellent morning with owner of Coolawanyah - Roy Parsons who showed party over his shearing sheds. Shearing in progress, very good season. Met Ted Parsons and his younger brother Leslie (sns of Roy). Ted runs Hooley Stn. while Les manages Coolawanyah when Roy is in Perth.
Athol turned up at 1300 hrs and we left to go to Millstream Stn.
Many kangaroos and a small wallaby a bit like Petrogale but deep red allover. Surprised - in open country and headed for breakaway. Many rufus & robustus allover the place. Took a Tachyglossus crossing the road. About 12 species of reptiles taken.
Arrioved at Millstream. Met Pixie Gordon (Mrs. Stuart Gordon) Stuart away in Roebourne. Much toil and tribulation in getting things straight. Through by about 20.45hrs Gerlof Mees skinning birds through it all!
[From here on, notes spasmodic because of the considerable pressure involved in running the show and filming. Birds and small mammals have full data with their labels and the notes which follow relate almost entirely to large mammals shot or measured by myself (others recorded by A.M.D.) ; and results of important conversations.]
Mees & Mitchell kept full notes. All mammals numbered in a series "H..." with birds. (List of bird H nos. at end of book).

> 19th July 1958
Evening [H50] f. shot with spotlight. spinifex plains  wt 27lbs, small hairless pouch young L53 1/2 in., T 25 1/4, HF 91/2, E 4in.

> 20th July 1958
(All specs. shot night of 19/7)
[H62]f. wt 38 lbs. L 571/2 in., T 273/4, HF 91/2, E 4 1/4
[H63] m. wt 49 lbs, L631/2 in., T 29 3/4 in., HF11 3/4, E 51/2in.
[H64] f., more than 75 lbs, L671/2in, T32in, HF53/4 in., E 111/2in.
[H65] m. L 67 1/2 in., T 32 in., HF11 1/2in., E 4 1/4
[H66] f. with young L69 1/2 in., T 29 1/2, HF 12in., E 5 3/4 in.
[H67] m. Millstream on road M. rufus. L79 in., T39 in., HF15 1/2 in.E53/4in.
]H68] m. L 77in., T 39 1/4in., HF 14 in., E 6 1/2 in.
[H69] m. L 72 in., T 38 in., HF 13 1/2in., E 6
[H70] m. L72 1/4 in., T 36 1/2, HF 11 1/4 in., E 4 3/4 in/
With the exception of H67 all reds were shot in the vicinity of Kanjeange [Karijini?] outstation (grass country) all Euros were shot near Millstream (Rock, spinifex).

> 21st July 1958
5 m. North of Kanjearge turnoff Caves. Shot at Macroderma gigas. Solitary specimen in cave, escaped but Douglas collected droppings. Collected Taphozous georgeanus in net. Douglas shot Python in cave. Shot hooded robin in snakewood "mulga" grove on spinifex plain.
Set traps around river and breakaway to North west of crossing pool.
9 Longwaths, 8 Havaharts, 2 Cat-traps.

> 24th July 1958
[H143] m. Euro shot between Kanjeange and Coolawanyah : L 120.5cm, T 56.5cm, E 9.5, HF 24, Wt 21 lbs.
Turkey shot A.M.D.. Stomach contents were beetles and grasshoppers, m, testes enlarged 29 x 19 mm
F. M. rufus shot 10 m. south of Karijgine Homestead : L. 117.5 cm., Wt.15 1/2 lbs., . 59.1/2 cm., HF 23.5 cm., E 11.

> 25 July 58
Set traps in gorge in Hamersley Range on Millstream : 1 cat-trap, 4 Havaharts, 12 Longwaths.
In gorge :
1. spotted bower-bird in low bush 0730 hrs
2. 0800 Singing honeyeater (with Butler) in sturtpeas.
3. 0930 Hen robin in dead tree.
4. Grey thrush in deep rocky gorge in low bush.
5. Painted finch m. at small pools of water in deep rocky gorge.

> 26th July
Butler took (a) hen painted finch on rock in deep rocky gorge 9b0 Singing honeyeater in acacia (c) brown honeyeater in acaia.
Set traps at Millstream: 2 cat traps, 5 Havaharts + 2, 2 Langworths.
Telegrams sent from Coolwanyah
GEORGE  MUSEUM PERTH . PLEASE SEND SIZE TEN TUF BOOTS TO COOLAWANYAH  RIDE.
DALGETTYS ROEBOURNE NO PETROL AT COOLAWANYA FOR MUSEUM. PLEASE DISPATCH
 IMMEDIATELY MCMILLAN

> 30th July 1958
Pouched mouse trapped by Butler. F length 178mm, T 81, HF 15.5, E 19, least width of tail at incrassation = 3.9. width of tail 6.1, Wt 2 kg [This appears to be the 'red-eared' species of Woodstock.]
Bat Typhozous HF 14.6 E 22.8 WT 25 g.

> 1st August 1958
Budgerigah ? Iris white, legs blue grey, nose skin of male Blue.
Crimson chat . Iris yellowish-white, legs almost black, bill black.
Mudlark. Iris greenish yellow, beak, upper, white blackish nostrils and tip, lower white, feet dark.
Ringnecked. Skin of nose hazel in one specimen, blackish in the other, feet dark, eyes brown.
Conversation with Malcolm, an Injubundi man. Working on Coolawanyah. This used to be the country of his people. Now they are camped at Roebourne.
Junguna  Owlet nightjar
Jungun  Emu
Mundayung  Euro
Wandera  Magpie
Mounda  Hill
Ngundama  People of Black Hill
Ngungumurra  People of Hedland
Paiwanada  Red kangaroo
Puggara  Plain
Waiwarra (?) Lagorchestes
Kundi  Stone knife
Burring  Kangaroo tick
Mooloo  Knife for skinning kangaroo

> 2nd August 1958
Pindima mile peg 103.
Black duck. Iris light brown, Bill greenish grey, feet greyish brown.
Malcolm vocab:
Iddiawarra  Satarellus
Dirridi  Macroderma
Injubundi  Malcolm's people
Jurrawarru  small bat.
Sketch map of area.

> 4th  August 1958
To Millstream.
[H 332] robustus m. spotlit. Tambrey. Wt over 60 lbs., L.69 1/2", T. 33", HF11", E 4 1/4".
[H333] rufus m. spotlit. Tambrey, wt 44lbs., L 63 1/2, T 30 3/4, E 6.

> 5th Aug 1958
Coolawanyah, lizards and spinifex.
Kimberley Kite. Yellow cere & skin of angle of mouth. Tip of bill black, feet yellow with black claws, iris brown.
People about Malcolm's:
Paigu people other side of Mulga Downs.
Murrudinia.  South of Mt. Enid to Yarralula Stn.
Ngulluma people at Black Hill from Roebourne to Yule R. as far east as Hooley Stn. Page map of Malcolm's country.
Next pages map: The Range from Coolawanya, to Hamersley Stn, Willumurra. The English names were given by Roy Parsons, The Injubidi by Malcolm.
Malcolm says that only four of the Injubundi know the old things. These are
Old Toby - Old man , born when Mulga downs was no station and people speared each other at night.
Old Charlie. Taught by Old Toby but not so old himself.
Old Timblar, Old Wally - Song men
Purdud - Corroboree before making men.
"Coming down Mt. Abbot with 2 camels in the shafts and all 4 wheels locked with the chain".
Brokwinyi - Rock python
Ping(g)arung
Moogoo/unna - The evening star.
Pindiri - Stars
Wil/lulla - Moon
Yura Sun.

> 6th August 1958
Robins in gorge (Asbestos Creek). Iris sepia, rest black.
[H348] Planigale collected at Tambrey by W. H. Butler.
H & B 70 mm., T. 55 mm., E. 10, HF. 10, Wt approx 15 gm.
Mammals recorded by Douglas in his notes of the Hamersley Expedition
[H1-7] Skulls of unsexed Euros dead at waterhole, Marilana Stn 14 m. west
[H 8] M. rufus, f., 19 m. E of Marilana Stn.
[H9] M. rufus f. 27m. E of Marilana Stn.
[H10] m. rufus juvenile
[H37] Millstream. Shot W.D.L. Ride, wt 34 lbs., HF 27, L 1460, T 66, E 109, 3/4 grown young at heel, open spinifex, wt of young 100 gm.
[H38] m. Palm pool Millstream, 20/7/58. L1830, T830, HF290, E 122.
[H39] f. Spinifex near road at Millstream.
[H142] f. Young wt 11.5 lbs., Tail 18.8, H & B 40. 23 July 1730 hrs
[H300] m. Testes removed, length 1930, T 990, HF 34.6, Ear 14.5.
[H14] Skin found in WAM 8.6.61 unregistered in 2 pieces, destroyed K.7.

> 16th Oct 1958
Perth- Margaret River
Ride & Bowen
Called fisheries office Bunbury Inspector Barry Baines. Arranged with him for alcohol tank to be delivered to him by a fisheries dept. vehicle.
Met Maskell who presented an eel caught 15th Oct. Species identified by Mees as Gymnothorax woodwardi type in WAM.
Baines presented very small long necked tortoise caught 6 miles up the Collie R. from its mouth.
> Arrived Margaret R. contacted tourist bureau  got hold of the Caves guide - a local farmer Dudley McLeod. He is a most cooperative & useful man. Worked until 10.30 still plenty of Glauert's deposit left. It appears that it was part of an earlier cave which has collapsed into the present one. Well worth stratifying.

> 17th Oct 1958
Margaret R - Alexander's Bridge - Nannup - Donnybrook - Collie - West Arthur - Williams - Quindanning - Marranong - Perth.
> Collected bobtails (redheads) 18 m. north east of Collie in mixed Wandoo, useful numbat country. Also shot f. shrikehrush, sitting in jarrah. Brought back specimen.

> 22nd Nov. 1958.
Perth - Yalgoo
Ride, Buller, Eric Car (Asst. Prepenata)
Home
Museum
Northam
Goomalling,
Buller shot 28 parrot (1), Ride shot 28 parrot (2)
Insects (3 or 4 ) collected from flowers on roadside.
Wongan Hills
Pilbara
Wubin
Buller shot 28 parrots (5) & (6).
Denansia michaelis found dead.
Perenjori
Morawa
Rear tank dry
Tonight onto dirt road to Gutha.

