Drove through the fence line and across several small creeks to a low isolated outcrop of quartzite & mulga. Find impression of leaves and wood plentiful. Collected these. These do not seem to be bored and there is no sign of marine shells or fossils here. The deposit is very narrow only about 100* or so and perhaps 30-400*in length in an approx E-W direction.

Unfortunately it is nowhere in situ that I can see. It only occurs as weathered boulders on a limited part of the top of one of the mesas overlying the marine sands of the Tertiary sequence but lateral to this it is replaced by boulders of quartzite which are much lighter in colour and quite unfossiliferous.

The best exposures of the fossil(?) leaves us down on the "scree" slopes and in the heaps of weathered boulders below and to the east of the mesa[4115,16].

Drove back to the Homestead for lunch very struck by the resemblance between this and the Kojanup sandstone. Some leaves from memory - even a scrap of what appears to be Nothofagus. There is also the same strap like leaf and unknown [?] proteaceous fruiting bodies. As far as we can see, this has not been reported in the literature and it confines ludbrools [?] as equivalent + between the Plantaganates [?] and the Merlinleigh Fm [4117,8] Plant & word fossils for lectures [?].

After lunch drove down to the Type [?] section and made a collection of the fossils from the Marine series. These are nowhere abundant and seem to be not numerous on the northern side of the big isolated mesa closest to the boundary fence. Collected wood in situ with molluscs, corals, Aturia ( the Nautiloid). No sign of the Echinoids or funans[?] reported previously. No sign of any Facies here.

Back to the homestead after collecting the largest Gecko (Oedura) I have ever seen. A great thick tail - more like a vaumid[?] than a gecko. It was concealing itself in a crevice in the massive chincrest [?] vertical face of the breakaway. I chipped it out - very strong and attempted to bite when I grabbed it. Will try to get it down alive to Glen. Also saw a small Lygorama [?] with a long red tail and stripes on its body.

Met stockman who tells me that the spinifex and red clues[?] which occur on the top of the Merlinleigh ridge go all the way to the coast.

It has been a lovely day - rather hot working in the sun pretty exhausted by about 1400 hrs. this will be a good place to work in Aug.

Turned in v. tired at 21.00 hrs.

> 7th Sept 1967 (Thursday)
Camped at Merlinleigh Homestead. Sched to VJP. 2 TELEGRAMS.

1. TERRELL PHONE 284411 PERTH
LEAVING KENNEDY RANGE TODAY FOR CARNARVON STOP PLEASE ENSURE MEETING PAPERS AT MY HOME STOP ASK LYN RING ME LUNCHTIME SUNDAY REGARDS RIDE

2. BROAD MELLENBYE WA YALGOO SORRY UNABLE CALL MELLENBYE ON WAY BACK FROM NORTH STOP PLEASE FORWARD ANY MAIL TO PERTH STOP REGARDS DAVID RIDE

Packed up specimens before going a little further up the track northwards for a last look.[4119, 4120] Old homestead. Drove a little less than 2 miles N. where the track comes across the breakaways down onto the flat. Here they are with quite extensive exposures of Tertiary. No fossils at all that we could see. Walked across to two isolated breakaways. The furthest cut is entirely Permian found a couple of little bits of wood floating in the valley floor. Bob found an exposure of rotten wood a little North of where we left vehicle.

[4121,22]. Eratic block - brecciated quartz at base of breakaway (Permian) isolated in valley floor, bears homestead[?] 226*. Plant[?] exposures 220*. Drove over to the Plant[?] beds & climbed breakaway to the West of where beds occur as boulders on surface. Bearing to Homestead Mill 245*. Bearing  to isolated breakaway (above) 28*. Made fucker collection of plant fossils. Back to homestead for lunch. After lunch packed up and drove out to the beds of rotten wood to collect some in the hope that lab disintegration may reveal something.

Left Merlinleigh for Gascoyne Jun. Collected Cuphibolus[?]. Arrived after dark & put up at the pub for night.

> 8 Sept. 1967 (Friday)
Up at 7.00 and had breakfast. Drove over to see Merv. Johns at the garage & found that the breakdown was a complete write off. A bit had come loose & rattled around inside - cannot be repaired here. Will have to be careful back to Perth.[4123]

Left crossing at 09.30. Fuel 12 1/2 gals.Turned off to Yalbalgo. Country dunes with acacias & grasses. Lots of goats. No sign of exposures. We ought to crovn[?] tertiaries on this route.

