More Mysterious

After Big Bay, the deluge . . .

Ruins Found In

Islands Jungles

By Robert Langdon

Articles in PIM over the last few months about the mysterious

stone wall at Big Bay, Espiritu

Santo (see elsewhere in this

issue) have brought to light some

interesting news of other mys terious ruins in the South Pacific.

ONE lot of ruins is on Witu Island, New Guinea, in the Bismarck Sea north of New Britain. The other is in mountainous jungle country on Malekula, New Hebrides.

The report on the Witu ruins came from Mr. Ashley Sellars, an Aus tralian planter on that island, who told me about them during a recent visit to Sydney. He said they con sisted of a number of anthro pomorphic (man-like) statues, which he had discovered a few months ago in the interior of the island.

The local natives had not previ ously known of their existence, and therefore knew nothing of their origin.

Mr. Sellars added that when he re turned to Witu he would send PIM photographs of the statues, which, as far as I know, are the first anthro pomorphic statues to be found in any part of New Guinea.

Amphitheatre

The news about the Malekula ruins —still “hot” even though more than 20 years old—came from Mr. and Mrs. C. M. G. Adam, and their daughter Mrs. M. J. McCoy, of Norfolk Island.

Their ruins consist of an ancient amphitheatre and some stone carvings which they found in the jungle behind Bushman’s Bay during the war.

Mr. Adam, who was British Dis trict agent on Malekula for more than 30 years, was serving as an Army captain and coast watcher when the amphitheatre was discovered. His wife and daughter were also coast watchers.

“We had a series of small huts up in the jungle from which coast watch ing operations could be carried out,”

Mrs. McCoy told me in a letter.

“These huts were equipped to be used in the event of Japanese occupa tion of the island—firstly as coast watching stations, and also as a means of existing in the jungle if we had to.

“The camps were equipped with light arms and food, and we had teleradio and codes with us all the time. We also had a well-equipped band of native police.

“It was at the site of the second of our jungle outposts that we came across the ruins. The war was at a critical stage at that time, and after the war the matter slipped from mind until I read your articles.”

Mrs. McCoy said that the ruins had seldom been seen and that the local natives knew nothing of their origin.

“Briefly described,” she said, “the ruins were the remains of an ancient amphitheatre—row upon row of stone seats in a semi-circle, with some very good stone carvings scattered about. The carvings were cut, I think, from a type of black stone and were about three feet high.

“The seats were a foot to 18 in. high or thereabouts, and consisted of three stones—two for legs and one across. We cannot remember the type of stone the seats were formed of.”

Mrs. McCoy added that her father, who had retired from the service of the British Government more than 20 years ago, was still very alert; and that her mother was “an active and busy person.”

Mrs. McCoy provided a detailed sketch map showing the location of the Malekula ruins, which I have sent to Dr. Richard Shutler, Jr., an American archaeologist now working in the New Hebrides.