23rd Nov.
Gutha 7.15 am 6 x 28 parrots shot
Crossroad turn left to Melenby
Old road from left
Stock gate
Stock gate on bend of road.
Melenby turn off.
Stock gate
Collected small fish in salt river at Gullewa, small scraps of vertebrate bone but no real success at Ederga R. deposits shown by main.
Turn off to Yalgoo passed stone tank.
Collected Varanus on bank of Ederga.
Pipit shot Ride.
Eudergasp
Australian skylark
Yalgoo & Carnaby's house. desolate town, nearly a ghost town.
Drove south with Ivan Carnaby to look for a new species of quail thrush that he says occurs south of Yalgoo. Filled tanks with 13 gals.
Road to Fields Find.
Camped for night. Shot 2 goats, 1 mulga snake, collected Gecko. Goats appear plentiful.

> 24th Nov. 1958
Left Ivan and moved south. breakfast at 0645 hrs on road.
Shot Quail Thrush & Bell Bird the quail thrush is the southern species thrush playing around under mulga in mulga thicket with grassy floor. Bill black, deep grey horn, eye red orange. Amphibolus also taken.
Fields Find.
Turnoff right to Wubin
A salt lake (? an outlier of Lake Monger)
Collected casuarina for McMillan.
A very large salt lake with banks on its southern side.? Lake Monger. Banks red and eroded but apparently no fossils in them. Single artifact of crystalline quartz collected in a "blowout".
Changed over into front tank, 8 gals exactly since Yalgoo 629 ie 23 miles per gal. with trailer up !
Bobtail, 28 parrot, Miling, New Norcia, 29 miles post, Back to Perth.
 
> 28th Nov. 1958
Perth - Jurien Bay - Perth
With Balme, Glenister, Glover all Geology Dept U. of W.A. to examine caves and reports of destruction of fossil deposits for "guano".
Home
Geol. Dept University
Shot 28 parrot
100 milepost from Perth
Moora
Collected varanus killed by car on side of road. Saw it killed. 28 parrot shot.
Collected Bobtail at Jurien Bay. Spent night in Beach Hut with owner, local farmer Bob Ward.
Drove to Smith's Cave
Smith's cave shot pipit, Smoker parrot shot.
Turn off to Cave back to Jurien Bay for lunch, shot small green parrot.
Pipit
Turn off to cave again.
Hill River
Kingfisher shot in scrubby plain beyond river.
Black cockatoo shot, white tailed, feeding in open plain with low heath among blackboys
Back in Perth.
 
> 10th January 1959
Perth - Margaret R. - Perth
Ride, Vollprecht, A. M. Douglas
Took Douglas down to Margaret R. to set up a showcase in the cave.
Idea, to stimulate tourist interest in both the Caves and the W.A.M.
Arrived caves after dark.
During stay collected rats. R. rattus caught in traps outside the cave along side of the stream. Breakbacks baited with bacon.
Also shot Chalinolobus morio returning to crevices in the ceiling of main chamber after their evening flight.
 
> 12th May 1959
Perth - Murchison R. - Perth
Ride and John Kelsall (Canadian Wild Life)
Museum
Northam, grey overcast 65*F
Goomalling 14.15 hrs spots of rain.
Wongan Hills 1500 hrs
Pilbara 16.00 hrs
Changed to front tank
Dalwallinu 16.15hrs
Whites at Merkanooka 19.13 hrs.
(The Whites are relatives of Stan White's (S.R.) and the reason for the trip is that, through Stan, the Whites - Father, sons (Hansel and John) presented a fine mandible of Nototherium to the Museum. They found it in the bed of the Murchison at the crossing at Billabalong Stn

> 13th May 1959
White's House
Turn off to John White's
John White's
Highway Mullewa - Morawa
Mullewa 08.45 petrol
Murchison at Billablong arrived at bridge 12.00 , 76*F.
River has been in flood. Whites unable to find remains they saw at the time they collected the Jaw. Water in bed of river and sand and salt deposited over formerly bare surface. Had meal. Whites (Stan and Jeff O'Brien) fished and got 2spp water in pools not too salt to drink. Fair amount of aquatic vegetation and many very small crustacea (?Daphnia).
John White walked out the bank about 1/2 mile west of bridge, bone in bank.
2 species of fish:
1 plimmer species (? atherine) olive green above, white below, lateral line marked by extremely vivid white longitudinal band.
Other species Perch like (?spangled perch) greenish above, spotted with brown blotches.
Small bird collected in bush at dusk. Bell birds plentiful and small green parrot here in mulga. Cormorants in river. Bird shot : bill horn, legs blackish, soles of feet pale, wt 9gm
[Coll No. 6] f. m. rufus, shot joey in pouch 2.5 g. Total length 162, Tail 85, Wt 43lbs. HF 27, Ear 14.5.

> 14th May 1959
Rose with first light, cold.
Startedto look for birds but nothing doing until sun came up about 7.30.
Bush canaries, weebills, babblers, willies, mudlarks, galahs, grey falcon, 28s, topknot pigeons (large flocks of topknots c.100 birds at least), grey herons, heard bellbirds and butcher birds. Crows in fair numbers. Shot 2 28s.
Walked out bank on way back to breakfast, further bone in undisturbed beds where river is cutting away bank. wts of 28s between 100 & 200 gm.
Temp at midday 88* F becoming overcast, clouds high, breeze.
The two bones found west of the river are 1 (by white) a small fragment of ? pelvis, and the other is more-or-less complete scapula of Nototherium.
Sketch of cliff with samples.
Going out with spotlight 9 miles n. of river. No kangaroos seen N. of river itself. Shot m. [coll.no. 7] Wt 43 lbs., HF 27, Ear 13.5, Total length 149.5, Tail 77.5

> 15th May 1959
100 hrs left Murchison
Greenough R. walked out banks for about a mile to west of road, no fossils. Rabbits plentiful in burrows, foxes' earth. Shot bellbird.
Shot pair of mulga parrots put in Mrs White's frig. for night.
Merkanooka
Spotlighting around Merkanooka, locals say that all three species of Kangaroos occur locally : Greys and Euros on the Irwin and coastal side of the watershed and Reds and Euros in the "lakes" side. Reds occasionally come into grey and euro territory. They also say that the greys and foxes move from the coast and back to inland each year. Local greys have short toenails (hard substrate) but when they appear at the beginning of the winter toenails are long - sand plain conditions.
[Coll. No 8] Grey f. Wt 43 lbs  HF28. Nail 2.3. Ear 12. Tail 66 Total 144. with pouch joey. wt 200g. Shot in rolled bush, spotlight.
[Coll. No 9] Euro m. shot in crop. Wt 24lbs. Ear 12. Tail 71 HF 25 Nail 10. Total 144
[Coll. No 10]Fox f. Wt 8lbs. Ear 9.2, Tail 35.5. HF 15. Total 99, shot in grass pasture.
[Coll. No 11] Fox m. wt. 14lbs. Ear 9.5, Tail 42, HF 16.5 Total 104. Shot in grass pasture.
Locals say Euros fairly common in Salmon, York Gum country. Small breakaways with caves occur (8 ft or so.) Greys plentiful in scrub. Jams etc.
Left Merkanooka for Perth 1400 hrs 16th May.
3 p. typed list of Latin names of birds observed.

> 18th August
Kananda

> 19 August
Loongana
Nullarbor Stn homestead. Log tales. Yalata starts, Bush Eucalypts and Myall.
Nundrew (fuel pump)
Fowler's Bay Turn Off.
Wolf spider in hole under stone.
Penong
Ceduna X road
To Minnipa. Camp.

> 21 Aug 70
Back on Eyre Highway at Minnipa.18 1/2 at Kimba (253 m.)
Service at Pt. Augusta. Roof rack welded.

> [22 Aug]
Hawker Wilpena Rd. Trodic Callitris Young eucalypts. Photos of Rawnsley Bluff & Callitris H., collected wolf spider under rock.
Wilpena Pound turn-off. Back at new[?] road. Blinman to Parachilna. Parachilna. Cross Parking Leezh[?], camp at Green Well Creek.

> 23 Aug 70.
Green Well Creek , Breakfast Time Creek. Bettana - Sgt Marple & Const. Cavanagh - Liege Creek. Clam fossil from Marple jun., call at Leigh Creek.
2 scorpions[?] in Leigh Creek bush. Mulare [?] fluget. Ex Leigh Creek, T.O. to Copley to Moolanistana [?].Mt. Searl + off. Nepabunna Mission. Wooltana, Camp. Arkaroola Creek N.E. of Moolawantana Homestead.

> 24 Aug 1970
Arkaroola Creek camp. Quail thrush call. 669 male.
N.Mulga outcrop ? N. Mulga Homestead.
Conf.[?]  S F O. TE 5 mm 4 mm.
Grail Trestmare[?] seeds.
Camp again.

> 25th Aug
C6790 camp Ptclaten Rey[?], 7c group, 31 Collabere locs. 34SM
Woolatchi Creek
Homestead, filled with fuel. Mt Fittan Homestead, signpost "Talc wine 3 miles on turnoff to right. [C6801]. Mt. Freeling Homestead. Old gene, stone corral photo.
Lindhurst
Farina photo 4/5 old drop.
Maree P.O.
Birdsville Track.

> [26 Aug.]
Clayton Bore Camp.
Hayes Hill. Sites on side of road.
Cannu waukaninna Bore.
Sharptailed Sandpiper Dk brown black paler base olive green legs 52 g.
Camp area Lake Palankarinna. Take off. Start home. Camp. Paul's randible[[?] l.c.
Knafacon[?]

> 27th Aug 1970
Camp in ashes[?], F..., Cooper R., Kanunka Lake.
Sminthopsis crassicaudata centralis WR218
Clayton Flowing bore. 0545 caught by hand in open gibber by bore line.
HB 80, TV 63, HF 16, F 22, FA 19mm.

> 28th Aug 1970
Lake Kanunka camp.
Lake Ngapakaldi camp.

> 29th Aug 1970
Camp at Lake Ngapikaldi. N Cooper Creek 2 Bush Babblers : black crown, chest cream, brown, l. brown, Black/ with white, yellow with white, slate dark 46g, 55g.
Coopers Creek Hilt. [C670] (where sandhill east of up[?] route)
Crossing of Cooper
Canna waukaninna Bore.
Clayton bore.

> 30 Aug 1970
Clayton Bore. Maree P.O.
Ex Maree Supplies $9.32
Signpost
Gate
Photo (DR17)
Mt Hamilton homestead. Turn west north of William Creek Hotel, Signpost on other road 130 Oodnadatta.
Anna Creek Homestead turn left.
DR Photo [C6919]
River bed Camp.

