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1926. NEW ZEALAND.

TOKELAU (UNION) ISLANDS (REPORT OF THE ADMINISTRATOR OF SAMOA TO THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND ON THE).

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

Administrator's Office, Apia, Samoa, 20th July, 1926. At the request of the Native inhabitants these islands were ceded to Great Britain in the year 1916. From this time up to the Ist October, 1925, they were governed by the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, and administered by the District Officer at Funafuti (Elliee Group) as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. By request of His Majesty's Government the New Zealand Government agreed to govern these islands, which were disannexed from the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony as from the 11th February, 1926, and arrangements made to govern and administer them under the following conditions :— The Governor-General in. Council, of the Dominion of New Zealand is empowered to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Group, with authority to delegate so much of this power as may be considered desirable from time to time to the Administrator of Western Samoa, subject to the right of the Governor-General in Council to disallow any laws so passed, and to any other restriction which the Governor-General in Council may deem proper. The necessary Orders in Council to effect the change were published in the New Zealand Gazette on the Bth February and 18th March, 1926. In conformity with the above decision these islands were formally taken over by the Administrator of Western Samoa as from the Ist October, 1925. 1. Geographical. The Group consists of four atoll islands, one of which (Swain's Island or Gonte Hermosa) belongs to the United States. The three islands governed by New Zealand are situated between latitude 8° and 10° south and longitude 171° to 173° west, as shown on pages 2, 3, 4, and 5. The distance from Apia to Fakaofo is 270 miles. 2. Topographical. Each atoll consists of a number of small coral islets around the lagoon, varying in length from 100 yards to three miles, but all are fairly uniform as to width —viz., 100 to 400 yards—and with one or two exceptions all are approximately from 8 ft. to 10 ft. high. Trees ; As regards timber-trees, there is only one of any importance, and that is tauanave or tausunu, which is used for canoes, houses, and in some instances vessels for domestic use. It is a goodlasting wood, and many of the canoes made of this timber and which are now in use are from thirty

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