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many years thereafter these islands were governed by the tribal chiefs under a code of laws which had obviously been inspired by the missionaries. In 1888, at the request of the Island Council, the Group was proclaimed a British Protectorate, and a British Agent, who was nominated and paid by the New Zealand Government, was appointed as the British representative. In 1891 a Constitution Act for the Group was passed, and under this statute provision was made for the local government of each island in the Group. In 1900 the Islands were formally annexed to the British Empire and made part of the Dominion of New Zealand. The administration is vested in the Resident Commissioner, appointed by the New Zealand Government. It is only since 1900 that a system of organized government has been introduced into the Islands. Practically all progress and development may be said to date from that period. 2. Physical Features. The Cook Group is bounded on the south by the 23rd parallel of south latitude, on the east by the 156 th degree of west longitude, on the north by the Bth degree of south latitude, and on the west by the 167 th degree of west longitude. The Group falls naturally into two groupings : the Southern Cooks —Mangaia, Rarotonga, Mauke, Mitiaro, Manuae, Takutea, Aitutaki, and Atiu ; and the Northern Cooks —-Suwarrow, Palmerston, Penrhyn, Manihiki, Rakahanga, Pukapuka, and Nassau. I was unable to get to the Northern Cooks, which are atolls, with a small population on each ; but I was able to visit each of the Southern Cooks for a sufficient period. These Southern Cooks are spread over three hundred miles or more of the Pacific. The Southern Islands are of volcanic-oceanic formation. Takutea is not inhabited, and is only a small island of a few acres. Manuae is leased by a private concern, which has planted it in coconuts, and works it with labour brought from the other islands on long-term agreements. The area of the Group is about 56,000 acres. On Mangaia more plainly, and on most of the others, may be seen a formation which indicates their oceanic origin. As one lands on Mangaia one crosses a narrow strip of land a hundred yards or so wide, and immediately begins to climb a precipitous ridge several hundred feet high. This ridge or rim is half a mile or so broad, and then one descends sharply on the other side. The rim or ridge extends in this formation all round the island. In the centre is an immense basin formed by this ridge, or " makatea "asit is called. In the midst of this basin arise high hills, called the " crown of Mangaia." It is exactly as if an island surrounded by a reef some distance off-shore had been thrust up out of the sea. There is a makatea on each of the islands except Rarotonga in the Southern Cooks, though not so marked as at Mangaia. In this makatea on Mangaia, Mauke, and Atiu are interesting caves, some of which contain bones and relics of former days. Aitutaki combines the volcanic with the atoll formation, being almost surrounded by a lagoon of many square miles. Rarotonga reaches a height of 3,000 ft., Mangaia reaches a height of over 600 ft., Atiu somewhat lower, Aitutaki 300 ft., and Mauke, Mitiaro, and Manuae have almost no hills at all. The average rainfall is under 100 in., though good records are not generally kept. Aitutaki has occasional droughts. The highest reading of the Fahrenheit thermometer during the current year was 91-5 in the shade, on the sth March, 1925, and the lowest was 59-0, on the 14th September, 1924. The mean of the maximum was 80-2, and the mean of the minimum was 70-1. There is only one good harbour in the whole Cook Islands, and this is inside the lagoon at Penrhyn. Rarotonga has a poor one for small ships at Avarua, but vessels touching at the Islands outlying have to lie off and on while small boats ply back and forth to the shore. The Islands are rarely visited by hurricanes, only one of importance having touched the Group in many years in 1914. There was a small blow that did some damage while I was in the Group. The hurricane season, so called, lasts from the end of December to the end of March or early in April. Much of the rain falls during that season. The climate is delightful at all seasons, and the Islands are worthy of greater attention from tourists who wish to escape the cold season of temperate regions. 3. Population. The population of the Cook Islands, exclusive of Niue, is about ten thousand. This population, by accurate censuses, and earlier by partial census and estimation, was reckoned several times greater. Contact with civilization, bringing about the decay of custom, with the aping of the white man's customs and the introduction of clothing, and the introduction of diseases to which the Maori had little resistance, caused a decline of this population, which now, happily, by better medical treatment and some measure of acquired resistance to the effects of civilization, has been checked, and the population seems on the up-grade in numbers. Officials, traders, settlers, and their families number about two hundred. Asiatics are not admitted. The Maori of the Cook Islands is a pure Polynesian with Caucasian-like features, straight hair, and light copper-coloured skin — not so light in colour as the Samoan. He is the most modern Pacific-Islander in his dress, manner, thought, and attention to business. He works hard when there is a prospect of reward in sight. His language is Polynesian, though almost everywhere one can find younger people who can talk in English. He retains few of his old customs. The Rarotongan, however, whom the casual visitor sees should not be the standard of judging the entire Group. Outside Rarotonga the Maori retains his ancient manners and courtesy, which has ranked the Polynesians everywhere as gentlefolk. Nor is this said in depreciation of the Rarotongan, who has had to adjust himself to white civilization, and is doing so admirably. But in the outer islands