> 31 Aug 1970
Ex camp. Coober Pedy
Mt Willoughby Homestead
Oodnadatta Rd., Welbourn Hill, Camp.

> 1st Sept 1970
Ex camp.
Photo of degraded Mulga[C6933].
Granite Downs T O.
fuel.
Mulga and Grevillea[C6934,35]
Border of N.T./S.A.
Victory Downs turnoff, Victory Downs homestead. petrol, lunch stop [C6936] Cassia.
Note.* The 70 series is digit out 7003 on the slides is 7002 in the notebook.
Musgrave Ranges [C7001]
Mulga Park H.S., road lined with native poplars and mulga [C7002] Triodia
Mt Connor photos [C7003]
Agnes Rock T O.
Curtin Springs, 8 gals

> 2nd Sept 1970 (Wednesday)
Camp. Tadarida australis, male, WR219. Ha B 85 mm., E.29 mm., TV47 mm., forearm 55mm., HF12 mm., Wt. 34 gm., galysorch [?] moderately developed. Hairs in two tufts but only poorly differentiated from normal hair and not bristle, .al chestnut[?].
Ayers Rock letter box, Derek Roth. Left Ayers Rock
Amphibolous inermis coll., Mulga flit grass shallow burrow 3"[?].
A. inermis small sfts[?] desf haron sfered[?].
Armstrong Creek, DR Beefwood, Bloodwood [C7018]
Camp 6MEIRvingBrock  (159 m.) phot but now a flowering bush with moths feeding Scoteinus? [WR220], gregi F. HB 53 mm. TU 37, HF 8, Ear 13, fremm 35, Wt 10g.

> 3rd Sept. 1970 Thursday
Camp. Eucalypt, flat opposite alternate leaves, Photos DR
Rockhole Irving Creek
C. of Edge of Peterman Range country, C. of Bloods Range
Shaw Creek
Chirnside R. Wirlies [C7031]
Lasseter's Cave at Hull R. grindstone ochre flakes
[C7034] Peterman Range. Docker River crossing. Wassie border.
Rebecca Creek Waltic Jaws Just [?] DR Trees [C7036] DR trees.
Giles Corner T.O. camp 717.4
Note: photo of Lasseter's cave etc before C7034
Friday 4th Sept 197Ex camp, back on track.
Edge of Native Reserve (Sign) [C7101] of a new mallee form eucalypt.
Blackstone T.O., dead mulga with regeneration in a gerry plus wick Mt.Aloysius in the backyard. Truck joins from west.
Wingellina T.O..Wingellina.
S.A. border
Waterhole
Red sandhill sand
Ex Wandulina, Main Road, Blackstone T.O., Blackstone camp & mill. Camp

> (Sat) 5th Sept 1970
Ex camp
Cavanagh Range track to south. Lightning Rocks. 25,26 Bilbring.
"Giles Tank" 27 Gald's excavation. Zone of Reserve. non-tank empty. Mill. Warburton Mission filled up main tank. Dictation for road[?]. Road south. NW sign 17, right fork, dead end, main road, turn off to south. Full took E fork, took W fork, turned back. Main road , T.O. Paint, T.O. south. Banded whiteface wt 6 gm male testes 5mm, 4mm. black blood.
There mallee on a plain, 3 white crosses x ground stac. Turnaround. Camp.
Tadanda australis female white collar & white patches extending across back rib cage. HB 88mm., TV 46, HF 13, E 26, forearm 60, wt 34 gm. shot in flight WHB [222] (Sunday) 6th Sept 1970
Ex camp, on road, Airstrip across road, road Winduldarra Rock Hole
8 E. pumilis female, owl pellets.
Gahnda Rock hole Dasyurus jaws.
Manunda Rock Hole
Muggan Rock hole
26 parallel road south
Terhan Rock hole
E. pumilis [231]
To north to soak 2.8 m.
Soak Camp "Paltju Soak".
231 E. pumilis shot at dusk: H B 39 mm, E. 9, TV 36, forearm 34, Hf 5, wt. 5.3 g.
223 female E. pumilis collected Winduldarra
H B 41 mm., E. 11, TV 39, forearm 34, Hf 6, wt. 4.5 g.

> 7th Sept (Monday)
Pultja Soak, main road, Beegul rockhole
Tiliqua on road
Yamana turnoff, Yamana 23 miles new T.O.
Cosmo Newberry filled up. Y corner Laverton 8
Windarra T.O.
Laverton Pub., Malcolm Rd.
Kookynie R.S., main road bitumen.
Menzies 13 g. petrol.
Kalgoorlie P.O. Coolgardie P.O. Southern Cross 21 gals.
Florence Dr.
Wanneroo, Museum, Wanneroo.
 

On ground Jerramungup
Valley of Fitzgerald R.
Mid cut Bremer - Bremer Bay
 
> 19 March 1972
Up at 6.15 sunshine with cloud : due South
T.O. 22 miles to Treetop to Vermin Fence to east
Do not take T O to the right which joins track
T O down to Twertup Creek
Crossing of Twertup Creek
Turn back from foot of cliff of spyllite near Roe Rock .
Creek crossing
Turn left to Jonacoonack
River with coal seams
View upstream to Roe Rock across coal seam
Map of Jupiter oil leases.
Park left
Park left to oil well
Oil well
7834, 35 Photos from the oil well upstream.
At oil well at 11.30 hrs
Beclend NS track
Main track
Verticordia oxylepsis fished film with access see Steve
01, 2 photos of bush as our
Turn off to mid out camera for the Esty track
Mt Am Track
Rabbit proof fence turned S. between Mt Bland and West Mt Barren.
H victorine photos
Crossed track & stayed fence line
Through fence line.
Main road turn left.

5 miles N of Kingenge turnoff, Caves - shot at Macroelna gigans - solitary opening in cave : escaped but Douglas collected droppings. Collected Typhozous in net. Douglas shot Python(?) in cave. Shot hooded robin in snakewood mulga grove in spinifex plain. [Sketch].

> 24 July
H143. Euro (m) shot between Kingenge and Coolawanya(?)
Turkey, shot by AMD : stomach contents Beetles & Grasshoppers.
Red f. Tew(?) shot 10 miles S. of Kingenge Homestead W.H.B., wt. 15 1/2  lbs.
Traps in gorge
In gorge.
1. Spotted brown bird in loo bush 0730 hrs.
2. Singing honeyeater with Butler 0800 in Sturt pea.
3. Hen robin in dead tree, 07304.
4. Grey Thrush in deep rocky gorge in low bush.
5. Painted fish m. at small pools of water in deep rocky gorge.
Butler
a)Painted finch on rock in damp rocky gorge.
b)Singing honeyeater in eig
c) Brown honeyeater in acacia.
d)
DALGETTYS ROEBOURNE NO PETROL AT COCAWAN YAH FOR MUSEUM PLEASE DISPATCH IMMEDIATELY MCMILLAN
H159 m. Robustus shot between Timbery & Coolawanyah with doe.
H160 f. Teats fired 84 lbs.
H161 m. not fired 42 lbs.
Despite great difficulties
Birds : 170 specimens representing 58 species. Promises to be the most important single collection to come to the museum.
Rare birds 1. species of Aytinus(?) striatus (2 in coll.)
2. Flock pigeon (3in coll.
Emu Wren (Rufous crowned)
Royles 43 species approx 260 spec., hector 4,000 of 150 egg.
Fox, red, euro, white ent. paranticlinus, 2 bats, mouse, dingo, echidna.
Pouched mouse trapped 30 July by Butler, 1 p. sketch. L.178, T.81, HF15.5, E.19, least width of tail at incrusation = 3.9, middle of tail 6.1, Wt 24 gms.

> 1 Aug
Bat Taphozous HF 14.6, E. 22.8, Wt. 24 g.
1. Aways(?) Iris white legs, blue grey nose skin of male Phe(?) Common chat, Iris yellowish white, legs chest black, bill black.
Mudlark D. greenish-yellow beak upper, white with blackish nostrils & tip. looa. white feet dark.
Ring-necked. skin of nose hazel mm one blackish feet dark eyes brown.

Jounguna       Owlet N.
Jungun      Emu
Mundayung   Euro
Wandera       Magpie
Mounda       Hill
Ngundama people    Black hill
Ngungumurra people    Headland
Paiwanada    Red K
Puggare        Plain
Waiwurra     ?Lazachistes
Kundi
Buring  Kangaroo fish
Mooloo
Black duck I Light brown. B. Greenish grey  F Greenish brown
old Larrawarru Satullim
Dirridi  - macrodima
haledis people Nijubundi
Juryawarru - small bat
sketch Mt Hubert

> 4 Aug to Millstream
332  Robustus 333 rufus

> 5 Aug 1958
Coolenegal, lizards in spinifex. Kimberley kite, yellow are & skin of male of mouth, tip of bill black, feet yellow with black claws, iris brown.
Cowareontemp hash (tunt). Melgadous Yungailinna. Punjimma people in Fortescue. Mt Land cattle station.
Yuwarrana = big hill
Paigu people other side Mulga Downs, Manudinia south of Mt Bird to Yarradula Stn. Ngillama people at black hill from Roebourne to Yule River as far east as Hooley.

> 16th October 1958
                                                                            
 Perth - Margaret River, Collie River 16th, 17th Oct. 1958, Alexander Ridge, Nannup, Donnybrook, Quindinning, Perth.
List of mammals recorded by Douglas in Hamersley Exp.
Called Fisheries Office in Bunbury, Inspector Barry Baines, arranged with him for alcohol tank to be delivered to him by Fisheries Dept vehicle.
Met Mr Maskell who presented eel caught 15 Oct, species identified by mees as Gymnothorax woodwardii type in W.A.M.
Baines presented small long necked tortoise caught 6 miles up the Collie River from its mouth.

