 April 30th, 1935 A bright day, in more ways than one. We set sail from Chiklooha quite late in the morning, and met up with another small fleet of three craft at our fishing reef. The boats were quite swarming with the Noenoke clan and their relatives – there must have been a dozen hamster cubs, but it was hard to count as they never seem to stay still long enough. Pateeta and Paloma introduced us, pointing out Mama Mikano Noenoke herself, a lady who seemed made almost entirely of round shapes under the fur, and was very busy with two very new cubs. She also introduced two of her brothers of about our age, Potahic and Rinamo, who are already “captains” of their own boats. It was a very different trip with the cubs along – very boisterous balls of fur and frolic, wearing nothing but their fur while onboard the boats – when they are in the boats, as they spend half the time in the water. As soon as they saw us they climbed all over us – Helen and Molly were most surprised, and I confess it was rather undignified. Back home, all but the youngest would be in proper school Uniforms by now – though they happily do not seem to understand what they are missing. Still, there was a lot of hard work to do after our two days off, Captain Sigmarsen hovering around in the Ice Queen, worrying about his ice melting before we fill the hold. I expect that must be a popular job in the full summer heat – handling ice at the Beresby cannery. Their ice factory is a strange building, looking like an excessively thatched hut with layers of plaited palm mattings nearly a yard thick for insulation – by all accounts it has been running since the cannery opened twenty years ago, though it needs constant re-thatching. A thick modern filling of good fluffy asbestos would last better, be fireproof, far healthier and more hygienic, one would think. May 1st, 1935 Hurrah! The canning plant is closing for a few days of maintenance, so we have 2 days leave. In fact, we only have till the end of the week till we are back at Songmark – time has certainly flown. One thing Helen has commented on, is that we have certainly improved our condition – our fur decidedly gleaming, with all the sunshine, hard work and fresh food diet. Helen has been getting along very well with Mama Noenoke, who has been sharing quite a few household tips – useful ones when your “household” is a half-open boat out in the fresh air all day. Helen has gone back to her more breezy “Native” costume, and now looks rather different – Mama Noenoke has showed her how to make a sunburn preventing cream from palm oil and the unripe juice of some native nuts. By all accounts it is very effective, though it has the effect of greatly darkening the bits it is applied to, and is all but impossible to shift from fabrics. Helen certainly could pose for a postcard of dusky island maidens now, though I think few postal services would deliver it! Molly seems quite keen on the idea. A busy morning – we were dropped off at Beresby, and hiked over the ridge to Main Village in record time. There was a dance contest scheduled for that evening – tempting, but with two whole days we decidedly felt like sailors on shore leave, and (though I hesitate to mention it) almost the same priorities. I found a public telephone and tried ringing around to see if Jirry was free to meet us – alas, although I got through to the Guide agency, I discovered he and his brothers are hired out today carrying film equipment around South Island. Still, he is free tomorrow, as there are currently no tour boats docked – so I arranged a meeting. Fortunately, although we have standing instructions from our Songmark tutors to stay off Casino Island this holiday, there is no ban on bringing anyone else to meet us. And although we have not been paid for our fishing, I hit upon the idea of sending myself postal cheques to wait for collection at all the village post offices on the island – so we are in funds wherever we end up, and whether or not our costume has room for a purse. One visit to Main Village post office later, we were buying an excellent lunch, roast chicken. Hurrah! We were joined by some of the Noenoke clan, Potahic and his cousin Tihan. They seemed very pleased to see us, and indeed Tihan mentioned they were very thankful that we had managed to avoid accidents. One got the impression that certain people around these waters are prone to unhappy accidents. Helen somewhat pushed her luck, I thought, as she mentioned our ex-comrade and commented that Soppy’s departure seemed to have taken a lot of the damp mood with her. Indeed, without Soppy around the mood does seem to be decidedly lighter – and the locals do seem far friendlier. Promising to meet later on, we waved farewell to the Noenokes and went out in search of some supplies. Molly had been pestering us all term to try out the fur oil we discovered on South Island, so we purchased Tulupas oil, curing agent and combs, and headed down the coast to a secluded part of the beach to apply it. A lengthy business even with three of us checking for missed spots – but inside an hour we were all three of us feeling and looking decidedly different. Molly seems quite delighted with her new look, and comments that she feels a long way from Kansas now. (A look at the map quickly confirmed