-34 
March 20 - Siantar 
I walked over to the hospital in the morning to see how the 
cleaning process was coming along, and then had a hair-cut - rather 
a severe' 1 Dutch eut'J due to my inability to explain in either Malay 
or Dutch just how I wanted it trimmed. 
Mrs. Coenraad had lunch with me, and I typed notes and sorted 
papers virtuously . Dr. C. telephoned that the boat would not be in 
until to-morrow, so I had another day of solitude to put in. It 
was not too lonesome, thanks to Mrs. C # I hed tea with her and with 
her friend Mrs. Mattison, who was highly entertained by our accounts 
of life in a Batak kampong. 
March 21 - Siantar 
Mrs. Mattison called for me a little before eight o f clock and 
took me to church. This being Palm Sunday, the ceremony was unusually 
lengthy, with the blessing of the palms first, distributing them 
to the congregation - and there were not quite enough to go around 
and some little Batak boys went without palms - a curious deprivation 
in the tropics. I was entranced with the iifckijg Batak altar boys, 
their brown little faces looking just as cherubic in cassock and 
surplice ss £k& any Anglo Saxon youth T s - and with the children f s 
choir, singing hymns in Malay. Benediction followed Mass, and it 
was curious to hear Tantura ergo sung by those soft young voices. 
As I write now, the heat of noon is almost at its height. The 
horizon is black with the threat of our daily thunderstorm, and it 
seems strange to think that at home this is the first day of spring. 
Bill and Davis arrived about one O'clock, and after writing 
an hour and a half for Williams ?nd Jennier, we decided to have lunch. 
It was nearly four when the two missing ones arrived. As usual, they 
had had motor trouble, and had lunched at Tebing Tingi. We all stayed 
at the hotel for the night, and packed so as to be ready to move 
tomorrow. 
March 22 ~ Base .Camp tff^ljl^ 
We had lunch with the Coenraads, on snipe thtt were brought 
us as specimens. It is impossible to keep them alive in captivity, 
so we ordered them killed and broiled. This is snipe hunting season, 
and the little birds were delicious. 
About fuur o'clock we got a truck and moved our gear from 
the hotel to the hospital f, Rumeh sakit Pantoean ?f , on the edge of 
town, not far from the Coenraads' house and opposite a rubber planta- 
tion. It is a. tremendous building, and we have rented the wing that 
was originally built for Europeans - five rooms in a row, each with 
bath, klambo, and verandah. One room has a sink and some shelves, 
and will do for a kitchen. Meals are to come over to us from the 
hotel. 
The place has been abandoned for some time, but has just 
been all cleaned up for us. Electric light and water ha#been in- 
stalled, and Mrs. Coenraad provided the final touch by putting white 
tablecloths and embroidered bureau scarfs in place. 
