0:00:04 > 0:00:07Specially chosen programmes from the BBC archive.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10For this Collection, Sir David Attenborough has chosen documentaries
0:00:10 > 0:00:13from the start of his career.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16More programmes on this theme and other BBC Four Collections
0:00:16 > 0:00:18are available on BBC iPlayer.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25DRUMMING AND CHANTING
0:01:12 > 0:01:16Those men were dancing in an island in the South Seas, and we were
0:01:16 > 0:01:20watching them on our way to another island, the island of Tonga.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23We were going to Tonga because we were being given permission
0:01:23 > 0:01:27by Queen Salote to film one of the most ancient, important
0:01:27 > 0:01:29and sacred ceremonies of Tonga.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32A ceremony which few Europeans had been permitted to see before,
0:01:32 > 0:01:35and which had never been filmed before.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39I suppose most of us think of the South Sea Islands
0:01:39 > 0:01:42as a sort of paradise on Earth, with their coral reefs,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46their blue lagoons and their waving palms, but if they are a paradise,
0:01:46 > 0:01:50well, they're changing very fast, for the 20th century
0:01:50 > 0:01:51is invading the Pacific
0:01:51 > 0:01:55and many of the ancient customs and rituals are disappearing.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58So we decided not to go straight to Tonga,
0:01:58 > 0:02:01but to make our way through the south-west Pacific
0:02:01 > 0:02:05calling at lots of different islands and trying to find and film
0:02:05 > 0:02:10some of the ancient rituals and ways of life which are fast disappearing.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14Tonga lies way out in the Pacific, here.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19And here is Fiji, and here,
0:02:19 > 0:02:241,000 miles closer to Australia and New Guinea
0:02:24 > 0:02:26are the islands of the New Hebrides.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29We had seen that dance in a small island called Val,
0:02:29 > 0:02:33which lay off the coast of this island, Malekula.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39Malekula and Val was the home of some very interesting
0:02:39 > 0:02:42and fascinating ceremonies many years ago,
0:02:42 > 0:02:44but impressive though the dance we had seen,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48you may have noticed those men were wearing khaki trousers.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52We made our way farther inside the island to see
0:02:52 > 0:02:54if we could find anything else that was less changed.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05By the side of one of the main dancing grounds stood
0:03:05 > 0:03:09a row of immense wooden gongs.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13The faces carved at the top represent ancestors of the tribe,
0:03:13 > 0:03:18and it used to be believed that when these gongs were beaten,
0:03:18 > 0:03:22they spoke with the voices of the tribe's forefathers.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26But there were no new gongs, and many of those that were still standing
0:03:26 > 0:03:30were badly weathered and broken.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35Some even had orchids growing over the sculptured faces.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41It seemed clear that here at least, the elaborate ceremonies and rituals,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45of which these gongs are a symbol, were largely dead.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48So we didn't stay long on the island of Val.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54We sailed southwards for 50 miles
0:03:54 > 0:03:57through the blue waters of the Pacific,
0:03:57 > 0:04:02along the coast of Malekula, down to the neighbouring island of Ambrym.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15Within ten minutes of walking ashore in Ambrym
0:04:15 > 0:04:20I found, standing alone in the forest, the most impressive piece
0:04:20 > 0:04:23of sculpture that I had seen so far in the New Hebrides.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31This, too, was a gong,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35a tree trunk slit along its length and hollowed out.
0:04:36 > 0:04:41Yet the head was in a quite different style from those of Val.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45And what was more, it was obviously relatively new.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50Here, surely, the ancient rituals and sacrifices must still survive.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54So I followed the track which led towards the interior of the island.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00Within 100 yards,
0:05:00 > 0:05:04shrouded by an elaborate construction of palm leaves,
0:05:04 > 0:05:08I came across something even more fearsome and eerie.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11This idol, ten feet high, had been carved
0:05:11 > 0:05:14from the fibrous trunk of a tree fern
0:05:14 > 0:05:17and it was painted in vivid blue and scarlet.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19From what I had read of the customs of the Ambrym people,
0:05:19 > 0:05:22the setting up of a figure like this must have been accompanied
0:05:22 > 0:05:28by the ceremonial slaughter of several hundred pigs.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32In front of it, men and women, heavily painted and wearing masks,
0:05:32 > 0:05:34would have danced for a day and a night,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37and the chief and his attendants would have run up the ramp
0:05:37 > 0:05:42on the left to stamp and posture on the platform above the idol's head.
