0:00:03 > 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 > 0:00:25SINGING
0:00:43 > 0:00:49The people of the South Seas must be ranked as among the most brave,
0:00:49 > 0:00:52the most skilful of all sailors of the world.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56In their canoes, they sailed over hundreds of miles of the Pacific,
0:00:56 > 0:01:01colonising small coral islands and spreading as far as New Zealand,
0:01:01 > 0:01:03a thousand miles to the south.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05And when the first European travellers went to the South Pacific,
0:01:05 > 0:01:09they were very impressed by the craft that they saw.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14This is a drawing by Captain Cook's artist which was made in Tonga
0:01:14 > 0:01:15at the end of the 18th century.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19And it shows what is perhaps the finest, the most impressive
0:01:19 > 0:01:22and most efficient of all the ocean-going canoes.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25This is a ndrua, a twin canoe,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28as it's called in Fijian, a double canoe.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32And it's called a twin or double canoe because it has two twin hulls,
0:01:32 > 0:01:37each of them virtually a separate dugout. They were over 100 feet long.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40They could carry over 200 men.
0:01:40 > 0:01:45One is recorded as carrying 12 live cows in the hold alone
0:01:45 > 0:01:48as well as several tons of food on the big deck.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52They had gigantic steering paddles in the stern,
0:01:52 > 0:01:56and in heavy seas, handling those paddles required several men,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00and often those men wrestling with these paddles in high seas
0:02:00 > 0:02:04strained themselves so badly that they became crippled for life
0:02:04 > 0:02:06and sometimes died on the voyage.
0:02:06 > 0:02:11And these boats could do speeds of up to 10 or 12 knots.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14That is to say, they could possibly overtake a European merchant ship
0:02:14 > 0:02:18sailing in those waters. And that was a very serious business
0:02:18 > 0:02:22because 150 years ago the inhabitants of Fiji were cannibals.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24And if you were a merchant sailor
0:02:24 > 0:02:26and you were caught by one of these canoes,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29there was very little doubt as to what would happen to you.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33But the European sailors learnt a technique for escaping
0:02:33 > 0:02:35from these huge war canoes.
0:02:35 > 0:02:40They sailed directly into the wind with the wind filling their sails
0:02:40 > 0:02:45and when that happened and the ndrua tried to follow, the wind filled
0:02:45 > 0:02:50this huge sail with such force that it forced the bows down
0:02:50 > 0:02:52and the thing sank.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55But it would have been a very wonderful thing indeed
0:02:55 > 0:02:57to see a canoe like that.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01When I went to Fiji and asked about the ndrua,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03they said, "All those are finished."
0:03:03 > 0:03:08The last one rotted away perhaps 50 years ago.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Now the big ocean-going vessels are made on the European pattern.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14But they said, "Why not go to Kambara?"
0:03:14 > 0:03:17because Kambara is the place where they were all made.
0:03:17 > 0:03:22They were all made in Kambara because Kambara is one of the few islands
0:03:22 > 0:03:25in this part of the Pacific that has forests of vesi trees,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28and vesi timber was the best timber
0:03:28 > 0:03:30and the timber used for the big dugout canoes.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33They said, "You won't see a double canoe,
0:03:33 > 0:03:37"but you may see a dugout canoe. You may see kava bowls.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40"And anyway," they said, "you'll get a very good idea
0:03:40 > 0:03:43"of what life is like in one of these outlying islands of Fiji."
0:03:43 > 0:03:45So, that's what we did.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49In a schooner, we sailed away to this island of craftsmen,
0:03:49 > 0:03:51the island of Kambara.