Marron Homestead. Still no exposures all low dunes well vegetated. No spinifex on this route at all. Took road to Wahroonga & then Wooramel. Still no exposures. Arrived on the West Coastal Highway at the 550 mile post  12.15 pm. Stopped to look at the exposures atYaringa, as usual nothing. There are divicasted[?] on the top & seem to be an early Tertiary marine limestone. Sharkn bay turn off. Stopped for a meal. Northampton filled up with 19 gals. Drove through tp Dongara where we interviewed Mr. about fossils he had written to Bob about. As suspected, they turned out to be concrete. Brought one of them back in case useful for "pseudofossil" display. Arrived home at 0310 hrs.

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].

Road comes round the corner of Lake Throssell, Bluff on the east side, about 8-10 ft till seems to be some sort of diatomaceous earth, no stratigraphy, no fossils.

no 13 signpost. Sandhills, lunch. Signpost. Many birds on left ? rockhole, Signpost. "freshwater limestone" outcropping in road. Flowers on roadside. Hunt Oil turnoff. Airstrip.

Sched very poor reception. Charlie calling us but in the end gave up "see you in the navy, see you in the morning..." Alex collected 2 Chalinolobus.

Breakaways - laterite : c. 10-15 ft in height., Rockhole away v. low (c.2-5 ft) breakaway on north of road - is this Gahnda ?  on wrong side of road. Drove in to see if there is another rockhole in the south - certainly not as far as can be seen from the road - as outcrops. Back at Rockhole for camp. Athol and Alex set nets over the rockhole - a deep permanent hole. Poor shelter in vicinity but Athol examined it and says no deposits - scoured out. Blackened roof.

Sked taken next day:
(1) 31st Outpost Flying Doctor Kalgoorlie. All well, Margaret.
(2) Bill Clewley arrived back in Kalgoorlie all well.
Reply: RIDE PHONE PERTH 862242 ALL WELL MOBILE AFTER RAIN INFORM TERRELL TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS 8WHISKY NOVEMBER XRAY OUTPOST KALGOORLIE OTHERWISE DELAY MUCH LOVE DEE.

Athol caught a Chalinolobus gouldii female in net over water. [WR120] C. gouldii F. netted over water, night 1/2 Feb. A.M. Douglas, forearm 42.9 mm., fixed in formalin. Many budgerigars.

> 2nd Feb. 1967 (Thursday)
Sunrise earlier over here.  0700 Sched.

Left camp about 10.00 to try to get at the breakaway in the Rowe Hills south of Gahnda Rockhole. Creek crossing on main road, turned in across spinifex[?] bearing 128*, sighted drum on right c.100* al moistyated [?] find a seismic line on the same bearing and moved across into it, continued on it 2 m. to track junction turned to 47.30* for 2 m., then onto track bearing 126* which later tended northwards to 140* at 97.5 investigated[?] a low breakaway on northern side, signs of shales & sandstones at bottom, but extensively lateritized and the whole section aslituated[?] by it (about 10-12 ft.) dug a burrow under mulga roots - ? Dasyceras [?] but noone at home. Very poor animal country, rarely any scats in the breakaways - one that looks like a possum[?] scat.

Continued on bearing of 146* for 2.2 miles to due south bearing 165* across creek to crest where large breakaways in the vicinity of Sharpes Bluff visible to East. Turned a bearing of 94* for 2.2 miles to where we took 4 colour photos from west looking out on a bearing of 80 to Lake Baker. V. impressive 3 isolated mesas[?] on the left, a low one in the centre and a line of big breakaways on the right. Picked way down into the bottom where we stopped in Walga[?] at the foot of the Right Hand breakaway. Explored the breakaway & collected specimens. At the lower levels it seems to consist of shales & sandstones with sandstones but sandstones become increasingly common towards the top where the whole is capped by a hard silicious demicrust[?] about 12-15 ft thick.

