New South Wales); Easter Island (to Chile); the Galapagos Islands (to Ecuador). In an area to be defined roughly as lying about the Tropic of Cancer, between Hawaii and the Bonin Islands, there are scattered a few small islands and reefs, of most of which the position, if not the existence, is doubtful. Such are Patrocinio (about 28° 30 N., 177° 18' E.) and Ganges (39° 47' N., 154° 15' E.), among others which appear on most maps. Marcus Island, in 23° 10' N., 154° E., was annexed by Japan in 1899 with a view to its becoming a cable station.

The fGllowing paragraphs review the oceanic islands generally, and are therefore concerned almost entirely with the central and mid-western parts of the ocean. It is impossible to estimate the total number of the islands; an atoll, for instance, which may

slate in the Marquesas, which afford a type of the extinct volcanic islands, as does Tahiti. In other areas, however, there is still volcanic activity, and in many cases volcanoes to which only tradition attributes eruptions can hardly be classified as extinct. Hawaii contains the celebrated active crater of Kilauea. In Tonga, in the New Hebrides, and in the long chain of the Solomons and the Bismarck Archipelago there is much activity. Submarine vents some limes break forth, locally raising the level of the sea-bottom, or even forming temporary islands or shoals. Earthquakes are not uncommon in the volcanic areas. Most of the volcanic islands are lofty in proportion to their size. The peaks or sharp cones in which they

Islands of the Pacific

Ocean

Melanesia.

Area, sq. m.

Fop.

Micronesia.

Area, sq. m.

Pop.

Polynesia.

Area, sq. m.

Pop.

To Great Britain.

Fiji . • .. ■ Louisiade Archip. Santa Cruz Island Solomon Islands (part) . . .

7.435 850 380

12,800

121,000 5,000 5,000

135,000

Gilbert Island

166

30,000

America Islands Cook Islands'. EUice Islands . Manihiki Islands Niue . . . Phoenix Islands Pitcairn

Tokelau Islands Tonga Islands.

260 III

14 12

36

16

2

7 385

300

6,200

2,400

1,000

4,000

60

170

500

19,000

Total, British

21.465

266,000

166

30,000

843

33.630

To United States of America

Guam ....

200

9,000

Hawaii

Samoa (part) .

6,651 95

154,000

6,000

Total, U.S.A

—

—

200

9,000

6,746

160,000

To France .

Loyalty Island New Caledonia .

1,050 6,450

20,000 52,000

Marquesas Islands Paumotu Archip. Society Islands Tubuai Islands Wallis Archip. .

490 364 637 no

40

4.300

5,000

18,500

2,000

4.500

Total, French

7.500

72,000

—

—

1,641

34.300

To Germany.

Bismarck Archip. Solomon Islands (part) . . .

20,000 4,200

188,000 45.000

Caroline Islands . Mariana Islands

(excl. Guam) Marshall Islands . Pelew Islands . .

380

245 160

175

36,000

2,500

15,000

3,100

Samoa (part) .

985

33.000

Total, German

24,200

233,000

960

56,600

985

33,000

New Hebrides ^ .

5,106

50,600

Total . .

Melanesia .

58.271

621,600

Micronesia

1.326

95,600

Polynesia .

10,215

260,930

The above figures give a total land area for the whole region of 69,561 sq. m., with a population of 978,130; but they are for the most

part merely approximate.

be divided into a large number of islets, often bears a single name. The number of names of islands and separate groups in the Index to the Islands of the Pacific (W. T. Brigham), which covers the limited area under 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 representation of native names, in others to 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 coral islands, though the physiography of many islands is imperfectly known. There are ancient rocks, however, in New Caledonia, which has a geological affinity with New Zealand; old sedimentary rocks are known in New Pomerania, besides granite and porphyry, and slates, sandstone and chalk occur in Fiji, as weU as young volcanic rocks. Along with these, similarly, hornblende and diabase occur in the Pelew Islands and gneiss and mica

These are dependencies of New Zealand, as are also the following islands and groups which lie apart from the main Polynesian clusters, nearer New Zealand itself: Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, Bounty Islands, Campbell Islands, Chatham Islands, Kermadec Islands.

^ Under British and French influence jointly.

frequently culminate, combined with the rich characteristic vegetation, are the principal features which have led all travellers to extol the beauty of the islands.

In the central and western Pacific the northern and southern limits of the occurrence of reef-forming corals are approximately 30° N. and 30° S. It may be added that this belt narrows greatly towards the east, mainly from the south, in sympathy with the northward flow of cold water off the coast of South America. But apart from this the limits are seen to accord fairly closely with the geographical definition of the area under consideration. Here the broad distinction has been drawn between volcanic and coral islands; but this requires amplification, both because the coral islands follow more than one type, and because the work of corals is in many cases associated with the volcanic islands in the form of fringing or barrier reefs. As to the distribution of coral reefs within the Pacific area, in Micronesia the northern Marianas (volcanic) are without reefs, which, however, are well developed in the south. The Pelew islands have extensive reefs, and the Carohne, MarshaU and Gilbert islands are almost entirely coral. In Melanesia, as has been seen, the volcanic type predominates. Coral reefs occur round many of the islands (e.g. the Louisiade and Admiralty