> 17th Oct 58
Arrived Margaret River , contacted tourist bureau & got hold of the Caves guide - a local farmer Dudley McLeod. He is a most cooperative and useful man. Worked until 10.30, still plenty of Glauert's deposit left. It appears that it was part of an earlier cave which had collapsed into the present one. Well worth stratifying.
Margaret River, Alexander Bridge, Nannup, Donnybrook, Collie, West Arthur, Williams, Quindinning, Warramong, Perth.
Collected bobtails 18 m. NE of Collie in mixed wandoo, useful numbat country. Also shot shieke thrush, f. sitting in Jarrah, brought back specimen.
Mammals recorded by Douglas on Hamersley Exp.
H 1-7 Marilana Stn W of
Skulls of Euros at waterhole.
H 8 Munifus f. 19 m E of Marilana
H 9  " f. 27 m. E of Marilana
H 10 " juv.
H 37 Millstream shot W.D.L. Ride Wt 34 lbs HF27 L1460 T 66 E 10.9 3/4 young at heel,  wt of young 100 g.
H 38 Palm pool Millstream m. 20/7/58 L.1830 T.830, HF290, E 122
H 39 f. Spinifex near road at Millstream
H 142 f. young wt 11.5 lbs, tail 188, H B 40, 23rd July 1730 hrs.
H300 m testes removed length1930, T,990, HF31.6, ear 14.5 .

> 13 May
White's house 07.10 hrs
Turnoff to John White's
John White's
Highway Mullewa - Uwara(?)
Mullewa petrol
Luncheon(?) at Billabalong
Arrived at bridge 12.00, 76*FRiver has been in flood. Whites unable to find remains(?) they saw at the time they collected the jaw (?). Water in bed of river is sand or salt deposited over former bone (bare) surfaces. Had meal. Whites (Stan & Jeff O'Brien) fished & got  2spp. Water in pools not too salt to drink for most of the aquatic vegetation & very small crustacea (?diphinia). J. White walks at the bank about 1/2 mile to west of bridge. Brings back 2 species of fish.
1.slinner sp. Olive green above white below. Lateral line marked by extremely vivid white longitudinal band.
1 perch-like , greenish above spotted with brown blotches.
Small bird collected in bush at dusk. Bellbirds plentiful & a small green parrot here in mulga, cormorants on river. Bird shot, bill, horn, legs blackest, soles of feet pale, wt 9 g.
F. rufus shot, joey 2.5 g. (No. 6), total length 162, tail 85, Wt.43 lbs., HF 27, Ear 14.5

> 14 May 1959
Rose with first light, cold, started to look for birds but nothing doing until sun came up about 7.30.
Bush canaries, weebills, babblers, willies, mudlarks, galahs, grey falcon, 28s, topknot pigeons, large flocks of topknots c. 100 birds at least, grey heron, heard bellbirds & butcher bird. Crows in fine numbers. Shot 2 28s.
Walked out bush on way back to breakfast, further bone in undisturbed beds where river is cutting coming back.
Wts of 28s between 100 7 200 gr
 
> Midday 14 May 1959. 88*F bearing overcast, clouds high, breeze.
Sketch:  Section of cliff with scepder.
fine showing well silicified roots & the bands of white calcareous material.
 
> 19 May
Evening out with spotlight. 9 miles N of R, no kangaroos seen. All at river itself. Shot m., Wt -43lb. HF 27 Total length 149.5 Ear 13.5" Tail 77.5 (No7)

> 17 May
Left Murchison 10.00 Greenough R. walked out west of road, nothing.
Rabbits plentiful in burrows, foxes' earths. Shot bellbird. Shot pair of budgie parrots, put in Mrs White's fridge for night.Spotlighting at Merkanooka, locals say that all these species of kangaroos occur locally, greys and euros on the Irwin & coastal side of the watershed & reds & euros on the "lakes" side. Reds occasionally come into grey & euro territory. They also say that the greys and foxes move from the coast & back inland each year. Local greys have short toenails. Hard substrata but when they appear at the beginning of the winter toenails are long - sand plain conditions.
(No8) Grey Wt 43 lbs H.F.28 Nail 2.3 Female Ear 12 Tail 66 Total 144 with pouch young 200gms.
(9)Euro m. Wt 34lbs ear 12 Tail 71, HF 25 Nail 10 Total 144
Shot 2 foxes.
(11) male Wt 14lbs, Ear 9.5 Tail 42 HF 16.5 Total 104
(10) female Wt 8lbs Ear 9.2 Tail 35.5 HF 15 Total 99
Euros fairly common in Salmon and York Gum cubtry. Small breakaways with caves seen (8 ft. or so). Greys plentiful in scrub, young etc.
Left Merkanooka 1400 hrs.
Arrived Perth.

Visited Beeck's property, lists specimens and fossils, to Tambellup, Toolbrunup Lake, Kojonup, Boyup Brook, quartzite  and fossils found by Kalin

> 16th Oct
Kalin gave fossils, told about Boodie rats (Potoroos?) at Two People's Bay gave 2 bats from Katanning district. Arrived Kojonup, collected fossils, drove on to Bridgetown through Blackwood forest, then to Nannup through excellent forest country to Margaret River.

> 17th Oct.
McLeod of Mammoth Cave, collected worms for Cain in Oxford, looked at Lake Cave, arrived at bridge at "Bailes Brook" (Donnelly River) camped

> 18th Oct.
Fished billabong caught various invertebrates, fished in Weld River s. of Shannon, plains with granite and laterite hills, jarrah and karri trees. S. Price at Nanalup told about quokkas and possums and his farm was damaged by a big fire in 1937. Camped east of Nunalup

> 19th Oct.
To Denmark, turned off on way to Tower Hill & petrified forest, to Albany and Two Peoples Bay (with uninhabited tin shacks), drove back towards Albany stopping to set cage traps baited with bread, stayed at Albany.

> 20th Oct.
Called on Inspector Carmichael in Albany for a couple of skulls and mandibles from a blown out line in the Southern Promontory at Broke Inlet. Called at Albany Advertiser to Keith Butler asking people to send specimens to Carmichael + instructions. Went back to Two Peoples Bay, fished, went back to traps and collected specimens [listed]

> 21 Oct 1959
Visited traps, back to Albany, then to Porongurups, scrubby Jarrah, York gums, mixed Wandoo. SW of Ongerup salty creek, small species of fish. Around Lake Grace Mallee + York gums, saltbush and sand plain shrubs. Many rabbits, stopped for night at Rabbit-proof fence.

> 22nd Oct.1959
Wandoo on road to Wickepin, fished in Walellemin Brook where a culvert went under Pingelly road, caught quite large fish, picked up bobtail on road, mixed casuarina, wandoo and blackboys, fished fish & gilgies, in pools probably tributary of Hotham River, slightly brackish. Collected maps showing location of reserves from Pingelly police station. drove out to Shortridge's old collecting locality Woyerling Well, a townsite that never grew, well still there, only animals rabbits and bobtails. Camped for night: wandoo, mullet, blackboy etc, dense scrub, granite rocks.Signs of Trichosurus in Wandoo, shot Bettongia pencillata[WR64] preserved in tin for Geoff and Cleland, infested with ticks and lice, collected stomach contents, rectal pellets, gut, heart.  Before shot a large cat with 2 kittens who became quite motionless when mother shot. Set 3 traps.

> 23rd Oct 1959
Bettongia pencillata caught in trap. Drove towards Pingelly , east along Wickepin road then along dirt road signposted Tuttaning, collected Varanus gouldii then along firebreak, Scotty Dhu part owner of property 2500 acres, trapped animals going into his crops for years: Greys - plentiful,Tammar - plentiful in sheoak thicket, Woylies (or Boodies) still plentiful, they eat the seeds, Bush uncommon, Prom fairly common, Ringtail not seen often - Bandicoots hereabouts - Dalgytes (Bilby) not seen since 1939 moved out with the Boodies - Numbats hereabouts - Sminthopsis crassicaudata "like mice with fat tails and faces like little foxes"  - Mice (plague last year) - Rats caught in bin dark with whitish tail - Wild cats caught in traps - Foxes not very common - Rabbits few - Porcupine caught in traps. Went spotlighting, saw grey, tammar, woylies, shot tammar female [WR65] description.

> 24th Oct. 1959
Caught woylies in live traps baited with bread, save for Hugh 1 with joey. From Pingelly on Wickepin Rd, leftt Yealering signpost , left at T-junction to main reserve. Set traps. Collected Myrmicobius common, Quenda (bandicoot) common, Grey not common but spread around, bush getting scarce, natural habitat is sandplain, Tammar plentiful but habitat clearing - Woylie (called boodie locally) plentiful, toxic at part of year - Boodie not seen since Gill was a boy - Dalgyte not seen since before the war, Mrs Gardener remembers seeing them when she was a girl - Field mice plentiful - Rats appeared in past two years - Wambenger not common - Sminthopsis crassicaudata seen occasionally - A small marsupial like a dunnart with 3 dark stripes along its back, Tursiops ? - Australite found locally - Trap caught a Bettongia pencillata [WR67] - Woylie returning joey to pouch.

> 25th October 1959 Returned to Perth.

Packed up the rest of the party, said goodbye to Roebourne, drove to Hedland, paid off Merrilee. Drove to Pippingarra deposited Bob, drove on to the Manganese roads to Braeside and camped 25m.

> 20th June 1962 Wednesday
Drove on to Warrawagine along the Manganese road, very well marked, Coppin Gap an excellent landmark. Met manager(?) Ron Johnson, a good chap, he had the head of a python for identification, possibly Children's, very vicious, attacked without provocation. Johnson said that there was a large fossil bone in the homestead but had been thrown out, he would look for it for us. He told us of the meteorite strike locality at a coell (?) S.W. of Braeside house where 3 faces meet (North of Pulgorah Cone). He says that there are now 2 strikes on theback of a hill. He says that the skull was probably found by Prospector Sam Kennedy - Mrs Cotton at Yarri knows address. Was picked up on bank of Oakover he thinks 3 miles downstream below the homestead at Braeside. Drove to Braeside, made camp S.W. of the homestead on a flat with mesquite. Drove over to meteorite strike, v. poss. find it easily, hill c.100 ft + above the plain -mesas of Oakover beds. There is a scar on the hillside with a number of big blocks of opaline material broken off and a hole below it. No sign of any meteoritic material or even convincing signs of a strike. Suggest that the scars are produced by rockfall due to weathering. Camped for night.

