Thursday
June 24
1926

It is mighty lonesome around camp these days and we notice it more because the boys are away. There is not much doing and the time drags heavy on our hands. It is rather discouraging to sit here for two months and do nothing. Leroux is also chaffing [sic, = chafing] at the bit. He is as impatient as the rest of us to get to the mountains. Dr. Van Leeuwen was up bright and early and didn’t appear to be suffereing [sic] from any malaria. I think he and Jordans must have had some kine [sic] of a fuss and he came back because of the slow progress and the long time which will elaps [sic] before the rest of the expedition can arrive at Head Camp. He didn’t relish being up there along [sic, = alone] I believe. Not when all the comforts of home are here. Leroux and I went out on a hunting trip this morning at ten o’clock. We had three Dyaks and Sally (Saleh)[,] his mantre [sic]. Saleh is a good man in the jungles and is a likeable chap. We brought our food with us and started out to stay most of the day. It was the first real outing I’ve been on since we arrived and I looked forward to it with eagerness. We went upstream and a short way above Havik Island landed and cut across country. I had a shot gun and my revolver. We all separated. My {F1.132} Dyak and I took the middle course while Leroux and a Dyak struck off to the left and Saleh and another Dyak went to the right. We traveled about two miles. Birds were all around us but we couldn’t see any of them to shoot. We saw several cassorary [sic] tracks and the Dyak started to follow them. Suddenly he motioned to be still and just then we heard the animal – it was a big one and heavy – crashing through the jungle at top speed. We didn’t even get a glimpse of him. We then came to his nest. It was about four feet high and about eight feet in diameter. He sait [sic] it was a cassorary [sic, =cassowary] nest and that it was basat [sic, = besar (Malay)] which means big. He had evidently slept there for the Dyak said Tedor [sic, = tidur (Malay)] which means sleep. He searched in the nest with his hands for eggs but without results. We tracked through the jungle until about two thirty. At times we couldn’t hear anybody around us. Then suddenly we could hear the report of a gun. Leroux or the other Dyak evidently were getting some shooting. We continued on. It was very damp and wet in the jungle and the going under foot was not so good because of small rocks. We didn’t see a bird all of the time. The Dyak stopped to talk several times and pointed out wild pig tracks which he followed. I had no idea where he was leading me to but I followed. Just as we were creeping up on some birds which we heard close by we heard Leroux shout so we retraced our steps and joined him at the clearing he had told the Dyaks to go to. He had seen it from the aeroplane. Here we made a fire and had lunch. The leaches [sic] were very bad and one got in between the toes of my Dyak and drew considerable blood. He pried him out however very easily. On the way back we heard many birds. Leroux had one on the up trip. About half way back I caught sight of one and he flew just as I was about to shoot. I followed him several paces and saw that he rested on a limg [sic] high in a tree top. It was a good shot so I let fly {F1.133} and brought him down. He was rather large and very beautifully decorated with a pretty red, blue and black. He wasn’t dead so the Dyak finished him. Just before we reached the river we came across a Papuan house evidently deserted. It was standing all alone in somewhat of a clearing. The Dyaks cleared the way through a new undergrowth to it and we found that they had some of a former expedition’s knife cases, a large wooden tool box with Dutch writing on it and several other smaller things which they had evidently picked up when the expedition returned to Java. The house was deserted and had not been occupied recently for there was vegetation growing all around it. Stuck up in the ceiling were cassorary [sic] heads and jaws of porkers. It was about four o’clock when we returned to camp. The verdict was a day well spent. It is very interesting in the jungles when you have a Dyak with you for it is amazing to see how quickly they can cut their way through with their long sharp knives. They always cut one way so it is easy for them to find their way back. It wouldn’t be very comfortable to be lost in these jungles. Today’s trip demonstrated that to me very forcefully. Leroux is good in the jungle. He has been in them for many years and has had experience. I naturally lost all sense of direction and if left alone wouldn’t have known how to reach the river. He knew right where the canoe was left and led the way direct[ly] to the exact spot which is going some. The Dyaks got quite a kick out of that.

It had been a nice day without any rain now for two days. It rained slightly last evening after we had retired. Both days have been extremely warm. The river continues to rise. When I went with Korteman not quite a week ago in search of signs of the plane[,] the left channel of the river at Havik Island was a large mud bank. Now it is a big lake. If the river continues to rise it will hamper the work on the transports considerably. All indications are that it will {F1.134} rise for the water today was foaming[,] a good indication of higher water.