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CENTRAL POLYNESIA.
No. 18. A GAZETTEER OF CENTRAL POLYNESIA - (CONTINUED).
[ABBREVIATIONS.-For the Fijian Archipelago-Fi :, for the Samoan Archipelago-Sa :, for the Vaitupu Group-Vai :, for the Tongese Archipelago-T :, for the Hervey Group-Her :, for the Marquesas Archipelago-Mar :, for the Society Isles-Soc :, for the Georgian Group -Geo :, for the Austral Group -Aust :, and for the Paumotus Archipelago-Pau :. By observing these abbreviations after the name of any island it may be seen whether it forms part of any of these larger groups and archipelagos, and further and more elaborate information relative thereto be readily obtained.]
NORFOLK ISLAND. -The group of islands of which this is the
principal lies in the South Pacific Ocean, 163-1 E. longitude,
and 29-2 S. latitude. It was discovered by Captain Cook in 1774, and consists of two considerable islets, Norfolk and Phillip, distant about 8 miles from each other, with about a dozen others -Nepean and the Bird Islands-which are little more than dry
rocks distributed about the main islands. Norfolk Island is not quite 5 miles long, with a medium breadth of about 2½ miles ; and its superficies is about 8950 acres ; and greatest height, at two points close together, forming the double summit of Mount Pitt, 1030 feet. The N. side presents from the seaward a sterile appearance, but the southern aspects is of a very different cha- racter. In 1787 the island was colonised by free settlers and prisoners from New South Wales, under Captain King, R.N. In 1809 an unsuccessful attempt was made by the free settlers, military, and prisoners, to take possession of the island. In the following year the island was abandoned, and every building demolished. On the 4th June, 1825, it was reoccupied as a penal settlement by Major Turton, six civilians, fifty solders,
and fifty prisoners, and continued from that time to be used as a penal settlement for convicts of the worst class for upwards of thirty years; when those criminals who still remained there under sentence, were removed to Van Diemen's Land, and the island generously offered by the British Government to the virtuous and intelligent community of Pitcairn Island, now grown too numerous for that rocky islet.
At Norfolk Island every description of poultry thrives well, and fowl is of good quality; the common pigeon is abundant, and, when young, good eating. The white guinea fowl was once abundant, but is now extinct; the grey are getting more
common. There are three varieties of parrots- a blue and a
red lory (Psittnous Penoatis) and a green parrot. A hive of bees was introduced by Captain Maconochie, in 1840; they have thriven well, and are now wild in the bush. The quality of the
honey is excellent. The thermometer seldom descends below 65 degrees. The climate is salubrious, and, for the most part, of a delightful temperature, being generally preserved from exces- sive heat by the sea-breezes. Norfolk Island is distant, from
Sydney about 1200 miles.
There are a variety of trees and shrubs on the island. The most characteristic amongst these is the graceful Norfolk Island pine (Altingia excelsa), which somewhat resembles the Norway spruce, but having its tiers more distant. It rises to a height of 100 feet, and grows thickly all over the highest parts of the island. Maple, ironwood, and a hard yellow wood (Blackburnia permnia) are also plentiful and most useful for making furniture and ornamental purposes. There are some beautiful varieties of ferns. One of these (Alsophiln excelan) measures forty feet in height, and has a magnificent crest of fronds. Another
(Cyathea medularis) is about twenty feet in height, with fronds eleven feet in length. The Norfolk Island cabbage-tree (Sea- forthia saplda) is a handsome palm, about twenty feet high and two feet in circumference. The young unfolded leaves rise perpendicularly in the centre of the crest (in this state they are used for making hats); those still unprotruded and remaining enclosed within sheaths of the older leaves form a white
mass, as thick as a man's arm, and are very good food, being eaten raw or boiled. Many fruits, which have been introduced at different periods, now grow wild in the bush, as the guava, lemon, lime, orange, Cape gooseberry, and others. Nearly all English vegetables are on the island, and grow well. There are three tropical vegetables-the sweet potato, arrow-root, and South Sea taro. The latter is indigenous; the two former are cultivated extensively, particularly the sweet potato. The
arrowroot is not inferior to any grown elsewhere. Melons and
pumpkins of all kinds thrive well, as also coffee, which fruits abundantly, and of good quality. The Pitcairners having gratefully received the above mentioned offer to them of Norfolk Island as a future home, they
