The countries of the world : being a popular description of the various continents, islands, rivers, seas, and peoples of the globe . one islands, scatteredover a watery area of 1,852 square miles, but of which only 76 square miles are habitable • According to general consensus. But the French Official Reports—the latest of which is 18G4—puts thepopulation as low as 675, probably an under estimate. LOW ARCHIPELAGO; PITCAIRN ISLAND. 73 land. These islands are said to contain only about tliirty species of trees and plants,and though most of the islands are habitable, none of them are thickly peo
The countries of the world : being a popular description of the various continents, islands, rivers, seas, and peoples of the globe . one islands, scatteredover a watery area of 1,852 square miles, but of which only 76 square miles are habitable • According to general consensus. But the French Official Reports—the latest of which is 18G4—puts thepopulation as low as 675, probably an under estimate. LOW ARCHIPELAGO; PITCAIRN ISLAND. 73 land. These islands are said to contain only about tliirty species of trees and plants,and though most of the islands are habitable, none of them are thickly peopled. Anaa,or Chain Island, the chief of them, has a population of 5,000 ; but the whole group isbelieved not to have 10,000 in all. Most of the inhabitants profess Christianity, and aretolerably civilised under a French protectorate. Their trade consists chiefly in cocoa-nutoil, tortoiseshcU, and pearls, which are sent to Tahiti for export (p. 70). Among the outliers of the group is Pitcairu Island, a basaltic patch out of sight ofany other land, five miles long by one broad, and surrounded on nearly every side by cliffs. .^^^P^^v^. ROCKS IX THE PAUMOTUS AKCHIPEL.^GO. over 1,000 feet in height (p. 77). Its only interest consists in the fact that it has becomethe home of the descendants of the mutineers of the Buiinfi/. In 17S7 Lieutenant Bligh—to repeat in the briefest possible manner this familiar tale—was sent to search for thebread-fruit tree among: the islands of the Pacific with a view to its introduction into theWest Indies. A long stay at Tahiti had utterly demoralised a erew^ composed ofelements then too common in the English navy, and it only required the exercise of thetyranny of the martinet captain to precipitate (in 1789) the rebellion for which they wereripe. The ringleader was Fletcher Christian, Acting Lieutenant, who, after casting adriftthe captain and the few who adhered to him in an open boat,* sailed for Tahiti. How-ever, fearing pursuit, Christi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury180, bookdecade1870, bookpublisherlondon, bookyear1876