0:03:57 > 0:04:02Kambara's forests of vesi trees cover most of the central part
0:04:02 > 0:04:05of the island and run right down to the sea.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10The beaches are so blindingly white that when you walk along them
0:04:10 > 0:04:14you simply can't open your eyes wide without very real pain.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17These women squatting on the beach in the fierce tropical sun
0:04:17 > 0:04:20were preparing to go fishing in the lagoon
0:04:20 > 0:04:24and they are blackening their faces with charcoal as a protection
0:04:24 > 0:04:27against the glare reflected from the coral sand
0:04:27 > 0:04:28and the surface of the sea.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43In their baskets, they have some hermit crabs
0:04:43 > 0:04:46which they've collected to use as bait.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48I watched them go with interest
0:04:48 > 0:04:52because I wanted to see what kind of canoe they would use.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57After all, Kambara, famous for centuries for its fine canoes,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00might be expected still to produce something a little special.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09But, in fact, this was a perfectly ordinary outrigger,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13similar to the ones that you can see over vast areas of the Pacific.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41Their first job was to find the best spot for fishing
0:05:41 > 0:05:43among the towers of coral that rose up
0:05:43 > 0:05:46from the white, sandy bottom of the lagoon.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01The tops of the towers, flattened by the waves, are only a few feet
0:06:01 > 0:06:04from the surface and make excellent platforms
0:06:04 > 0:06:08on which to stand while you bait your hooks and sort out the lines.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16The Fijians have used goggles like these for many years.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20They are made from tiny pieces of glass and fit very close to the eyes.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25Using them underwater not only enables you to see a shark
0:06:25 > 0:06:26if it comes your way,
0:06:26 > 0:06:31but it also makes it possible for you to select exactly which fish
0:06:31 > 0:06:35you will catch among all those that swim 20 feet below you
0:06:35 > 0:06:36in the crystal waters.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Usually, all you have to do is to dangle your bait in front of
0:06:50 > 0:06:52the fish that you've selected.
0:06:55 > 0:07:01It bites and up it comes, though sometimes not quite all the way.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06But when you have caught one,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08you kill it by biting it at the back of its neck
0:07:08 > 0:07:12and then you store it in the coconut-leaf basket at your waist
0:07:12 > 0:07:13which holds the bait.
0:07:19 > 0:07:20In a few hours,
0:07:20 > 0:07:25you can catch a basketful of fish of the most brilliant colours,
0:07:25 > 0:07:28sufficient to provide an excellent meal for all your family.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54Further along this lovely, mile-long beach, you come to Tokelau,
0:07:54 > 0:07:56the main village of the island.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01This is the home of the carpenter clan,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03the Children of Lemaki, as they're called,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07who are famous not only for their canoes but for their tanoa,
0:08:07 > 0:08:11their kava bowls, which this man is making.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16Every household in Fiji and in Tonga has to have its kava bowl,
0:08:16 > 0:08:20just as every British household has to have a teapot.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23Some even have three or four.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26And most societies or clubs or institutions
0:08:26 > 0:08:31have a special large kava bowl used for important ceremonies.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34And nearly all these bowls come from this one island
0:08:34 > 0:08:37and are made by craftsmen like this man.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Most of his techniques are the old, traditional ones.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45He still uses an adze, though its blade, which 150 years ago
0:08:45 > 0:08:49would have been of stone, is now made of steel.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52But the shape of the tool and the way of using it is still the same.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04One tool which hasn't changed is this pig's tusk,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07which is used for the final polishing.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18This finished bowl may be traded from island to island
0:09:18 > 0:09:23and eventually find its permanent home in Tonga 200 miles to the east
0:09:23 > 0:09:27or in the Yasawa Islands, 300 miles to the west.
0:09:27 > 0:09:32The kava bowl maker had told me that some relative of his was at work
0:09:32 > 0:09:36on a dugout canoe down at the far end of the village,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39and I decided to go along and see how he was getting on.
0:09:42 > 0:09:47The canoe makers were working in the shade of a grove of coconut palms.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Some of these people almost certainly have Tongan blood in their veins,
0:09:51 > 0:09:56for the gigantic double canoes of the past took several years to build
0:09:56 > 0:09:59and many of the Tongans who sailed here
0:09:59 > 0:10:01to make war canoes for themselves
0:10:01 > 0:10:05came to like the island so much that eventually they stayed here for good.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10Even a small, single dugout like the one this man is making
0:10:10 > 0:10:12could take several months to build.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19Merely out of curiosity, I asked the head canoe maker
0:10:19 > 0:10:23whether he himself had ever worked on one of the old-style double canoes.
0:10:25 > 0:10:30"Like this one," I said, "but with two hulls, ndrua, the twin canoe."
0:10:31 > 0:10:34"Oh, yes," he said. "I've made one."
0:10:34 > 0:10:38I was sure I hadn't understood him correctly. "You made one yourself?"
0:10:38 > 0:10:41"Oh, yes," he said.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43"It's over there on the beach."
0:10:44 > 0:10:47To be absolutely honest, I thought that this was yet another
0:10:47 > 0:10:49of those very frequent occasions
0:10:49 > 0:10:53on which I had failed to make myself understood to a Fijian,
0:10:53 > 0:10:55that we were at cross-purposes
0:10:55 > 0:10:59and that he was going to show me just a rather large outrigger canoe.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01But I went along with him just in case
0:11:01 > 0:11:04and there it was, high above the water line,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07a genuine double canoe with two twin hulls.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11Maybe a little smaller than the ones that had been seen by Captain Cook
0:11:11 > 0:11:14and the other early travellers, but, nonetheless,
0:11:14 > 0:11:18a genuine double canoe built on exactly the same principles.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20But was it still seaworthy?
