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TOTAL . . See also:Melanesia . . . 58,271 621,600 See also:Micronesia . . 1,326 95,600 See also:Polynesia . . . 14,215 260,930 The above figures give a total See also:land See also:area for the whole region of 69,561 sq. m., with a See also:population of 978,130; but they are for the most See also:part merely approximate. be divided into a large number of islets, often bears a single name. The number of names of islands and See also:separate See also:groups in the See also:Index to the Islands of the Pacific (W. T. Brigham), which covers the limited area under See also:notice, is about 2650, exclusive of alternative names. Of these, it may be mentioned, there is a vast number, owing in some cases to divergence of spelling in the See also:representation of native names, in others to See also:European discoverers naming islands (sometimes twice or thrice successively) of which the native names subsequently came into use also. The islands may be divided broadly into volcanic and See also:coral islands, though the physiography of many islands is imperfectly known. There are See also:ancient rocks, however, in New See also:Caledonia, which has a See also:geological See also:affinity with New See also:Zealand; old sedimentary rocks are known in New See also:Pomerania, besides See also:granite and See also:porphyry, and slates, See also:sandstone and See also:chalk occur in See also:Fiji, as well as See also:young volcanic rocks. Along with these, similarly, See also:hornblende and See also:diabase occur in the Pelew Islands and See also:gneiss and See also:mica
' These are dependencies of New Zealand, as are also the following islands and groups which See also:lie apart from the See also:main Polynesian clusters, nearer New Zealand itself: See also:Antipodes Islands, See also:Auckland Islands, See also:Bounty Islands, See also: Of the Polynesian Islands, the Hawaiian See also:chain presents the type of a volcanic See also:group through which coral reefs are not equally distributed. The main See also:island of See also:Hawaii and Maui at the east end are practically without reefs; which, however, are abundant farther See also:west. Round the volcanic See also:Marquesas Islands, again, coral is scanty, but the Society Islands, See also:Samoa and See also:Tonga have extensive reefs. The various See also:minor groups to the See also:north of these (See also:Ellice, See also:Phoenix, See also:Union, See also:Manihiki and the America Islands) are coral islands. See also:Christmas, one of the last-named, is reputed to be the largest See also:lagoon island in the Pacific. The See also:Paumotu See also:Archipelago is the most extensive of the coral groups. The coral islands are generally of the form well known under the name of See also:atoll, rising but slightly above See also:sea-level, See also:flat, and generally of See also:annular form, enclosing a lagoon. Often, as has been said, the atoll is divided into a number of islets, but in some smaller atolls the See also:ring is See also:complete, and the sea-water gains See also:access beneath the See also:surface of the reef to the lagoon within, where it is sometimes seen to spout up at the rise of the See also:tide. Besides the atolls there is a type of island which has been called the elevated coral island. The See also:Loyalty Islands exhibit this type, in which former reefs appear as See also:low cliffs, elevated above the sea, and separated from it by a level coastal See also:tract. The island of See also:Mare shows See also:evidence of three such elevations, three distinct cliffs alternating with level tracts. For the much debated question as to the conditions under which atolls and reefs are formed, see CORAL REEFS. As to the See also:local distribution of reefs, it has been maintained that in the See also:case of active volcanic islands which have no reefs, their See also:absence is due to subterranean See also:heat. The See also:contour of the sea-See also:bed, however, has been shown to influence this distribution, the continuation of the slope of a steep See also:shore beneath the sea being adverse to their formation, whereas on a gentler slope they may be formed. See also:Flora.