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                   ^[[23]]
 
that did not protect my head, and we arrived at the hotel looking like drowned rats. 

Bill telephoned Dr. Coenraad, who invited us over to his house for tea, and as soon as got dried out a bit, we went. We found both the Coenraads very charming and hospitable.  He was most encouraging about the prospects of our getting our permits [[underline]] and [[/underline]] our animals. She is an expert photographer, and she and Williams were soon deep in technical camera discussions. We came back to the hotel about eight o'clock, had a good dinner, wrote some letters, and went to bed.  Our rooms are like the ones at the DeBoer - apparently the sun-porch sitting room or verandah is the customary accompaniment of a hotel room - only a little smaller.  We have the same screened alcove for the beds, and the nights are cool enough to make a blanket seem very comfortable indeed.  

March 5

Early in the morning we went back to the Coenraads' house, and saw the animals which he now has on hand.  He has a tame orang, which rides a bicycle, drinks lemonade through a straw, eats at a table, and dislikes Mrs. Coenraad.  Then we went over to look at an abandoned hospital, and found that it would be an ideal place for our headquarters, if we can rent it.  There are five bedrooms, two of them with baths, all of them with mosquito rooms, and enormous sheds, planned as wards for coolies, but simply perfect as animal quarters.  Bill wants to take out citizen-ship papers for Siantar.  

We had lunch with the Coenraads, and then came home, to sleep and write until tea time.  At five Dr. Coenra d called for us again, and took us to see the municipal Zoo which he is starting here.  It is in a very pretty location, with a nice hillside, and a little stream running through.  All that is finished now is the aviary, but it is very attractive, with glass-fronted cages, [[strikethrough]] and [[/strikethrough]] lots of flowering plants in each cage, and a vine-covered pergola along the front to darken the area over the visitors' heads and cut down the reflection in the glass.  

March 6

Mr. Ingle called for us at the hotel at eight-thirty, and we drove the fifteen miles to Dolok Merangir. There we met Mr. Schoaff, who spent the morning showing us over the plantation. There are 500,000 trees planted in 15,700 acres.  We went first through the factory, saw how the latex is coagulated with formic acid, pressed out into flat sheets, and smoked.  Then we went over the plantation, and saw the men tapping the trees, and catching the latex in cups.  Each coolie taps four hundred trees in a morning.  By the time he has finished tapping he goes back to the first tree and collects the latex that has flowed, and brings the result of his work to one of the many collecting stations.  There it is weighed, poured into a big tank, and the cans are washed, The scrapings from the cups, the strips of rubber formed by the natural coagulation of yesterday's tapping, and the rinsing of the big cans, are all saved, and used for low-grade rubber.  Most of the plantation consists of bud-graft trees, which produce twice as much rubber as [[strikethrough]] latex [[/strikethrough]] seedlings, that is, about 1000 pounds to the acre