The text and paintings on The Trowbridge Chronicles are taken from the illustrated journal of Violet Trowbridge, a shrew that once lived in a village deep in the Olympic Rain Forest. Each new post will represent a portion of Mrs. Trowbridge’s journal.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

SOUTH SEA TROWBRIDGE EXPEDITION: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

I'm back at last from my South Seas Trowbridge Expedition. It's been a bit of a stretch between posts this time because of my extended research trip. I'm happy to report that our expedition was very successful, though we encountered our share of hardships. Each afternoon the temperature would soar into the 90's. That, coupled with the tropical humidity, made our treks through the steaming jungles quite unpleasant.

After several days of disappointments, we checked out this small motu, called Taakoka, in the southern Cook Island group. I took this shot from the kayak that we used to reach the islet from the research ship.

The water in the lagoon was like a warm tropical aquarium, filled with colorful neon-bright fish. It was a refreshing break from the frigid Puget Sound waters that we left behind in America's Pacific Northwest. We waded around the entire motu, looking for artifacts or petroglyphs along the shoreline.

We called this small island our "mother lode" motu. We found no less than 83 black volcanic rocks that had been scribed with Trowbridge petroglyphs. Curiously, we found no Trowbridge artifacts on the islet.

Some of the petroglyphs were right at the tide line, as seen here. If you look carefully you'll see the petroglyph on the rock just behind me.

Because the symbols are so small, they're barely visible at any distance, so here's a close up look. Maori team member, Paiere Unuia, from the Northern Group island, Manihiki, examines the petroglyphs at close range with the magnifying glass.

The written Trowbridge language is comprised of 25 pictographic characters, as shown above. With the wealth of petroglyphic data that we uncovered on Motu Taakoka, I'm even more convinced that my theory of a trans-Pacific migration of Trowbridge shrews is what brought them to the Americas.

By the way, Happy Anniversay to Mrs. Trowbridge! Her journal will is two years old today.

4 comments:

studio lolo said...

Bron, you have absolutely gone above and beyond to bring us such a wealth of information! How exciting to find the petroglyphs... ahem, imagine that!!
Great entertainment, um, history, to start the new year off with!
Happy new year to you, and happy anniversary to Mrs. T!

Anonymous said...

Bron you are an amazing person! The life you lead is of storybook in itself! Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful adventure!

Kim de Young said...

ooooh, goody! Can't wait to see what new adventures come from the Trowbridge lineage. I am glad you still are finding inspiration to keep the chronicles alive!

Eugenia Gina said...

wow! got to traveling around the world someday, thanks for your comments,mr. Bron, I really admire your maps illustration and skill, and yes you should visit our country, but don't go to Jakarta, too much trafficjam, try manado or lombok :D
rgds from Indonesia