About 8 ft below the demicrust bottom collected a wood cast (two pieces) and a  ? caprolite, also a number of other things not determinable without sectioning, also collected typical specimens of various kinds of sediments.[colour]. On way back tried a new route to see if we could find an ... way to give Alex practice in driving and navigation. Drove west and reached our 02.1 position with a speedo reading of .... then back along same track for 2 m. and then onto track bearing 45* very rough track which crosses the Rowe Hills from the bottom of the median watershed (NW-SE) to the upper watershed which comes down to Lake Baker from Gahnda Rockhole.Very difficult driving across the octont[?] ridges of the hills for 6 miles to where turned into a track bearing 295* to where track turned R. at T junction to approx 15* crossed creek & then headed N.W. starting mulga to find road where it crosses the line of latitude outcrop at Gahnda. Blew tyre with stake. Changed wheel after some confusion because could not find wheel brace at first. Drove on around edge of mulga for abt 1 mile. Back at camp, .... joined road about 2000* sw of rockhole.

> 3 Feb 1967 (Friday)
Athol got another bat Nyctophilus geoffroyi female in the net over the Gahnda Rock Hole [WR121] wt 6.5 g., ... fixed in formalin.

Sched. 0700 hrs
(a) Inter[?] station memo sent to 8Whisky Tango to tell them that fuel at depo[?] consists of diesel 25 gals, petrol 4 gals. For Kevin to take it over, I will write to him from Perth. (
b) Telegram recd. from Perth via U.J.Q. TEDFORD NOT GOING MEEKATHARRA STOP WILL BE IN PERTH UNTIL 10TH PERHAPS 11TH AND WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU IF POSSIBLE STOP SIR THOMAS INFORMS YOU TIM HAS RESEARCH GRANT - TERRELL
(c) Telegram sent TERRELL CARE MUSEUM PERTH MOVING TODAY VIA WARBURTON MISSION STOP CONGRATULATE SIR THOMAS - RIDE
(d) telegram sent TERRELL CARE MUSEUM PERTH PLEASE CHECK MRS DOUGLAS HAS ADEQUATE FUNDS PRESCHOOL EXPENSES - DOUGLAS

Left Gahnda Rockhole for Sharpes Bluff, Turn off road on Hunt Oil Line 128* 3 miles, road ends at L junction bearing 47* 2 miles, turn into road bearing 126* becomes 146* 5 miles, bear north at corner 165*, 1.5 miles. Inerted white-tipped surveyors peg Turn off track on bearing 94* for 2-3 miles. Lip of valley between Sharpes Bluff breakaways and Lake Baker where photos taken yesterday. Walked down along vehicle tracks looking for Alex's exposure metre. No luck, collected some more fossils. A ? madible (broken into 4) and some plant-like structures. The latter is ..... in the very top surface of the breakaway, it is fairly clear that the fossils so far found in float are all from this top demicrusted sandstone. Across the valley it appears that this layer[?] has a large overburden on at least one mesa. Back at Rockhole after a look around for the meter - no luck. The trip back from the Sharpes Bluff took 55 mins. direct. Collected gecko under baggage. Left Gahnda Rockhole.

Low breakaways with laterized[?] shales, no good. Green Hillman abandoned on road, water in vehicle, suspect aboriginal party seen before, no number plates. Lunch at Sched.[C  ]. Very hot indeed water balance gone to hell. Could hardly hold lunch. Got in some salt and managed to keep it. Was silly and took off shirt earlier in the morning after carrying fossil from Sharpes bluff & lost much water.

Collected grasshoppers. Broad creek low trees. Broad creek low trees. broad road coming away to north. Crossed creek.

Native Welfare Notice edge of Reserve : Poor notice - "must not enter". Would be better to have printed "enter and report".

Blacks Lookout. Warburton Mission. Finished up with about 10 gals. in tanker.

Information for Dick Hawthorn at Warburton Mission. Hunt Oil had a camp at Alexander Springs, thinks there was a road through to the Gunbarrel Highway. RACWA map gives road ring south for 50 m. W. of Turnoff Gunbarrel Highway / Warburton-Giles Rd. We saw the bottom end of this 27 miles before Warbo. - (map gives it as 35).

Distance to Carnegie in RAC map 322 miles.
Call sign 8 ROMEO BRAVO. 5360.
Changed Sched 6.45 weekdays, 7.15 Saturday, 8.55 Sunday, Give positions

1300 hrs every day you are feeding on 6825 and transmitting on 5260. Alexander Springs 265255 Gowalys[?] sheet. Telephone nos. in case we need information re Hunt Oil turnoff to Alexander Springs.

