Dillon's Bay, Erromango

Wildfox
Anthony Swanston
Thu 18 Sep 2014 21:32
I leave Tanna at 0530 for the 60 odd mile passage to Erromango and arrive at 1630 having had a day of changeable winds. I go aboard an Amel 54 for dinner. Local guide, David, joins us. He lives in a grass hut, no electricity, no water, no telephone. I wonder what he thinks of this 750,000 pound yacht with bright lights, air conditioning, washing machine, tumble drier, bread maker, espresso machine, endless running water and the rest...

Next day David takes us to a cave where the women and children hid when the village was attacked by any of the other villages. Something that happened quite a lot, back then. Then on to another cave where the skulls of two chiefs and their wives still lie in state. A tour of the village includes a visit to the school and Presbyterian church. I remember one cathedral in Peru where the alter contained seven tons of silver. The alter here contains one cotton table cloth. Outside is a memorial to John Williams, a missionary, who broke a local tabu when he first stepped ashore. The villagers of course killed him immediately but because they had had a feast the day before they were not hungry. So they sold his body to a neighbouring village. And they ate him...

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