262 MR. T. F. CHEESEMAN ON 
others took up their residence on the island, and regular intercourse was opened with 
New Zealand. Eventually a British protectorate was established over both Rarotonga 
and the remainder of the Cook Group; followed, in October, 1900, by complete 
incorporation with the British Empire. 
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Scale of Miles. 
Map of the Island of Rarotonga, Cook Group. Outline from the Admiralty Chart; 
interior from rough sketches by T. F. Cheeseman. 
Like most of the islands of Eastern Polynesia, Rarotonga is of small size, being barely 
more than eight miles in greatest length, with a breadth of about six. It has a very 
diversified surface, and the high and bold peaks of the interior give it a most picturesque 
and romantic appearance. In shape it is roughly oblong, with the longer axis in the 
east and west direction, and the outline is singularly free from bays or other indentations. 
It is surrounded by a fringing coral-reef which in several places is only a short distance 
from the shore, although usually separated from it by a shallow lagoon perhaps a 
quarter of a mile in width. On the eastern side of the island the reef widens 
considerably, and has been slightly elevated, forming a chain of four little islets 
covered with cocoa-nut palms and other vegetation, and protecting a rather wider 
lagoon than usual. These little islands, or * motus" as they are called by the natives, 
are not only pretty in themselves, but are most interesting places to visit for anyone 
who wishes to understand how dry land may be gradually formed by the action of the 
. wind and sea on a coral-reef. When a pile of loose coral blocks has been thrown up à 
little above the usual level of the waves it is quickly covered with vegetation and the 
nucleus of an island formed. Although the reef praetieally surrounds the island, several 
channels or openings lead through it which can be used as boat-landings, and three are 
= sufficiently large to admit small vessels. One of these, called Ngatangiia, is near the 