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Had he got the masts and the tackle and the sails somewhere?
0:11:25 > 0:11:27He seemed a little doubtful, for he said
0:11:27 > 0:11:30he hadn't taken the canoe to sea for a very long time.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32But he'd go and have a look.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43And somewhere or other, he had found them.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46The canoe had no metal fittings at all.
0:11:46 > 0:11:47The pivots, the cleats
0:11:47 > 0:11:51and the bollards were all carved from solid vesi wood.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08The oars of the ancient double canoes were gigantic things
0:12:08 > 0:12:11over 30 feet long and even the two that were produced
0:12:11 > 0:12:14for this smaller version were impressively large.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32The sail, made of woven pandanus mats sewn together,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36was rather tattered and had to be tied to the booms with string
0:12:36 > 0:12:39made from plaited coconut fibre.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53By now, lots of the villagers had gathered round,
0:12:53 > 0:12:58for this was quite an event - to get the old canoe seaworthy again.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29And now came the moment of launching.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32We needed the help of everybody available
0:13:32 > 0:13:36to shove the very heavy canoe down the beach to the lagoon.
0:13:46 > 0:13:52And so, at last, we started on our little voyage.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55To begin with, the huge sail had to be hoisted.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05As soon as it was fully up and the wind filled it,
0:14:05 > 0:14:09then the canoe got underway and we set off across the lagoon
0:14:09 > 0:14:11at a really spanking pace.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15I reckon we must have been doing at least six or seven knots.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25In order to get out of the lagoon, we had to make for
0:14:25 > 0:14:29the one and only passage through the surrounding reef.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32And to do this, we had to tack. We couldn't swing the boom
0:14:32 > 0:14:35and change direction as you do in a European-style yacht.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38Instead, the whole sail has to be carried
0:14:38 > 0:14:41from one end of the canoe to the other
0:14:41 > 0:14:44so that the stern now becomes the bows
0:14:44 > 0:14:47and the ship goes in the opposite direction.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51It was easy to see that this must be an extremely tricky operation
0:14:51 > 0:14:54in any wind stronger than a gentle breeze.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Soon, we were through the reef and heading for the open sea.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38It was quite a calm day, the sea, an unbelievably bright blue,
0:15:38 > 0:15:41but once we were outside the protection of the reef,
0:15:41 > 0:15:45there was quite a swell and we began to ship water over the bows.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47What's more, the hulls of the canoe,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50not having been at sea for some time, leaked a little
0:15:50 > 0:15:52and we had to start bailing.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56As we sailed away from Kambara farther out to sea,
0:15:56 > 0:16:01I began to get some small idea of the tremendous toughness,
0:16:01 > 0:16:05bravery and skill of the sailors of the South Seas,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08who in times gone by had sailed craft like this,
0:16:08 > 0:16:14not for a few miles in calm waters, but for several hundreds of miles
0:16:14 > 0:16:18through high seas and hurricanes right across the Pacific
0:16:18 > 0:16:21to settle in some tiny, uninhabited, coral island.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25When we, in fact, had gone a mile or two beyond the reef
0:16:25 > 0:16:28we turned back and went to Kambara,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32but ships like that often sailed on for 100 miles or so
0:16:32 > 0:16:34because they sailed on to Tonga.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39There was constant sailing between Kambara and Tonga.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44Often the Tongans would come this way in their rather crude dugout canoes
0:16:44 > 0:16:47and persuade the Kambara people to build them new, smart,
0:16:47 > 0:16:51Fijian ndrua and they would live with the Kambara people
0:16:51 > 0:16:55for several years, paying for their canoe, their new canoe,
0:16:55 > 0:16:59by, in fact, fighting for the Kambara peoples in the tribal wars.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01And then, when they had paid their debt,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04they took their brand-new, smart, Fijian double canoe
0:17:04 > 0:17:06and sailed back to Tonga.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09And that's just what we did after leaving Kambara,
0:17:09 > 0:17:12not actually in a double canoe, but in a schooner.
