the east coast of the island, a valley formerly inhabited by marqueses. However, after a year and a half, mosquitoes, disease and bad weather dampened their enthusiasm. He recounted his experience in the book Paa Jakt efter Paradiset (1938), rewritten in 1974 and published as Fatu Hiva, the return to nature. In the early 1960s, until 1966, most of the island's men went to work in Moruroa, in the Tuamotu archipelago, on the construction of the Pacific [Nuclear] Experimental Center. On March 11, 2011, Swiss explorer Raphaël Domjan, expedition leader of the PlanetSolar adventure, the first ship to circumnavigate the planet on solar power, called at Fatu Hiva. Geography The eastern coastline of Fatu-Hiva is characterized by a number of narrow valleys, carved by streams that lead to the interior. Between these valleys are headlands which terminate in cliffs that plunge directly into the sea, making travel between them possible only by travelling over the high mountain ridges between them, or by boat. The largest of these valleys is at Uia. The western coastline has two significant bays, Hana Vave (also known as Bay of Virgins or Baie des Vierges) in the north, one of the most picturesque sites in the South Pacific, and the well-protected harbor of Omoa near the south. There are several smaller valleys between these two. The center of the island is a plateau which is covered largely by tall grasses and pandanus trees. To the south of the plateau, running to the south, is a mountain ridge, called Tauauoho, its highest peak, at 1,125 m (3,691 ft.) is the highest point on Fatu-Hiva. Proceeding to the north and northwest from the plateau is a mountain ridge called Fa‘e One, the highest peak of which is 820 m (2,690 ft.). Geology Fatu Hiva is formed by the eastern half of two interlocking volcanoes. The first caldera, about eight kilometers in diameter, has a sharply cut rim, formed by a hemicircular series of peaks rising to over 1000 meters. It is composed mainly of basalt, picrite and hawaiite. Its age is dated between 2.46 and 1.81 million years. The second caldera, located within the first, has a diameter of three to four kilometers. It was created by a powerful eruption, as evidenced by the impressive basalt columns, the "statues" of the Virgin, in Hanavave Bay, caused by lahars. It dates to between 1.68 and 1.33 million years