"By Aeroplane to Pygmyland" Accounts of the 1926 Smithsonian-Dutch Expedition to New Guinea

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Journal of Matthew Stirling
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May 12, 1926 : Albatross Camp (Base Camp) ; Mamberamo River


May 12th

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"...seven empty gasoline drums are put under each side of the float to lift it from the water..."
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The Albatross has been unloading all day and the work on the storehouses continued so as to keep up with our {p. 62} rapidly increasing stock of food supplies. Hans and Prince completed the aeroplane float and the Ern is now sitting on it, high and dry. They devised an ingenious arrangement whereby seven empty gasoline drums are put under each side of the float to lift it from the water and taken out when the float is to be sunk and the plane put in the water. [See Film Selection #9] It was our most difficult hurdle to get past in connection with the use of the plane on the river as the pontoons would soon be water-logged if the plane had to sit continuously on the water.




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