F. GEOGRAPHY. 109 



the latest accounts, 10,000. They are expert navigators, and 

 perform journeys throughout the group. They are dark, with 

 straight hair, and are said to be intelligent and hospitable. 

 Hep. Hydrograpliic Office. 



AURORA AND SUNDAY ISLANDS. 



It has been already announced in our papers, by advices 

 from London, that Aurora Island, in the New Hebrides group, 

 situated about fifteen degrees east of Australia, had lately 

 disappeared entirely, without leaving any trace of its exist- 

 ence ; and the fact, it- is said, has been corroborated by an 

 American whaler which lately arrived at Honolulu. This isl- 

 and was one of the most fertile of the group, and it is stated 

 to have been thirty-six miles long by upward of five miles in 

 breadth. In this same connection it may be mentioned that 

 the American whaler Milton, lately arrived at the Bay of Isl- 

 ands, in Northern New Zealand, reported that when they 

 touched at Sunday Island it was on fire in all directions, and 

 had been in that state for nearly forty days. During the 

 heavy shocks of earthquakes preceding and after the erup- 

 tions two islands were thrown up in the harbor, one of them 

 being, as nearly as could be judged, about three hundred feet 

 high. Two families were living on Sunday Island, and on 

 the arrival of the whaler begged to be taken away, as the 

 heat was so intense and the sulphurous smell so strong that 

 all the animals about them were destroyed, and their fate 

 must have been the same if they had remained much longer. 

 They were accordingly carried to the Norfolk Islands, and 

 left there in safety. -New Bedford Mercury. 



ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION. 



The great degree of activity exhibited within the past few 

 years in the way of arctic exploration has revived in the 

 minds of various persons the propriety of endeavoring to 

 solve the remaining problems of the south polar regions. A 

 special interest attaches to this inquiry in connection with 

 the impending transit of Venus in 1874, since, for the success- 

 ful answer to all the questions depending upon the observa- 

 tion of this phenomenon, it is of the utmost importance to se- 

 cure antarctic stations of high latitude as remote as possible 

 from the points now known to be accessible. 



