History of The Marquesas

From the www.VideoSource.com Global Village Travel Guide and DVD, "Islands of the South Pacific". Stock footage available from videosource.com/search.html
Transcript:
The Marquesas receive few visitors.
Large airplanes can't land here and there are no hotels.
Though the early inhabitants were a warrior
culture practicing cannibalism,
Captain Cook found these islands hospitable
when he visited during his second voyage in 1774.
In 1842, when the French annexed the Marquesas
the population was estimated to have
been 60,000. By 1926 the ravages of European
diseases, tribal warfare, and a collapsing culture
had reduced the population to less than 2,500 people!
Although the population has now
grown to about 7,000 again, there is an eerie sense
on these islands that a vanished people
still haunt their former homes.
These geologically young islands have no reef and
no surrounding flatlands. Each island is sharpl y divided
by steep ridges,
formidable barriers to travel and communication.
Nuku Hiva, the largest island in the group,
has a population of 2, 400.