0:05:42 > 0:05:48With increasing excitement, I went on and soon I arrived at the hamlet.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51The villagers had obviously been fully aware of our approach
0:05:51 > 0:05:54for they had assembled to receive us.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57These people were well accustomed to Europeans
0:05:57 > 0:06:00for they earned good livings by growing coconuts
0:06:00 > 0:06:04and selling copra, the dried coconut flesh, to visiting traders.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06So a handshake was a recognised greeting.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10But, of course, it would have been rude
0:06:10 > 0:06:14to have missed out the chief's little son.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17The chief himself spoke pidgin English quite fluently
0:06:17 > 0:06:20and after our formal greetings, the first thing I asked him about
0:06:20 > 0:06:24were these spirals of ivory which he wore on his wrists.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31An even more complete spiral hung as a pendant from his neck.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36These were the tusks of pigs, he said.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38And he offered to show me
0:06:38 > 0:06:41the remarkable creatures which could produce such odd tusks.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54On the way to see them, we passed this hut
0:06:54 > 0:06:57with elaborate pennants of young yellow palm leaves
0:06:57 > 0:06:59dangling like banners outside.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03It belonged to the chief and it was sacred - "tambu".
0:07:03 > 0:07:04Only he was allowed to enter it.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10He told me that this magnificent dancing mask
0:07:10 > 0:07:13had been used during the festivals which took place during
0:07:13 > 0:07:15the setting up of the great idol
0:07:15 > 0:07:18which I'd seen on the outskirts of the village.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23Its crest was of chicken feathers, its face was made of soft, pithy wood
0:07:23 > 0:07:27and it was painted with dots of white and pink, scarlet, blue,
0:07:27 > 0:07:28green and yellow.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34And close by the hut, I saw the pigs.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39The chief explained how it was that they grew such odd tusks.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44The animals had had a tooth knocked out from each side of their upper jaw
0:07:44 > 0:07:47so that the lower tusk, instead of being worn away,
0:07:47 > 0:07:49grows freely into a spiral.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53Eventually, the tusk will grow round in a complete circle
0:07:53 > 0:07:58until it pierces the flesh of the lower jaw and re-enters the jaw bone.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02A pig with re-entering tusks like that is incredibly valuable
0:08:02 > 0:08:04and the chief's was carefully tethered.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11This was his prized possession,
0:08:11 > 0:08:16for tusks like these make it worth at least £200.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22And this is the lower jaw of just such a pig.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26It's difficult to over-emphasise the value of a pig
0:08:26 > 0:08:28which has a jaw like this.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30If you wanted to buy one,
0:08:30 > 0:08:35it would cost you at least 40 ordinary pigs to barter it.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38If you kept this pig then for another seven years,
0:08:38 > 0:08:41and it takes seven years for this spiral to go round once again,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44and if you managed to keep it alive during that time,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47which wouldn't be easy because pigs with jaws like these
0:08:47 > 0:08:49are sickly creatures,
0:08:49 > 0:08:52then you would have something which is so valuable
0:08:52 > 0:08:55that you could charge one pig
0:08:55 > 0:08:57for someone just to look at it.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03These pigs are needed by the Ambrym people to buy wives,
0:09:03 > 0:09:07to sacrifice in many of the ceremonies through which
0:09:07 > 0:09:11you as an islander and an Ambrym man must pass.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13But the most important ceremony of all
0:09:13 > 0:09:17is a ceremony to do with social position,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20for there's a sort of caste system in Ambrym.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24If you want to be a social climber, you must save
0:09:24 > 0:09:29and pay in pigs to climb and attain a higher rank.
