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This is followed by Dr Wetmore's reply to Mountford.

Soon after arriving at Yirrkala the Expedition received an official visit from a party comprising the Administrator of the Northern Territory, Arthur Driver, the acting Director of the Department of Information, Kevin Murphy, and the United States' consul in Adelaide, Elvin Seibert. Mountford and Deputy Leader Frank Setzler were summoned into a tent, where an intense discussion ensued.

According to this letter Mountford sent to Wetmore two weeks after the incident, the visiting officials had 'accused me of mismanagement (though all their accusations were based on incidents caused by the stranded Phoenix), made insulting remarks about my status as a scientist, and forbade me to carry out research work.... Mr Murphy then offered the control of the scientific personnel to Mr. Setzler... to my surprise Setzler did not refuse the position.' 

The next day the American scientists met, and Mountford's wife Bessie records in her diary that it was their influence that led to Setzler belatedly refusing the leadership offer.  'Never have I seen a man so utterly defeated as Frank S. He later confessed to Monty that never in his life had he been given such a drubbing: that he had never realized just how awful a thing he had done.'  (PRG 487/1/2 p. 260)

Shortly thereafter, Bessie typed a telegram from Setzler to Kevin Murphy of the Department of Information  '... after conferring with my American colleagues I find it impossible to accept the position you offered me. Regards Frank Setzler.'