64 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. lO/ 



lands East Indies, the Moluccas, and Netherlands New Guinea in 

 the Pacific ; Rodriguez Island in the Indian Ocean ; and the Strait 

 of Magellan. 



All the Alaska reports and the one on Kamchatka were prepared 

 by Dr. Collins, a specialist on the north. The first two Alaska re- 

 ports were prepared at the request of the Navy shortly before the 

 Ethnogeographic Board was established. Based largely on Dr. Collins' 

 field observations, they describe and illustrate with photographs and 

 maps parts of the still uncharted and little-known coast lines of the 

 two islands. The reports were given to the Army Air Corps on 

 June 30, 1942, when Dr. Collins was called to a conference in Gen- 

 eral Arnold's office. At the time there seemed a possibility that one 

 of the islands had been occupied by the Japanese. The other two 

 Alaska reports, accompanied by 209 photographs, describe the Bering 

 Strait area, with primary emphasis on terrain suitable for airfields. 

 All other known sources of information, both personnel and litera- 

 ture, are given in these reports. 



The most impressive documents are the three on the eastern Neth- 

 erlands East Indies. Military Intelligence asked the Board to fur- 

 nish a detailed study of the topography and ethnography of Halma- 

 hera and adjacent Islands, Ceram and Boeroe, Kei Islands, Aroe 

 Islands, Timor, and the string of islands eastward of Timor. The 

 request was made on June 13, 1942, and the final report was needed 

 before August i. The Director turned this assignment over to 

 Raymond Kennedy, of Yale, one of the few in the country capable 

 of handling it. The Army outline called for: 



I. Topography (with map-tracings or photostats) : 



a. General description. 



b. Main ridges, elevations, and physical divisions. 



c. Beaches — detailed descriptions, etc. 

 II. Ethnography : 



a. Linguistic and ethnic groups. 



b. General living conditions. 



c. Attitudes 

 Etc. 



The first section (52 pages) was sent in by July 20, and the 

 second section (50 pages) by August 11. The quality of these reports 

 was so impressive that a follow-up request was made immediately 

 for a more detailed description of the geographical features of the 

 Aru, Tanimbar, Kei, and Banda Islands. This resulted in an addi- 

 tional report of 55 pages. This report, like the other two, utilized all 

 available sources in the literature and described coast lines, anchor- 



