SAMOAN TEADITION OF CREATION AND THE DELUGE. 173 



DESOEIPTION OF THE SAMOAN ISLANDS. 



BY THE AUTHOR OF THE FOREGOING PAPER.* 



1. Geographt. — Samoa (Sa-mo-a) is the native name of the group of 

 islands, in the South Pacific Ocean, which lies between 13° 30' and 14° 20' 

 south latitude, and 169° 24' and 172° 50' west longitude. This group is 

 more generally known as the " Navigators' Islands." Its number of 

 inhabited islands is ten, with a population of about 34,700. It is 265 miles 

 long, and includes an area of 1,650 square miles. All the islands are of 

 volcanic origin, and contain several craters, the largest of "which, if we 

 except the harbour of Pangopango, Tutuila, is on Savaii. 



The variety and beauty of the appearance of these islands almost baffle 

 description. The effect, upon visitors, of a first sight of them, is enchanting, 

 nor is much of the enchantment lost after a long acquaintance with them. 



The first island that comes in sight of voyagers arriving from the east- 

 ward is Ta'u (Ta-'oo), the largest of the three islands that constitute the 

 group which the natives call Manu'a {Ma-noo-''a). It is atout six miles 

 long, four-a!id-a-half broad, and sixteen in circumference, and contains one 

 hundred square miles. 



About six miles west of Ta'u is the island of Olosenga (O-la-say-nga). 

 This is a very rodvy island, three miles long, five hundred yards wide, and 

 about fifteen hundred feet high. It contains twenty-four square miles. It 

 is precipitous on every side, least so on the north-east, most on the north 

 and south-west. On the latter side, about two hundred feet from the shore, 

 rises up a mural precipice twelve hundred feet high. The principal village 

 is situated, in times of peace, on the strip of land in front of this precipice. 

 In times of war, the people live on the mountain. 



About two miles and a half off the eastern point of the island a volcanic 

 eruption burst out from the deep ocean in September, 1866. It continued 

 sending up into the air, at each ebullition, quantities of large stones, mud, 

 lime, and sulphur, mingled with fire ; and some months after its subsidence, 

 it was found that a cone had formed, but still 90 fathoms below the surface 

 of the sea, — an interesting fact for those who are still seeking an explanation 

 of the formation of coral islands. An uplifting of this mass would bring this 

 cone into the regions of the coral polyps. 



Ofu (0-foo), the smallest of the three islands included in the Manu'an 

 group, is neither so high nor so precipitous as Olosenga. It is separated 



* Revised by the author from a paper written by him for the L. M. Soc. 

 Clironicle. 



VOL. XS. N 



