Banks Islands

“ Thus a piece of water-worn coral on the beach often bears a surprising likeness to a bread-fruit. Hence in the Banks Islands a man who finds such a coral will lay it at the root of one of his bread-fruit trees in the expectation that it will make the tree bear well. If the result answers his expectation, he will then, for a proper remuneration, take stones of less-marked character from other men and let them lie near his, in order to imbue them with the magic virtue which resides in it. ”

“ In some of the Banks' Islands, again, a visitor on entering a village would see one or more platforms squarely built up of stones, with high, pointed little edifices upon them, open in the front like shrines, the embers of a fire below, and above an image grotesquely shaped in human form. ”

“ I think of it all quietly now with a sort of wondering thankfulness.
'From not less than eight islands we have now for the first time received native lads; and not only are openings being thus made for us in many directions, but the permanent training of our old scholars is going on most favourably; so that by the blessing of God we hope, at all events in the Banks Islands, to carry on continuously the Mission Schools during the winter and summer also. We have spent the three last winters here, but it would not be wise to run the risk of the damp hot climate in the summer. ”

“ Many single canoes from time to time have been blown away from Polynesian islands, and have drifted to the Banks' Islands; in many cases the castaways have been kindly treated, and have added a strain to the native race. ”

“ Just without us as we lay at an anchor was a small sandy Island laying upon a large Coral shoal, much resembling the low Islands to the eastward of us but the first of the kind we had met with in this part of the South Sea. Early in the morn we weighd and saild as usual with a fine breeze along shore, the Countrey hilly and stoney. At night fall rocks and sholes were seen ahead, on which the ship was put upon a wind off shore. ”

“ I named it Half-way Island. It is scarcely more than a mile in circumference, but appears to be increasing both in elevation and extent. At no very distant period of time, it was one of those banks produced by the washing up of sand and broken coral, of which most reefs afford instances, and those of Torres' Strait a great many. These banks are in different stages of progress: some, like this, are become islands, but not yet habitable; some are above high-water mark, but destitute of vegetation; whilst others are overflowed with every returning tide. ”

“ He fell in with Van Diemen's Land, without discovering it to be an island, and thence sailed across to New Zealand, which he called Staten Land. Anchoring in Massacre Bay, he lost three men, killed by the natives (whence the name) , and then coasted along the west coast of North Island. After leaving this he reached the Friendly Islands, returning to Batavia by the north coast of New Guinea. In 1644 he undertook a third voyage to the north coast of New Holland and discovered the Gulf of Carpentaria. He died at Batavia in 1659. ”

“ We brought away three old and twelve new scholars, refusing the unpromising old scholars. There is, I hope, a sufficient opening now at Ambrym and Leper's Island to justify my assigning these islands to Jackson and Bice respectively.
'Our plan now is to take very few people indeed from the Banks Islands to Norfolk Island, as they have a permanent school and resident clergyman at Mota. The lads who may turn out clever and competent teachers are taken to Norfolk Island, none others. ”

“ Even ten good men would do for a few years; and is it unreasonable to think that ten men might be found willing to engage in such a happy work in such a beautiful part of the world—no yellow fever, no snakes, &c. I think of the Banks Islands, Vanua Lava, with its harbour and streams, and abundance of food, and with eight or nine small islands round it, speaking the same language, few dialectic differences of consequence, as I believe.
'Even one good man might introduce religion here as we have received it, pure and undefiled. ”

“ Future explorers have still before them the problem of the distribution of land and water over this unknown region. Ever since I collected vestiges of Eskimo encampments along the shores of the Parry Islands and became convinced that the wanderers came from the west, I have been inclined to expect the discovery of land in this area. The description of the ice off the west coast of Banks Island confirmed me in the belief of a land-locked sea. ”

