n6 INDEX TO THE PACIFIC ISLANDS. 



are of the black Papuan or Melanesian stock and have a reputation for cannibal- 

 ism, treachery and uncertain temper. They have been outraged repeatedly by the 

 labor pirates, and their hostility to the kind of white men who have principally 

 reached their islands does not seem unreasonable. They are far from being an 

 homogeneous population : Polynesian settlements exist throughout the group, and 

 more than a score of languages are noted. The climate is not very well suited to 

 white occupation, being damp and otherwise unwholesome. Although the group 

 has not been well studied interesting particulars of portions of the islands have 

 been published by the missionaries who have labored against great discouragement, 

 and more especially by Commander Markham in his "Cruise of the Rosario," 1872. 

 Walter Coote's "Wanderings, South and East," 1892; and Julius Brenchley's in- 

 teresting "Cruise of the Curacoa," 1865. 



Part of the group has already been annexed by Great Britain, and it is sup- 

 posed that France has desires for the rest as contiguous to her New Caledonian 

 colony. Several agricultural companies of each nation are attempting to develope 

 the resources of the country. 12. 



New Ireland (Neu Mecklenburg) was supposed by Lemaire and Schouten to be a part 

 of New Guinea. Dampier, in 1700, proved it to be a separate island, and sixty- 

 seven years later Carteret demonstrated the strait between it and New Britain. 

 240X15 m., volcanic and rising to 7000 ft. Papuans, physically inferior to those 

 of the Solomon islands. Cannibals ; practise circumcision but not tatuing. Coun- 

 try not well known. 



New Jersey adjoins Santa Cruz. 



New Market, see Baker. 



New Nantucket, see Baker. 



New Philippines, a name once given to the Caroline islands. 



New Year, see Miadi of the Marshall islands. 



New York, see Washington. The same name was given \>y Fanning in 1798 to Eiao 

 of the Marquesas. 



New Zealand. This important group lies between the parallels of 34° 30' and 

 47° 30' south latitude and the meridians of 166° 36' 30" and 178° 36' 05" east longi- 

 tude, being roughly the antipodes of Great Britain. The area is 104,403 sq. m. or 

 nearly equal to that of the British islands. The three islands are variously styled, 

 but the Maori names were Te ika a Maui ( The fish of Maui) for the northern one; 

 Tc wahi Pounamu (The place of Greenstone) for the middle; and Rakuira for 

 Stewart island. These have given place to New Leinster, New Ulster and New 

 Minister (of Governor Hobson),or more commonly Northern, Southern and Stewart. 

 Tasman sighted the western coast December 13, 1642, but in sending a boat 

 ashore the natives attacked and killed four of the crew. Tasman called the place 

 Mordenaars (Murderers) bay and did not again attempt to land, but sailed to the 

 extreme northern end, discovering Three Kings islands (on the eve of Epiphany) 

 and thence sailed to the Tongan islands. Tasman's first name, Staatenland, he 

 later changed to Nova Zeeland. Cook was the next European to reach these 



shores (October 6, 1769) and in Mercury bay, on November 11, he took formal 



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