98 
Lakemla, Aug. 10th 
Dear Ed - _ 
Showers continued all day yesterday & into the evening. Today in clear 
& I wish I had some field work to do. Of course I [[underlined]] could 
[[/underlined]] go out & like over the anderiter or the rotten Iss. of the 
interior but I think I should find little or nothing of interest. Here in this 
comfortable house I can at least do a little writing. 
The [[underlined]] Ademoie [[/underlined]] has just come through the 
passage. We thought at first that is was the [[underlined]] Lei 
[[/underlined]] & I had hoped of an early get-away but no such luck. You 
see, Ed, I am [[underlined]] still [[/underlined]] an optimist when I can 
believe - even temporarily - that a Lanan boat could arrive 2 days 
[[underlined]] ahead [[/underlined]] of schedule! 
Last night the missionary Mr. Green bought his wife over for Mah Jong. 
They are nice well-meaning people but "story - 
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99 
book missionaires" in many ways, he is small, gray & soft-spoken - 
given to "sharp-practice" in his gaming, he has a number of fascinating 
curling gray hairs growing from the surface of his nose. While talking to 
him I am constantly tempted to reach over & yank one off! She is a large 
bovine woman with a sugary voice but obviously the wearer of the 
trousers in the household, her nose is fairly long & violently red at the 
end though she doesn't seem to have a cold. She talks almost 
constantly & at least half of her conversation last night was "Don't you 
think so, Mr. Carson?" or "Don't you think so, Doctor?". She corrects her 
husband's speeches at every turn. If I were Mr. Green I woud first gag 
her & then sock her on the jaw! She is always very keen to win at Mar 
Jong so Carson coached me 
HARRY LADD - DIARY AND FIELD NOTES, 1934 - VOL. 2 
Transcribed and Reviewed by Digital Volunteers 
Extracted Oct-11-2015 06:35:03 
Smithsonian Institution Transcription Center, Smithsonian Institution Archives 