“ It may grow soon into a real working school, from which the most intelligent and best conducted boys may be taken to Norfolk Island for a more complete education. I am hopeful about a real improvement in Mota and elsewhere.
'But a new difficulty has lately been caused by the traders from Sydney and elsewhere, who have taken many people to work in the plantations at Brisbane, Mimea, (New Caledonia) , and the Fiji Islands, actual kidnapping, and this is a sad hindrance to us. I know of no case of actual violence in the Banks Islands ”

“ A good many of these bits of banks do not attain to the honour of becoming islands, but get on to sand-banks in their early youth, near a native town, to the joy of the inhabitants, who forthwith go off to them, and drive round them a stockade of stakes firmly anchoring them. Thousands of fishes then congregate round the little island inside the stockade, for the rich feeding in among the roots and grass, and the affair is left a certain time. ”

“ All the islands I have seen are very populous along the whole length of the coast, where are generally large flats covered with a great many bread-fruit and cocoanut trees. There are houses scarcely fifty yards apart, with their little plantations of plantains, the trees from which they make their cloth, etc. But the inland parts are totally uninhabited, except in the valleys, where there are rivers, and even there there are but a small proportion of people in comparison with the numbers who live upon the flats. ”

“ The Banks group of islands came next—Great Banks Isle, or in the native language Vanua Lava, Valua or Saddle Isle, a long narrow ridge of hills, Mota or Sugarloaf Island, an equally descriptive name; Star Island, and Santa Maria. These places were to become of great importance to the Mission, but little was seen of them at this time—the walls of coral round them were remarkably steep and difficult of access.
Valua had no beach and no canoes, and such swarms of natives clustering upon the cliffs that the Bishop did not think it prudent to land. ”

“ The Sea about them in the neighbourhood of which they always live supplys them with vast variety of fish better than what is generaly met with between the tropicks, but these they get not without some trouble; every one desires to have them and there is not enough for all, tho while we remaind in these seas we saw above species more perhaps than our own Island can boast of. I speak now only of what is more properly calld Fish ”

“ The Islands themselves were long thin strips of land ranging in all directions sometime ten or more miles in lengh but never more than a quarter of a mile broad; upon them were many Cocoa nut and other trees and many inhabitants several of whoom came out in Canoes as far as the reefs but would not come without them; 6 particularly who for some time walkd along shore abreast of the ship, on our passing the end of the Island launchd two Canoes with great quickness and dexterity and 3 getting into each the [y] put off as we thought intending to come to us. ”

“ In the morn we got under sail again. The land as last night fertile and well wooded; at noon the land appeard much less fertile, near the beach it was sandy and we plainly saw with our glasses that it was coverd with Palm nut trees, Pandanus Tectorius which we had not seen since we left the Islands within the tropicks. Along shore we saw 2 men walking along who took no kind of notice of us. At night we were working into a bay in which seemd to be good anchorage, where we came to an anchor resolvd to go ashore tomorrow and examine a little the produce of the countrey. ”

“ A custom common to the Solomon Islands and the Eastern groups is that of taking a new canoe about to show it with a large party who receive presents wherever they visit. A great deal of trading is carried on between the various islands of each group; in two places the people live by commerce and manufactures. Rowa, one of the Banks' group, has but a tiny population on one of the islets of its reef. They still mainly obtain their food from Saddle Island and Vanua Lava, carrying over in exchange fish and the money that they make at home. ”

“ If, by happy decree of fate, fog-banks do not shut suddenly down upon your pleased vision, a rapid succession of islands and myriads of islets, all springing out boldly from the cold blue-green and whitish-gray waters which encircle their bases, will soon tend to confuse and utterly destroy all sense of locality ”

“ Just about sun rise a shoal of fish about the size of and much like flounders but perfectly white went by the ship. At noon the Islands had mended their appearance and people were seen upon them; the Main as barren as ever with several fires upon it, one vastly large. After dinner an appearance very much like Cocoa nut trees tempted us to hoist out a boat and go ashore, where we found our supposd Cocoanut trees to be no more than bad Cabbage trees. The Countrey about them was very stoney and barren and it was almost dark when we got ashsore ”