0:09:29 > 0:09:35So for maybe 10, 20 years, a man will save and work and borrow
0:09:35 > 0:09:41and beg, until he has accumulated as many as 1,000 ordinary pigs
0:09:41 > 0:09:45and maybe 10 or 15 of these tusked pigs.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48And then he takes all his pigs
0:09:48 > 0:09:50to the main ceremonial ground of the village
0:09:50 > 0:09:52and he tethers them in rows.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54And he calls the rest of the community,
0:09:54 > 0:09:56and when they are all there
0:09:56 > 0:09:59to witness what he is going to do, he kills them all.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03And in killing them, he destroys all his wealth.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05For a dead pig, to an Ambrym man,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08whether it has these tusks or not, is worth nothing.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15But in destroying all the wealth of 10 or 15 years' work,
0:10:15 > 0:10:17you have acquired a new rank.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19You have been given a new name.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24You have been allowed to wear special feathers in your hair.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28And you are, in the eyes of the community, a great man.
0:10:28 > 0:10:34And during these ceremonies, which are made to give you this new rank,
0:10:34 > 0:10:39huge idols and gongs are set up like this one.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43And as we walked through the islands of Ambrym and saw these gongs,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46the men said to us, "Oh, yes,
0:10:46 > 0:10:50"that gong was set up when so-and-so became a great man."
0:10:52 > 0:10:58But just north of Ambrym is another island called Pentecost.
0:10:58 > 0:10:59And we heard that on that island,
0:10:59 > 0:11:04an even more spectacular ceremony was to take place,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07one of the most spectacular of all ceremonies of the South Seas.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10So we sailed across the narrow strait in a canoe
0:11:10 > 0:11:15and came to a long silver-sand beach, and there we camped.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18We had no difficulty in finding out where the ceremony was to take place
0:11:18 > 0:11:21because people who were preparing for it
0:11:21 > 0:11:24passed us all day long carrying bundles of vines.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26All we had to do was to follow them.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52Only half a mile from the coast, we came to a clearing in the forest.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54It was on a steep hillside
0:11:54 > 0:11:58and there at the head of it stood the half-built tower.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Already, it was over 60 feet high
0:12:06 > 0:12:08and several more storeys were yet to be added to the top.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13The men had been working on it for nearly a fortnight
0:12:13 > 0:12:16and it would take another three days of work before it would be complete.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33At the base of the tower, the clearing was being enlarged
0:12:33 > 0:12:35to provide a landing ground for the jumpers.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48The stumps, too, had to be dug up
0:12:48 > 0:12:52so that a falling diver wouldn't brain himself on them.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57The tower was now so high that although it had been built
0:12:57 > 0:13:01around a lopped tree which had been left standing, the top parts of it
0:13:01 > 0:13:06had to be guyed with vines to stop the whole construction from toppling.
0:13:27 > 0:13:32CHANTING AND SINGING
0:13:44 > 0:13:48Each jumper will dive from a separate platform
0:13:48 > 0:13:52which has to be built projecting from the front of the tower.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56I had imagined that every man who was going to jump would supervise
0:13:56 > 0:14:00the construction of his own platform to make sure that it was built
0:14:00 > 0:14:03correctly and safely, but, in fact, this wasn't the case.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Everybody helped with the work.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29When the platforms were complete, each one of them
0:14:29 > 0:14:31was carefully covered with banana leaves
0:14:31 > 0:14:34to prevent it from becoming wet and slippery
0:14:34 > 0:14:37if there were a rainstorm before the time for the ceremony arrived.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58Looking down from the topmost point of the tower,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01the tiny, doll-like figures on the ground
0:15:01 > 0:15:03seemed a very, very long way away.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11Now came the last stage of the preparations,
0:15:11 > 0:15:12the cutting of the vines
0:15:12 > 0:15:16which would be tied around the ankles of each diver.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20These vines dangle from the branches of almost every tree,
0:15:20 > 0:15:22as they do in all tropical forests,
0:15:22 > 0:15:24but the Pentecost men were very particular
0:15:24 > 0:15:26as to which sort they'd cut,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29for only one kind are sufficiently strong
0:15:29 > 0:15:32and sufficiently pliable to be used in the ceremony.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52This particular vine is too thick at the base to serve as a jumping rope