were, in the transport ship, the Morayshire, at the expense of Her Britannic-Majesty's Government, carefully conveyed from Pitcairn Island -the most eastern limit of Central Polynesia-to this spot, which may perhaps be considered to be (geographi- cally speaking) its most western extremity. They arrived there in safely on Sunday, the 8th of June, 1856, amounting in all (including an infant; who expired soon after landing) to one hundred and ninety-four persons. It is almost needless to say that they were received with great consideration and bene- volence by Captain Denham, R.N., who there awaited their arrival, and of whose kindness towards them, as well as of that of all others officially concerned in the removal of this most interesting Anglo-Polynesian race, it seems impossible to speak, to highly. Captain Denham, in his letter to Captain Washing- ton, R.N., F.R.S., dated from Norfolk Island on the 16th of
June, says, "Pending the harvest, which they give six months to come about, I leave this community of 193 persons, com- prising 40 men, 47 women, 51 boys, and 52 girls, provided with
45,500 lbs. of biscuit, flour, maize, and rice, with groceries in proportion, and abundance of milk at their hand. Their live
stock and fodder consists of 1300 sheep, 430 cattle, 23 horses, 10 swine in sties, 10 domestic fowls, 10,000 lbs. hay, 5000 lbs. straw, and a quantity of wild pigs and fowls."
Lest, however, the first crops should have been retarded or hare fallen short, further supplies were, it is understood, for- warded for their use from Sydney, by his Excellency the Governor-General, Sir William Denison.
The Pitcairners, or, as they should now be termed, the Nor- folk Islanders, are members of the Church of England, and fondly attached to the ritual, and other forms of that commu- nion. Even on the night of their arrival at Norfolk Island their first impulse appears to have been to repair to the church at the settlement, for the sake of attending Divine Service. They are, to all intents and purposes, British subjects, and the more so as apart from all other considerations to which they never can be-
come insensible, the island on which they are now located is a
British possession.
Norfolk Island was first attached as a dependency to the
Government of New South Wales, but was afterwards trans- ferred to the government of Van Diemen's Land. Recently it
has been re-transferred with all the necessary formalities to the Colony of New South Wales for the use and occupation of the Pitcairn Islanders. A Resident has been appointed, with a
liberal salary to act for these people as a magistrate and governor. In addition to what has been above-mentioned, amongst the vegetable productions good wheat may be named;
and on the coast, it may also be observed, there is a large supply of the useful plants generally called New Zea-
land flax-the "Phormium tenax " of botanists. Stones
also are found of which good dripstones can be made. A large
and singular cave exists on the seaside, Near Anson's Bay, into which, as into a sort of Maelstrom the angry waters of the
ocean appear to pour continuously without any visible outlet.
The particulars furnished as to this place are, however, some- what meagre as the spot is, for obvious reasons, a very dan-
gerous one to visit. There is also, not far from that locality on the north side of the Island a fine cascade of fresh water which falls over the cliff directly into the ocean, and can be seen from
seaward at a considerable distance. It flows from a small but deep lakelet, in the immediate vicinity. The view from Mount
Pitt is described as extremely grand, well repaying the traveller for the tolls of the ascent. On all sides the varied panorama of a country which partakes of a tropical character with forest
clearing and homestead, is spread before the spectator bounded
everywhere by the Pacific. Altogether it does not seem possible
that the Pitcairners could have had assigned to them a more lovely home, or one in every way more worthy of them and of
the royal liberality of that august personage, to whose personal
interest in their welfare they stand so deeply indebted. (a)
There is no safe anchorage at Norfolk,Island, and even the landing is at times very difficult and dangerous from a heavy
swell, called the Bar, which runs on to the beach. An exten- sive bank of soundings jumping from 200 fathoms, no bottom, to 100 fathoms, and 70 fathoms, coarse brown
sand, ranges off this island. " Reverting," says Captain
Denham, in his communication before quoted, "to our survey
of the bank of soundings, which most fortunately skirts Norfolk Island and its islets, I am now enabled to state that its 100 fathoms edge contours thus:-N. of the main island, 17½ miles; NE. of ditto, 11 : E. of ditto, 8 ; SE. of Phillip Islet, 15 ; S. of ditto, 26 ; SW. of ditto, 5 SW. of the main island, 7 ; NW. of
ditto, 17.: Hence, the mariner may be warned by his lead if
closing under storm canvas, 'or' hold his own in moderate weather in 20 fathoms, with safe clearing room upon one tack on the other, if his business is to communicate with the settlers of the island. Thus does Norfolk Island present a strikingly dis- tinctive character when compared with its neighbouring groups of Polynesia, each island of which is reef girt with no soundings to indicate approach."
