I 235 
i 
li 
R/V Alpha Helix 
I Honiara, BSIP 
November 13, 1972 3:30 a.m. 
Dear Marlon, Paul, Stephen, Ralph, Linda, et al.. 
As Paul has surely told you the program has been so rushed there has been 
little time for thinking, for relaxation, for anything but keeping up with what 
we set out to do. Thus, from 6-7 a.m. through the late night hours fully 7 days 
a week, everyone is busy beyond anything we anticipated, and there is little 
time to recount to you what is going on or to sit down and take care of personal 
I matters. This surely applies more so to me than to the others, for I have an 
j enormous load to carry on this expedition. It may now simmer down and in about 
3-4 weeks I shall be home. 
Here in Honiara there is simply no spare minute, with the furious attempts 
to get everything from x-ray films (almost 500 of them weighing 75 pounds!), 
j' record books, slides, specimens of every sort, films and artifacts off. 
j The four lost boxes sent from Santa Cruz — which Paul knew he had to leave 
i behind — did get here but did not get off. Now they are supposed to leave on 
i tomorrow's Air Pacific flight to Fiji and on to U.S. as Quantas (or Air Pacific) 
Consignment No. 081-24817715. In addition I have given four huge boxes more, 
packed today and yesterday, to our agent for similar shipment tomorrow or as 
soon as possible. We have packed yet a third box weighing 45 pounds up tonight 
(2 a.m.) and this we will leave with him tomorrow. 
I The real problem. . .getting off the frozen clots and blood specimens will be 
' faced tomorrow when we see whether the plane from Port Moresby does bring in the 
j dry ice or not and whether we can get much of the almost 3000 clots we are 
III sitting on packed and off the next day. Fortunately John Sheridan is leaving 
i| here and will try to shepherd the specimens back to Canberra. If he runs 
expenses in the process, I am hoping that he can transfer them to Eric Shaw — who 
can reimburse him — and charge our contract with Shaw with them. I can see no 
r other way of getting the matter paid for. It represents 8 doctors' work for 2 
months or better than 16 months of professional work besides the captain, shop 
and crew! $100,000 would be a low estimate of the value, and to have a "bust" 
i with this would be very disappointing, indeed. As of the moment we must leave 
Honiara tomorrow night (3 a.m. the 14th) and nothing is yet solved. Tomorrow 
i will tell. 
I I am hoping that Ivan will join us for Pingelap, and obviously I am furious 
I with Scripps and NIH for leaving it to me. I have little to be grateful for 
from our administrators or NIH, for what we get done is as much in spite of them 
I as with their assistance! If I listened to their advice and directions I would 
be a worthless research worker .. .puttering around with things neither 
intellectually worthy of my attention nor scientifically anything but obsolete 
before we started. 
