THE ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC
WHERE PEOPLE NEITHER TOILED NOR SPUN BUT LIVED JUST THE SAME
THE Atlantic has hardly any islands at all. The pacific has by far too many. The Caroline Islands, the Marshall Islands and the Hawaiian Islands lie north of the equator. All the others lie south of the equator. They usually make their appearance in groups. Easter Island, the place where we have found those mysterious gigantic stone statues, is an exception. It lies by itself, but it is much nearer to South America than to Australia.
The Pacific Islands can be divided into three distinct groups. There are the islands which are undoubtedly the remnants of the vast Australian continent of prehistoric geological times. New Caledonia, the French penal settlement, is an example of this sort of island. They there are others like the Fiji Islands, Samoa, the Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands and the Marquesas, which are of distinct volcanic origin. Finally there are the coral islands like the New Hebrides.
Of all these thousands of islands (many of the coral islands are only a few feet above water) the most important ones are the Hawaiian Islands, where Captain Cook was murdered by the natives on his way home in the year 1779. In the year 1810 they became the center of a large South Sea Empire which continued to exist until 1893, when they were annexed by the United States. Outside of their great fertility they are of tremendous importance as half-way stations between America and Asia.
They are a bit shaky. Kilauea, a volcano with the unusual height of 4400 feet, continues to be active. The volcano on Maui, another island of the group, has the biggest crater of the world. But the marvellous climate easily makes up for an occasional worried glance at the smoke plumes of these old but none too trustworthy friends. Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, is the capital.