After the eclipse, we spent three days at sea enroute to Hiva Oa and Nuku Hiva, two islands in the Marquesas Islands group which is also part of French Polynesia. Our cruise archaeologist Mark Eddowes gave a series of fascinating lectures. We'd already heard one about the settlement of Polynesia (early carbon dating attempts gave dates like 750 BC, but later more accurate tests indicated that widespread settlement of the islands didn't occur until 800 or 1000 AD). We also heard one about what really happened with the Bounty (the books and movies were made from the perspective of the Englishmen, but a more recently discovered and translated diary by one of the Tahitian women on Pitcairn added much more interesting information, showing how the Tahitians were manipulating the Englishmen just as much as the reverse). It was very interesting to learn that everywhere we'd gone on the trip, including Fiji, New Zealand, and the Cook Islands, were part of the greater Polynesian area, and were settled by pretty much the same people, starting out from South East Asia. En route to the Marquesas, Mark gave another lecture about them, highlighting the ceremonies performed after capture of rival warriors, which frequently involved cannibalism.

Everyone was given a lei upon landing at Hiva Oa in the Marquesas. There were many different varieties.

Hiva Oa is where Paul Gauguin is buried. His grave seemed like a good place to dispose of the leis.

A guy demoing a drum for sale.

Wrapping up the spear we bought, made from the sword of a swordfish, lashed with rope made from coconut fiber to a carved wood handle. It fits nicely in the vertical space between our living room windows.

A war dance performance in the village square.

Tour guides are fond of saying that tattoos originated in Polynesia and were brought back by the sailors. It is true that the word is Tahitian, but the practise is universal. It is even prohibited in the Bible (Lev. xix. 28), the true mark of crossover appeal. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911, it "tends to disappear before the spread of civilization." The Encyclopedia goes on to say, "...Maori heads so decorated were at one time in much request for European museums, but they are no longer obtainable in the colony."

A horn blown as part of the dance.

The costume of the chief.

Hiva Oa dancers

Mark giving a lecture at an archaeological site on Hiva Oa.

Our ship out in the harbor, with a little "tender" craft departing with a few guests going to shore.

The next day on Nuku Hiva. A tiki in town, protecting the fire station.

Ornate doors of the local church. More carvings inside illustrated the stations of the cross, done in a distinctly Polynesian style.

A view from town.

Holes in a rock used for grinding, just as we had seen near San Diego.

The sculpture garden in town. This is a modern Tiki. The traditional Marquesans did not wish to be remember this way.

A memorial to Herman Melville, who wrote "Typee", one of the first novels to describe the Polynesian culture.

A hibiscus plant which had white flowers, pink flowers, and pink and white flowers.

A view of the harbor from the top of Nuku Hiva. How discreetly the cruise ship blends into the scale of the landscape.

A view of the Typee valley where Melville stayed for a few months while recuperating from an illness.

Pometia pinnata fruit, Pacific Lychee or Tava. The Marquesans call this Kava but it isn't what the Fijians call Kava, it's a fruit which is a lot like a lychee. We were served these on the beach at Taipivai, along with the usual overabundant species used to greet cruise ship passengers.

Mark Eddowes in mid-gesture.

The entire third and fourth grade classes on Nuku Hiva prepare with their teacher to board the cruise ship.

It beats going to class.

Les Gauguines singing on deck.

The kids wait in the wings.

The dance begins. These folks were fairly serious about imitating the moves of their ancestors. In most places, the Jon Benet Ramsey ethic prevails. The Marquesans I think were not so interested in having their children imitate sexually active adults, and instead taught them how to kill.

We did not, of course, know what we were seeing.

After the dance, the kids go to the top deck for drinks and to have their photos taken. The kid on the left has the most elaborate costume and is probably chief of his class.

It's too bad that they don't make headdresses out of human hair any more. It used to be kind of a social security system, that old men with beards would be taken in by warriors with the idea they could play dress-up with their beards after the old men died. We weren't made any offers.

One of the nicest things about digital cameras is that you can immediately show your subjects their photo.

The Nuku Hiva dance troupe slips back into modern times.

How.

A Marquesan dancer displays the usual distaste that natives have for sex tourists, which is to say, tourists. The gang sign probably means something in South Central L.A. but nothing to him, unless he has cable. If the natives don't want to be treated all the same by tourists, they should make some effort to act differently from each other, and not all be taking their cues from hip-hop music videos.

Sunset as we leave the Marquesas.

Our spear, packaged by the ship's crew so it could be checked as baggage, which arrived home safely.

On to Fakarava and Moorea