> 21st June Thursday 1962
Drove across the river at the homestead and examined the beds of the river and Tanguin Creek, most unsatisfactory. The bed consists of red earth banks in the centre with long banks of stones, some signs of root fills in a red sandstone, collected one of these. Drove over to the Oakover at the homestead, photographed the river crossing & also a shot downstream. Walked the bank and found no likely looking places at all. banks here are topped with red earth, fine powdery claylike soil with Eriachne and Triodia etc certain strata of these while may be in lenses(?). There are banded jasperlites, sandstones, opaline rocks, ? tillites, conglomerates. Exposures very poor, collected specimens and photographed from bottom of river, then climbed back and took shot across landrover (with Glen in picture) towards the mesas of the Oakover beds. Back to road and then 3 miles south of homestead (13.6-16.6) along road to where mesas approach road, turned towards river and went down to where river cuts banks through residuals of Oakover beds, nothing there, pool of water. Glen collected fish, 2 Rhaggada collected. Collected sample of chalcedony from high bluff south of pool, capped by opaline material then clays v. poorly consolidated sandstones. Whole area much channeled and complex stra..(?) of recent alluvium. Took 2 photos : 1 back to river to show residuals & channels, stone for scale, 1 back to mesas of Oakover Beds, landrover for scale. Drove on to the Sisters, photographed them and then drove down road to Carawine Gorge. Decided to return to camp and then to drive down to Warrawagine for petrol next day. Decided to drive to Hedland via Nullagine and Carawine Gorge. Saw and photographed c. 30 donkeys, 2 main groups of about 1 doz., 1/2 doz. cattle - almost certainly cleanskins.

> 22nd June Friday 1962
Drove over to Warrawagine, saw Ron Johnson about petrol and bone. They could not find it but found a piece of "bone"which turned out to be a concretin (?). Johnson says that Dr Clapp(?) geologist in early part of this century "Somewhere in the 1900s" picked up whalebones in the top of Hills on Braeside (i e Oakover Beds).

Antechinoings (?) said to be common all the year round while foxes come up for a couple of months at a time. Drove to Carawine Gorge, collected rock specimens from black bedded hills v. similar to Gregory Range alongside the road s. of Braeside appears to be an altered sandstone with seams of silica (photos). Went into the Gorge, climbed and photographed an eroded mesa, collected specimens. Capped by opaline material, underneath this is a reddish earth with marly(?) bands, collected ? pollen. No fossils evident but it might pay to walk out. The eroded material (slump)? seems to contain forming pisolites ? laterization in progress.

  2 yellow dingos, male, dead on roadside.
  Contrasted shales - photographed
  Skull Springs Oakover River manganese workings.
  Glen shot Blue doe. Mulga with ironstone (?) sand plains
  [WR 102] female, no joey, pouch empty, teats short HF 28.5, E 14, total length 156 cms.
  Red female, joey at heel
  Windmill Road going to south from ours (presumably to Mt Cooke)
  EuroRoad to aerodrome branches off to right, sign, aerodrome 2 m. & State Battery 15 m.           
  Signpost pointing back along our track. Mt Cooke 35 m.
  Nullagine, stopped for meal.
  Small mammal alive on road, bushy tail, feeding on dead euro - Satarellis like.
  Camped for night . spinifex & rocky hills.

> 23rd June Saturday 1962
Drove to Hedland, arrived  approx midday. Moseley, K. A. c/o MMA Hedland. All that is known about the threadfin "Salmon", Cooktown Salmon", Winterfish. Caught M.M.A. Focker back to Perth.

> 1963

> 31st January Boyagin Rock and Pingelly Area
Weekend Camp. Ride & Merrilees family parties !
Rides: David, Margaret, Jimmy, Seddy(Edison), Peter, Susan (Katherine left at home) Merrilees: Duncan, Katherine, Margaret, (Elizabeth left home to milk goat)!!

> 31st Jan. 1963 Thursday.
6 Florence Rd Nedlands (Holden) Went down Albany Highway to Nth Bannister (where we tried to get water with Charles Camp on a previous occasion). Brush dead on road 2m. before turnoff.

Turn off York Williams road at Boyagin sign, turn left at fence line immediately before Boyagin Creek. Reached Rock, no mileage taken, drove back to well for water, v. cloudy & bitter.
Camp.
Collected gecko from firewood, collected flying insect  (?) at light.

> 1st Feb 1963 Friday
Start to Pingelly, turn left at entrance to reserve, left at T junction signposted Pingelly, Boyagin etc, right at T junction into bitumin main Brookton Narrogin Rd, turn marked by shed, 109 mile post, Pingelly P. O.

Directions from Pingelly: 5 miles up Brookton Rd. to 109 milepost, take first turn on left(dirt road - good-1/2 mile beyond milepost) 4.6 miles - turn right, signposted Boyagin. 5.2 miles turn up dirt road (track) alongside fenceline (Rock very clearly visible well before this at a rt lt s. bend in road).

Set traps in evening with composite bait as per Aus. Ins. Nat. Hist.:
10 live traps for Pat Woolley set in pairs, 2 in lavaty(?) creek, 2 at creek crossing, 1 in granite, 1 at blackboy, 3 pairs of 2 in scrub at foot of granite each pair marked by a dragged log across track.

Set breakbacks in 3s: 1st trio at S.E. corner immediately following in after lines, then up to boulders in S.E. corner at crest. 3 breakbacks. Crossed over hill to N. side opposite the boulders & 3 more set on the S. side of the deep valley, moved around the cirt(?) back towards cap & set 3 more in the edge of the surrounding scrub - on the E side Bandicoot scrapes.

Went spotlighting along the Boyagin Rd. as far as the York/Williams  road, then back. Rabbits patchy along road verges, 1080 signs up, landowners here are doing a lot of vermin netting.

Possum only marsupial seen, on ground at base of Wandoo/Casuarina scrub, sat up like a wallabyfor a few seconds to get a good look at the car. End of tail white, no other animals - small 1/2 moon. Saw Podargus on road, landed in tree - good look at him. Children v. tired.

> 2nd Feb 1963
Went round traps at first light. No box traps sprung, several rat breakbacks off, suspect misfires, collected Ezemia(?) in the first of the 1st trio of rats.Walked over the rocks with Duncan discussing theories of the part played by Granite rocks in the accumulation of fossil bone. Found Gnamma hole, will hold about 10 gals, cleaned out sand. The hole was filled very nearly to the top but sand took up most of the space, fitted a new lid and will return. Showed Gnamma hole to M. and children. Drove over to the E. Pingelly reserve, had lunch near Dhu's drove down but not at home. Drove over to Woyerling to show the children the old well, windlass, trough etc, talked about Shortridge.

Back to Pingelly and then to Boyagin Rock again. Visited traps and replaced baits, the squares of gauze hold the bait very well indeed. Must tell W.H.B.

Bat flies over at late twilight - dusk. Talked until 10.20.

> 3rd Feb 1963 Sunday
Visited traps at first light, collected all. Nothing & no signs of small mammals, very dry & no surface water, saw signs that trees in deep valley between the rocks had been barked by small mammals - could be tammar but saw no droppings except rabbits - 1080 poisoning in the district. Went up onto rock with boys to collect a pair of Amphibolurus for Storr. Shot them.

Returned to Perth via Dale Road/ York Williams Road, signposted Williams.

> Sunday 20th May.
Equipment: All kit possible sent up to Mrs Bell at Roebourne Hotel, Ride & Norton in Landrover with trailer. [Details of arrangements & kit]

>  20th May 1962 - Sunday
Through to Geraldton, Norton not interested to see examples of the effect that underlying geological stresses have on nature of the country (!) Murchison Bridge - old camp site used by us in previous northern trips.

>  21 May 1962 Monday
Murchison Bridge, a beautiful clear morning, a great change from the rain & wind of yesterday in Perth, Fred helping with breakfast, Murchison with plenty of water. Sandplain, probably Eurardy Stn, stopped to look at roo dead on road, Frank did brief sketch. For last few miles nodules of rock on surface, appears to be calcareous, Cretaceous schists with an oxidized brown crust, laminated. No. 3 Tank, the Overlander : 125 miles  to Carnarvon. Found out that Hall is owner of Wooramel, Richardson is overseer, Hall lives on station.

Water lying on surface, muddy swamp, Dedus, Herons and longlegged black & white (?) stilts. A few artifacts on surface collected. Appears to be real flint here and erosion into a fine powdery glauconitic-like deposit. Collected Rhaggada plentiful on the surface. Telephone line crosses the road at this point. Stopped where breakeras(?) cross the road. Lunch. Yaringa Hstead turnoff.
  
Wooramel Homestead, met Hall who knew nothing about bone (fossil) presented to the museum many years ago. Promised to ask his natives and I said I would call back on way south in 3 or 4 weeks. He gave me the name of Elaine Parsons' husband - Greg Campbell, Bullagaroo.
Carnarvon. Shopped in town & then to Babbage Hotel to find R.E. (Ron) Cooper.
Babbage Island. Cooper left 2 years ago !! Had a look, "no fishin" too rough, operating 3 chasers.
Cooralya turnoff. Reds plentiful, also one Odestriptyai (?).
Overshot Boologooro. Yallobia, Keith Masters, few Notomys & mice on road, Bullagaroo, Greg and Elaine Campbell, stayed night !

>  22 May. 62 Tuesday
Greg Campbell told of cave with carvings (or paintings) on Mia Mia, Moogooloo Hill (Boologooro?). Mice plentiful and came into the house, Kangaroo mice also common. Alan Mitchell 1/2 native stockman came from Port Hedland when young, knows the Moogaloo cavings. On the hill many of them : Stick men, turtles, dugongs, blue-tongued lizards, kangaroos. No hands. Cave E of Moogaloo windmill. Aeroplane drawn in rock charcoal. Alec MacDonald (N.W. Rep of MLC - building with the beacon) he has filmed the cavings. Colin McKenna of Mia Mia also has films. Porcupines in sandhills, hill called Porcupine Hill. Went down  to shearing shed where white owl is said to camp, collected pellets - four  were in water end broken up - all seem to contain Notymus, 2 dry not broken up, last one in shearing shed, remainder in Ablutions. Trapped two in food store: Mus musculus WR88.  Wandagee (?) turnoff.
Lyndon R.
Mia Mia

Drove into Onslow, met Mr R. F. LeGrand of Utah Construction and Engineering Pty Ltd. He is on his way to Goldsworthy and reckons to be back in Balla Balla in 3 weeks. There is a lugger in Onslow lying idle, owned by S.W. Clark, Forrest Ave., Bunbury, Bunbury 3333. Went into hotel, met Carpentaria Exploration team from Mt. Isa, Johnny Abbott and Chris Leach who tell of Ron Langridge of Turkey Ck. -  no police station, he acts as postmaster actually PMG linesman. They ask to be remembered. Also described a meteorite impact site on  Warrawagine Stn, present manager knows locality.