0:15:52 > 0:15:56but the man has cut it for the sake of the thinner top section.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00The vines must be cut exactly one day before the ceremony takes place.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04If they're cut earlier, they dry out, lose their natural elasticity
0:16:04 > 0:16:08and strength, and may break when they are finally used in the jumping.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11Nearly all the men who had been working on the tower
0:16:11 > 0:16:14were in the forest occupied with this task,
0:16:14 > 0:16:18for there were to be 25 jumpers, each of whom would require two vines,
0:16:18 > 0:16:19one for each ankle,
0:16:19 > 0:16:24so that, all in all, 5,000 feet of vine had to be gathered.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26They were hung in pairs from each platform
0:16:26 > 0:16:30so that they dangled freely down the front of the tower.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38CHANTING AND SINGING
0:16:54 > 0:16:56They had to be accurately measured for length,
0:16:56 > 0:16:58for if they were too long,
0:16:58 > 0:17:00then the diver would hit the ground at full speed
0:17:00 > 0:17:03and probably kill himself.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06And if they were too short, then he would be left suspended in mid-air.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14But the assessment of their length is not easy,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17for not only will the twisted, curling vines stretch considerably
0:17:17 > 0:17:19under the strain of the jump, but the platforms
0:17:19 > 0:17:23are so made that they will collapse and hinge downwards
0:17:23 > 0:17:27as the vines tighten, thereby acting as additional shock absorbers.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31All this must be allowed for in measuring them.
0:17:43 > 0:17:49Lastly, the ends of the vines were frayed to make them pliable
0:17:49 > 0:17:53so that they could be securely tied around the divers' ankles.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11The ground at the base of the tower was given a final digging
0:18:11 > 0:18:14to make it soft.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18When the men went home that evening, all was complete.
0:18:18 > 0:18:19The tasselled ends of the vines
0:18:19 > 0:18:22had been carefully bundled in a wrapping of leaves.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26Soft stems of banana palms
0:18:26 > 0:18:30had been tied to the bottom timbers of the tower to cushion them
0:18:30 > 0:18:33in case a diver should swing and crash against them.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37The vines hung free like a monstrous shock of hair
0:18:37 > 0:18:43and the tower stood deserted and silent in the forest, 100 feet high.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46After a fortnight of preparation, all was ready.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48The ceremony would start the next morning.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55Soon after dawn the following day, the festival began.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59CHANTING AND SINGING
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Many of these people had come from the interior of the island,
0:19:02 > 0:19:04many hours' march distant.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08At least 20 of them will jump before the end of the day.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10All of them danced back and forth
0:19:10 > 0:19:13on a specially cleared space behind the tower,
0:19:13 > 0:19:17some carrying the scarlet leaves of the sacred croton plant.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Almost immediately, a young boy, together with his two assistants,
0:19:29 > 0:19:33climbed into the tower to take up his position for the first dive.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45He was going to jump from one of the lowest platforms, yet, even so,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48he would be over 40 feet from the ground.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00His helpers pulled up the vines
0:20:00 > 0:20:04that were to be fastened around his ankles.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Clutching the red croton leaves in his hand,
0:20:35 > 0:20:39he walked forward to face his trial of courage.
0:21:21 > 0:21:26Without a pause, a second diver left the ranks of the dancers.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51One after another they dived,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54each man jumping from a platform higher up the tower.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Every diver takes with him a relative, who carries
0:22:57 > 0:23:01a sprig of leaves which give an extremely painful sting.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03Should the courage of the diver show signs of failing,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06his relative, standing behind him,
0:23:06 > 0:23:10will thrash himself with the stinging leaves, crying out with pain
0:23:10 > 0:23:12until the man is shamed into jumping.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46By midday, men were diving from over 70 feet,
0:23:46 > 0:23:50but with each successive jump, the strain on the vines becomes greater
0:23:50 > 0:23:53and the danger of their breaking more likely.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05Both the vines had broken, yet, miraculously,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08the jumper himself was uninjured.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16If a man, having undertaken to jump, refuses to do so at the last moment,
0:24:16 > 0:24:20the shame on him and his family is immense, and he will have to pay
0:24:20 > 0:24:24the community a fine of many pigs to remove the blot from his character.
