Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

—EQUATORIAL POLYNESIA. 485The whole of Samoa except Tau, easternmost member of the group, forms aconstitutional state modelled on that of England, with a king and upper and lowerhouses. The capital is Mulinuii in Upolu, Apia forming a special municipalityunder a triumvirate of the English, American, and German consuls. Tauconstitutes an " independent kingdom," whose sovereign is sharply looked afterby his half-pagan subjects to prevent him from drinking water or bathing in thesea, events which would involve the state in ruin.The groups stretching south-eastwards from Samoa, though thinly peopled, hadformerly great historic importance as stations along the lines of migration.Baraforga {Eorofonga), in the Rervey or Cook Archipelago, is pointed to by theFig. 216.Tahiti and ITooeea.Scale 1 : 1,0000mW«l oF Gnatives of several other groups as the home of their ancestors. The present Raratonganshave completely accepted the rigid administration introduced by theEnglish missionaries. They have schools, libraries, and even a newspaper in theirlanguage. Farther east, Tiihuai or the Aiiafral Islands, of which Eajia is the mostimportant member, have recentlj' been annexed by France.Tahiti, or the Society Archipelago, lies at present far to the east of the mainPacific highway. But whenever the Panama Canal is opened, this group will besituated exactly midway between Central America and Aiistralia, and must thentake a foremost position in the Polynesian World. Papeete, residence of therepresentative of France, is a pleasant little place on the north side of the largeisland, with a spacious and deep harbour sheltered by a barrier reef pierced bythree navigable openings. The trade of Papeete is mostly in the hands of English