“ The people of this Island are rather under than over the midling size, the women especialy most of whoom are remarkably short and generaly squat built. Their colour is well ting'd with brown, in all Ranks and conditions nearly the same, in which particular they differ much from the inhabitants of the South sea Isles where the better sort of people are universaly almost whiter than their inferiors. The men are rather well made and seem to be active and nimble ”

“ Turn-again Island is flat, low, and swampy; and about three miles in length, by half that space in breadth. (Mr. Bampton's chart makes it the double of these dimensions; and, generally, the islands in it exceed the description of the journal in about the same proportion: the journal seems to be the preferable authority.) The reefs which surround Turn-again Island, extend a great distance to the east and west; particularly in the latter direction, where there are many dry sand banks. The island is mostly over-run with mangroves ”

“ At night we anchord, several large Islands being without us.
1770 June 3. At day break the anchor was weighd and we stood along shore till we found ourselves in a bay off the outermost point of which were the Islands seen yesterday; by 8 it was resolvd to stand out again through a passage which was seen between them and the main which was accordingly done. The countrey within the bay, especialy on the innermost side, was well wooded, lookd fertile and pleasant. After dinner standing among Islands which were very barren, rising high and steep from the sea ”

“ Religion has been in ages, is still in all Countreys Cloak'd in mysteries unexplicable to human understanding. In the South Sea Islands it has still another disadvantage to present to any one who has a desire to investigate it--the Language in which it is conveyd, at least many words of it, are different from those usd in common conversation, so that tho Tupia often shewd the greatest desire to instruct us in it he found it almost impossible ”

“ In view of the contrast drawn between 'mainland' and 'sand banks,' it may be that this formulation contemplated the drawing of closing lines to pieces of land closely related to the mainland but entirely surrounded by water, as sand banks often are.↑ The United States argues that since the Convention in Article 7 (3) specifically recognizes that islands may create multiple mouths to bays, it cannot be construed o permit islands to create the bays themselves. ”

“ The fighting Pahies which are the largest are fitted in the same manner as the fighting Ivahas, only as they carry far greater burthens the stages are proportionaly larger. The Sailing ones are most generaly fastned two and two together: for this purpose the middling sizd ones are said to be the best and least liable to accidents in stormy weather; in these if we may credit the reports of the inhabitants they make very long voyages, often remaining out from home several months, visiting in that time many different Islands of which they repeated to us the names of near a hundred. ”

“ Thus Desceliers’ map of 1546163 (Fig. 9) , a museum of strangely-named sea islands, makes the latitude of “Maidas” 47° and the longitude that of St. Michaels, but not long afterward Nicolay (1560;164 Fig. 6) and Zaltieri (1566) 165 transferred the island to Newfoundland waters. Nicolay calls it “I man orbolunda,” and places it just south of the Strait of Belle Isle. It is accompanied by Green Island and by Brazil, a little farther out on the Grand Banks where the Virgin Rocks may still be found at low tide. Taken together these three islands look like parts of a disintegrated Newfoundland. ”

“ Having now entirely circumnavigated New Zealand, and found it, not as generally supposed, part of a continent, but two islands, and having not the least reason to imagine that any country larger than itself lay in its neighbourhood, it was resolved to leave it and proceed upon further discoveries on our return to England, as we were determined to do as much as the state of the ship and provisions would allow. ”

“ Inferior to the manahounis are the toutous, who are almost upon the same footing as the slaves in the East Indian Islands, only that they never appeared transferable from one to the other. These do all kinds of laborious work: till the land, fetch wood and water, dress the victuals, under the direction, however, of the mistress of the family, catch fish, etc. ”

“ Since we have been on the coast, we have not observed those large fires which we so frequently saw in the islands and New Zealand, made by the natives in order to clear the ground for cultivation: we thence concluded not much in favour of our future friends. ”