NORTH I, Fi : One of the Ringgold's Isles, of which the native
name is unknown. The Ringgold's Isles lie to the E. of Vanua Levu, and to the N. of the eastern group of the Fijis. NOUVELLE CYTHERE, Geo : Name given by Bougainville to Tahiti on a visit to that island on the 4th of April, 1768, about
nine months subsequent to its rediscovery by the British navigator Wallis.
NUAPAPA, T : Form used by Erskine for Niua-babu, to which refer.
NUATELE, Sa : See Fish Islands.
NUCUMBATI, Fi : An islet off the N. coast of Vanua Levu,
3 miles W. of Mathuata ; extends about three-quarters of a mile either way.
NUCUMURRY ISLET, Fi : Lies at the extremity of a peninsula
forming the E. side of Nucumurry Harbour, at the W. end of Vanua Levu.
NUKAHIVA, Mar : (Nukuheva, Noukahiva, Nnuhiva, Nooahava,
&c., also called Marchand I. by the French, and Sir H. Martin's I. by Hergest. &c., &c.) This the largest of all the Marquesas
Islands, lying 25 miles W. of Houna houna, and 30 N. of Ifoua- poou, in about the centre of the NW. group of the Marquesas (700 miles to the NE. of Tahiti), is 18 miles in length from E. to
(a) The information contained in this paragraph was recently communicated to the compiler, by a British officer formerly sta-
tioned at Norfolk Island, whose ready courtesy in so doing is hereby respectfully acknowledged.
W., by 10 miles in breadth. The name of Nukahiva, according
to Coulter and other authorities, is often used as including, be- sides Nukahiva Proper, the two separate but neighbouring islands of Houna houna (Rocha) and Houa poou, or Ropo. On Nukahiva Proper, on the S. side of the island at Anna Maria Bay (b) is, or lately was, the French settlement. Nukahiva contains a few good harbours, Tyohee, Oomi, Comptroller's Bay, &c. Of these, that of Tyohee, or Taiphao [designated by Captain Parker as Massachusett's Bay, and also known as the Bay of Nukahiva) is decidedly the largest and best. Nukahivs is a densely populated island, and like all the other islands of this but imperfectly explored archipelago, evidently of volcanic origin, rising in the interior, at its highest peak, 3812 feet above
the level of the sea. It is broken up into several petty states,
or septs, each independent of, and generally at variance with the others. OF these antagonistic clans, the Tiapis and the the Hapas appear to be the most numerous and important. The island is about 60 miles in circumference, very bold and moun- tainous, but, with extensive and exceedingly fertile valleys, running from the sea coast to the centre, and even farther. These valleys, precipitously divided from each other, and de- scribed as full of exquisite and varied scenery, abound in wood,
provisions, and water, but are at present very
dangerous to visit on account of the cha- racter of the inhabitants, who, although once esti- mated as high as 18,000, are now supposed to be not more than 8,000. Nukahiva is also remarkable for exhibiting distinct and
extraordinary traces of the power and comparative civilization of its former inhabitants ; features thus spoken of by a popular American writer, who was an actual eye-witness of what he so eloquently describes :-" At the base of one of the mountains,
and surrounded on all sides by dense groves, a series of vast terraces of stone rises step by step for a considerable distance up the hill side. Those terraces cannot be less than 100 yards
in length, and 20 in width. Their magnitude, however, is less striking than the immense size of the blocks composing them. Some of the stones, of an oblong shape, are from ten to fifteen
feet in length, and five or six feet thick. Their sides are quite smooth, but though square, and of pretty regular formation,
they bear no mark of the chisel. They are laid together with-
out cement, and here and there show gaps between. The top- most terrace and the lower one are somewhat peculiar in their construction. They have both a quadrangular depres- sion in the centre, leaving the rest of the terrace elevated several feet above it. In the inter- vals of the stones immense trees have taken root, and their broad boughs stretch far over, and interlacing together, sup- port a canopy almost impenetrable to the sun. Overgrowing a greater part of them, and climbing from one to another, is a wil-
