470 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION E. 
CoMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY. 
The products of these countries, and their commercial 
value, may be very briefly stated. In all of them the 
cocoanut in its export form of copra occupies the most 
important position, more especially in the eastern or 
Polynesian groups. In Tonga and in Samoa it is almost 
the only article of export. In Fiji it is probably second only 
to the production of sugar, which in late years has been so 
very largely developed in that group. In the New 
Hebrides, the Solomons, New Britain and New Guinea, 
the produce, though not so large as in the other groups, 
is still the principal article of export. Cocoa is being 
extensively grown in Samoa. Pearl-shell is found in the 
Solomons, and considerable quantities are exported from 
Manning Straits and other places. Gold is found in New 
Guinea, and copper and tin are known to exist in the 
Solomons group. The trade in Beche de mer is almost at 
an end in the groups under consideration. The commercial 
value, however, of these islands is still very imperfectly 
developed ; and, in the opinion of many, the exploration of 
some of the large islands—notably of Guadalcanar, in the 
Solomons—would reveal many sources of wealth of which 
we are as yet ignorant. 
We find that the physical features of the islands have, 
as in more civilised places, a most important influence 
upon the character of the people, their modes of life, their 
industrial pursuits, and their relations with other tribes. 
A small island, such as Manono in Samea, Bau in Fiji, 
Duke of York in New Britain, Dobu in New Guinea, lying 
contiguous to the mainland of larger islands, develops a 
race of seafaring men, whose power, owing to the com- 
parative ease with which they can make raids upon their 
neighbours, is quite disproportionate to their numbers. 
The coast tribes of large islands live in constant dread of 
them, and this fear modifies very materially the location 
of their villages, the shape of their houses, as well as their 
relations to their aggressive neighbours. The compli- 
mentary name of Manono was “ the fleet,” symbolic of its 
sea-power; and so great was the dread of them in olden 
days that even solitary voyagers were treated with marked 
respect, and the proud boast, “I am a Roman,” was 
quite equalled by the pride with which a Samoan said, “ I 
am a Manono man,” or with which a dark-skinned Fijian 
said, “I am a man of Bau.” In the Solomons, also, the 
raids made by the head-hunters of the New Georgia 
Group have almost depopulated the shores of Ysabel, 
