36 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



Isles for camphor and gutta-percha; while all contain forests of 

 obony, teak, sandalwood, rosewood, and other useful and orna- 

 mental woods. 



The second division, Australasia, which contains so many of 

 the most important of our colonies, will be made the subject of 

 our next lesson, and we now pass on to the third or north- 

 eastern division, called Micronesia. This section of Oceania was 

 formerly considered as part of Polynesia, but it has been found 

 convenient to treat Polynesia as being divided into two parts : 

 one north of the equator, which has been named Micronesia, as 

 it has been shown ; and the other south of the equator, which 

 retains the name that was formerly applied to the whole. The 

 principal island groups in Micronesia are (1) the Bonin Islands, 

 (2) the Ladrone or Marianne Islands, (3) the Pelew Islands, and 

 (4) the Caroline Islands in the west ; (5) the Cornwallis Islands, 

 (6) the Marshall Islands or Mulgrave Archipelago, and some 

 smaller groups in the centre ; and (7) the Sandwich Islands, 

 with Christmas 

 Island and a few 

 lesser ones in the 

 east. 



The groups of 

 islands scattered 

 through Microne- 

 sia have a joint 

 area estimated at 

 about 10,000 

 square miles,with 

 a population of 

 about 250,000. 

 Of these islands, 

 the Sandwich 

 and the Ladrone 

 Islands are of vol- 

 canic formation 

 and are moun- 

 tainous, consist- 

 ing for the most 

 part of one or 

 more lofty cen- 

 tral masses, up- 

 heaved from the 

 bed of the ocean 

 by volcanic ac- 

 tion,with a fringe 

 of lowland of 

 limited extent 

 shelving less 

 abruptly to the 

 water 'sedge. The 

 rest are of coral 

 formation, many 

 being atolls or 

 islands formed on 

 coral, reefs, dis- 

 posed in the form OCEANIA EAST, WITH 

 of a circle, and 

 enclosing a wave- 

 less lagoon, to which access is obtained by a narrow channel 

 in the walls of the reef. The Sandwich Islands are extremely 

 mountainous, and are the principal islands in the division, ex- 

 tending over an area of 6,000 square miles. They are thirteen 

 in number, and of these Hawaii or Owhyhee, Maui, Oahu, 

 Kanai, and four others are inhabited. In Hawaii are two lofty 

 mountains, Mowna Loa and Mowna Kea, which are 13,760 feet 

 and 13,953 feet respectively above the level of the sea. The 

 latter is a volcano which is frequently in eruption. The last 

 outbreak, in 1867, was attended with serious damage to life and 

 property in the island, which has an area of 4,500 square miles. 

 The group is advantageously situated for commercial purposes, 

 being in the centre of the North Pacific Ocean, about midway 

 between the western coast of the United States and China. 

 There is gold in Hawaii, and all the islands produce grain, 

 vegetables, and fruits common to both Europe and tropical 

 countries in abundance. The capital of the group is Honolulu, 

 in Oahu. The inhabitants have been converted to Christianity 

 since 1819, when idolatry was formally abolished, and are now 

 uiakirs rapid strides in civilisation. The islands were dis- 



ICOl West of 1501 GreemHch. 



covered by Captain Cook in 1778, who, it will be remembered, 

 was murdered at Owhyhee by the natives on his second visit to 

 the group in the following year. The Ladrone Islands were 

 discovered by Magalhaens or Magellan in 1520, and were named 

 the Ladrones, or Islands of Thieves, from the way in which such 

 of the inhabitants as visited his vessels laid hands on every- 

 thing that they could secrete and carry away. These islands 

 are considered as an appendage to the Philippine Islands. 



The principal groups of the South Sea Islands, as the islands 

 of Polynesia are sometimes called, comprise a united area of 

 about 70,000 square miles, while the population is estimated at 

 500,000. They may be divided into (1) the Feejee or Fiji 

 Islands, (2) the Samoa group or Navigators' Islands, and (3) the 

 Tonga or Friendly Islands in the west ; (4) Cook's Islands, and 

 (5) the Society Islands in the centre ; and (6) the Marquesas 

 Islands, (7) the Low Archipelago, (8) the Austral Islands, and 

 (9) Easter Island in the east. Of these, the Society and Mar- 

 quesas groups, 

 and some of the 

 Feejee, Samoa, 

 and Cook's Is- 

 lands, are of vol- 

 canic origin; the 

 remainder are of 

 coral formation. 

 The people of the 

 Feejee Islands 

 are black, like the 

 natives of New 

 Guinea or Papua, 

 and other islands 

 of Australasia ; 

 but the inhabi- 

 tants of the re- 

 mainder, and of 

 the islands of 

 Micronesia, are 

 a handsome and 

 well-formed race, 

 with pleasing fea- 

 tures, rich brown 

 complexion, and 

 straight hair of 

 great length and 

 glossy blackness. 

 The area of the 

 Feejee Islands is 

 20,000 square 

 miles. As they 

 contain several 

 excellent har- 

 bours, and pro- 

 duce valuable 

 woods, arrow- 

 root, and tropi- 

 cal fruits, and are 

 only 800 miles 

 from New Zea- 

 land, it is considered that they might be advantageously settled 

 by the British Government, which now exercises a species of 

 protectorate over them, with a view to the cultivation of eotton, 

 for the growth of which its soil is well suited. The chief and 

 most valuable production of the Samoa and Tonga Islands is the 

 cocoa-nut palm. 



The principal of Cook's Islands, or Hervey's Islands, as the 

 group is sometimes called, are Raratonga, Atiu, and Mangeia, 

 but are not possessed of any feature or production which calls 

 for special notice. Very different, on the contrary, is the 

 group known as the Society Islands, which consists of about 

 twelve beautiful islands, mostly of volcanic origin, the prin- 

 cipal of which is Tahiti or Otaheite, justly called the "gem 

 of the Pacific," from its extreme beauty when viewed from 

 the ocean. This mountain-mass, of small superficial extent, 

 for the area of the entire group is only 575 miles, towers 

 above the ocean level to the height of 10,000 feet, and is 

 covered from its base to its summit with trees and vegetation 

 of the most luxuriant description. The chief productions of 

 Tahiti and the neighbouring islands are the cocoa-nut, arrow- 



SANDWICH ISLANDS. 



