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were to witnesses the last of the pagan dancing using the old chants that recorded the island's history in its song. Soon those chants would be reworked into biblical themes. The women moved in unison, their beautiful faces concentrated with the effort of the routines, their bodies graceful. In the flame of the fire the women the chant grew monotonous until the moving forms and dusky skin seemed to merge into both the past and the future. These women were the embodiment of their extraordinary ancestors. For a thousand years using only their native intelligence they had existed on these few hectares. Through them had human life flowed and flourished in perfect harmony. Soon these people would embrace the Catholic faith and an alien culture about which they knew very little beyond children's stories, bringing to the island an influence that would inevitably undermine the old pagan chief's authority and change the course of their lives forever.
The next morning several of the island boys paddled out to Sea Quest for a visit aboard, bringing with them octopus to trade and a gift of turtle meat. While Tino and Miki busied themselves in the galley preparing it all, I pulled out mask and flippers so that another young man could dive for fish. Two others roamed about until they accidentally locked themselves into the head compartment and could not get out. Laughing after the incident, we all drank lemon squash together but when the boys were finally gone, so was Miki's watch and ring, two dive knives, my fins, a pair of sailing gloves, a mask and a snorkel! It took a whole day of negotiating to get most of the items returned during which time the thieving boys kept well out of sight and offered no apologies. Continued to next page.
It was time to say our farewells. Despite the thievery, which seems to be part of the culture, both Michael and I felt a high regard for the people we had met and the culture that had made them survivors in one of the most tenuous habitations on earth. Michael, who had spent most of his time with Tino and the men, repairing a canoe and then drinking kava in the men's canoe house, felt privileged to have experienced some of the day to day activities on an island that had been almost bypassed by the 20th century. The cohesive island lifestyle under a benign chief elicited a deep intuitive response in me. Though Manuela and her generation seemed to long for more personal freedom, I could also appreciate the intrinsic beauty of their lives of ordered simplicity.
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