derness of vines, in whose sinewy embrace many of the stones lie half hidden, while in some places a thick growth of bushes en- tirely covers them. There is a wild pathway which obliquely crosses two of these terraces ; and so profound is the shade, so dense the vegetation, that a stranger to the place might pass along it without being aware of their existence. The present Marquesans, he goes on to observe, consider them to be coeval with the Creation, and to have been built by the great gods themselves, an option from which Melville rightly concludes
that they know nothing of their origin. As I gazed upon this monument," he says, "doubtless the work of an extinct and forgotten race, thus buried in the green nook of an island at the end of the earth, the existence of which was yesterday unknown, a stranger feeling of awe came over me than if I had stood musing at the mighty base of the Pyramid of Cheops. There are no inscriptions, no sculpture, no clue by which to conjecture its history - nothing but dumb stones. How many generations of those majestic trees which now overshadow them have grown and flourished and decayed since they were first erected." A little further on he observes-"The dwellings of the islanders (the Nukakivans.) were invariably built upon massive stone foundations, which they call pi-pis. The dimensions of these however, as well as of the stones composing them, are comparatively small : but there are other and larger erections of a similar description, comprising the Morais, or burial-grounds, and festival places,
in nearly all the villages of the island. Some of these plies are so extensive, and so great a degree of labour and skill must
have been requisite in constructing them, that I can scarcely
believe they were built by the present inhabitants. If. indeed, they were, the race has sadly deteriorated in their knowledge of the mechanical arts. To say nothing of their habitual indo- lence, by what contrivance within the reach of so simple a people could in such enormous masses have been moved and fixed
in their places ? and how could they, with their rude imple- ments, have chiselled and hammered them into shape ? All of these larger pi-pis like that of the Houlah houlah Ground in the Typee Valley-bore incontestable marks of great age ; and I am disposed to believe that their erection may be ascribed to the same race of men who were the builders of the still more
ancient remains I have described."-Melville's " Marquesas Islands," chapter xxi.
[NOTE.-Various opinions have been expressed, and are still en- tertained, as to the origin of the Malayo-Polynesian race. Ellis and others have supposed them, with some shew of reason, to have originally gone from America : but the weight of authority seems to determine that their forefathers must have come, ages ago, from Asia, -travelling eastward and south-eastward over the broad expanse of the Pacific, until they poured themselves upon the western shores of the American Continent. A very able treatise was, in 1834, published by the Rev. Dr. Lang upon this subject, and it has since exercised the erudition and research of several eminent ethnologists. It is, moreover, not undeserving of note that the martyr of Eromanga. (Williams), whose knowledge and experience render him a not unimportant authority, was in
(chap. ii. page 12,) a work to which he would also acknowledge numerous, other obligations in compiling this "Gazetteer." " That the old and comparatively civilisied races of America, and the barbarous tribes, of the South Sea Islands, have the same origin, must be manifest to any which has entered upon this in- teresting enquiry. The mind is at once struck by the various proofs of affinity. On most of the groups there are evidences of their having at one time been extensively peopled, and that by a race much superior in civilization to their present inhabitants. They have indeed left behind them many proofs of their superi- ority. Some of the ruins of their old temples are sufficient to show that the extent of the original structures must have been immense. Even in the more modern temples, the marals or belaus of the Heathen tribes, there is a stricking similarity to the Temples of Mexico. There is the same wall of stone enclosing the whole of the consecrated ground, and the same massive pyramidical structure for the purposes of worship and sacrifice. On the island of Tahiti, near the Missionary station of Atehuru, are the ruins of a national heiau.