—In considering the flora of the islands it is necessary to distinguish between the rich vegetation of the fertile volcanic islands and the poor vegetation of the coral islands. Those See also:plants which are widely distributed are generally found to be propagated from seeds which can easily be carried by the See also:wind or by ocean currents, or form the See also:food of migratory birds. The tropical See also:Asiatic See also:element predominates on the low lands; types characteristic of See also:Australia and New Zealand occur principally on the upper parts of the high islands. In Hawaii there are instances of See also:American elements. In the volcanic islands a distinction may be observed between the windward and leeward flanks, the moister windward slopes being the more richly clothed. But almost everywhere the vegetation serves to smooth the contours of the rugged hills, ferns, mosses and shrubs growing wherever their roots can cling, and leaving only the steepest crags uncovered to form, as in See also:Tahiti, a striking contrast. The flora is estimated to include 15% of ferns, but they form only the most important group among many plants of beautiful foliage, such as draceanas and crotons. Flowering plants are numerous, and the natives often (as in Hawaii) greatly appreciate See also:flowers. which thus add a feature to the picturesqueness of island-See also:life, though they do not usually grow in See also:great profusion. Fruits are 'abundant, though indigenous fruits are few; the See also:majority have been introduced by missionaries and others. Oranges are often plentiful, also See also:pine-apples, guavas, custard-apples, mangoes and bananas. These last are of See also:special importance, and the best See also:kind, the See also:Chinese See also:banana, is said to have sprung from a plant given to the missionary See also: The remarkable didunculus occurs. in Samoa, and after the introduction of See also:cats and rats, which preyed upon it, was compelled to See also:change its habits dwelling in trees, instead of on the ground. See also:Insect life is ricn in northern Melanesia; in southern Melanesia it is less so; in Fiji numerous kinds of See also:insects occur, while individual See also:numbers are small. In the See also:rest of the islands the insect fauna is poor. But if this is true of the land fauna as a whole, especially on the atolls, where it consists mainly of a few birds, lizards and insects, the opposite is the case with the marine fauna. See also:Fish are exceedingly abundant, especially in the lagoons of atolls. and form an important article of food supply for the natives, who are generally See also:expert fishermen. The fish fauna of the islands is especially noted for the gorgeous colouring of many of the See also:species. Among marine mammals, the See also:dugong occurs in the parts about New See also:Guinea and the Caroline Islands. Various sorts of See also:whale are found, and the whaling See also:industry reached the height of its importance about the See also:middle of the 19th See also:century. In considering the marine fauna the remarkable palolo or halolo should be mentioned. This annelid propagates its kind by rising to the surface and dividing itself. The occurrence of this See also:process can be predicted exactly for one See also:day, before sunrise, in See also:October and See also:November, and as both the See also:worm and the fish which See also:prey on it are appreciated by the natives as food the occasions of its See also:appearance are of great importance to them. See also:History.—Not See also:long after the See also:death of See also:Columbus, and when the Portuguese traders, working from the west, had hardly reached the confines of the See also:Malay Archipelago, the Spaniard Vasco See also:Nunez de See also:Balboa crossed America at its narrowest part and discovered the great ocean to the west of it (1513). The belief in the See also:short and See also:direct westward passage from See also:Europe to the East Indies was thus shaken, but it was still held that some passage was to be found, and in 1519–1521 Fernao de Magalhaes (See also:Magellan) made the famous voyage in which he discovered the strait which bears his name. Sailing thence north-westward for many See also:weeks, over a sea so See also:calm that he named it El See also:Mar pacifico, he sighted only two' small islands. These may have been Puka Puka of the Tuamotu Archipelago and See also:Flint Island; but it may be stated here that the See also:identification of islands sighted by the early explorers is often a See also:matter of conjecture, and that therefore some islands of which the definite See