Two Years with the Natives in the Western PacificSpeiser, Felix
History
Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific
Speiser, Felix
Ethnology -- Vanuatu; Vanuatu -- Description and travel
A young Ambrymese who had worked for me for some days, wanted to
enlist in my service when I left, although he grew tearful at the
thought of Malekula, where I intended to go next, and where he was
convinced he would be killed. Lingban was a light-haired native,
very nice-looking, and a favourite with the ladies; this fact had
brought him into considerable trouble, and he was obliged to leave
his home. He stayed with me for three months, and was not killed,
but suffered much from home-sickness. He finally settled at the south
end of Pentecoste, whence he could see his beloved Ambrym, count the
cocoa-nut trees on the shore and see the heavy clouds over the volcano.
From Dip Point Mr. S. took me over to Aunua on Malekula, the station
of the Rev. F. Paton, a son of the celebrated J. G. Paton, the founder
of the Presbyterian missions in the New Hebrides. He lived there as a
widower, devoting all his strength, time and thought to the spiritual
and physical welfare of the natives.
Malekula has the reputation of being one of the most dangerous islands
in the group. The natives in the north, the Big Nambas, are certainly
not very gentle, and the others, too, are high-spirited and will not
submit to ill-treatment from the settlers. Malekula is the second
largest island of the group, and its interior is quite unexplored. I
could not penetrate inland, as I was unable to find boys and guides
for a voyage they all thought extremely dangerous. Mr. Paton, who
had traversed the island at various points, consoled me by telling
me that the culture inland was much the same as along the coast. So
I gave up my plan, though with some regret.
Mr. Paton took me to the south end of Malekula, and left me on one of
the flat coral islands, which are all connected under the surface by
an extensive reef. The landscape is charming, the sea above the reef
shining in all possible shades, and small flat islands enlivening
the view in all directions. In these islands only Christians live,
the few remaining heathen having retired to the mainland.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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