73 
The study on Ureparapara exhausted us all. I fell asleep early 
on the Alpha Helix last night, . Paul and others separated over 
a hundred sera from clots, froze down the clots, and did hemoglobins and 
hematocrits and white counts on all specimens we collected on shore. 
The long hours of work both day and night, without a day of rest since 
departing from Vila, has left everyone a bit exhausted and this pace 
cannot be maintained forever. 
There is a good deal of good English spoken here, and a surprising 
number of local people, even adults, have been bom in Vila, Santo or 
Lolowai. Thus my previous impression of the Torres Islands as , so 
isolated that there was a greater pressure on the young men to leave 
and go to the centers of "civilization", more than that on young people in 
the less remote islands, is confirmed. The very remoteness, as in New 
Guinea in the interior, predisposes the youth to travel far, to travel 
often, and to stay away for long. If they themselves do not seek such 
outside contacts they come too seldom to them. The same situation seems 
to prevail here. 
A number of the older boys here have been to school previously at 
Ureparapara, and have not returned there since the school at Big Bay 
was moved to Lehali, after the hurricane. The decision to rebuild 
at Lehali is well taken since the Big Bay area is so heavily mosquito 
infested. 
We are a bit behind schedule with the extra day spent finishing 
our work at Ureparapara, and thus we are rushed here in the Torres 
Islands. I cannot spend an extra day at Toga, and must rush on to our 
work at Hiu. Captain Phinn^ has agreed to return Stanley directly to 
Mota Lava from Hiu and return there to pick us up the next day, and 
then leave for Ndeni (Santa Cruz) in the British Solomon Islands 
Protectorate. 
Litau village. Toga Island, Torres Islands October 13, 1972 
We have landed on Toga's northwestern shore with the sea surging high 
over shore rocks, but safely, just before Lakwol village where no one 
lives but Father Harry, the Toga, Torres Islands priest, and his family. 
Lakwol is still hurricane battered, with few structures standing and 
none of the debris cleared away. The trail between, Lakwol and Litau, 
however, was very clear, and across the whole plateau it was almost 
Jeep- track in width. The people want to buy a four wheel drive vehicle 
for making the trip, since ships usually land at the northwestern part 
of the island, leaving a full hour of carrying — or two hours — to reach 
Litau, where most of Toga's 100-odd residents live. 