also:discovery must be dated much later had in fact been seen by Europeans at this early See also:period. In this narrative the See also:familiar names of islands are used, irrespective of whether they were given by the first or later discoverers, or are native names. Magellan reached the " Ladrones " (MARIANAS) in 1521, and voyaged thence to the Philippines, where he was killed in a local See also:war. In 1522–1524 various voyages of discovery were made on the west coast of America, partly in the See also:hope of finding a strait connecting the two oceans to the region of the central See also:isthmus. In 1525–1527 See also:Garcia Jofre de Loyasa sailed to the See also:Moluccas, but, like Magellan, missed the bulk of the oceanic islands. About this See also:time, however, the Portuguese sighted the north coast of New Guinea. See also:Fuller knowledge of this coast was acquired by Alvaro de See also:Saavedra (1527–1529), and among later voyages those of Ruy See also:Lopez de Villalobos (1542-1545) and See also:Miguel Lopez de Legaspi (1564–1565) should be mentioned. These, however, like others of the period, did not greatly extend the knowledge of the Pacific islands, for the course between the See also:Spanish American and Asiatic possessions did not See also:lead voyagers among the more extensive archipelagoes. For the same See also:reason the British and .Dutch fleets which sailed with the See also:object of harrying the Spaniards, under See also:Sir See also:Francis See also:Drake (1577–1580), See also: Alvaro Mendana de Neyra, after See also:crossing a vast extent of ocean from See also:Peru and sighting only one island, probably in the Ellice group, reached the Solomon Islands. In 1595–1596 he made a second voyage, and though he did not again reach these islands, the development of which was his See also:objective, he discovered the Marquesas Islands, and afterwards See also:Santa Cruz, where, having attempted to found a See also:settlement, he died. Thereafter his See also:pilot, Pedro See also:Fernandez de Quiros, set out with the See also:remainder of the See also:company to make for the Philippines, and on
the way discovered Ponape of the Caroline Islands, some of which group, however, had been known to the Portuguese as early as 1527. Quiros returned to Europe, and, obtaining command of a See also:fleet, made a voyage in 1605-1607 during which he observed some of the Paumotu and Society Islands, and later discovered the small See also:Duff group of the Santa Cruz Islands, passing thence to the main island of the New Hebrides, which he hailed as his objective, the southern continent. One of his commanders, Luis Vaes de Torres, struck off to the north-west, coasted along the south of the Louisiade Archipelago and New Guinea, traversed the strait which bears his name between New Guinea and Australia, and reached the Philippines. In 1615-1617 two Dutchmen, See also:Jacob Lemaire and Willem Cornelis Schouten, having in view both the discovery of the southern continent and the possibility of establishing relations with the East Indies from the east, took a course which brought them to the north part of the Paumotu Archipelago, thence to part of the Tonga chain, and ultimately to New Pomerania, after which they reached the East Indies. In 1642-1643 See also:Abel See also:Tasman, working from the east, discovered Van See also:Diemen's Land (See also:Tasmania) and the west coast of New Zealand, subsequently reaching the Tonga Islands. Now for a while the tide of discovery slackened. Towards the See also:close of the century the See also:buccaneers extended their activity to the Pacific, but naturally added little to See also:general knowledge. See also: It is about this time that what may be called the period of rediscovery set in fully. In the ensuing See also:account a See also:constant repetition of the names of the main archipelagoes will be found; it may of course be assumed that each successive voyager added something to the knowledge of them, but on the other See also:hand, as has been said, islands were often rediscovered and renamed in cases where later voyagers took no account of the work of their predecessors, or where the earlier voyagers were unable clearly to define the positions of their discoveries. Moreover, rivalry between contemporary explorers of different nationalities sometimes caused them to ignore each other's work, and added to the confusion of nomenclature among the islands.