Left Onslow after dark and drove towards Mardie, crossed Robe River, camped in spinifex and grass plain. Found trapdoor spider - will dig out in morning, trapdoor concealed by ironstone pebble, ducked down the trapdoor when I approached, did not pull trapdoor to, marked and will leave until morning.

>  23rd May 1962 - Wednesday
Photos of campsite, Trapdoor spider burrow.

Trapdoor open at sunrise, closed about 1 hr later, spider holding lid on burrow, unable to open with stick, dug out burrow, depth of burrow 16cm., spider a pale brown, burrow not lined with silk but trapdoor held down with silk, collected door and top of burrow.

Robt. Sharpe at Balmoral Woolshed (shearing) says Kent Lockyer (Dogger) has a fine set of carvings up at the Fortescue, shown by Lockyer to John Coten who now works in Warrawagine. These are said to be excellent figures of corroboree scenes not just doodling. Sharp says they have large numbers of native cats on the property. These appeared about 4-5 years ago, t...chs not known to natives who said that they used to occur vicinity of Deepdale on the upper Robe - Lockyer did not know of them either. The little red marsupial is also plentiful - shiny like the head of a redheaded girl. Fat tailed, teats all from a single udder like a cow.
Left Balmoral, entered flank of Hamersley Range, Frank stopped to sketch outline of (?) Mt. Wilkie - very black, looks like burnt spinifex.

Drove to Karratha Leslie says that there were sheep on West Lewis island put there by Bateman 60-70 years ago, remains of a homestead near south-east corner, 2-300* from shore, land on all islands irrespective of tides.  We talked over Dampier's description & there is some doubt that  Dampier's  Rosemary Id. is actually the modern Rosemary and should be Enderby Id. Dampier refers to the Bluff head being on the Eastern side of the island is clearly a mistake - see his later reference to inner and outer sides. Dr Leslie had been at M.C.E.G.S. '11 to 17' a boarder Mrs L. had sister Mrs White who lived in Belenia(?), ref also to Peter Potts of H.K.
Leslies knew nothing about animals. Euros around the homestead, Reds plentiful on the plains between Karratha and Roebourne.
Arrived hotel, met Balls - nice people gave them Barry's shell.
Telegram from Lewis, Min of Edu & Native Welfare:
"Will visit Depuch Island Thursday 31st May." Ted Allen & wife, Cyril Neals.

>  24th May 1962 Thursday
Wrote letters to Margaret and to Duncan in reply of his of 22nd in which he gave the following info:

  1. Diprotodon from "the gravel beds of the banks of the Oakover R. near the old Braeside Homestead". F.S.Forrman to whom the skull was first handed says that it was found by an old prospector (name not recorded) who is now dead, and found in 1940-5 years.

  2. Vollprecht. Observatory, informed museum of a meteorite seen to fall on 21.7.61, sighted in Braeside, Woody Woody and Warrawagine stns. Noise heard and flash seen. It approached Braeside from the southwest. Duncan wrote to the manager but no info. I wrote back telling him that I would go to Braeside down the Manganese road and also that I had heard of the meteorite from the Carpentina Exploration boys who we met in Onslow. They had seen the scars of the impact. Drove out to Samson to see Bill Miller about boats.

Samson fisheries, met Bill Miller, considerable difficulty over boats. He has a freezer boat in a tidal creek which goes down as a mothership to Dampier

Archipelago - probably tomorrow, and all the fishermen start fishing. Anyone to take the party to Depuch would need to be compensated for fishing loss as well as costs. Agreed on 20 pounds per day. Agreement is that Bob McIllrick will have his 18ft boat at Balla Balla at first light on Sunday morning ready to start & that he will be available at first light Monday to return the Berndts. Further arrangements to be made from that point, all kit to be there.

>  Monday morning.
Called on Graham Wilson at Native Welfare, most helpful, just taken over, needs an outlet for aboriginal artifacts, promised to get one for him- will talk to him. Coast native Mibben Low (or Mivan Lowe) - full blood, citizen rights, said to know about coastal islands. In trouble - works on wharf on Samson. Also saw Cyril Leake, interesting local character, paints and cuts tumbled stones etc.. Had long talk in evening with Alkes(?) all Balls. - shells, promised info to Harry Tilbrook, Peter & Pat Slaters.

>  25th Friday 1962 May.
Phoned Ted Roberts, he will pick up Ron & Katharine Berndt at Balla Balla first thing on Monday. He also gave permission for the local vehicle & Graham to help me and get the people out tomorrow & to recce the route to Balla Balla today. Graham will ring him this evening to inform him of

  (a) the state of the road for minister on 31st.
  (b) Route in from Hedland to pick up Berndts.

Rang Miller: he will not sail until Friday now. Will get kit down to creek as soon as possible i.e. Tomorrow.

Rang Stan: Truck will pick up kit for Balla Balla this afternoon. Must make sure that: (a) Water drums (b) Battery are laid on.

Went out to Welcome Homestead & sorted out the stuff for Depuch & Dampier, got back to hotel & found that no petrol drums available. Phoned Bob & arranged for each member of party to bring 2 1/2 gal. containers for water.

Call from Griffick of W.A. Newspapers, they will be over to the island on 31st, booked them in with Stan Ball for night of 30th.

Drove out to Balla Balla, turnoff Hedland, Wittenoom...track Northwards, Balla Balla. Unloaded kit on a spur of land at the end of the causeway across the mudflats. A horrible journey under grey skies and patches of rain through loose mud, crabholes etc to a horrible place among the mangroves. There is the remains of an old jetty which impossible to use, a wrecked lugger lying on her side in the mud and across the mangroves great black bulk of Depuch. Back to Roebourne.

>  26th May 1962 Saturday
Got kit ready for moving to Balla Balla, went down to Samson to see Bill Miller and make final arrangements. He tells me that the tide will be bad on Thursday & that the Minister's visit will not be easy, possibly 7-1100 hrs.
Went out to Don McLeod's camp, unfortunately not there, back on Thursday.
Picked up party from plane, Boswell missed it ! Poor boy, he will be v. upset.

Trouble getting out of Roebourne, the usual business of friends giving cups of tea etc. Drove to Balla Balla, some trouble with starter motor on way & Graham Wilson had a puncture, he came down to ferry the party and will come over to the island. Found Frank Norton with a fire going and tea on, most welcome. he is doing v. well. he got the truckload halfway across the causeway & dumped (?). Had a bite to eat & then onto getting the load down to the mangroves, finished at 10 pm & to bed.

>  27th May Sunday
Left Balla with Bob McIlrick approx 8.00, took colour film on way across, arrived at foot of Watering Valley at 8.25.Searched for campsite with Graham Wilson & Frank Norton, found good site on beach to south of W. Valley. The beach is a beautiful sandy bay with mangroves in a small creek at the valley end and small dunes behind the creek at the W. Valley end and small dunes behind the creek line. There is some Acacia coriacea and white gums behind the dunes at the foot of the steep hills.

Second party had great difficulty in the mangroves, Berndts & Crawford & Girls(?).  Third party, Bob Pryce (who acted as Beachmaster) Glen Storr, Ray Penrose  arrived about lunchtime - they did a wonderful job.

Set up camp, saw a honeyeater in the acacia at Watering valley. Canid tracks everywhere and Rock wallaby scats & skulls. Went for a walk with Glen and Merrilee found a fresh fox earth in the top. Hope that Graham will be able to get a black clogger(?) over here tomorrow. Boswell may also turn up. Bob McIlrick is fitting in very well. He, Ray & Helen went fishing , no luck. Saw little wood swallows, crows, blackheaded cuckoo shrike (?), butcher bird. Went for a walk with Glen along beach.

Shot Female P[etrogale] lateralis WR89 with pouch ... male furless, eyes closed did not squeak, no balance wt.27 gm, total length 150 to nearest cm. HF29, pinnae pigmented but folded down, 2nd upper and lower incisors just visible through skin. ..920, Tail 460, HF 130, Ear 55, Wt 2000g skin, skull,  pickled carcass.

>  28th May 1962. Monday
Got fire going & went for a swim. beautiful. Bob McIlrick got a fish for breakfast, went for a walk and got pickup skulls along the beach line[Skulls Depuch 1,2,3,4], collected Artsarus(?) minor, budgie in acacia - seems lost and woeful, solitary. Singing honeyeaters plentiful but could not get in range of them, saw longifolia on edge of mangroves, prepared collecting skins with formalin & salt water, Merrilee skiing.

Walked down to Watering Valley to see if I could collect a bird, got Ablepharus with red tail and yellow longitudinal stripes, pick up skull[5.], found fresh fox earth with 2 wallaby corpses, many fox tracks. Walked up valley behind first line of rock hills behind beach, collected pickup skulls,

Royce and others also collecting pickup skulls[shells?). Went up to Beagle point & saw the Beagle inscription also one by W. Miller. Bob McIlrick says  this was carved c.1957, carvings numerous on the point. Collected skull of a  large macropod (M. rufus) on the beach dune line c.20ft above sea level or 20ft above the driftwood line. This was immediately to the E of the blue rocks to the east of the camp. Saw eagles and ospreys, nothing in osprey's nest.
Went out with Stan after dark, walked until midnight - nothing seen at all. went to bed in light rain.

>  29th May 1962 Tuesday
Went out to see if I could get some birds, no luck beyond a butcher bird on the dunes, blowing from the N.W. a nasty morning. Saw buzzard, pied & sooty oystercatchers, crows -(being attacked by a ? kestrel)[Stan saw it close and says peregrine falcon], singing honeyeaters, little woodswallows, impossible to get near enough for a successful shot. situation serious. Vertebrates v. rare in this awful rockpile, even lizards few & far between, saw only two in three days & of these collected one. Fox v. daring, came into camp last night, will set a trap.

West up to valley above camp, no luck, very sticky & muggy, started to rain hard, got bedding in & managed to get specimens under cover. Made box for them with Merrilees who lined it with polythene. West up valley behind camp then South across range and down valley tending west, eventually found gorge of Watering Valley and turned down into it, entered it below the cross-gorge & back down to the north. Shot two small pardelotes in valley above camp, only one will make a skin, got back to camp after dark, out again in evening with Glen, no luck, no eyes at all, an extraordinarily barren place.

>  30th May 1962 (Wednesday)
Went up Watering Valley with Merrilee looking for birds, saw "Japanese carving" agree with Glen that this is pseudo. [copies of script, Fisher script]
The Beagle inscription found by Glen is v. good, it is indistinct but it looks like [sketch of inscription].