she is perfectly correct.) In the evening we retired to the Northern coast with knapsacks full of supplies, as Helen is very keen on a beach party after so long at sea. A very pleasant evening, meeting with Potahic, Tihan and Rinamo. I must say, we must have looked a very strange party, with none of the native gentlemen coming up to my shoulders in stature – though they are all surely far heavier than any of us, being exceptionally solidly built. The Nootnops Blue was exceedingly welcome after all this time, and a very fine time was had by all (but especially Helen and Molly. Had Jirry been around, I would have done much the same, especially when Potahic demonstrated with Helen some possibilities of a hammock I had not thought of before.) May 2nd, 1935 Our last day of shore-leave, and one we surely made the most of. First, we checked with the fishing fleet, and lent a hand with some boat maintenance on the beach. Mama Noenoke was in her usual cheerful mood, and commented that we looked very fine with our newly waterproofed fur. Helen and Molly did indeed look decidedly glowing. Quite an embarrassment though when Mama Noenoke jokingly asked us if we had worked out our wedding dowries. Her unmarried daughters have dowries of between two and three thousand local shells apiece, and are keen to add to them. I spotted Helen scribbling sums in one of the waterproof notebooks she had begged off me, and indeed the cost of a year at Songmark would quite set up anyone with a longhouse and a garden plot should they desire it. Helen being sadly orphaned, she has nobody to disapprove if she ever does take it into her head to go Native to the fullest extent. Indeed, no sooner did we sit down with Mama N that the four youngest additions to the Noenoke clan swarmed all over us – being quite adorable and very rounded balls of highly energetic fur. I was wearing my second most daring Native costume, and the two youngest seemed to … associate me with refuelling, one might say. I think my ears are still blushing. Mama N thought it a great joke, and said something about an omen. My Spontoonie is becoming adequate for simple conversations, but I was far too embarrassed to ask for details. The most embarrassing thing was, having to disappoint the Noenoke cubs, who looked quite adorable. We returned to Main Village for supplies – and indeed Jirry was there, carrying a stack of film canisters along with half his family working with a film team. Happily, they finished at lunchtime, when it was time for the star to take her afternoon nap. On hearing that the star was Little Shirley Shrine, Helen made her excuses and left in a woodland direction, with Jirry’s brother Marti in close formation. By Jirry’s accounts, this is scheduled to be a busy filming season on the islands, there being six film companies arriving this month alone! He and his family are fully employed, which is of course good news – though sadly it means I will be able to see far less of him. We were catching up on news when a loud party of about two dozen tourists shunted through the village like a goods train, cameras popping loudly and dropping litter all over the place. On spotting Jirry and myself, about a yard of film must have been fired off, to cries of “Gee, what a cute Native couple!” and similar, in broad American accents. Jirry smiled stoically, and I suppose in a few weeks I will be labelled as a Spontoon native girl in holiday albums on the far side of the world. In character, I smiled and waved, while expressing myself in the Spontoonie language – a phrase I had heard last week when Rinamo got his paw bitten by a lobster. Some of the fishwives around looked shocked, so I believe I picked a suitable saying. (Memo to myself – I can say things like that while in Costume. As far as the tourists are concerned, it was a Native girl greeting them cheerfully – one sometimes wonders just what the Natives are saying with a smile to some of the more obnoxious visitors. Of course I could never use such language in English, it would be quite unladylike.) A most memorable afternoon, Dear Diary, catching up on lost time. All this fresh air does certainly make one … energetic. Somewhat later, I broached a subject that I had long thought about – Jirry has mentioned being employed as a guide to various visitors to the island, and Helen has speculated that some of the lady tourists might pick their guides for more than their knowledge of the local geography. Jirry admitted that this has happened on occasion, and seemed to be bracing himself for my objections. Actually, Helen had practical advice to share – she points out that Missy K is the only one of us who is Engaged, and has any right to worry about what her fiancé is doing when she is away. I told Jirry much the same – after all, guiding tourists is part of his family’s living, and I can hardly ask him to turn away customers. Plus, tourists are here one week and gone the next -whereas I hope to be here another two years and more. Things improved greatly after we cleared the air on the matter, and indeed Jirry pointed out that it worked both ways – something I confess I had not considered. But for the time being, I had exactly the company I had been waiting for – and again, demonstrated that the fresh air makes one exceedingly energetic! |