In 1767 See also:Samuel See also:Wallis worked through the central part of the Paumotus, and visited Tahiti and the Marianas, while his See also:companion See also: In 1797 Captain J. See also: In 1839 sqq. the first important American expedition was made under Charles Wilkes, who covered a great extent of the ocean from Hawaii to Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand. Among later British explorers may be mentioned Captain J. See also:Elphinstone See also:Erskine (1849) and Captain H. M. See also:Denham, and several important voyages for scientific See also:research were made in the second half of the 19th century, including one from See also:Austria under Captain Wallerstorf Urbair (1858), and one from See also:Italy in the See also:vessel "See also:Magenta" (1865-1868), which was accompanied by the scientist Dr Enrico Giglioli. The celebrated voyage of H.M.S. "Challenger" (1874-1875) and those of the American vessels " See also:Tuscarora" (1873-1876) and " See also:Albatross " (1888-1892) may complete the See also:tale. Whalers, sealers and traders followed in the See also:wake of explorers, the traders dealing chiefly in copra, trepang, pearls, See also:tortoiseshell, &c. The first actual settlers in the islands. were largely men of See also:bad See also:character—deserting sailors, escapers from the penal settlements in Australia and others. It is not to be supposed that there were no orderly colonists, but that the natives suffered much at the hands of Europeans and Americans is only too clear. The class of traders who made a living by disreputable means and attempted to keep a See also:monopoly of the island on which they settled, became notorious under the name of " beachcombers," and for each of the many dark chapters in Polynesian history there must have been many more unwritten. The See also:kidnapping of natives for the South American and Australian labour markets was See also:common. It cannot be denied that there has been actual deterioration of the native races, and elimination in their numbers, consequent upon contact with Europeans and Americans (see further, POLYNESIA). The romantic character of island-history has perhaps, however, tended to emphasize its dark See also:side, and it is well to turn from it to recognize the work of the missionaries, who found in the Pacific one of their most extensive and important See also:fields of labour, and have exercised not only a moral, but also a profound See also:political influence in the islands since the See also:London Missionary Society first established its agents in Tahiti in 1797. Many of them, moreover, have added greatly to the scientific knowledge of the islands and their inhabitants. The See also:imposition of strict rules of life upon the natives was in4ome instances carried too far; in others their See also:conversion to See also:Christianity was little more than nominal, but cases of this sort are overshadowed by the See also:fine work of William See also:Ellis and John Williams (c. 1818) and many of their successors.
The discovery of See also:sandalwood in Fiji in x804, and the See also:establishment of a See also:trade therein, made that group a centre of See also:interest
in the early See also:modern history of the P4fic islands. Moreover the London Missionary Society, having worked westward from its headquarters in Tahiti to Tonga as early as 1999, founded a settlement in Fiji in 1835. Meanwhile the See also: In some of the island-groups See also:independent native states were recognized for some time by the See also:powers, as in the case of Hawaii, which, after the deposition of the See also:queen in 1893 and the See also:proclamation of a See also:republic in 1894, was annexed to the See also:United States of America only in 1898, or, again, in the case of Tonga, which provided a curious example of the subordination of a native organization to unauthorized See also:foreign influence. The See also:partition of Polynesia was completed in 1899, when Samoa was divided between See also:Germany and the United States. In Micronesia, since the discoveries of the early Spanish navigators, the Carolines, See also:Mariana and Pelew Islands had been recognized as Spanish territory until 1885, when Germany began to establish herself in the first-named group. See also:Spain had never occupied this group, but protested against the German See also:action, and See also:Pope See also:Leo XIII. as arbitrator awarded the Carolines to her. Thereafter Spain made attempts at occupation, but serious conflicts with the natives ensued, and in 1899 the islands were sold to Germany, which thus became the predominating power in Micronesia. When Germany acquired the Bismarck Archipelago in Melanesia the introduction of German names (New Pomerania, Neu Pommern, for New Britain; Neu See also:Mecklenburg for New See also:Ireland; Neu Langenburg for the See also:Duke of See also:York Group, &c.) met with no little protest as contrary to precedent and See also:international See also:etiquette. The See also:provision for the See also:joint influence of Great Britain and See also:France over the New Hebrides (1906) brought these islands into some prominence owing to the hostile See also:criticism directed against the British government both in Australia and at See also:home. The partition of the Pacific islands never led to any serious See also:friction between the powers, though the acquisition of Hawaii was attempted by Britain, France and See also:Japan before the United States annexed the group, and the negotiations as to Samoa threatened trouble for a while. There were occasional native risings, as in Samoa (where, however, the fighting was rather in the nature of See also:civil warfare), the French possessions in eastern Polynesia, and the New Hebrides, apart from attacks on individual settlers or visitors, which have occurred here and there from the earliest period of exploration. Aaministration.—Of the British possessions among the islands of the Pacific, Fiji is a See also:colony, and its See also:governor is also high commissioner for the western Pacific. In this capacity, assisted by deputies and See also:resident commissioners, he exercises See also:jurisdiction over all the islands except Fiji and those islands which are attached to New Zealand and New South Wales. Some of the islands (e.g. Tonga) are native states under British protection. Pitcairn, in accordancewith its See also:peculiar conditions of settlement, has a peculiar See also:system' of local government. The New Hebrides are under a mixed British and French See also:commission. The Hawaiian Islands form a territory of the United States of America and are administered as such; See also:Guam is a See also:naval station, as is Tutuila of the Samoan Islands, where the commandant exercises the functions of governor. New Caledonia is a French colony under a governor; the more easterly French islands are grouped together under the See also:title of the French Establishments in See also:Oceania, and are administered by a governor, privy See also:council, administrative council, &c., See also:Papeete in Tahiti being the See also:capital. The seat of government of the German See also:protectorate of Kaiser Wilhelm's Land (New Guinea) is Herbertshohe in the Bismarck Archipelago. The administrative area includes the German Solomon Islands and the Caroline, Pelew and Mariana Islands, which are divided into three administrative groups—the eastern Carolines, western Carolines and Marianas. The Marshall Islands form a " See also:district " (Bezirk) within the same administrative area. The German Samoan Islands are under an imperial governor.