0:17:12 > 0:17:17And we went to Tonga to look for new people.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20But when eventually we landed there,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23we became fascinated first of all by the animals
0:17:23 > 0:17:26which, frankly, I'd not expected to find in such numbers
0:17:26 > 0:17:30in this isolated speck of land in the South Pacific.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34The palace in Tonga is the home not only of Queen Salote
0:17:34 > 0:17:38but of someone who is almost as famous, Tu'i Malila.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40And this is him.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44Tu'i Malila is almost certainly the oldest living creature in the world.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48In his time, he has survived some pretty serious accidents
0:17:48 > 0:17:51as the dents and holes in his shell prove.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55Once, he was kicked and his shell cracked by a horse.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59On another occasion, he was severely burnt during a forest fire.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03But still he plods sedately around the palace.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06He must now be at least 190 years old,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09and he is probably over 200,
0:18:09 > 0:18:13for he was presented to one of Queen Salote's ancestors by Captain Cook
0:18:13 > 0:18:18during the explorer's visit to the island in either 1773 or 1777.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23And Tu'i Malila must have been quite a sizeable tortoise even then.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26His favourite food is pawpaw.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30But unfortunately he is now completely blind
0:18:30 > 0:18:32and unless someone is there to help him,
0:18:32 > 0:18:34his bites sometimes miss the food.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39So it is that a palace servant is given the special responsibility
0:18:39 > 0:18:44of making sure that this aged Tongan, who has been given the honorary title
0:18:44 > 0:18:47of "tu'i" or "chief", gets all the food he needs
0:18:47 > 0:18:49and doesn't stray too far.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59But of course, Tu'i Malila, although he has lived in Tonga
0:18:59 > 0:19:03for over 180 years, is not a true-born Tongan.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07Indeed, there are very few animals native to this island.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10One of them, however, is a truly terrifying-looking creature.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22This is a robber or coconut crab.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25From claw to claw, it's over two feet across,
0:19:25 > 0:19:27and watching it, you are reminded not of an animal,
0:19:27 > 0:19:30but some ghastly, inanimate mechanical robot.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37Another crab was crouching in the hole at the base of the tree.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04At first, I thought that this grasp was some sort of greeting.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08But, in fact, it was soon quite clear that the crabs were engaged
0:20:08 > 0:20:11in a silent, inhuman fight,
0:20:11 > 0:20:14for the pincers, having met, were crunching one upon the other
0:20:14 > 0:20:18and with a horrid splintering sound, small pieces of limey shell
0:20:18 > 0:20:21were chipping off and flying into the air.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24The crabs were in battle.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27But it wasn't a battle of lunge and thrust,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30of skilful parries and circling for position,
0:20:30 > 0:20:34it was a steady, remorseless trial of strength -
0:20:34 > 0:20:38each crab straining every muscle, both trying to withdraw,
0:20:38 > 0:20:42yet both seemingly unable to let go of one another.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07This senseless, ferocious tug-of-war
0:21:07 > 0:21:10continued for nearly quarter of an hour,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13the gigantic claws locked together.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16Neither, it seemed, could win and neither would surrender.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21And then, quite unexpectedly, one of them turned away.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23They had separated.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40This one retreated towards his hole in the roots of the tree.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49The other, the one that had fallen, began climbing once more,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52this time up the trunk of a coconut palm.
0:21:59 > 0:22:04I had never seen these creatures before, and after watching the battle
0:22:04 > 0:22:08I thought I would like to examine one of them a little more closely.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20The scar on its claw had been inflicted during the fight
0:22:20 > 0:22:23and it was clear evidence that a nip from one of these pincers
0:22:23 > 0:22:25would be very unpleasant indeed.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42These crabs are such powerful creatures that they can strip
0:22:42 > 0:22:47the husk from a coconut, split the shell to eat the flesh inside.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49And they will do this to ripe coconuts
0:22:49 > 0:22:50that have fallen to the ground
0:22:50 > 0:22:56and even climb up the palm trees to cut down the nuts for themselves.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00Indeed, they can be serious pests in coconut plantations,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03but they rarely become common, for they make very good eating
0:23:03 > 0:23:06and are eagerly hunted by the islanders for food.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09They have developed a special mechanism which enables them,
0:23:09 > 0:23:11once they've passed their larval state,
0:23:11 > 0:23:15to spend the rest of their life out of water.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19This one was bright blue flushed with pink.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Some crabs, like the little hermit crab to which this one is related,
0:23:22 > 0:23:27can, I think, be rather endearing, charming creatures.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31But I found it a little difficult to regard this huge robber crab
0:23:31 > 0:23:32in the same sort of way.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46In the centre of the island, in a grove of casuarina trees,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49lives a colony of quite different creatures -
0:23:49 > 0:23:55flying foxes, or to give them their more accurate name, fruit bats.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57SCREECHING
0:24:00 > 0:24:03They are among the largest bats in the world
0:24:03 > 0:24:07with a wingspan of over four feet and they live entirely on fruit.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Mangoes are their particular favourite.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12They feed during the night
0:24:12 > 0:24:18and during the daytime they roost in these noisy colonies.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22They have a peculiar, strong, musty smell,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25but the Tongans say that they make very good eating
0:24:25 > 0:24:28as long as you don't let the fur touch the meat before you cook it.
