| Description | As he has not heard from Boswell, he hopes that the letter and wire had reassured him. Wayland has been having an acrimonious correspondence with O'Brien and they went to see him that morning. It transpired that when Wayland asked O'Brien out there, he envisaged the expedition as being semi-attached to the Geological Survey. O'Brien took a more independent line. Solomon doen't know who is right about the matter, but it will not worry him, since Wayland does not object to his being there, and is perfectly friendly. He may be inclined to use his seniority in a difference of opinion, but Solomon won't worry about that. He foresees the possibility of doing plenty of useful work and these personal misunderstandings are none of his business. O'Brien is awkward but seems to know his palaeoloithic and his fieldwork is careful. His geological ideas roam, like Leakey's, but he has no axe to grind. Mrs. Hastings is intelligent and their relationshipis quite proper - O'Brien is a puritan with romantic ideas. Solomon is beginning to wonder if there was ever a pluvial period. He is getting the feel for the region and suspects that it is open to a simper explanation then Wayland has postlated so far. Notes the difficulty of working with no decent maps or transport and having to carry a rifle. |