Races.—In the oceanic islands of the Pacific three different peoples occur, who have been called Melanesians, Polynesians and Micronesians.' These form themselves naturally into two broad but very distinct divisions—the dark and See also: The oceanic black peoples must thus be regarded as having a connexion more or less remote with the African negroes. Whether the two families have a common ancestor in the See also:negritos of Malaysia and the See also:Indian archipelago, or whether Papuan and Negrito are alike branches of an aboriginal African race, is a problem yet to be solved. But if their origin is unknown, there is little doubt that the Melanesians were the earliest occupants of the oceanic world, possibly reaching it from Malaysia. They undoubtedly constitute the See also:oldest ethnic stock sometimes modified on the spot by crossings with migratory peoples (See also:Malays, Polynesians) ; sometimes, as in the eastern Pacific, giving way entirely before the invaders. The traditions of many of the Polynesian islanders refer to a black indigenous race which occupied their islands when their ancestors arrived, and the black woolly-haired Papuan type is not only found to-day in Melanesia proper, but traces of it occur throughout Polynesia and Micronesia. That the oceanic blacks form one See also:family there can be no doubt, and it is evidence of the immensely remote date at which their See also:dispersion began that they have a multitude of See also:languages often unintelligible except locally, and an extraordinary variety of insular customs : differentiations which must have needed centuries to be effected. Furthermore the Rev. R. H. See also:Codrington (Melanesian Languages) has adduced evidence to prove that Melanesia is the most See also:primitive form of the oceanic stock-See also:language, and that both Malays and Polynesians speak later dialects of this archaic form of speech. The Melanesians then, must be regarded as the See also:aborigines of Oceania. How they came to occupy the region it is impossible to say. Evidence exists as to the migrations of the brown races; but there is nothing to explain how the blacks came to inhabit the isolated Pacific islands. In this connexion it is a curious fact, and one which deepens the See also:mystery, that, unlike the Polynesian peoples, who are all See also:born sailors, the blacks are singularly unskilful See also:seamen. The second ethnic division, the Polynesian-Micronesian races, represents a far later See also:migration and occupation of the Pacific islands. It has been urged that these brown peoples sprang from one stock with the Malays and the Malagasy of See also:Madagascar; and that they represent this See also:parent stock better than the Malays who have been much modified by crossings. But linguistic and See also:physical evidence are against this theory. It is practically certain that the Polynesians at least are an older race than the Malays and their sub-families. The view which has received most general See also:acceptance is that they represent a See also:branch of the Caucasic division of mankind who migrated at a remote period possibly in See also:Neolithic times from the Asiatic mainland travelling by way of the Malay Archipelago and gradually colonizing the eastern Pacific. The Polynesians, who, as represented by such groups as the Samoans and Marquesas islanders, are the physical equal of Europeans, are of a See also:light brown See also:colour, tall, well-proportioned, with See also:regular and often beautiful features. Such an explanation of the Polynesian's origin does not preclude a relation-ship with the Malays. It is most probable that the two See also:stocks have Asiatic ancestors in common, though the Polynesians remain to-day, what they must have always been in remote times, a distinct race. Of their sub-division, the Micronesians, the same cannot be said. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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