House On Beru

Wife E. happened upon this watercolour yesterday, asking me what it is. In 1966, my maternal grandfather Wilhelm Olivet visited us in the mission, on the tiny atoll of Beru. He enjoyed painting in watercolours, and brought his watercolours with him. We lived in this house, at the ocean (rather than the lagoon). Several prominent missionaries lived here: George Eastman laboured here on a famous dictionary, Wilfred Levett died here of poisoning, and Alfred Sadd scribbled a final message on a pillar at the back before he was seized by the Japanese and martyred. I suffered a serious accident on the veranda at the back, when a gravestone fell on my foot.