Lord 865795, Geol. Survey 285061, WAPET 233941.

Dorothy Hawthorn got us a cup of tea. She is obviously overworked in the heat. So we went out and fueled up. Dick [Hawthorn] has a fossil Ostrea from somewhere around  - low not known, also our chalk balls should be looked at by someone.

Elder Creek is a glorious sight. Great trees all over the place reminds me of the Oakover in places. Country starts to improve as the Mission is approached[?] , v. great contrast to the country between it and Cosmo. Managed to take in all 44 gals. Dick lent us a 121/2 gal drum which we have just behind the Kaywoo[?] spread[?]. I estimate we are carrying approx. 50 gals plus. Left mission, camped in mulga.

> 4 Feb. 1967 (Saturday)
A strong wind from the east, going to be hot. Sched: Heard 8ROMEO BRAVO tell Charlie that he had annoyed a private Sched, Charlie paid compliment saying that he knew me and had no worries.
Sent telegram : USQ TIM MEAGHER PERTH TELEPHONE 611122 DELIGHTED YOUR NEWS ANTICIPATE SUCCESS RIDE.
Packed up and got away at 09.30. Stopped and took photos of .....[?] [C3328/9] Sandhill country with triodia, mallee, mulga, bluebush, al grevillea & callitris. Michael White v. pleased to have a new sp. of morabine[?] on the grevillea, took photos[C3330-35].

Turnoff along Gunbarrel Highway, signpost Carnegie 282 m., Warburton 40, Giles 175, (Kulgera 580). Surveyed Astrofix S 25* 42'27" E.126"39'47

L. Beadell 16/8/1958 [C3335-6]. Recoalmed[?] the post, new kodachrome in camera, 34.-[C3401] View down Gunbarrel towards Carnegie: Travertine outcrops in the road but no exposures anywhere else, spec. collected. Todd Range : a line of laterite breakaways, good morabines collected but no fossils. Lay road extending North to the horizon [C3402] photo taken eastwards along highway, investigated road to south, it gave up at back of highway. A hundred yards further on find a small  metal tag Rockhole 100*. These proved to be 3 excellent rockholes( (?) on the surface of an exposed outcrop. Collected fora from them, no tortoises Preserved in formalin [C2403,4]. Cairn on Mt. Samuel, a wonderful view across to the south, can see Sutherland Range on the horizon. A road moves around the base of Mt. Sutherland and goes south at a bearing of 185*S. A road turning off at 178*, turned down it and camped at 2841.3 Ref. south of neck 388798. A hot night, v. windy with strong winds with variable directions., Kept me awake.

> 5 Feb (Sunday)
Calculated petrol consumption on the following basis: Consumption up to Minnie Creek, 445.5 m. + 1 jerrycan. Consumption Minnie Creek to Warbo 386.5 m. + 2 jerrycans excluding the move quantities the mpg works out to 13 and 12.5 mpg. Distance from turnoff to Carnegie Homestead = 211.2 miles and on a basis of 13mpg with spare can = 16.6 gals in 4 cans + 1 reserve. At present we have 6 jerrycans + 1/2 tank +12 gals. ie we have approx 20 gals to play with ie 260 miles. Decided that it is unlikely that the Hunt Oil people would have gone west from the road through the breakaway country between it and Alexander Springs and that seems more likely to have cut SW from Mt. Beadell and Decter Airfield.

Listened to Western Australian ABC news /"Third Network" excellent reception. Sched to 8ROMEO BRAVO nothing for VJQ, reception v. poor to JJQ no RV with Athol who was filling water canteens at Mt Samuel rockholes. Camels[?] in chain of lakes crossing the road, suspect that this is the system which flows SW past Sutherland Ra. ie Lake Breeden, Royd Lagoon, Lake Gillen [C3405-10].

Just out of lake system travertine exposed in road, collected specs. , a brown conglomerate exposed in road, collected specs., Quartzite exposed in road, collected specs. Alex collected 2 Amphibolus, sandhills. Sandhill country E of Thryptomene Hill, caught morabines. Survey post concrete [?] with bronze plug. Surveys ^ . Track leading off in about 110* into sandhills.

