Re: IVIV (11) p. 163-164

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Can't help but think of Pitcairn Island, though it's deficient in the vowel department.  Probably not where Shasta ended up, but fascinating, nonetheless.

http://www.pitcairn.pn/

The island's 50 inhabitants are descended from Fletcher Christian and the other Mutineers on the Bounty.  There was a huge scandal/criminal investigation a few years back, involving incest and rape.  Some of the islanders ended up incarcerated on the island, with other family members acting as their jailers.

Laura

-----Original Message-----
>From: Clément Lévy <clemlevy at gmail.com>

>
>- postcard, postmaster, mail: possible memory of the W.A.S.T.E. mail  
>system in COL49. Note that there's no typo in "postmaster."
>
>- lance-coco: this French word sounds perfectly forged, it is similar  
>to lance-pierre (slingshot or catapult in English). I may add that,  
>contrary to GR and AD (where I found a few errors), there are many  
>French words in IV, all of them being correctly put: Café Asiatique  
>(77, 80), Tex Wiener École de Pilotage (134) and Cootie Food for coup  
>de foudre (144) so far. The verb lancer means throw, but there seems  
>to be no known occurrence of lance-coco in French. It's a good  
>neologism.
>
>- "some island he had never heard of out in the Pacific Ocean, with a  
>lot of vowels in its name"
>Have your pick here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ 
>List_of_islands_of_France and scroll down until French Polynesia
>I'd favor Huahine, Tetiaroa, Anuanuraro or Matuerivavao.
>But according to the French Polynesia Post and Telecommunications  
>Office (Office des Postes et Télécommunications, www.opt.pf), as of  
>today there are post offices on these islands only: Ahe, Amanu, Anaa,  
>Apataki, Aratika, Arutua, Bora Bora, Faaite, Fakahina, Fakarava,  
>Fangatau,  Fatu Hiva, Hao, Hereheretue, Hikueru, Hiva Oa, Huahine,  
>Katiu, Kaueti, Kaukura, Maiao, Makaroa, Makatea, Makemo, Mangareva,  
>Manihi, Marokau, Mataiva, Maupiti, Moorea, Mopelia, Napuka, Niau,  
>Nihiru, Nuku Hiva, Nukutavake, Puka Puka, Pukarua, Raiatea, Rangiroa,  
>Rapa, Raraka, Raroia, Reao, Rimatara, Rurutu, Taenga, Tahaa, Tahiti,  
>Tahuata, Takapoto, Takaroa, Takume, Tatakoto, Tauere, Tematangi,  
>Tepoto Nord, Tikehau, Tubuai, Tureia, Ua Huka, Ua Pou, Vahitahi,  
>Vairaatea. My favourites here would be Kaueti, Niau or Tikehau. And  
>listen to Puka Puka! Doesn't it sound like Puke-a-hook-a-look-i  
>island in GR (Great Books of the 20th Century ed., p. 647)? But on  
>any of these islands, there mustn't be any lance-coco operated mail  
>system!
>Now, let's remember that from 1966 to 1996 French army conducted lots  
>of nuclear bomb test on Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls in Polynesia  
>(in the Tuamotou archipelago).
>
>- p. 91, the "insurance history" of the Golden Fang cites Polynesian  
>islands: Moorea, Bora-Bora and Tahiti. So this region of the Pacific  
>had already been mentioned.
>