'The pyramid,' says Ellis [vol. i. page 340], 'forming
one side of the square of this temple was 270 feet long,
91 feet wide at the base, and 50 feet high ; being at the summit 180 feet long, and 6 feet wide. A flight of steps led to its summit ;
the bottom step was 6 feet high. The outer stones of the pyramid composed of coral and basalt were laid with great care, and hewn or squared with immense labour, especially the tiavo, or corner-stones.' The ruins of fortifications, of embankments, of the Hawaiian 'cities of refuge,' of funereal monuments, and of other structures, present the same massive, appearance, and re- mains of this nature are scattered throughout the whole of the islands."... Within the consecrated enclosures, above mentioned the houses of the priests and keepers of the idols, were erected. "Ruins of temples," says Ellis, in a passage subsequent to that above quoted by Mr. St. Julian, "are found in every situa- tion, as at Maeva [near the lake of that name, in the N. part of Hunheine), where Tane's Temple, nearly 120 feet square, is still (1839) standing almost entire ; on the extremity of a point of land projecting into the sea, or in the recesses of an extensive and overshadowing grove," &c. Jarves, also, in his admi- rable "History of the Hawaiian Islands" chapter il, p. 50, large edition), observes, respecting the ancient heathenism of that at present highly civilised and influential kingdom,- " Temples,
or heieus, were commonly erected upon hills, or near the sea, and formed conspicuous, objects in the landscape. They were works
with walls 12 feet thick at the base ; from 8 to 20 feet high, and 2 to 6 feet wide at the top, which, being well paved with smooth stones, formed, when in repair, a pleasant walk. The entrance was narrow, between two high walls. The interior was divided
into terraces the upper one paved with flat stones. The S. end constituted an inner court, and was the most sacred place. The sacrifical altar was near the entrance to this court. Only the high chiefs and priests were allowed to reside within the precincts of the temple, &c." Compare the above minute descriptions with each other, and with the accounts of late years published respect- ing American antiquities, of which, until so recently, little definite was known, and the extraordinary similarity, if not complete identity, of the ancient pyramids and temples now under investigation both in America and Polynesia, must at once become apparent. Take for example the following instance, furnished by an extract from the columns of the Sydney Morning Herald (26th July, 1854.) and compare it either with the Pyramid
of Atehuru, on the huge terrace-temple of Nukahiva, described in the text :-
"Ancient Pyramid in California.-Another of those nume- rous evidences of a civilised antiquity in the 'New World' had just turned up in the shape of a great stone pyramid, composed of courses from 18 inches to nearly 3 feet in thickness, and 5 to 8 feet in length. It has a level top of more than 50 feet square, though it is said to be evident from the remains that it was once completed. The pyramid differs in some respects from the
Egyptian pyramids, being more slender or pointed ; and the outer surface of the blocks being cut at a angle, that gave the structure,
when new and complete, a smooth or regular surface from top to
bottom. From the present level of the sands, there are fifty-two distinct layers of stone; that will average at least 2 feet ; this gives its present height 104 feet ; so that before the top was displaced it must have been at least 20 feet higher than at present. How far
it extends beneath the surface of the sands it is impossible to de- termine without great labour.
Another example, not many hundred miles from the above, which deserves the passing attention of the reader, is the Casa de Montezuma,-or Casa Grande, discovered by Fathers Garcia and Font (1773), on the south bank of the river Gila, in the midst of a large
and beautiful plain. This is a building 446 feet in length and 270 feet in breadth, with three stories and a terrace. The whole is built, in the absence of atone, with clay, and an outer wall, interrupted with towers, invests the principal
edifice. Captain Johnstone, who lately, visited this locality, has minutely described one of these Casas Grandes. The one he saw, occupied an area fifty feet by forty. He observed also that it had originally been four stories high, and that the timber used in its erection had evidently not been cut by any steel
instrument. This edifice had four small entrances at the cardinal points. Near it, at the distance of about 300 yards, stood a mound with a circle round it, centrically in which was a hollow with two vamps or slopes going down to its bottom. "A few yards further," says Johnstone, " to the northward was a terrace, one hundred yards by seventy, about five feet high. Upon this was a pyramid about eight feet high, 25 yards square at the top. From this sitting on my horse, I could overlook the vast plain lying NE. and W.., on the left bank of the Gila." &c. See Latham's
"Varieties of Man," page 338, Pritchard, vol. v. p. 423, Squier''s "New Mexico and California. &c., &c." In Latham's valuable work just referred to, mention is also made (page 360) of ancient remains of a similar character found in Ohio and elsewhere in the United States, between which and the more modern and
less elaborate creations of Ancient Polynesia, such as the
temples of Kawsihae and Kalli in Hawaii, a considerable analogy may be traced. But much nearer the Marquesas, on the (comparatively speaking) neighbouring coast of South America in Peru, the Terrace Temple of Paehnenma is so precisely similar to that of Nukahiva described by Melville, at well nigh to establish a complete identity between the builders and worshippers who con- structed them both. The Temple of Pachacama (or castle, as it is called by the Indians) is on the summit of the hill WITH THREE TERRACES, the view of it from the N. being somewhat that of the Pyramid of Cholala given by Humboldt, except that the flanks are perpendicular. This ancient monument is fully described by Wilkes, Vol. I. page 288, to which the studious reader is referred, and where will be found an engraving of the edifice. The illustrated works of the adventurous and scientific Stephens, which are within the reach of all, should likewise be consulted, as they contain numerous descriptions and engravings of terrace temples, with adjacent mounds or pyramids, or with both. See plan and description of
Copan, Central America. Vol. I., p. 133, &c. Place or Mound of
Sacrifice at Santa Cruz del Quiche, Vol. II p. 185; Pyramidical Structures at Palenque, Vol. II., pp. 337,339, 344; and Terrace Temple and Pyramid at Uxmal, Vol. II., p. 450. Vide also, "In- cidents of Travel in Yueatan," by the same author, Vol. I., pp.