Notabilis Hill, NH. F. 19. Y junction with left fork being 220*, took left fork. Rt fork appears to be the Gunbarrel. Helicopter pad wuth three roads coming out of it: 1. 336* 2. 218* 3. Approx. 100*. Turns to 267* for 6 miles, [small turnoff to south did not take], Breakaways to north, turn to 238* for 3 miles, turns south 179* for 11 miles to crossroads  where we turned right at 278* (We investigated construction but this became a mere surveyors line so we returned to the crossroads at) drove along road for 10 miles which started at 278* and became 265* (for purposes of plotting, I assumed that 5 miles was done at 278* and 5 at 265*). We refuelled the Land Rover so that we now had a completely full vehicle with a potential of some 420-450 miles. Crossroads at 350*, straight over. Flooded creekflats incredible number of frogs & tadpoles. Collected and took photos of Michael & Alex fishing[C3412-15], [B&W 1-3]. New road to left (crossroads) at 195*. This should take us straight to Sutherland Ra. which is now approx 15 m. to the south of us. Ran along flooded creek flats with travertine exposed in road to a valley with a flood across the road. Frogs calling, tracks everywhere. Dog, fox, large macropod, v. small macropod (on its own), probable bandicoot and numerous other tracks. Some rain on the way in and heavy showers from lunchtime onwards. Dodged around the floods but diesel could not get across the first big dune decided to camp for night on top of dune to south of flooded flats.

Miles travelled since morning = 183.5 m. Miles travelled on Gunbarrel 50.5 distance for Gunbarrel turnoff to Carnegie = 177.2 m. ... to Warbo = 127.8 but distance given on signpost of 282m. distance to Carnegie Homestead =197.3 m. Must send telegrams tomorrow:

To 8 ROMEO BRAVO. POSITION APPROX 18 MILES FROM ALEXANDER SPRINGS WILL MOVE BACK TO GUNBARREL AND ON TO CARNEGIE TODAY. TERRELL CARE MUSEUM PERTH> LEAVING VICINITY ALEXANDER SPRINGS FOR CARNEGIE TODAY RIDE.

KEY CORSEARCH CANBERRA  VICINITY ALEXANDER SPRINGS TODAY STOP ARRIVING MELBOURNE FEBRUARY 17 WITH MANY LIVING MORABINES HOPE YOU CAN VISIT MELBOURNE SOON AFTER TO INSPECT THEM - MICHAEL WHITE

> 6th Feb Monday
Decide to christen this place Athol's Lagoon. BROOME SHEET. Photo of  camp[C3416-20] collected male Amphibolus in good breeding condition. Packed up and got through on Sched. Sent all telegrams and asked Charlie if we had any news of a road out of Alexander Spring to the N.W. He agreed to ring Geol. Survey to ask them & we arranged a Sched at 0930 on 6825 kc. Alex checked the frogs collected yesterday all O K. Athol & Michael to stay put - we will try to reach Sutherland Range. Left camp at 0850 hrs. [Sandhill] country, fine rock exposed - [pitches] for the last couple of miles [C3421]. Sched 0930 hrs. Got through v. well. The telephone number Dick gave me for Geol. Survey was wrong so  had to stand by while checked new number. Drove on down track to 35.2 and turned right at crossroads as bearing 267* to 36.2 where we were on top of the range. Range here seems to consist of quartzite and sandstone[?] with sidiulls[?] right up in the depression. Probably O.K. if we could get to the southern side but this would take days. Charlie came up on Sched and said no roads to the S.W. all to the N.E. Hut Oil says previously 1-2 m. in W. of Alexander Spring ad 30 m N.Graded road to N.E. in 1964. Sutherland Range turned back [C3422,3,4], collected green [?] at 12.00 hrs.

Back at camp at Athol's Lagoon, packed up and crossed lagoon to join others. 13.50 left lagoon, 15.50 at Gunbarrel Hwy. Route out perfectly clear and easy in our tracks. V. hot and tired day. Cloud building.

Tadpoles (but later evidently destroyed). Mt. Beadell, sediments, the top part seems to be something like spangolite collected greens. n the top there seems to be a conglomerate but I expect that this an old B[?]horizon and chemically fired. Saw euro - shot and seemingly[?] wounded but got up and away in mulga. Saw mice crossing road. Stopped and camped. This place is a spinifex plain with a very few stunted bushes & dead workwoods[?]. Surveyors peg (cement with bronze), Northern Territory Surveys.

