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Merelava, St. Paul Lekwel September 21, 1972 
The collection of 216 blood specimens from the children, with finger 
and palm prints and identity photographs on the first 100 or so, done along 
with complete physical examinations on the first 70 or so, represent a 
vast accomplishment. Paul and I started to bleed the school children who 
assembled by 8 a.m., before the shore boat arrived from the Alpha Helix 
with the rest of our party. We had finished with some 75 of the children 
by the time the boat arrived! Soon after our party joined us, I set the 
others to work on bleeding, and organized the physical examination station 
so that Don Bowdin and Richard Ferber did the examinations together. 
Eventually, Raymond Roos and Paul Brown joined them. A bottleneck in the 
whole procedure was collecting bloods along with individual documentation 
of what could be learned by this interview of family relations, travel 
history, and school status. We have a heavy day before us tomorrow as 
well, but today was a very promising start. At 1:00 p.m. Walter and Paul 
took the first 100 blood specimens back to the ship, where Paul managed o 
to make the serum separations of the whole series before supper. By 4 p.m, 
we had to terminate everything, for the last shore boat came to pick up 
everyone. The heavy surge against the rocks made all landings today very 
difficult and dangerous, and we cannot trust that these can reamin safely 
executed, and must cut them to a minimum. This evening, after supper and 
a break on board. Franco ise, Paul and Raymond returned to shore, leaving 
Ferber to handle the remaining 100 blood specimens, which is no easy job! 
The people came, in spite of drizzle and occasional heavy downpour, 
all of brief duration, and instead of 80 school children we had over 200 
to bleed and study! Tomorrow there will be others, and we shall also take 
on some of the adults. The heights and weights have not yet been taken, 
nore have many of the physical examinations been completed. These are our 
remaining chores. 
I hope to spend tomorrow night in St. Barnabas, and to round the island 
to St. Steven the next day, and return to St. Paul for our final night on 
the island. The Captain is having trouple keeping the ship offshore, and 
cannot anchor it safely along the shore. Thus, he is steaming slowly at 
sea the whole time. At night the ship is very uncomfortable and noisy, 
everyone tells me... I have not been back on board since I landed! 
Jean found four major lines of descent, all matrilineal here on the 
island. There are, in addition, lines from Fijian origin, and others from 
the Solomon Islands and from G . He is trying to determine the 
"lines" for the group of over 200 children we bled today. For St. Paul's, 
he has finished this task this evening. We were so continuously busy all 
day, and had so thoroughly occupied the whole island population, that little 
else could be accomplished by Jean Guiart here in St. Paul. Now, seated 
by kerosene pressure lamp light and typing with a dozen boys of St. Luke 
and St. Paul around me, I work up the day's journal and records. With 
another equally successful day we shall be far ahead of anything I antici- 
pated accomplishing on Merelava. 