0:25:32 > 0:25:37And now at last, the climax of the whole festival approached.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39This man, climbing the tower,
0:25:39 > 0:25:44will jump from the topmost platform 100 feet above the ground.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33One rope has broken, but still the man is unhurt,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36and the people rush down to circle round him
0:26:36 > 0:26:39in one final dance of triumph.
0:26:41 > 0:26:47After the ceremony was over, I asked several of the men why they did that.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51One of them said he did so because his father had done so.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54Another one said that he did it because it made him feel better,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57which I must say I found a fairly extraordinary reason.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59A third one said he did it,
0:26:59 > 0:27:02and I think he was probably the most truthful of all,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05because he enjoyed it, but the plain fact of the matter is
0:27:05 > 0:27:07that they don't really know why they do it.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12They have as little idea of why they perform that ceremony
0:27:12 > 0:27:14as we have of, let us say,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18the reasons why we light a bonfire and burn a guy on November 5th.
0:27:18 > 0:27:24You may say that we do so because of Guy Fawkes, but, in fact,
0:27:24 > 0:27:29people were lighting bonfires and burning guys long before Guy Fawkes
0:27:29 > 0:27:35and it's probably a relic of the ancient pagan religion of Europe.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37But just as we've got a nice story
0:27:37 > 0:27:39to explain why we have bonfires on November 5th,
0:27:39 > 0:27:42so the Pentecost people have a nice story
0:27:42 > 0:27:44as to why they do that ceremony.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48They say it all started when a man had a wife who was unfaithful to him.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50And he ran after her to punish her,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53and she ran up and climbed a coconut tree.
0:27:53 > 0:27:54"Come down," he said.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57"If you want me," she said, "you'll have to come up and fetch me."
0:27:57 > 0:28:00So, the man climbed up the tree and he said,
0:28:00 > 0:28:02"Why have you gone away with another man?"
0:28:02 > 0:28:05And she said, "Because you're not very much of a tough man."
0:28:05 > 0:28:07And he said, "I am!"
0:28:07 > 0:28:10And she said, "Well, if you're as tough as all that,
0:28:10 > 0:28:13"you jump off the tree headfirst onto the ground."
0:28:13 > 0:28:16And he said, "Well, I'll do it if you'll do it."
0:28:16 > 0:28:19So she said, "All right," and they both jumped headfirst.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22But the woman had taken the precaution of tying
0:28:22 > 0:28:26the ends of the palm leaves to her ankles, and she survived.
0:28:26 > 0:28:27The man was killed.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30And ever since, the people of Pentecost - the men -
0:28:30 > 0:28:34have been jumping from much higher heights than a palm tree
0:28:34 > 0:28:36to prove to their women how tough they are.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38That's the story,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41but I don't really think the Pentecost people believe it.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45There was one clue as to what the whole ceremony meant.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48I noticed one of the women among the dancers,
0:28:48 > 0:28:52who was nursing what I took at first to be a baby.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54Her son was going to jump.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58He climbed up into the tower, and as he jumped she cast away
0:28:58 > 0:29:01the baby that she'd been cradling in her arms,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04and I found that wasn't a baby at all, but a piece of cloth.
0:29:04 > 0:29:05It was a symbolic baby.
0:29:05 > 0:29:10In other words, as that boy dived, he no longer became her baby,
0:29:10 > 0:29:12he became a man.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15And I rather suspect that the whole ceremony is, in fact,
0:29:15 > 0:29:19an initiation ceremony, which in the past the young boys of Pentecost
0:29:19 > 0:29:23had to go through as an ordeal to prove, at last,
0:29:23 > 0:29:25that they had become men.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27But all the ceremonies of the South Seas
0:29:27 > 0:29:30aren't centuries old - some are only 20 years old,
0:29:30 > 0:29:33and in an island in the southern part of the New Hebrides
0:29:33 > 0:29:35there's an incredible ceremony,
0:29:35 > 0:29:41where people build imitation radio masts and worship...
0:29:43 > 0:29:45..all sorts of machines, and cars,
0:29:45 > 0:29:48and dress themselves up in extraordinary uniforms.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52We went down there to have a look at it, and to find out what
0:29:52 > 0:29:55exactly went on there, and I'll tell you about it next time.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00SINGING