EQUATORIAL POLYNESIA. 



485 



The whole of Samoa except Tan, easternmost member of the group, forms a 

 constitutional state modelled on that of England, with a king and upper and lower 

 houses. The capital is Midinuu in Upolu, Apia forming a special municipality 

 under a triumvirate of the English, American, and German consuls. Tau 

 constitutes an " independent kingdom," whose sovereign is sharply looked after 

 by his half-pagan subjects to prevent him from drinking water or bathing in the 

 sea, events which would involve the state in ruin. 



The groups stretching south-eastwards from Samoa, though thinly peopled, had 

 formerly great historic importance as stations along the lines of migration. 

 Raratonga {Borotonga), in the Hervey or Cook Archipelago, is pointed to by the 



Fig. 216. — Tahiti and Mooeea. 

 Scale 1 : 1,000,000. 



Vyast or breenwich I49°40' 



I49°20' 



Depths. 



to 1,000 

 Fathoms. 



1,000 Fathoms 

 and upwards. 



18 Miles. 



natives of several other groups as the home of their ancestors. The present Rara- 

 tongans have completely accepted the rigid administration introduced by the 

 English missionaries. They have schools, libraries, and even a newspaper in their 

 language. Farther east, Tubuai or the Austral Islands, of which Rapa is the most 

 important member, have recently been annexed by France. 



Tahiti, or the Society Archipelago, lies at present far to the east of the main 

 Pacific highway. But whenever the Panama Canal is opened, this group will be 

 situated exactly midway between Central America and Australia, and must then 

 take a foremost position in the Polynesian World. Papeete, residence of the 

 representative of France, is a pleasant little place on the north side of the large 

 island, with a spacious and deep harbour sheltered by a barrier reef pierced by 

 three navigable openings. The trade of Papeete is mostly in the hands of English 



