Manawatu Herald. MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1891. Oceania.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, 16 March 1891, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1891. Oceania.

■» How many of us who glance at the map of Oceania are aware of the giant strides that Great Britain has made towards possessing the controlling influence in the South Pacific. Like all English colonization the growth has been going on year by year, and with little fuss, large and important acquisitions have been gained. The map presents a series of minute dots to which names are attached, and that is all. Here and there stand out a few larger islands about which something is known. Fiji is merely a name for a vast number of islets, the gross area of which exceed that oi the British West Indies. Viti Levu (Great Fiji) is the largest island and contains some 4000 square miles, and is now the residence of the Governor of that dependency. Fiji is really the name of a group of some 200 to 250 islands, and was ceded by the chiefs to the British Crown in 1874. The capital of Viti Levn, is Suva. The Governor of Fiji in rlro th» Hiffh

Conmrissioner tor the Western Pacific, under which title a large number of scattered islands and groups of islands are included. Among them are the islands known as Cato, Raine, Bell Cay, Bramble Cay, Pilgrim, Ducie, Bauman, Eeggewein, Teinhoven, Coral, Dudosa, Suwarrow, Starbuck, Little Scrub, Palmerston, Surprise, Vostoc, Willis's Islets, Christmas, Fanning, and Penrhyn islands. Thus Fiji was obtained only as far back as 1874, the High Commissioner for^ the Western Pacific was only appointed a year after, and Penrhyn island was only formally annexed in 1888. Not only does the High Commissioner rule the Islands that we have named, but he has under his charge the Southern Solomon Islands, the New Hebrides, the Friendly Islands, the Somoan Islands, and other small groups, besides having to exercise jurisdiction over all the Islands under British protection, though not included in any colony, We have not been able to find any estimated I area or population for this vague Western Pacific possession, but placing that on one side, and taking the Fiji and New Guinea territories we find that since 1874 Great Britain has added some 275,000 to her population and 193,000 square miles to her territory in this portion of the Globe.