On to "cross gorge", entered up right fork to the very top, collected small grey bird - lark-like(?). Reached metal trig point on high point, can see  mangroves of mainland and also islands across bay from camp, all way up this gorge various peckings in sides of gorge. Climbed down into wide high-valley of Watering Valley gorge, bands of rock & valley floor with peckings. Entered creek on far side of valley ; collected Kistlands(?) honeyeater silonage: various plants incl. Kurrajong & ficus  came down valley to deep pool just above "cross gorge" (shore this excellent goana) Excellent emu(?) peckings - large and well executed. Just below crossgorge on S. side of gorge set high : two men [sketch of pecking]. Going down gorge passed two white gums and then crossed to western side and continued down to "Chinese carvings" and Beagle inscription. Built cairn on corner block about 6ft up wall just below Beagles.

Returned to camp and cleaned up area in preparation for minister(?). Looked at air photos and decided next two days work. Decided to go up a valley to the west of Watering Valley system this opens to the seas around the coast.

>  31st May 1961 Thursday
Got up called camp, cleaned up etc. Bob McIlrick arrived with Bill Boswell -  minister held up for 24 hrs will come tomorrow. Cleaned up species shot previous day, went to Watering Valley, filmed carvings at cross valleys. Went out of right gorge into new valley and shot owlet nightjar. Back to camp, out in evening to look for wallabies - nothing.

> 1st June 1962 Friday
A complex day, no time for .... taking(?). packed up all specimens collected,  checked all labels, prepared for arrival of minister's party. This party  arrived at 10.30am. and stayed until 2.00 pm. They visited the point with the osprey's nest and saw the carvings & the two Beagle inscriptions. They then went up into the gorge with Ian. The party comprised the Minister (E.M.H. Lewis), Commissioner of Native Welfare (Frank Gare), Director of Primary Education (Wallace), District Officer Port Hedland (Ted Roberts) & press & TV. We then packed up and got off about 5.30. Great difficulty at the end at Balla Balla - press landrover bogged, stayed night at Sherlock River.

>  2nd June 1962 (Saturday)
Drove in to Roebourne with Glen and girls. Balls promised to look after them, showers etc & to get Glen (bad eye), and Merrilee (irritating sandfly bites) to hospital and then down to the boat. Went back for the others, had a bite of breakfast & then got the whole lot down to the creek behind Samson, loaded boat and got away at 10.10 hrs.

>  Dolphin Island.
Sailed around the other end of Dolphin & then into Flying Foam Passage, went ashore on beach with small lagoon with mangroves towards end of passage. Tide out, an awful portage across the sand and shallows in drizzling rain. Set camp up and tent fly up. Rain set in, all stores under fly for night.

>  3rd June Sunday 1962.
Rained hard all night - lay in until about 8.00 got breakfast for party.

Plotter notes to be taken by parties. Glen & Helen (Southern), Ride & Merrilee (about due SW across island Bob (almost due east). plan to cross to coast & look for carvings(?).  Merrilee & I left camp crossed over to the Western Broad Valley opposite Boat passage. Native carvings in rock column at Northern end of Northern pile (under cloud in air photo 5083). [page of sketches of rock carvings] Crossed over to the Eastern mangrove flood plain in Boat Passage, met Bob Royce on way. He had got too far south. Was pleased to get one specimen of the Cassia in flower, went down hill to the western side of the flat floor, crossed over at low tide to a small heap of rocks among the mangroves, found further carvings, saw Petrogale lateralis, v. distinctly: white facial stripe & lateral stripe v. clear indeed.[2 pages of drawings by Merrilee MacDonald]

Returned to camp across island heading due West. Shot Brown Honeyeater at dusk and then a female robustus young WR90: HF22, E95, TL114, Tail 57, Wt 5.4 kg. Skin & skull.

Helen reported foxholes & diggings. Glen & Helen found an aggregation of carvings at a creek below the camp in Flying Foam Passage. Bob Royce reported scattered carvings much as we did. Decided to spend next day in going to photograph Glen's site & then to try to get a male Robustus for Merrilee.

>  4th June (Monday)
Walked down to Glen's site at creek below camp in F.F. Passage, v. depressed, the carvings so far are v. poor compared with those at Depuch. They seem to be related - some fish, turtles, kangaroos etc and stick men, but also some curious "gobbies" which appear to be local. completed a b&w panx and then discovered that we were out of b&w, completed it in Ektachrome.Walked back to camp via the western edge of the broad valley hoping to get a euro. Shot a female robustus WR91, new born joey in pouch, carried it back to camp Wt 13kg, HF 24, E 11, TL 135, Tail 64, Joey later lost.

Absolutely whacked - as is the whole party. Feet are very sore from those dreadful stones, so much more difficult to move in than Depuch. These weather round and the spinifex is full of gibber like stones and the great rock piles are poorly locked and are very unstable to walk on.

>  5th June 1962 Tuesday
Shot 5 corellas from a flock of about 30 feeding near camp. Tried to walk around for a euro, no luck. Bob & Glen left after b'fast for north of island.

Bill Miller & Bob McIlrick arrived to take us to Legendre, complete misunderstanding. They will be back tomorrow to take us to Angel or Gidley.

Bob took us down to the creek where he sheltered from the cyclone. We entered it at high water, a beautiful little mangrove creek between high rock piles opening out into a broad valley, photographed entrance with boat in both Ektachrome & Plus x. This marks the start of a new Plus x(2) and the beginning of this sequence in Ektachrome.

Examined rock piles along the western edge of the water and at the beginning of the broad valley, a truly remarkable set of carvings & probably many hundreds more. Nearest to the sea there are v. archaic carvings, weathered out so far that there is little colour difference between them and the surrounding surface. 3 rocks unlike anything I have ever seen before a curious looking thing rather like the artemias one sees in salt lakes. Also a remarkable pair of tall thin people. Masses of kangaroos, most beautifully executed, some stick figs. (holding hands) are[sketch] and various unusual designs.

Altogether v. good locality. Took a whole cassette of b&w and recorded all main types. Photographed across boat passage up Wide Valley . The artemia-like creature (drawn from memory) is in the following plan [sketch]. Unfortunately Rob had to get the boat out again at high water & I had no time to sketch. Collected a robusta skull. Shot turtle. These are plentiful in this creek which Bob agrees should be called Turtle Creek. Left Turtle Creek at 12.30, on up coast to place in mangroves N. of our Camp Beach in Flying Foam Passage. Had luck on Hill top overlooking beach and Flying Foam, a most lovely place. Frank Norton Sketching. Walked down to convergence of many gorges above the beach, a great rock pile overlooking the sea, and the only thing in the centre of the rockface - a most humorous "gobbie" dancing [sketch].

Photographed peckings, lowest (ie nearest sea) is a good v. big kangaroo, some anthropomorphic "gobbies" [sketch]. The drawings are not high in number, about 1 doz. in all but of v. good quality. Location [sketch map]. Immediately facing the dancing gobbie at loc. A is a steeplejack tree (Vertilago viminalis) under which there were some old & first peckings which I could not photograph due to light [sketch]. Finished & walked back to camp. The rockpile back at camp also contains several peckings [sketch].

>  6th June 1962 Wednesday.
Blowing hard from the east. Do not expect Miller to come over now. Explored rock piles around camp.[sketches].Went back to Glen & Bobs "Stanley Chasm " to find the carvings I missed yesterday. Photographed many carvings, outstanding examples were a tern with a fish in its beak, a man with beard & various other anthropomorphic figs. Also present were typical Hedland turtles, dingoes, kangaroos etc.Gorge also contains various inscriptions by Europeans eg. W.H.1860, HT 1872.[sketch] contents of a single panel. Went back to finish off the gorge with the dancing "gobbie". Big fallen block at entrance to gorge is outstanding with 3 anthropomorphs. [sketch a turtle & 2 dogs]. Heard boat engine : Bill Miller, Les & Peter (Buck) had the advantage of a drop in the wind to come in and go through to Samson. Decided to take Frank Norton back  into Samson because there was every likelyhood of wind continuing & making it impossible for him to get to Roebourne in time for plane on Monday. Sorry to see him go -  he has been a v. good member of the party and a stabilising influence. I am also very pleased with his paintings ; to me they are a very fine record of how the party has felt about its islands. Wrote a hurried letter to Margaret, asked her to get in touch with Ray. Also sent all film exposed to date with a note to Bob requesting return of b&w shots to Roebourne.
>  7th June 1962 Thursday.
Morning started dull with slight rain . Got tent re-set up because wind had about demolished it. No sign of Bob, does not appear to be a hope of getting to Angel & Gidley today, much too strong a wind.

After lunch gave up waiting so shot several birds ie 2 singing honeyeaters and a willie-wagtail to keep the girls busy and then went out with Glen to see if I could get a male euro. Burnt spinifex looking for lizards - now have 20 Diplodactylus elderi probably more than all the museums of the world put together!

Glen's reptile score is now 14 :
Varanus gouldii, Gehyra variegata, G.(?) punctata, Diplodactylus elderi,
Phyllodactylus ocellatus, Tiliqua banchialis (?), Spheromorphus lesueri,
Ctenophorus isolepis, Ablepharus bontoni, A. taeniopleurus, A. greyii,
Amphibolurus sp.(?), Demansia psammophis, Chelonia mydas.

Collected a male M. robustus [WR92] Total length c.171 cm., HF, 27,: E 111/2, no tail length taken, skinned out in field because too heavy to bring back entire - 40 mins. woth a 2 in. pocket knife ! Steep slope with spinifex (Triodia) and rocky boulders.

>  8th June 1962 (Friday)
Cleaned up camp and prepared to move out. Bob McIlrick came in with boat and we decided to go over to Angel and Gidley for a brief spell before full tide when it would become possible to get to Legendre. Storr & Ride went, Royce & girls stayed on Dolphin.

Angel Island.
Landed on North western beach(in the passage between Angel & Gidley), no sign of macropod scats, rat holes everywhere in sandy flat, flora seems different  from that on Dolphin, fox scats, grasses everywhere but appears to be ungrazed eg Themeda on Dolphin has very little height but here it is knee height. Walking in gullys is very difficult owing to grass covering boulders. Spent 20 mins. on island, artifacts common above beach.

Gidley Island. Landed on beach opposite that on Angel, spent 20 mins on island, just like Angel grasses everywhere, fox scats, no sign of Aboriginal inhabitants.
Legendre.
Landed on Legendre approx 3 pm, v. varied vegetation, no sign of mammals, got camp up, collected some snails, wolf spiders everywhere.

