116 
Peu (Paeu) is an old timber company and cowrie and trochus shell trading 
site where the government also had a station. It is now all deserted and 
the panelled doors and painted timber with which Walter the dresser is build- 
ing his house is salvaged from there and hauled here to Buma. 
This is a vast island barely populated. The 163 people are scattered 
in four widely separated settlements. From our brief contact today with 
23 of them it is clear that there are many outside marriages. Reef Islanders 
are here. Perhaps it is significant that the Reef Islanders here have not 
gone to the meeting about "custom laws". I cannot get much of an explanation 
for the meeting other than that it deals with morality, marriage and "not 
going into other people’s house’s" and not with government, church, tax 
or land or financial or even ceremonial matters I 
One of the women we have bled today is from Utupua and one woman and 
two men from Reef Islands (the Melanesian part). Thus, as to be expected, 
Vanikoro is clearly a mixed population. 
The Melanesians are docile, timorous, cooperative, obedient and gentle 
in comparison to the self-assertive Polynesians we have been with. These 
character traits should all make for less intellectual vigor and less in- 
dividuality. On the contrary, each has his own, his very own personality 
not beat quite so uniformly into a mold as in the Polynesian islands and 
all are more receptive and interested in the outside and innovations from 
without than are the self-satisfied Pol 3 niesians. I am happy to be back 
with Melanesians. 
The somber atmosphere of a Melanesian village in a cold rain storm, 
surrounded by mangrove swamps and deep jungle is a very comforting site 
and situation for me and I felt very much at home with these strange group 
of Vanikoro people "left at home". 
There are well -carved large food bowls on the house porches which I 
would like to purchase. Thus far they are the only artifact of significance 
that I have noticed. 
The old blind woman is of Buma parentage, and since her daughter appear- 
ed to me to be a women of 60+, she is perhaps over 80! Thus her childhood 
is not far removed from people who may have known about the French stranded 
here from the Astrolabe and Bousoule wrecks. 
At 6 p.m. Raymond telephoned from our ship just off Buma village 
'Vanikoro, to his wife in bed (3 a.m.) outside of Baltimore, making the 
connection in a few minutes. At Anuta Richard Feinberg telephoned his 
family in New York just as easily. We have satelite radio- telephone 
communication with the California phone company. 
