THE SOCIETY ISLANDS 511 



1769. From this and other observations the position 

 of the island has been ascertained with as great or 

 greater aecairacy than that of any other pomt in the 

 Pacific. The Windward group came formally into the 

 possession of France in 1880 ; the Leeward Islands 

 were not ceded till 1888. The islands form one of the 

 earliest posts of the London Missionary Society, who 

 began work here in 1797. 



The French administration combines all the groups of 

 islands above mentioned. The Governor resides in 

 Tahiti, and has under him five chief officials, of whon:i 

 the Ministers of the Interior and of Justice, together with 

 two others nominated by the Governor, form the Privy 

 Council. There is also a General Council of eighteen 

 members elected by universal suffrage. The religion 

 is chiefly Protestant, but there are a good number of 

 Eoman Catholics, and a small colony of monogamous 

 Mormons, who have built themselves a temple in the 

 mountains of Tahiti. 



Tahiti, 



the Otaheite of Cook, is the principal member of the 

 group. It is 35 miles long, has an area of over 600 

 square miles, and is populated by about 11,000 persons. 

 It presents the appearance of two nearly circular islands 

 united by a very low and narrow neck of land, each of 

 which is of volcanic origin and very mountainous, rising 

 in a succession of bold circular terraces towards the 

 central peaks, and having a broad plain all round the 

 seaboard, which is practically the only inhabited part. 

 Its delightful and healthy climate brings to maturity all 

 the products of the tropics, which are nowhere found in 

 greater fulness and perfection than here. The wayfarer 



