Selenite occurs in abundance in well formed clear crystals of several inches in length.

A duck's nest was found today near the trail on the dry open prairie with as far as could be seen no water or marsh near. The bird flew off but could not tell what species. The eggs nine originally.

The sand stones had fragments of charcoal on some surfaces but found no recognisable fossils.

Now it is clear that unless a miracle occurs - and I'm not even sure what kind of miracle - we won't have a final deal ... in Hong Kong.

Basically we pulled out a piece of pipe about four to six inches in length and about an inch in diameter with what appeared to be some kind of plastic cap on one end and some tape on the other.

We learned as we went . . . It is clear that the length of our inquiry was significantly extended by the need to deal with these issues.