A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Rapuanate is a warrior chief born in Olu Malau, also called the Three Sisters. He destroys the people living there and then attacks Hanua Asia. He takes money, paddles to Mala, buys a flood, and brings it back to drown the island.
One girl escapes on a log to Ulawa, twelve miles away. Coombe knows a woman locally said to descend from the fugitive. Lark Shoal is supposed to be the sunken island, and local people report trees still standing beneath the sea.
Rapuanate is a human figure whose extraordinary act is purchasing a flood. The claimed descent and the link to Lark Shoal are Coombe's reports. They have not been independently confirmed as genealogy or as a record of a real tsunami or flood.
Origins & earliest records
Ulawa account printed in Florence Coombe, Islands of Enchantment (1911), Part III ch. II, pp. 259–260.
Records & interpretation
Coombe 1911, pp. 259–260, cached OCR. Descent and submerged-landscape reports are attributed, with no independent confirmation.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Islands of Enchantment: many-sided Melanesia seen through many eyes
Selected bibliography; Part III ch. II, pp. 259–260; includes Coombe's own landscape and descent remarks.
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.
- Digitised historical book (OCR)Islands of Enchantment (full OCR text)Research access: 2026-10-07
- Catalogue recordIslands of Enchantment (Internet Archive catalogue record)Research access: 2026-10-07
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.