Wednesday
June 16
1926

Today was loading day for the prows which are to start tomorrow under Jordans. Van Leeuwen has decided to go with them and Leroux is going to answer and look out for the telegrams while he is gone. The plane was almost high and dry again for the river had dropped considerable during the night. The boys discovered the landing place which is twenty feet or more lower than when we arrived is not getting down to a gravel bank and has many small stones and rocks about. If the water drops much more [and] it is likely that it will, the Ern instead of pushing her pontoons in the mud as it has been doing will be shoving them into rocks. That will not be so good. So after breakfast Matt, Prince and Hans with a few Dyaks in a canoe went out in search of a new landing place. They finally found one upstream and at the end of the camp. It is just above the garden which was planted several days ago. So Hans with the plane on the float taxies her up the river to her new anchorage. She is there now. It looked queer to see the Ern going upstream slowly on the float. There was much work to do and as the mud was soft they got dirty. Dick went hunting in the morning and also in the afternoon. The canoes were loaded and most of their cargo was gasoline and oil they are borrowing from us. I checked it off. They obtained 34 tins on the first batch they took with them on the last transport and today they took 76 tins (380 gallons) or 110 tins in all which makes 550 gallons of the 650 we said we could spare. They also received 32½ gallons of oil today of the 50 we said we could spare. It was a busy day and very hot. Up to five o’clock it hadn’t rained {F1.100} any. Van Leeuwen received a wireless from the committee and it showed that they had not received my wire or his at the time of sending this. It was regarding the oil and the gasoline, and said that they didn’t want to take too much gas and oil from the plane for they wanted the plane to perform all that was possible or words to that effect. It showed that they in Java were interested in what the plane is doing and have an idea that maybe the army is trying to get the gas and oil away from us because that will tie it up quickly [sic, = quicker] than anything[,] being without gas or oil. It gave us a good idea that the committee had evidently read between the lines of all the telegrams that had been sent and were looking out after our interests. I am glad of that. Leroux went hunting in the afternoon with Sally his mantre [sic]. In the morning the convicts and Dyaks worked clearing the damage done by the storm of yesterday. It will be necessary to build a new workshop at our new anchorage and it is going to cause some delay in the loading of the plane for the warehouse where our food and gasoline is stored is at the other end of camp. The camp is a long one also so it will possibly be better to haul the gas and oil up there by canoe. That will not be a big difficulty, however[.] Just a little more work for the convicts and they need work badly now to keep them from getting any lazier than they are.

I noticed that Jordans was not as friendly today as he has been in the past and when the opportunity arises I am going to ask him what is on his chest. He evidently had been infromed [sic] by Van Leeuwen of what I had said about the army cooperation and took it that I was criticizing him. I wasn’t though for I like Jordans very much. I know he is under orders just as Posthumus is and don’t blame either one for what they have to do. Posthumus, however, could have done a little more for us than he has but is afraid to I believe. I hope that I can clear up the difficulty with Jordans for as I told Van {F1.101} Leeuwen I like him (Jordans) very much. We are invited to Van Leeuwen’s house tonight to drink a bottle of wine before he departs for upstairs. Posthumus is supposed to have left Batavia Camp today for Motor Camp. Jordans is going with Van Leeuwen directly to that spot.

Army sparks “short circuit” is repairing his motor in our shop. I don’t know what is the matter but they have the two assistants working hard on it. He is a funny chap. I learned from him last evening that he had sent a telegram to the commander in chief of the army for Posthumus saying not to pay any attention to the newspaper story I sent out that had details of the plane’s load in it. I don’t know whether I understood him correctly or not but that is what I gathered. I sure would like to see and have translated to me all the telegrams that Posthumus has sent on his special radio. No one else on the expedition can use it either. It if [sic] wasn’t for the navy set we would be out of luch [sic] when we wanted to send a message of any kind. The Papuans failed to put in an appearance today for some unknown reason. Possibly they are on their way back to their village but I rather think they are out hunting something to eat. I have been trying to get an arm ornament made of shell from one of them but it is to no avail. I even offered him my Dunhill pipe (not seriously however) and he refused to trade. He prizes it highly for some unknown reason. Matt also tried to obtain one when he visited their village but he failed to make the trade also. I offered a can of Prince Albert which they prize highly, matches, rice and almost everything I had available but they wouldn’t listen. I had him smell of it but when he felt himself weakening he ran away. They are funny people. There is only one or two in the entire outfit so they must be something special. One or two others have a small shell ring which they wear in front of them on their small dirty sarong but these to[o] are unobtainable. Van Leeuwen has been {F1.102} very friendly and it seems that he has taken our talk all right. I am glad of that. I can be more firnedly [sic, = friendly] with him now also for I have eased my feelings by telling him what I did. I think that they are very angry at Leroux however and believe that if he hadn’t been here we wouldn’t have suspected anything. We sure would have suspected something at that.

Korteman[,] who has always been nice [t]o us gave us a can of currents [sic, = currants] last night and I have given it to the baker with a package of raisins and he is going to mix them in the next batch of raisin bread he makes for us. We also received some liver and had it for luncheon today. I fried it in butter and it went very well. Dick was the only one who ate the cockadoo [sic] which he shot yesterday. Everybody else turned it down. Dick says it wasn’t bad. I don’t know whether or not I mentioned that the [sic] fixed a landing for the plane and it is easy to get down the bank now. It has been a long time coming and for a month and a half we have slid down the mud bank to get to the plane. The steps will have to be moved to the new place but that will be an easy job for it can be moved. Matt has been helping the boys with the new plane landing place all day. It is a big job and the boys need help. They had a half dozen or more Dyaks helping also. We will have to make a good path now to the new place but that too will be a simple matter.

We also received more fresh meat today for yesterday they slaughtered a cow. It will be a treat for dinner tonight althrough [sic] the last was rather tough. Anything to get away from the canned food however, is a treat. The raisin bread has been the best treat of all. Next to that is the jam that we can get from the magazine for it goes well with the fresh bread that we receive every day, from the bakery. Dick just returned from his hunting trip and reports that he got one cockadoo [sic]. He was up around Havic [sic] Island way and says that {F1.103} on the left side of the island the water is all gone and it is just a sand bank and mud bank on that side. If the river falls much more we won’t have much water left. It is likely to do that very thing for during the dry season which is on now, it can get as low as it can get high. The extremes are very large. They just carried the youngest of Anji’s Dyaks by. He had been cooking and scalded himself from his chest down to his feet. They are taking him to the hospital. It is too bad for he is a nice little fellow, and we all like him immensely. The Dyaks have not rested much on their day of rest and like the previous ones they have gone hunting[,] fishing or spent the day working on their tins and equipment. They can’t rest. Anji visited us last night for a time and we told him that as he was the first Dyak to fly[;] we (Prof) stirling was [sic] going to present him with a nice pair of wings in honor of that occasion. He will treasure it highly and will bring it back to Borneo with him.

At eight o’clock we all proceeded to visit Van Leeuwen. They were gathered on Leroux’[s] front porch for he has the best front porch of the expedition staff and it is a pleasant place to sit in the evening. We brought a jar of candy and a package of raisins to help out on the refreshments. Everybody was present when we arrived and Van Leeuwen proceeded to open the wine. We drank to his trip up the river and the good success of the expedition. It was a friendly atmosphere and the evening passed quickly. Korteman brought a box of cigars and we smoked, drank and ate raisins and hard candy. The later [sic] was given us by the Davidsons and it surely has been appreciated. The conversation took many turns and as is the usual case when a few men get together (even in the jungles) it turned to women. We adjourned at about eleven o’clock. It rained most of the evening.