Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

—EQUATOELIL POLYXESLi. 487better sheltered than that of Papeete, and it has also the advantage of a betterclimate and a more fertUe soil.Moorca is a mere agricultural dependency of Great Tahiti ; but Raiatea, oneof the Leeward group, possesses one of the best harbours in the Pacific, thanks towhich it has become the centre of a brisk trade, chiefly in the hands of the Germans.Some 480 miles north of Tahiti lies Caroline, Island, where the French astronomersmade some remarkable studies of solar physics in 1883.The eastern groups of Tuamotu, Mangureva, and the Marquesas have also someexcellent havens, which might afford shelter to large fleets. But they are allthinly peopled, and the two capitals Tuio-hae in Xuka-hica and Rikitea in Man-Fig. -218.—XUKA-HlTA.Scale 1 : 360,000.gareva are mere villages. In Tuamotu the administrative centre has beenremoved from Anna to the more northern atoll of Fakaraia. But the sparsepopulation, dispersed over a space some 400,000 square miles in extent, rendersall industrial and commercial development almost impossible. These remotearchipelagoes, lying 3,500 miles from the nearest point of America, can neverpossess any natural resources beyond their palm-groves and pearl fisheries.In 1813 Porter, an American, seized the Marquesas Islands in the name of theUnited States Government, which, however, did not ratify the procedure. Butin 1835 the French adventurer, Thierry, proclaimed himself "Xing of Xukahiva,"and he was followed by French Catholic missionaries, whose action led to