BEHIND THE NEWS
NIUAFOU. The island of Niuafou, which has erupted, is included in the Tonga or Friendly Islands group, which is 1100 miles distant from Auckland, 400 miles to the south-west of the Samoan group, and 200 miles southeast of the nearest island of the Fijian group. The island, however, lies distant 100 and 200 miles from the Tonga or Friendly group itself. Viewed from the sea, its rocky shores and hilly slopes covered with coconut palms do not afford any indication that it is in any wise different from the other islands in the Pacific. In reality, however, Niuafou is the crater of an old volcano, and consists of a rim of high land, varying in width, and enclosing a lake about three miles in length and one and three-quarter miles wide. It is reputed to produce the largest coconuts in the .Pacific. Niuafou is also the home of the malau or megapode, a bird remarkable for producing an egg disproportionately large in comparison with the size of the bird itself. The anchorage of the island is not a good one, and landing is sometimes difficult. There is no beach. Volcanic eruptions are not unknown. Mails are sometimes convey-, ed to and from the island by a native who swims off to the steamer which passes quite close to Niuafou on her way from Fiji to Samoa.
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Bibliographic details
Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume VLI, Issue 3420, 16 December 1935, Page 5
Word Count
229BEHIND THE NEWS Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume VLI, Issue 3420, 16 December 1935, Page 5
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