Malekula

Hawaii, with 275,000 people at the time of Western contact, had seven times the number and twice the complexity of fishing tools as tiny Malekula, with 1,100 people.

Why Some Islanders Build Better Crab Traps Matt Ridley 2010

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.

Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific Felix Speiser 1914

Aoba, and the long-drawn coast of Malekula disappears in the mist.

Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific Felix Speiser 1914

In the late afternoon we approached the north point of Malekula, and followed the west coast southward, towards the country of the "Big Nambas" -- our destination.

Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific Felix Speiser 1914

Towards evening, while rounding the south-east corner of Malekula, our motor broke down, and we had neither oars nor sail.

Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific Felix Speiser 1914

It will appear from all this that recruiting is still a somewhat dangerous undertaking, especially on the north-west coast of Malekula, the home of the most primitive and savage tribes of all the group.

Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific Felix Speiser 1914

The bones are generally used in making arrow-heads and lance-points, and the head, which is useless, is thrown away in most islands, or buried again; but in the south of Malekula, the heads are kept, and the face is reproduced in a plastic material of fibres, clay and sticky juice.

Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific Felix Speiser 1914

On the morning of the third day we lay off the east coast of Malekula, on a blue, shining sea, with all the landscape as peaceful and bright as if there were no such thing as a cyclone in the world.

Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific Felix Speiser 1914

Carteret, touched at Santa Cruz, and 1768, when Bougainville landed in the northern New Hebrides, leaving his name to the treacherous channel between Malekula and Santo.

Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific Felix Speiser 1914

The next day we followed the coast of Malekula southward.

Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific Felix Speiser 1914