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SOCIETY ISLANDS (See also:French Archipel de la Societe) . an See also:archipelago of the Pacific Ocean, in the eastern See also:part of See also:Polynesia, between 16° and 18° S., 148° and 1550 W., with a See also:total See also:land See also:area of 637 sq. m., belonging to See also:France. (For See also:map, see PACIFIC OCEAN.) The See also:principal See also:island is See also:Tahiti (q.v.). Part of the archipelago was discovered by Pedro See also:Fernandez Quiros in 1607. In 1767 See also:Samuel See also:Wallis re-discovered it, and named it See also:- KING
- KING (O. Eng. cyning, abbreviated into cyng, cing; cf. O. H. G. chun- kuning, chun- kunig, M.H.G. kiinic, kiinec, kiinc, Mod. Ger. Konig, O. Norse konungr, kongr, Swed. konung, kung)
- KING [OF OCKHAM], PETER KING, 1ST BARON (1669-1734)
- KING, CHARLES WILLIAM (1818-1888)
- KING, CLARENCE (1842–1901)
- KING, EDWARD (1612–1637)
- KING, EDWARD (1829–1910)
- KING, HENRY (1591-1669)
- KING, RUFUS (1755–1827)
- KING, THOMAS (1730–1805)
- KING, WILLIAM (1650-1729)
- KING, WILLIAM (1663–1712)
King See also:George's Island. In 1768 See also:- LOUIS
- LOUIS (804–876)
- LOUIS (893–911)
- LOUIS, JOSEPH DOMINIQUE, BARON (1755-1837)
- LOUIS, or LEWIS (from the Frankish Chlodowich, Chlodwig, Latinized as Chlodowius, Lodhuwicus, Lodhuvicus, whence-in the Strassburg oath of 842-0. Fr. Lodhuwigs, then Chlovis, Loys and later Louis, whence Span. Luiz and—through the Angevin kings—Hungarian
Louis de See also:Bougainville visited Tahiti, claimed it as French, and named it La Nouvelle Cythere. On the 12th of See also:April 1769 the See also:British expedition to observe the transit of See also:Venus, under the See also:naval command of See also:- JAMES
- JAMES (Gr. 'IlrKw,l3or, the Heb. Ya`akob or Jacob)
- JAMES (JAMES FRANCIS EDWARD STUART) (1688-1766)
- JAMES, 2ND EARL OF DOUGLAS AND MAR(c. 1358–1388)
- JAMES, DAVID (1839-1893)
- JAMES, EPISTLE OF
- JAMES, GEORGE PAYNE RAINSFOP
- JAMES, HENRY (1843— )
- JAMES, JOHN ANGELL (1785-1859)
- JAMES, THOMAS (c. 1573–1629)
- JAMES, WILLIAM (1842–1910)
- JAMES, WILLIAM (d. 1827)
James See also:Cook, arrived at Tahiti. On this first voyage (he subsequently re-visited the islands twice) he named the Leeward See also:group of islands Society in See also:honour of the Royal Society, at the instigation of which the expedition had been sent; Tahiti and the adjacent islands he called Georgian, buL the first name was subsequently adopted for the whole group. In 1772 and 1774 the islands were visited by a See also:Spanish See also:government expedition, and some See also:attempt was made at colonization. In 1788 See also:Lieutenant See also:Bligh of the " See also:Bounty " spent some See also:- TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
- TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
- TIME, STANDARD
time at Tahiti, to which island the See also:historical See also:interest now passes.
The archipelago is divided into two See also:groups—the Leeward (Iles sous le Vent) and the Windward Islands (Iles du Vent)—by a clear channel of 6o m. in breadth. The Leeward Islands are Tubai or Motuiti, a small uninhabited See also:lagoon island, the most See also:northern of the group; Marua or Maupiti—" See also:Double See also:Mountain," the most western; Bola-Bola or See also:Bora-Bora; Huaheine; Raiatea or Ulietea (Spanish.Princessa), the largest island of this cluster, and Tahaa, which approach each other very closely, and are encircled by one See also:reef. To the See also:west See also:lie the small groups of See also:coral islets—Mopiha (See also:Lord See also:Howe), Ura (Scilly) and Bellingshausen (discovered by See also:Otto von See also:Kotzebue, 1824). To the Windward Islands belong Tapamanu or Majaiti (Wallis's See also:Sir See also:Charles Saunders's Island and Spanish Pelada); Moorea or Eimeo (Wallis's See also:Duke of See also:York Island and Spanish See also:San Domin_go); Tahiti—Cook's Otaheite (probably Quiros's Sagittaria; Wallis's King George's Island, Bougainville's Nouvelle Cythere and Spanish See also:Isla d'Amat) ; Tefuaroa—" The Distant See also:Sea " (? Quiros's Fugitiva; Bougainville's Umaitia and Spanish Tres Hermanos) ; and Maitea (? Quiros's La Dezana, Wallis's See also:Osnaburg Island, Bougainville's Boudoir and See also:Pie de la Boudeuse and Spanish Cristoval), the most eastern and See also:southern of the archipelago. Tetuaroa and Tubai, besides the three western Leeward Isles, are coral atolls. The length of the Tetuaroa reef See also:ring is about six See also:miles; it bears twelve See also:palm-covered islets, of which several are inhabited, and has one narrow See also:boat-passage leading into the lagoon. With the exception just named, the islands, which agree very closely in See also:geological structure, are mountainous, and See also:present, perhaps, the most wonderful example of volcanic rocks to be found on the globe. They are formed of See also:trachyte, See also:dolerite and See also:basalt. There are raised coral beds high up the mountains, and See also:lava occurs in a variety of forms, even in solid flows; but all active volcanic agency has so See also:long ceased that the craters have been almost entirely obliterated by denudation. Hot springs are unknown, and earthquakes are slight and rare. Nevertheless, under some of these flows remains of See also:plants and See also:insects of See also:species now living in the islands have been found—a See also:- PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)
proof that the formation as well as the denudation of the See also:country is, geologically speaking, See also:recent. In See also:profile the islands are rugged and elevated (7349 ft. in Tahiti, Moorea 4045 ft., Raiatea 3389, Bola-Bola 2165). A mountain, usually with very steep peaks, forms the centre, if not the whole island ; on all sides steep ridges descend to the sea, or, as is oftener the See also:case, to a considerable See also:belt of See also:flat land. These mountains, excepting some stony crags and cliffs, are clothed with dense See also:forest, the See also:soil being exceptionally fertile. All voyagers agree that for varied beauty of See also:form and See also:colour the Society Islands are unsurpassed in the Pacific. Innumerable rills gather in lovely streams, and, after heavy rains, torrents precipitate themselves in See also:grand cascades from the mountain cliffs--a feature so striking as to have attracted the See also:attention of all voyagers, from Wallis downwards. See also:Round most of the islands there is a luxuriant coral growth; but, as the reefs lie at no See also:great distance, and follow the See also:line of the See also:coast, the inter-island channels are comparatively safe. Maitea, which rises from the sea as an exceedingly abrupt See also:cone, and Tapamanu, appear to be the only islands without almost completely encircling barrier-reefs. The coasts are fairly indented, and, protected by these reefs, which often support a See also:chain of See also:green islets, afford many See also:good harbours and safe anchorages. In this respect the Society Islands have the See also:advantage of many Polynesian islands.
The populations of the See also:chief islands are: Tahiti 10,300, Moorea 1600, Raiatea and Tahaa 2300, Huaheine 1300, Bola-Bola 800; and that of the whole archipelago is about 18,500.
End of Article: SOCIETY ISLANDS (French Archipel de la Societe)
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