165, 184, 312, 317. (Ruined Temple and Mound, or Pyramid at
Nohpat, Vol. I. p. 362; Ruins at Kabah Vol. L. pp. 384, 387;
Terrace Temples and Pyramids at Labnab, Vol. II, p.1, Archi-
tectural Terraces at Chuauhu, Vol. II, pp. 76, 130, &c.; Terrace
Temple at Labphak, Vol; II., p. 101. Another edifice of the same character with a ruined mound or pyramid at Iturbide, Vol. IL, p.188. The Castillo, a pyramid with an adjacent square en-
closure at Chleherriza. Vide also page 312 of the same volume ; and, lastly, a building of this character at Tulloom, at page 390. In further illustration of this subject much more might be (b) If you get the westernmost point of Houna-houna Island, to bear S. by W. by compass, you will run into Anna Maria Bay, which is about 3 miles in extent.
urged ; such as, for instance, the late discovery of an ancient
pyramid in the interior of Java, directly in the outward track of the enterprising forefathers of Polynesia and America, but time
and space forbid. Enough has perhaps been said to awaken an interest herein, and in some degree to prove that Polynesia, like America, may boast of an era of by-gone civilization; although in the case of the former no Stephens has yet stepped forward to raise the veil of mystery which enshrouds it. In many of the larger islands further proofs of the theory are yet to be discovered. And this may be the case unknown to the present inhabitants, for the Malayo Polynesians have for many centuries of decadence been dwellers on the coast only, often utterly ignorant of the interior of their own respective islands.] NUKUBOLU, T : One of the Habais, a short distance to the NW. of Lefooga.
NUKUFETAU, Vai : [De Peyster's Island.) A lagoon island 40
miles NW. of Funafuti, about 8 miles in length, ENE. and WSW., and nearly the same in width. In its centre is a lagoon having from 17 to 20 fathoms of water, and connected with the ocean by a deep sea channel. It contains one thousand inhabi- tants. Latitude 7-56-11 S., and longitude 178-27-32 E. at the extreme. Discovered by the master of the Rebecca schooner, in
1819.
NUKU-I-RA, Fi : A long sand bank NE. of Vanua Levu.
NUKULAU, Fi : A small sandy island in Rewa Roads, lying to
the S. of Rewa. 4 miles to the westward of Nakui (on the main land of Naviti Levu), and 14 miles SW. of Bau. It is well covered with wood. On the E. side there is an extensive
coral reef, and it can be approached on the western side only. It is
under the protection of the American flag, and belongs, to John B. Williams, Esq., the United States Consul (or rather Commercial Agent) for the Fijian group, having been absolutely sold to him some years since by Thakonauto, or Phillips, then principal chief or king of Rewa. The American consulate is established at a place named Lauthala, in the same bay as NukaLau, but nearer the mouth of the river Wailevu. There is a pool of fresh water on this island, but of an indifferent quality, and unfit for the supply of shipping. Nakulau lies in latitude 18-10' 23" S. longitude 178- 30' 30" E. Variation 8- 30'.