Alex had a field day : collected Pseudochis when he was walking around, then shot Notomys alexis f., then ran one down alive I was too tired to take any effective part in the proceedings beyond helping Athol set traps.Notomys alexis f. [WR122] collected A. Baynes shot in spinifex plain 5 m. NW of Mt. Beadell, preserved in formalin. Notomys aexis [WR163] kept alive will try to send down to Perth. Photo taken of locality[C3425, 26] all with shotgun cant in. Telegrams for Sched next day:

1. WHITE>PHONE 859033 MELBOURNE. BETWEEN WARBURTON MISSION AND CARNEGIE STOP CONFIRM RETURNING FEBRUARY 17 LOVE MICHAEL.
2. DOUGLAS  PHONE 491175 PERTH -ARRIVING HOME LATE SUNDAY EARLY MONDAY LOVE ATHOL
3. PETER RIDE PHONE 862242 PERTH HAPPY BIRTHDAY STOP WE WILL HAVE PARTY WHEN I GET BACK LOVE DAD.

> 7 Feb. 1967 (Tuesday)
10.30 hrs left camp after preping all specs taken previous night. Very sticky but strong wind and low clouds - showers of rain. Large main road joins from East. Mt. Everard & Mt.Gordon. Athol had climbed to top of Mt E - he got there first & waited for us. Structure same as Mt Beadell. Airstrip at 62.8. Surveyors trig where road turns SW. NM/F/23. Became deeply bogged with diesel, petrol got across we then soybombed[?] the diesel out. Mungilli Claypan filled with water [C3427,8,9] also examined exposures to south of road[C3430] tracks of camels[?]. The problem of these small exposures is a difficult one. All the way from Mt. Beadell, whever they occur i.e. Mt. Everard, and small breakaways to Mt. William Lambert they have each one exposure i.e. a very light "spangolite"-like material capped by what is probably the same thing but much more silicious. Camped in sandhills with threatening clouds and strong wind. Drizzle during the early part of the evening. Tried burning spinifex and walking around but no tracks or anything in the spinifex. Alex took bearing back up hill aong track of road which winds[?] slightly 33*.

> 8 Feb. 1967 (Wednesday)
Up at 4.45 Decided to get on immediately in the hope of getting to Carnegie before the rain makes it impossible. Stopped for Sched and breakfast. Not in traffic list but sent telegram:
TERRELL CARR MUSEUM PERTH -M POSITION 35MILES EAST CARNEGIE HOMESTEAD STOP HOPE REACH VICINITY WILUNA TONIGHT - RIDE
Drew up route in the Sutherland Range for the map board. [Sketch]

Windmill on left, first cattle., gate, Carnegie Homestead, Gordo & Mrs Brown, left in charge while Linke's on holiday. Found petrol and diesel and fuelled up approx 20-22 gals into each vehicle. Browns gave us v. good steak. Lake. Rounded hill of exposures with siltstones & clays with intrusted[?] tips which have eroded off to form heaps of shale like material. No fossils seen. Collected from Hill north of lake about 180* n. of road from horizon[?] half way up.[C3431] [sketch] Exposures in bed of creek s. of road [Sketch]. Chased red kangaroos for Alex to photograph. Stopped for Sched to VSQ, not in traffic list. Turned over to 4010 to listen to the Meeka traffic list. Meanwhile Michael caught one of the species of morabine which he had come to the West for. Got through to VVS at around then ("Thelma") but I could be listening to the traffic list 7am & 400[?] pw daily. Fence line with gate. Creek crossing.

Wongawoll Homestead - noone at home. Back at homestead after .... track. Small concrete survey post. Gate in fence line : two gates took right. Left road to chase kangaroo. Small concrete survey post. Stopped to brew up on flat N. of well marked creek with large eucalypts. Alex went off with gun to see if he could get a couple of ducks. Got out wireless aerial to see if possible to get weather forecast, v. threatening getting dark early.

