Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/496

 444 THE BRITISH EMPIRE: — PACIFIC ISLANDS

Since May 1, 1905, British coin is the only legal tender. The weights and measures are the same as in Great Britain. Accounts are kept in pounds, shillings, and pence.

High Commissioner and Consul- General for the Western Pacific. — Sir Cecil Hunter Rodwell, K.C.M.G. Agent and Consul. — Islay McOwan.

In the sections devoted to New South Wales and New Zealand mention is made of various annexed Pacific Islands. The following summary (omitting islands described elsewhere) gives the names and positions of islands which are unattached : —

Ducie Island, 24° 40' S. lat., 124° 48' W. long. Pitcairn Island, 25° 5 'S., 130° 5' W. ; area 2 sq. m. ; pop. in 1914, 140 (35 adult males. 39 adult females, 66 children). The affairs of the island are conducted by a Council of 7 members, with a President, who acts also as Chief Magistrate, and a Vice-President, who is also Government Secretary, subject to the control of the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific. In religion the islanders (descendants of the mutineers of the Bounty) are ' Seventh Day Adventists.' The products of the island are sweet potatoes, beans, sugar cane, yams, taro, melons, pumpkins, oranges, bananas, pineapples, and arrowroot, which is prepared in limited quantities with antiquated appliances. Excellent coffee also grows, and its cultivation will probably extend. On the Island there are about 200 wild goats and a small stock of chickens. Dudoza Island, 7° 40' S. lat., 161° W long. ; area 2 sq. m. Victoria Island, area 2 sq. m., uninhabited. Phoenix Group between 2° 30' and 4° 30' S. lat., and 171° and 174° 30' W. long. Eight islands : Mary, Enderbury, Phoenix, Birney, Gardner, McKean, Hull, Sydney ; area of group, 16 sq. m., pop. 59.

Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. The islands in this group were pro- claimed as Protectorates in 1892 and annexed (at the request of the native governments) as Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, on November 10, 1915. The Colony includes several groups of islands. (1) The Union, or Tokelau Group, between 8° 30' and 11° S. lat., and 171° and 172° W. long. Five clusters of islets, the principal of which are Fakaofo or Bowditch, Nuku- nono or Duke of Clarence, Atafu or Duke of York ; area of group, 7 sq. m. ; pop. 900 natives approximately. (2) The Ellice Islands, between 5° 30' and 11 20' S. lat., and 176° and 180° fi. long. The principal islands are Funafuti, Nukufetau, Vaitupu, Nui (or Netherlands Niutao (or Lynx or Speiden), Nanumaga (or Hudson), Nanomea (or St Augustine), Nukulaelae (or Mitchell) ; area of group, 14 sq. m. : pop. (1911), 3,084 natives, 6 Euro- peans, and 1 Asiatic. (3) Fanning Island, 3° 50' N., 159° W.; area 15 sq. m., pop. 150, and Washington Island, 4° 40' N., 160° 20' W., area 6 sq. m., and Ocean Island. (4) Christmas Island, annexed to the Colony in November, 1919, Anatole, 90 miles in circumference, annexed to the Crown in 1888. A trading firm collects mother-of-pearl shells on its shores. There are no permanent in- habitants. (5) The Gilbert Islands on the equator. The principal islands are Butaritari, Makin, Tarawa, Abaian, Marakei, Maiana, Abemama, Kuria, Ana- nuka Nonouti, Tapiteuea, Beru, Nikunau, Onotoa, Tamana, Arorae, and Ocean Islands. Area, 166 sq. m.; estimated pop. (1911), 26,417 natives and 446 foreigners. Kducation is in the hands of various missions. Revenue of the Colony was for the year ended June 30, 1919, 24,449/. (chief items : Customs, 8,244/. native taxes, 8,310/. ; licences, &c, 3,653/. ; royalty on phosphate, 1,704/.); and expenditure, 30,734/. Principal crops: pandanus fruit and coconuts. The trade in 1918-19 amounted to 92,351/. for imports, and