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The Marquesas, or Henuna Enata ("Land of Men"),
are seemingly lost at the end of the earth. Even now, some of
the islands are virtually untouched since the era of European
exploratoin. Their isloation from other lands has created an
immense pride among the people and a fascinating and undiscovered
culture. 1000-foot waterfalls cascade down sheer volcanic cliffs,
and because the islands have no coral reefs or lagoons, the ocean
crashes directly against the rocky coast indented with fjord-like
bays.
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Throughout the ages, the Marquesas have inspired
painters, poets, singers and writers, such as Jacques Brel, Paul
Gauguin, Pierre Loti, V. Segalen and H. Melville.
They have recorded in song and on canvas those
now famous standards of beauty, such as the smiling faces of
the children leaving school, mysterious women sitting on church
pews, mute sculptors.
They have captured the dense forests, the majestic
waterfalls, a horde of wild horses on a deserted plateau, violent
and rocky coast, a bay which is a haven of peace, majestic and
twisted peaks, a woman sculpting at night on the beach.
The Marquesas are a peak, a beach, a bay, horses,
a sculptor, a tattoo, a tiki, a bird or a light a moment, a minute
or a life.
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