. A complete geography . cific dotted with island groups;but these islands are so small that,although there are many hundredsof them, their combined areas arelittle more than half that of NewZealand. They are the higherpeaks of great mountain folds ris-ing from the ocean floor. Many of them are volcanoes, others submergedpeaks upon Avhich coralshave grown and formedcoral islands. What names among themhave you heard before ? Towhat nations do the groupsbelong ? Although under thecontrol of these foreign na-tions, the local governmentis usually administered bynative chiefs. Together these island
. A complete geography . cific dotted with island groups;but these islands are so small that,although there are many hundredsof them, their combined areas arelittle more than half that of NewZealand. They are the higherpeaks of great mountain folds ris-ing from the ocean floor. Many of them are volcanoes, others submergedpeaks upon Avhich coralshave grown and formedcoral islands. What names among themhave you heard before ? Towhat nations do the groupsbelong ? Although under thecontrol of these foreign na-tions, the local governmentis usually administered bynative chiefs. Together these islandshave a population of lessthan a million; but thenatives have been decreas-ing in numbers, partly be-cause of drunkenness anddisease following contactwith Europeans. Althoughmissionaries have convertedmany to Christianity, others remain satages, and some even practise canni-balism. They are the best sailors of all the natural races, and in past cen-turies reached the islands in boats from Asia, going from group to Fig. native village in the Fiji Islands. BEVIEW QUESTIONS 543 There is a marked difference between life on the low, or coral, andthat on the high, or volcanic, islands. Volcanic islands, like Fiji, whosepeaks rise several thousand feet, are heavily forested on their rainy, wind-ward slopes; and their fertile soil encourages agriculture. Thus the coffeeplantations of New Caledonia and the sugar plantations of Fiji recall theproducts of the volcanic Hawaiian Islands. As in Hawaii, also, bananasand pineapples are raised for home consumption and for export. On the low coral islands, on the other hand, the cocoa palm is the main-stay of human life, supplying food, clothing, shelter, boats, many utensils,and the means of trade as well. Copra, the main export from Samoa andfrom many of the Pacific islands, is the dried meat of the cocoanut, of valuefor its oil and as food. There is, of course, little mineral wealth in thevolcanic and coral islands ; but in some
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