Torres Islands. However, his commander, the Portuguese captain Fernandes de Queirós, serving the Spanish Crown, did sail near the Torres Islands at one point in search of the Santa Cruz Islands. Long before Europeans arrived, the indigenous inhabitants and neighbors of these islands had called them by various other names, the most important of which was Vava (modern Vave ). However, after the name “Torres” began appearing on maps, that name eventually stuck, and the islands have now been widely known by that name for almost two hundred years. Today, even the inhabitants of the islands use that name, and only the oldest among them recall the name Vave. They now designate their group of islands as ‘Torres’, and in general are indifferent to (or unaware of) the origin story of the name. History The meagre archaeological data suggests that the Torres Islands were first populated around 3200 years ago. There is abundant archaeological and oral-history evidence that, before European contact, the pattern of settlements in the Torres Islands was quite different from pattern prevalent in the coastal villages of today. It appears that, back then, most villages and extended family areas (called nakamals, or ‘gemël’) were located on higher ground, away from the shore, and were inhabited by fewer people. Thus, the islands were probably dotted with small clearings, in the middle of which were a handful of households and public spaces. Although several European explorers reached the islands in the 19th century, in the early 1880s the islanders were quickly drawn into the sphere of influence of the Melanesian Mission, which pressed the Torres inhabitants to concentrate in coastal settlements more accessible and controllable by missionaries. Around this time, a Torres islander, known today by his Christianised name of Adams Tuwia, was transferred to the Mission's headquarters on Norfolk Island, where he eventually became ordained a priest. However, the first Melanesian ever to be ordained as a Christian priest was George Sarawia, from the neighbouring Banks Islands. Because the Anglicans had set up their regional centre of operations in the Banks Islands, the mission's leadership decided to adopt the language of Mota Island (in the Banks island group) as the language of choice for translating and transmitting Christian teachings across the whole region comprising they Banks, Torres and Temotu island groups. As a result, according to local accounts, the Mota language continued to be taught in the Torres