Athol and Michael arrived in yellow peril. They must have moved. Amazing incident with an aerosol container with insect repellent. Went off in dark and sprayed Athol's face. Decided to go on because of threat of rain and creek to cross. No sign of Alex. Ultimately after tooting and lights he turned up. The creek is Wongawol Creek at Kepeltin Spring. Creek impossible at road but found way across in the dark to the E of road. Yard across the creek, found road after casting around in the dark and rain. Turn off ? Windidda. Turn off.  Found reasonable camp in mulga. V. tired, brewed up and got to bed with as little delay as possible. Alex had to be awakened to have his meal. Even Athol is tired. Rain stopped. Steak for tea v. good.

> 9 Feb. 1967 (Thursday)
Camp in mulga, left 08.30. Sched but no good. Reception excellent on 4010 band but VK3 could not hear. will try later. Telegrams :

TERRELL CARE MUSEUM PERTH.ARRANGE HELEN COLLECT NOTOMYS SENDING FROM MEEKATHARRA TODAY AIR. RIDE.

FRY PHONE 746415 PERTH SENDING NOTOMYS POSSIBLY ALEXIS AIR MEEKATHARRA TODAY CONTACT HELEN. DAVID

Michael & Athol left during Sched to get on with collecting.VKJ procedure not easy to break into.She calls all the stations in turn whether they have traffic or not. Caught up with "yellow peril"and swapped passengers so that I could have a talk with Mildred.

Stopped on road and collected 2 spp of morabines - 1 a new species with a bifid sub-anal plate and the other one of the Virgo sp. group. This is probably the :Meeka - species". Got through on Sched and passed telegrams at 11.30. Meekatharra. Had lunch and refuelled the vehicles. Alex & Athol got the Notomys off to Helen by air. Paid for lunch $2. Alex & self left Michael and Athol in Meeka to get off the morabines and we pressed on to Magnet and Yalgoo. Telephoned Margaret & told her to expect us night of 10th between 5.30 & 6.30. Tried to get through to Broads at Mellenbye - no answer. Amphibolurus barbatus on road. Alex collected. Cue. Lake Austin full of water, ripples of wind, a nice sight, road open but only just.

Mt Magnet. Filled up. Telephoned Mellenbye, roads not home : in Perth for fortnight. Had meal. Decided to drive on to Barnong in the dark to look at the exposures. Bought fruit. Yalgoo in dark. Barnong Stn. turned off dam fence line to Mooloo well. Shot 2 rabbits, spotlight, Alex with gun seated on spare wheel. Bedded down in usual campsite. Mosquitoes very bad. Sound of a little waterfall - unusual !

> 10th Feb. 1967 Friday
Examined exposures, v. interesting, a high floodline up to the very top of the bank - well marked line of refuse[?] along the sandy sloping bank on the W. side of the Ederga. All exposures swept clean & v. easy to examine. Walked down from there[?] to Crocodile side of the greenstone bars to the fenceline where it crosses the creek. River flowing quite strongly. About 4-6" deep over the sandbanks, about as silt as the sea. Atherines of various sizes swimming. Lots of signs of Varanus and Amphibolurus swimming around. The exposures downstream are v. interesting. I get the impression that the whole is much more complex than we originally thought. There seems to be a very old conglomerate overlying the greenstone and, moreover, there also seems to be a sedimentation level above the present B horizon. Does this mean that the B horizon is an early soil which has since been planed off and then added to ? [sketch]. Stopped to refuel. Perenjori, lunch. 61 mile peg south of Bindoon, many termite mounds 1/2 mile N. of tins[?]. 18.15 hrs. HOME.
 
List of people : Cosmo Newberry - Claude Cotterill
Warburton Mission - Sam Mollenhauer
Secretary UAM Perth K. R. Morgan
Margaret Daleman owner and administrator Windidda, Carnegie & Wongawol
Mr. D. Keer, manager Windidda Stn
Mr W A Brosnan, Manager Wangawol Stn.
Mr. R. Linke Manager Carnegie Stn.
Mr. A. John Carlisle - Meteorite collector
Bill Clewley, Kalgoorlie School of Mines, 79 Ward St.
Hodson, T.
Ross Ryan 162 Boulder Rd.
Tony Davis Warburton Ra. Mission
Dick Hawthorn Warburton Mission
Mick Sawyer Warburton Mission
3 p. of details.

> 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.