Tuesday
June 1
1926

The first of June. One month at Albatros camp has gone to the place where all time goes. It is interesting to look over the weather chart. During the thirty one days of our first month here it rained every day but three, – May 3rd, May 7th and May 17th –. That is a pretty steady average of rainfall. Of course most of the days checked with an R had an hour or two [of] rain and then it cleared. But the rain falls almost every day.

The Papuans from the village down the river visited us again today and this time they numbered four prows with five Papuans to a prow. There were many new members and of course some of the old timers came with them. They were eager for tobacco, matches and empty tins and pestered the life out of us until noon. They posed for some movies which Dick shot of them around the motor repair hut and we had them eating Pennzoil which we use in the Liberty [See Film Selection #13]. They said it was “bagoose[,]” which means good. One little fellow who looked like a Jew rubbed it between his fingers and ginned [sic, = grinned] all over. It should be a good picture. Dick also took some stills of them {F1.32} but the sun was not right to get either movies or stills of them around the camera. They left about noon and we couldn’t do anything to make them stay until the sun got around in a favorable position to shoot them around the plane or with the plane in the background. They will return again though for we have promised them tobacco and tins if they come back for more “portraits”. They enjoyed seeing the pictures which Dick and Doc took of them the last time. He printed up a few to show them and they get quite a kick out of seeing some of the members of their party. They wanted the prints. Lieut. Korteman and Dr. Hoffman asked them if they had seen the two convicts in the canoe. They said “no”. They were told that if they brought them back they would be given much tobacco but they didn’t seem interested in exerting any effort along that line for they got tobacco now for a few cocoanuts. The soldier is still among the missing. Korteman thinks it is possible that he was captured by the Papuans in the district in which we are located. They are presumed to be bad. The fact that they haven’t visited us as yet would indicate that they are not over friendly. All of the Papuans who have been here tell us that they are “not good people.” A sergeant with ten soldiers is on his way to this village now to see if they can find any traces of the lost soldier. If they do there will be trouble. One of the convicts who escaped is said not to have taken any food with him but it is possible that they have stolen some from the others. Korteman searched the shore and trees on the other bank with Dick’s glasses today. He thinks that they might be near camp. I doubt it. They are on their way to the sea I believe for it wouldn’t do them any good to hang around here. It would mean capture and punishment of twenty lashes with the ratan. One of the convicts was helping Korteman. He brought him water every day. The soldier is a goner I believe. He has either been killed by the Papuans or he fell down {F1.33} a cliff and lies dead at the bottom of it. If that is so we will probably find his body when the Dyaks return. It will be a week tomorrow since Matt and Leroux left camp to go and live with the Papuans. It has been lonesome around here with him away. The transport has been gone five days. They should be back in three more at the most. The river is continuing to drop. Some of the trees stiking [sic] out in the river which were under water when she started to rise again are sticking out afain [sic, = again] as before. It is back to the point where it left off when it started to rise. Korteman is of the opinion that the convicts might try and come back to steal the money which he has on hand to pay the soldiers every month. He has a considerable amount with him to last six months or more. Why[,] I don’t know[,] for they can’t spend any money here in New Guinea except of course they can buy gin from the magazine. So he has had a guard placed around his house and ours which is alongside of it and the guard walks back and forth all night long. These escaped convicts and the missing soldier are making things interesting at least. Otherwise there wouldn’t be much to write about for there is no activity of any kind and every day is as dull as the other. It will probably be so until Matt and Leroux and Van Leeuwen return and we start up the river. Since the soldier failed to return from his hunting trip there has been no hunting done by anybody. It has evidently scared everybody off of hunting for the time being anyway. It must not be a pleasant feeling to get lost in the jungle or even be captured by the Papuans, who have the reputation of being fond of human flesh. Dr. Van Leeuwen returned from his trip at three o’clock in the afternoon. He had made the last march which he had figured would take him two days in one day. He had made about fifteen miles inland and returned with many specimens of new plants and flowers. He reported seeing no native villages but did see {F1.34} several abandoned Papuans [sic] huts. They also ran across some remains of old pig carcasses and cassories [sic, = cassowaries]. It was hard going all of the time up hill and down. The convict carriers stood up well under their loads. It developed with Van Leeuwen’s return that one of his convict carriers was in on the plot to escape with the three convicts. There are three of them now for that number have failed to answer the roll call in the morning. This convict didn’t want to go on the trip but was compelled to. As he started down the first hill he complained to the sergeant in charge of the squad that he was weak and unable to go on. The sergeant whipped him with a ratan so that when he returned it was frayed at the edges from the lashes and the convict had no more difficulty from weakness. He continued on with the rest of the party and had no difficulty keeping up with them. He evidently was in the conspirators[’] plot to get away. If they succeed in getting to the mouth of the river and keep well on their month’s trip or to the English Border of New Guinea they will be free in that country. That is some distance, however, past Hollandia. It is the refugee’s harbor from both sides and as a result the section up there is filled with bad men of all kinds.