Assistant Visit Manga Ia
p. 32 · Read in the full issue
Robert Gibbings And His
From Our Own Correspondent
Mangaia. Nov. 21
mHE cliff village on Mangaia has at X present a young European woman as a visitor. She is Miss Patience Empson, sister-in-law and assistant to writer-artist, Robert Gibbings who is also paying us a visit.
Miss Empson is the first white woman to live up here in “the Makatea.” The social supremacy of Kaumata (the chief “beach” village, where the Residency etc., stands) now must be considered as readjusted!
This gifted and much-travelled young lady has made herself, in spite of the rather-uncomfortable conditions in our village, quite at home, and she and her famous relative have sought out many of the local beauty-spots, likely to appeal to an artist. Mangaia has a strange beauty, entirely its own the isle is the “Caledonia, stern and wild” of the Cooks.
Both our visitors have noted already the independent and self-reliant nature of the islanders, and the mysterious quality of the rocky terrain, with its caves and worn-down extinct volcanoes, its plateaux and fertile valleys, irrigated by tiny streams.
They have not yet expressed any opin ion upon local foods, save to remark upon the surprising paucity of fish. But to offset that, local taro is the best in the Cook Islands.