Adaro (Wango sea ghosts)

Overview

Codrington locates this account at Wango on San Cristoval, now Makira. The ghosts called adaros can be engaged in opposition to each other. A person seeking harm pays a practitioner; the intended victim or friends obtain a competing ghost, ideally stronger, by paying more. The patient’s recovery, illness or death is attributed to the unseen conflict. These are reported explanations of sickness, not observed medical causes.

Sea-haunting ghosts are said to shoot at people on reefs or in canoes with fish. When a flying fish or garfish leaps from the water and strikes someone, the event can be interpreted as an adaro’s missile. The feared fish is then considered extraordinary, with death expected. In the same passage, water, roots and leaves used for a sick person receive a charm intended to draw healing power from an adaro.

The harmful and healing roles coexist in the located witness. Codrington does not give these ghosts a fixed half-human, half-fish body in this passage. Their actions therefore cannot authenticate a modern shark-fin or mermaid anatomy. The illustration invents a translucent presence to communicate the sea agency and flying-fish motif without claiming a historically documented portrait.

Origins & earliest records

Codrington, The Melanesians (1891), treatment-of-sickness discussion p.196; historical locality retained.

Records & interpretation

Complete Wango paragraph and following fish-missile/healing discussion inspected in original-edition OCR, p.196.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   The Melanesians: Studies in Their Anthropology and Folk-Lore

   R. H. Codrington · 1891

   Treatment of sickness p.196; missionary framing and absence of fixed anatomy acknowledged.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Located primary narrative or institutional scholarly interpretationThe Melanesians: Studies in Their Anthropology and Folk-LoreResearch access: 2026-10-10

Image credits

Adaro (Wango sea ghosts) - AI-generated imagined folklore illustration.

AI-generated imagined illustration of Adaro (Wango sea ghosts) based on the selected textual witness; not historical or ethnographic evidence.