0:24:28 > 0:24:33But this particular colony is sacred, taboo.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38According to legend, a Tongan named Ula sailed over to Samoa
0:24:38 > 0:24:42to take part in the canoe races. He was very successful
0:24:42 > 0:24:46and the daughter of one of the Samoan chiefs fell in love with him.
0:24:46 > 0:24:52When he left, she gave him a single pure-white fruit bat.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54He took it back with him in his canoe to Tonga
0:24:54 > 0:24:57and it lived happily in his village.
0:24:57 > 0:25:02Soon it gave birth to young and in a few years there was a large colony.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06One day, Ula went to visit the chief of the village of Kolovai
0:25:06 > 0:25:09and the chief asked him to give him the bats.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Well, according to Tongan custom,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16it's not possible for anyone to refuse a request from a chief,
0:25:16 > 0:25:18so Ula gave the bats to the chief
0:25:18 > 0:25:23and they've lived here in the centre of the village of Kolovai ever since.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27The single white bat however that had been given to Ula in Samoa
0:25:27 > 0:25:29he took back to his own village.
0:25:31 > 0:25:36It's said that this white bat sometimes reappears here in Kolovai,
0:25:36 > 0:25:40and when it does, it's a sign that a member of the royal family
0:25:40 > 0:25:43or the chief of Kolovai is about to die
0:25:43 > 0:25:47and the bat will stay until the funeral is over.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49Happily, however, as far as I could see,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52there wasn't a single white bat among them.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55They were all chocolate-brown with honey-coloured heads.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Anyway, the bats are still sacred
0:25:58 > 0:26:02and no-one except the royal family are allowed to shoot them.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09Because no-one interferes with these sacred bats, they're very tame
0:26:09 > 0:26:13and they roost much lower than any other fruit bats that I'd ever seen
0:26:13 > 0:26:16and as a result, I had the chance of observing them
0:26:16 > 0:26:19much more closely than I'd ever been able to do before.
0:26:20 > 0:26:25I was able to see, for example, the precise way in which a mother
0:26:25 > 0:26:30carries her half-grown youngster and see how even at this late stage
0:26:30 > 0:26:33she takes the responsibility of cleaning his wings.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47She even makes sure that his ears aren't dirty.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09Bats seem to have got a reputation for being dirty and flea-ridden,
0:27:09 > 0:27:11but on this evidence at least,
0:27:11 > 0:27:15it would seem that they keep themselves meticulously clean.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34I was also able to observe exactly how a young bat
0:27:34 > 0:27:38lazily completes his toilet in the early morning sun.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50When he is finished cleaning himself,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54sometimes he will hang, not by his feet, as these are doing,
0:27:54 > 0:27:58but by the long thumbs on his wings, his feet hanging freely.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06But all isn't amiability in the colony.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09Fruit bats are really rather quarrelsome creatures
0:28:09 > 0:28:14and often the loser of a quarrel will have to escape by taking to flight.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23And here again, the opportunities for observation were better
0:28:23 > 0:28:25than I'd ever had before,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28for as the bats came flapping low over our heads,
0:28:28 > 0:28:32they showed us perfectly the structure of the bones
0:28:32 > 0:28:35as the sun shone through their parchment wings.
0:28:54 > 0:28:59And I was able to see exactly how they alighted in the trees.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01They don't all use the same method.
0:29:01 > 0:29:02This one...
0:29:05 > 0:29:08..hooks on and falls backwards.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12This one grips first with his mouth and then with his thumb.
0:29:14 > 0:29:19And this one, using perhaps the commonest method of all, just...
0:29:21 > 0:29:24..latches on with his feet and flops over forwards.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30But we have, after all, gone to Tonga to film people
0:29:30 > 0:29:35and, in particular, the most ancient and sacred ceremony of Tonga,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38the royal kava ceremony, in which the queen herself takes part.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42It's a ceremony which very few Europeans have been allowed to see
0:29:42 > 0:29:44and has never been filmed before.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47But exactly what it was like, I'll tell you about next time.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50SINGING