October 23, 1956 
Mr. J. Bruce Bredin 
P. 0. Box 8? 
Wilmington, Delaware 
Dear Bruces 
I enclose a copy of Mr. James McConnaughey • a last letter to 
me. This looks like the vessel for us. I am sure you will be 
interested in these further details that we have gotten from Mr. 
McConnaughey. As you will see from the enclosed photostat which 
I had copied from his blue print, there is ample room for five, 
two in the state room, and three in the dining salon. The charter 
charge is up $300 per month, as you, fdUjee, because, as Mr. 
McConnaughey says , he inadvert ent0^ln?luWj^ the hire of the cap- 
tain in his original charter price.''" Still, it should not run us 
over the West Indian costs for the vessel and food. We will have 
to get a cook too, but that should not cost much more. With your 
approval, I will write and ask him for whatever contract he wishes 
to have the Secretary sign. It seems to be the one chance in 
almost a million to get the transportation we need to get around 
among the islands. I would ask Mr. McConnaughey to engage a cap- 
tain for us. That responsibility, even though we pay the man's 
salary, should be his. It is a trim little craft , as you will 
see from the pictures, and, no doubt, fully insured. Are there 
any questions you would like to ask of Mr. McConnaughey? lou could 
write hi® direct, or I shall relay them on to him. Acceptance of 
his offer will virtually get the expedition under way. All we need 
to do now is to consult with Ur. Carmichael as to the other members 
of the party and get the collecting outfit shipped on ahead. 
The Librarian of the Dayton Ohio Public Library is an old 
friend of mine. I have known hi® for many years. He has just 
retired and passed through Washington on a sort of a second honey- 
moon tour of the country with his wife. He has met the McConnaugheys 
and said that they are very wonderful people, that they get down to 
Tahiti every once and so often, and that Mr. McConnaughey' s wife 
has written a book of fiction or two about the Islanders. I will 
try to get the titles so that we can see what they are like. 
It has been a wonderful fall up until these last few days, 
when we had heavy but welcome rains. The ground had gotten pretty 
dry. I guess you had much the same weather in Greenville. 
My best to you all. 
Sincerely, 
Waldo L. Schmitt 
Head Curator 
MLS seek Department of Zoology 
