S1-E51: Vanuatu: The Untouchable Feast

The land looks rich. The people are many. And yet, no food is given. On Mallicolo, abundance does not mean surplus—and survival follows rules the visitors fail to grasp.

When HMS Resolution anchors off Mallicolo in July 1774, the crew expects a familiar pattern: curiosity, trade, and provisions. Instead, they encounter restraint. Islanders arrive in canoes, offering finely crafted weapons and ornaments—but never food. Pigs squeal in the forest, crops grow behind mangroves, and fruit trees line hidden plantations, yet nothing edible crosses the boundary between shore and ship.

**Episode 51 takes us to Mallicolo, where fertile land and full forests hide a hard truth: food is not for trade. – Click on the image to listen to this episode on YouTube.**

Georg Forster observes closely. Women remain distant, burdened with labor and excluded from exchange. Men carry weapons at all times, not in open hostility, but as a constant precaution. The land itself reveals clues: scattered settlements, dense forests, and signs of careful resource management. Food here is not currency—it is security.

The Untouchable Feast | James Cook in Vanuatu (1774)

As the crew explores the harbor they learn names—Mallicolo, Ambrym—and glimpse a wider world shaped by volcanoes, isolation, and caution. When the ship finally departs, drums echo from the shore. No violence has occurred. But no trust has formed either. What remains is a quiet realization: in this place, survival outweighs generosity, and misunderstanding travels both ways.