NUKULEVU, Fi : for Nukulevai) A sandy island between Na-
mena and Nambulambulewa ; off the eastern coast of Naviti
Levu towards Ovalau.
NUKULEVU, Fi : (also written Nukubalevu.) An island to the
SSE. of Korotuma off the eastern extremity of Vanua Levu, opposite to Undu Point. Properly speaking this Nukulevu con- sists of two islands in one reef.
NUKUMALA, Fi : An island on the N. side of Vanua Levu.
NUKUMANU, Fi : An islet a few miles W. of Nukumbasanga,
one of the Ringold's Islands. Lies to the E. of the eastern extre- mity of Vanua Levu.
NUKUMBALAVU, Fi : (written Nuku Balavu.) A small island
40 miles NE. of Teviune, at the eastern of Vanua Levu. See Kukulevu and Nggelevu (sometimes written Qelelevu), which appear to be other forms of the name of this island.
NUKUMBASANGA, Fi : (or Nuku Basaga,) Two islets in a
large reef 14 miles S. of Nukulevu (or Nggelevu, also called Nukumbalavu, &c.), to which refer. Nukumbaranga is 40 miles NE. by E. from the N. end of Taviune.
NUKUMBUTHA, Fi : A small islet 1½ miles from the E. end of
Anganga or Yangganga, at the NW. extremity of Vanua Levu. NUKUNONO. Union Group. (Duke of Clarence*s Island of
Byron.) A coralline lagoon island of triangular shape, with its apex to the N., 7 miles long from N. to S., and 7 miles wide from E. to W., supporting between two and three hundred in-
habitants, Lies (N. point in latitude 9-5 S., longitude 171-38 W.) a few miles of the SE. or Oatafu (or the Duke of York's Island), to which refer. On the NW. side of Nukunono is a bare reef awash, over which the sea breaks heavily. See Union Group.
NUKU-ONGEA, Fi : (or Nukusonge.) A sandy islet, 3 miles SE.
of Ongea, one of the southerly islands of the Eastern Group of the Fijis.
NUKUTAWAKE, Fi : (or Nukutavaki : Les Quatre Pacardins of
Bougainville, 1768 ; Lagoon I. of Cook, 1769 ;
and the Teay of Beechey, 1826.) A lagoon island, 3 miles in length, in a W. by S direction, and 1¼ miles in width, lies W. by S. of Searle's Island, NNW. of Aki Aki,
and Temaitu Leiwuwan (the Queen Charlotte Island and Whit- sunday Island of Wallis), and SE. by E. of Pukerun or Thrum Cap. Is little more than a border of land, broken in several places, and enclosing a large lagoon, the whole having the ap- pearance of many islets covered with wood. The lagoon is shallow, with many dry islets in it; the shore, as in many other
coralline islands, steep, excepting on the southern side, and there not to be safely approached within one quarter of a mile. At the NW. extremity of the island there is a small village, off which Captain Beechey anchored the Blossom, in January, 1826. The inhabitants are described as a fine athletic race (much lighter than the natives of Clermont de Tonnere's Island) of a
copper-coloured complexion, with black hair. The western ex- tremity of Nukutawnke is placed by Beechey in latitude 19-43-19 S., longitude 141-43-33 W. In the vicinity of Nu- kutawake there are more islands than appear upon Wilkes' Map of the archipelago. See treatise.
NUKUTIPIPI, Pau : (or Margaret's Island.) A small round
lagoon islet, 2 miles in circumference in * latitude 23-48 S.,
and longitude 143-4 W. It is high and well wooded on the N.
side, with a flat submerged reef on the SE. and E. sides; lies a few miles E. of Teku or the Four Crowns, of Quiros. Has no inhabitants.
NUKUTOLU, Fi : An islet near Yathaia, one of the islands of
the eastern group of the Fijis.
NUKUVANA, Fi : A sandy islet off the NE. coast of Vanua
Levu.
NUKUVUKA, T : An island near Tongatabu.
NULOFA, Sa : An islet at the western side of Manono, next to Apolima. NUTUA, Sa : See Fish Islands.
NUVERA, Fi : (or Nivera.) A narrow island, 6 miles in length,
near the NW. extremity of Vanua Levu, opposite to Nathila Point. E.R.