>  9th June 1962 (Saturday)
Rained during the night, collected water in tent fly, we are a bit short & could be in trouble if boats are unable to come for us on Wednesday. Dried bedding, showers in the morning, walked out across the island to a red-soil depression in the centre, large number of rodent burrows in the sandy soil.

After lunch went out again with Glen. This island is predominantly made of an indunated (?) aeolianite with sand along beaches, some slight mangrove mud, valleys which are depressions filled with a sandy red loam. The ridges are of hard aeolianite with pisolites and flow laminae visible, no sign of the B. & D. fossil Boths. On the northern side of the island are sea cliffs with a wide salt spray zone of exposed aeolianite and a characteristic flora. The clifftop is also dotted with cast up boulders as on Bernier & Dorre. The burrows of mice are common everywhere there is any soil & they are often beneath Sarcostemma or Triodia. Found a skull in the ground and obtained a small murid by burning out a Triodia patch in the splash zone, it staggered out of its burrow somewhat chat was shot at, dived back into a burrow and was dug out , it made no attempt to bite or made no sound.[WR 93]1+3=8 (these could be wrong) HF 25.5, E 16, total length 21.5, tail 10, scales 12-13 per cm.

Photographed b&w, fixed in formalin, uteri richly vascularized with 3 small placentae showing though as one born and one in the other.[Colour not different from the 2 males caught on 10th June only apparent difference, rather subjective, is that  the guard hairs are less prominent and the head seems less heavy] Tail stripped when being handled

Collected three flakes from surface, appear to be granite or at least a dark igneous rock, quite foreign to Legendre. no sign of carvings and difficult to see any surface of rock hard enough to take them. Set 3 live traps baited with bread and 3 breakback mouse traps, 1 with apple & 2 with dried peach all set around corners in the central soil filled depression. Walked about with torches after dark - no sign of movement. There is a half moon, already well risen early in the evening. This may be keeping them in.

>  10th June Sunday 1962.
Shot singing honeyeater, visited traps : 1 live trap set off with murid in it. 3 breakbacks all set off one with an adult male in it, others empty. Adult  male covered with ants but appears likely to make a good skin [WR94], male, HF 26 mm. E 16.5 total length 250cm, tail 120 cm, wt 86 g., tail scales 9-10 per cm., underfur white to roots dorsal fur, very long dark guard hairs (approx 3 cm long) overlying greybased yellowish tipped dorsal hair, tail hairs about 1 1/2 scales long, incisors brownish, testes descended, skin & skull.

Photographed fore & hind feet in b&w and sde view of WR94. [WR95] male ht 28mm, E.15.5, total length 240 cm, tail 110 cm, wt 65 g, tail scales 10-11 per cm., testes descended, colour as in WR94, skin & skull. When picked up by the tail the tail stripped its skin ? escape mechanism. Walked over to ocean side of island filming. Set 3 live traps & 3 break backs.

>  11th June 1962 Monday
Trapped two Rattus in live traps, 2 break backs set off but mouse traps are really too small for this job. Ectoparasites - ! two species of tick and 1 of flea (some copulating) collected [WR96] female 2+3=10. Total length 24.5 cms, tail 12, HF25.5, E. 16.7, wt 69 g. trapped in central depression in island, red sandy loam, many burrows, live trap baited with dried fruit. Skin, skull preserved, uterus richly vascularized, 1 pigment path in one uterus and 3 in the other ? early pregnancy. [WR97] male, total length 22 cm., tail 10.5, HF27, ear 16.5 wt.49 gm. Underfur seems much thicker and longer than in WR96, young animal, testes closely applied to lower abdomen on either side of tail, no sign of descent into scrotal pouches.

Walked down into sand plain at foot of escarpment and behind the major area of mangroves on the south side of the island. Good caves along the escarpment which varies from 6-12 ft high as a small cliff. Saw rat in dusk, Glen saw 2 in daylight. Collected rat bones (in large numbers) from the caves and also saw others which are possibly human. Set 6 traps, 2 in the sand plain.

>  12th June 1962 Tuesday
0520 hrs Got up, got breakfast going to meet the boats if they come. Visited  traps, the home traps in the centre of the island contained 2 species of Spenomorphus (?) isolepis ! The only live trap contained nothing, bait - prunes - not touched. Went down to the sand plain by the big mangrove patch, 2 traps, two rats. [WR98] male, scrotal testes, wt 83 g, tail 26.5 13.1 cm, HF 28 mm, E 17 mm. [WR99], male, scrotal testes, Wt 63 gr, TL 23.3 cm, Tail 11.3 cm., HF 28... E 16.5 gm. Both caught in sand plain between limestone escarpment & the sea (mangroves), extensive warren systems, both traps baited with diced peach.Boats arrived and loaded with great difficulty owing to rapidly falling tide. Got both boats out to the islands between Legendre and Gidley by walking alongside & pushing. Aborigines will easily do the crossing. A few auks about & turtles plentiful. Landed on Malus, picked up the stores & then on to Lewis. Landed on Lewis in the bay which is greatly indented in the northeastern coast of the island. We have an excellent campsite at the eastern edge of the beach clear of the mangroves but close enough to enable us to collect mangrove birds and wood. Walked out and examined the plain behind the beach - numerous fresh rat holes and climbed the range immediately behind the camp and down into the valley on the opposite side. This is filled with dense spinifex and steppe vegetation - clearly not been burnt for many years if ever, and there are numerous rat holes. No sign of scats of macropods anywhere, a few rat droppings among the rocks in the range and many in the valley and on the coastal plain. No sign of macropod grazing. I would say there is no robustus on this island. Set the traps on the coastal plain, bait peaches. Got tent up. Collected stone curlews.

>  13th June 1962 Wednesday
A beautiful night, crisp, no rain or dew, slept soundly right through and awakened by corellas flying overhead at first light. Got fire going and breakfast on, then visited traps, nothing and no trace of a visit, must reset in valley. Worked out routes with Glen and Bob. Glen will do the edges of the Northwestern semi island and rocky headland to the west of that. I will get the traps into the next valley (seen last night) and will cross to the coast immediately opposite the camping beach (s.e. side of island) and work back to camp around the northeastern headlands. Walked out up the valley to its southern end and set traps then climbed highest hill in sight. From top could see that the passage to E. Lewis was completely above water except for some 20 or 10 feet at the East Lewis end. This will not have been more than 2 or 3 ft. below surface. The stack north of E. Lewis is also walkable too. Had lunch on the rocks of excellent rock oysters, nuts, dried fruit & an apple - meal fit for an aristo. Continued along the beach, examined an osprey's nest, no birds, no sign of scats among the rocks. Found the first drawing among the rocks at the eastern end of shingle beach. Curious drawing not seen before : micaquates (?) & curious fine drawing, another in the top of the rocks [sketches].Returned to camp via northern headland, no carvings.

>  14 June 1962 Thursday
Caught 2 rats in the live traps. These are much darker than the Legendre rats. [WR100] Female wt 100 g. 2+3=10 as in Legendre rat, TL26.5 cm, Tail 12.5 HF 27.5 mm E 18mm, Scales per cm=10. Skin, skull, carcase in spirit. Uteri much larger than in the L. animal, 5 pigment spots in one and 2 in the other. Vascularization weak compared with Legendre. This rat is much more shaggy haired than the Legendre rat and seems to be a very much gentler creature The female has a pale tip to its tail but this may just be an individual variant. [WR101]Male, wt 115 gm, T L 26.5 cm, HF 27 mm, E 18mm, scales per cm 9-10, testes scrotal, skin, skull, carcase in spirit. Went back into valley with Royce and then over to coast to locate the carvings accurately in the air photos. Did this & then back to camp, no further carvings. Bob McIlrick came in the evening, fishing v. bad, he is willing to work for us, laid in a full day. Rosemary then Enderby followed by the Intercourses if there is time.

>  15th June 1962 Friday
Rosemary.
0730 Bob turned up, off to Rosemary, quite a surge, landed in beach on northern side. Royce did a circle around from the beach, Stan went over to the north western point to look at the rocks for carvings and to collect lizards. Ride went down the main rocky ridgefrom the north beach and then across to the main massif. Rock wallabies (P. rothschildi) very common, their tracks numerous among the low coastal vegetation, droppings everywhere. Climbed rock piles and rothschildi everywhere, stood still & they were very inquisitive and came down and looked at me, some got within 12 feet or so. Took numerous photographs - b&w and col. should have an excellent series. Characteristic arms straight out in front when agitated, pose exactly like the woodstock animals in the yards at Zoology. Animals paid little attention to me. One of the animals - a large one - was very pugnacious about a position among the rocks, gave other animals physical hell which intruded. Hope I got a photo of them fighting. Collected a curious new land mollusc on the top end on the southern side of the massif, v. flat  on top - unlike anything I have seen. Saw a deep (rich) brown Egernia about 8 inches long with thin tapering tail., v. short snout with yellowish labial scales.[Glen says (?) stinolata group]. Found carvings on s.w. of massif. There is some coastal limestone here like Legendre in valley. Picked up boat out south western beach. Tracks of wallabies v. plentiful. Time on island approx 4 hours.

Enderby.
On to Enderby. Landed at E. end of major northern beach, walked across island to large pillar of rocks visible in hills in south. Crossed large claypan. No carvings seen but artifacts numerous. Wallaby tracks everywhere, wallabies seen by Glen, Merrilee and Helen who seem to think it is Rothschildi, Merrilee says it is naturalis but she didnt see the face or side view at all. These were all coming coastal indirectly. Picked up skulls, time on island 2 hours. The carvings on Rosemary are good quality but I had very little time to do more than locate them. There seems to be a predominance of anthropomorphs in the small series I saw, but I saw and photographed an excellent turtle. I am certain that a longer visit would reveal many more. Back to Lewis.

>  16th June 1962 Saturday
0600 hrs Got up and awakened camp. Bill Miller and Bob McIlrick turned up and took whole party & stores etc to "Collier' over anchored at Malus.

Sailed for Samson. Arrived Samson, very heavy swell, difficult to get ashore, left kit for next day and disembarked for hotel.

>  17th June 1962
Drove out to Black Hill Pool, sketched main types starting at the white gum on the further side of the pool and about 80 yards beyond the water, blazed with R. [10 drawings].  Merrilee Macdonald's freehand drawings in front of Oakover Notebook.