Whitney South Sea Expedition 81 



letters, and notes which have been sent from the field have 

 now arrived safely at the Museum. The collections to date 

 comprise approximately 1,800 bird skins, and a considerable 

 representation of nests, eggs, birds preserved in formalin, 

 and birds' stomachs with their food contents. Collateral 

 material which has been collected, without in the least inter- 

 fering with the primary objects of the expedition, include a 

 large case of Tahitian plants preserved by the usual botan- 

 ical methods, and a collection of reptiles, which, though 

 small, is stated by Mr. Schmidt to be the most important 

 herpetological material brought to an American museum 

 from Polynesia since the United States Exploring Expedition 

 in the early part of the last century. 



Mr. Beck has sent us a large collection of photographs, 

 together with his notes, data, and no less than four articles 

 for Natural History. Mr. Quayle's notes comprise twenty- 

 two field books, or a total of more than two thousand pages 

 of closely written manuscript. Although this journal is, in 

 part, personal, it also includes a record of many acute ob- 

 servations, sketches, and suggestive notes which throw inter- 

 esting side-lights upon the social and biotic conditions in Poly- 

 nesia. After reading two of his volumes and glancing 

 through many others, it seems likely that this record may 

 prove to be one of the most valuable productions of the 

 expedition. 



In November the Committee of the expedition took action 

 upon a matter which is bound to be of the utmost impor- 

 tance. Upon the recommendation of Mr. Beck, a new French 

 schooner of seventy-five tons burden, with a sixty horse- 

 power engine, was purchased at Tahiti. The Committee 

 gave careful consideration to the financial obligations which 

 would result from the acquisition of our own vessel, and decided 

 that it would be quite possible for us to meet them success- 

 fully. With his own vessel we may expect that Mr. Beck, 

 who is by this time thoroughly familiar with the local con- 

 ditions and the opportunities, will find a way to produce re- 

 sults even more remarkable than those which he has attained 

 up to the present time. 



In June, 1921, Mr. George K. Cherrie returned to southern 



