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National Geographic : 1925 Oct
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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE The genius of the great voyager, the strength of his character, and his gift for critical observation stand out everywhere in his record. After a reader has fol lowed him and lived with him through crowded years of his travels, the futile tragedy at Hawaii which ended his noble career comes as a dramatic, fateful blow, such as is rarely equaled in either history or fiction. GEOGRAPHY OF POLYNESIA In our consideration of the Polynesian archipelagoes, New Zealand may be dis regarded because of its geographic affinity with the Australasian land masses. Ha waii, likewise, will be omitted, partly be cause of its remote location, north of the Equator and outside the field of the American Museum's contemporary inves tigations, and, more especially, because - President Grosvenor, of the National Geographic Society, has recently pub lished an admirable account of his Ha waiian studies and personal field work, which filled an entire number of the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE.* The typically "South Sea" islands, some of which stand alone while a larger num ber enter into clusters of considerable magnitude, include such important groups as the Society, Tuamotu, Marquesas, Aus tral, Samoa, Ellice, Phcenix, Union, Mani hiki, and Tonga Islands. In general, they lie within a rectangle bounded by the longitudes of Io5 ° and i650 east, and latitudes of Io 0 north and 300 south (see map, page 358). The total number of islands is imprac ticable to estimate, for an atoll of a single name may in reality be composed of scores of separate islets. Brigham's "Index to the Islands of the Pacific" lists about 2,650 main bodies of land, after the elimi nation of synonyms applied by successive European discoverers. The terrestrial area is in the neighbor hood of 3,500 square miles, exclusive of Hawaii and New Zealand. The Societies, one of the larger groups, comprise about INSPECTING THE NEST OF A MINA BIRD INSPETING THE NEST OF A MINA BIRD * See "The Hawaiian Islands: America's IN TAHITI Strongest Outpost of Defense--the Volcanic The white man brought the mina to the South Floral Wonderland of the World," by Gilbert Seas. He also introduced the weavers, hawks, Grosvenor, LL. D ., in the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC rock pigeons, and Indian bulbuls. MAGAZINE for February, 1924. 360
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