THE ISLANDS OF TflK PACIFIC 



549 



Photograph by J. W. Beattie 



TAMBU-HOUSE : SOLOMON ISLANDS 



Toward the close of the day the front of the canoe-house is a rendezvous for the natives. 

 Here they listen to and discuss the affairs of their little world. A festival marks the com- 

 pletion of a new tamhu-house, and formerly was accompanied by the sacrifice of a human 

 life, the flesh being eaten and several of the bones used as decorations. 



Ocean covers more than a third part of 

 the globe and contains within its vast 

 periphery over half of the terrestrial 

 water supply. 



The influence exercised by this immense 

 liquid surface on the climate and con- 

 ditions of life in both hemispheres must 

 be enormous, when we consider that it is 

 bisected by the Equator and consequently 

 exposed to the full force of the tropical 

 sun. It is for this reason and because of 

 the moist, equable temperature prevailing 

 over the Polynesian region that we find 

 in most of the oceanic islands great fer- 

 tility of soil and a luxuriant vegetation, 

 so that their rich natural resources afford 

 ample provision for the inhabitants. 



The early history of discovery in the 

 "South Sea" goes away back to the days 

 of Spanish maritime enterprise, in the 

 beginning of the sixteenth century, when 

 the Pacific Ocean was first seen by 

 Balboa, on the 25th of September, 1513. 

 Since then there have been many remark- 

 able developments in the affairs of Poly- 

 nesia, both in the occupation of the vari- 



ous groups of islands and in the life of 

 the people. 



MANY ISLAND GROUPS IN POLYNESIA 



Geographically, the Polynesian region 

 is occupied by numerous groups of islands 

 of varying extent and importance, most 

 of which are inhabited by a variety of 

 peoples, generally known in Australia as 

 Kanakas or South Sea Islanders. 



Viewed in a broad and comprehensive 

 light, this Polynesian Empire, if I may 

 so call it, extends across the Pacific from 

 the eastern waters of Australia and New 

 Guinea for a hundred degrees of longi- 

 tude to Easter Island. It includes the Bis- 

 marck Archipelago and Solomon group, 

 New Caledonia and Fiji, the New Heb- 

 rides, Samoa, and Tonga, the Marshall and 

 Caroline Islands, the Phcenix Group and 

 Low Archipelago, the Hawaiian Islands, 

 the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, the Society 

 and Cook Islands, with numerous clusters 

 of islands, reefs, and lagoons scattered 

 over wide expanses of tropical ocean and 

 studded like gems of emerald green on 



