XU CHALLENGER 



Admiralty, and Mrs. C. S. Auckland, in the Secretariat of the 

 same department, for forwarding references to me when I was at 

 sea and far from the amenities of the Admiralty Library ; and also 

 Mr. J. A. Jerome on the staff of the Chief of Naval Information, 

 who helped me with some of the difficulties of writing a book 

 for publication in England whilst sailing the waters of the Pacific. 

 Finally, I owe a great debt to my wife who has read and 

 corrected my w^ork at every stage, and who rescued the manu- 

 script of the final chapter from among the springs of an old sofa 

 where it had been taken by my eldest son's white rat for use as 

 nest-building material. 



G. S. Ritchie 

 H.M.N. Z.S. Lachlan, 19^6. 



