// create an array of the URLs of all images that are to 
// appear in the rollovers on main page

var pics = new Array("images/buttons/home3click.gif","images/buttons/about2click.gif","images/buttons/contact2click.gif","images/buttons/location2click.gif","images/buttons/biodiversity2click.gif", "images/buttons/research2click.gif","images/buttons/ecotourism2click.gif","images/buttons/fieldtrips2click.gif","images/buttons/links2click.gif");

// create a new empty array

var preload = new Array();

// insert a new Image object into each empty element
// then assign each image URL to the Image objects  

for(var i = 0; i < pics.length; i++ )
{
  preload[ i ] = new Image();
  preload[ i ].src = pics[i];
}