R. Gerard Ward

The dispersal of the coconut: did it float or was it carried to Panama?

Debate on the origin and dispersal of Cocos nu- cifera has generally concluded that the palm has a South- east Asia-Melanesian origin. The means of dispersal to the margins of its pre-industrial range is in more dispute. The literature on this question is reviewed. A stochastic simula- tion model of the winds, currents and islands of the Pacific Ocean tests the hypothesis of trans-Pacific drift dispersal. The model suggests that the probability of coconuts drifting unaided to the west coast of Panama while remaining viable is extremely low. Dispersal to Panama by humans seems more likely.

Land use and land alienation in Fiji to 1885

population, agriculture and economic activities in Fiji at the present time. Furthermore, the problems of land tenure form one of the mainsprings of the inter-racial rivalries which are basic to the present political and social situation in Fiji. The extent and location of approximately 90% of the present freehold land held by persons other than the Crown was deter mined by a Land Claims Commission which began hearings in December 1875 and completed its work in February 1882.1 Figure 1 shows those areas of freehold land on the major islands for which title was granted under Crown Grants, following the reports of the Commission. Since Fiji was ceded to Britain in 1874, the permanent alienation of native land has been prohibited2 except for the period May 1905 to April 1908 when 104,142 acres of native land became freehold.3 During its hearings, the Commission considered claims to over 850,000 acres but less than half this area was finally granted to claimants.4 This paper considers the extension of alienated land before Cession and the use made of this land by non-Fijians in the years immediately before and after Cession. As the use made of the land by the claimants, or their predecessors, was one of the major considerations in the granting, or otherwise, of any claim,5 a large part of the explanation of present patterns of tenure lies in the land use pattern of almost a century ago.

Coconuts in the Americas [Cocoteros en las Americas]

It has been clearly established that the Portuguese introduced coconuts to the Cape Verde islands in 1499, and these supplied the Atlantic coasts and the Caribbean in the 1500s. By contrast, early 16th century reports of coconuts on the Pacific coast of Panama are controversial. Recent DNA analysis of modern coconut populations there shows them to be similar to Philippine varieties, agreeing with morphometric analysis. Hence, coconuts must have been brought by boat from the western Pacific, but no archaeological, ethnobotanical or linguistic evidence for pre-Columbian coconuts has been found. Thus, the most parsimonious explanation is that coconuts were introduced to Panama after Spanish conquest, as supported by DNA analysis and historical records of Spanish voyages. New collections along the Pacific coast, from Mexico to Colombia, are increasing the sampling for genetic analysis, and further work in the Philippines is suggested to test probable origins. Unless new archaeological discoveries prove otherwise, the strong hypothesis of Philippine origin should direct future research on the sources of American Pacific coast coconuts.ResumenCocoteros en las AméricasLos portugueses introdujeron el cocotero a las islas de Cabo Verde en 1499, y este se distribuyó a las costas del Atlántico y el Caribe. Sin embargo los registros del cocotero en siglo XVI en la costa del Pacífico de Panamá son polémicos. Los análisis recientes de ADN de poblaciones modernas de coco muestran que son similares a las variedades Filipinas, lo que está de acuerdo con los análisis morfo-métricos previos. Por lo tanto, el cocotero debe haber sido llevado en barco desde el Pacífico Occidental, pero no hay evidencias arqueológicas, etnobotánicas o lingüísticas precolombinas. La explicación más parsimoniosa es que fue introducido después de la conquista española. Esto es apoyado por los análisis de ADN y los registros históricos de los viajes españoles con cocos. Nuevas colectas a lo largo de las costas del Pacífico desde México hasta Colombia mejorarán el muestreo para el análisis genético, y se sugieren nuevos trabajos en Filipinas para confirmar los orígenes precisos. A menos de que nuevos restos arqueológicos se encuentren que demuestren lo contrario, esta hipótesis puede orientar nuevas investigaciones sobre los orígenes del cocotero en la Costa del Pacífico americano.

An Economic Survey of West Kalimantan

* This survey was compiled from data collected in the course of a regional study carried out by the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation, in conjunction with P.A. Management Consultants Pty. Ltd., G.P. McGowan and Associates Pty. Ltd., Gavan McDonell and Company Pty. Ltd., and Australian Aerial Mapping (W.A.) Pty. Ltd. Their report to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Canberra, is printed in seven volumes under the general title Preliminary Regional Survey for Road Network Identification in Kalimantan Barat—Indonesia, December 1973. The authors of the present summary were both members of the study team and wish to express their thanks to the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation for permission to draw on the reports of that study.

The Banana Industry in Western Samoa

] N 1960, Western Samoa is scheduled to be the first of the United Nations Trusteeship Territories in the Pacific to become self-governing and independent of its trustee power. The success or otherwise of this venture in self-government may well depend on whether or not the country can become economically independent. With a restricted range of tropical crops and no mineral or other resources which might provide foreign exchange, Samoa is virtually committed to continued dependence on its present export trilogy of copra, cacao, and bananas. The world market for the first two is, at the moment, relatively sound, but the United Kingdom Ministry of Food contract for copra, which has operated since 1948, expired at the end of 1957 and greater fluctuations in price may be expected in the future. Since the war, cacao prices have fluctuated considerably, ranging from ?109 per ton in 1946 to ?390 in 1954. The future for these two major crops is, therefore, not altogether certain so that the significance of the banana export trade with its assured market in New Zealand is obvious. During the period 19521956 bananas have accounted for 13.5 per cent of the total value of exports and have provided 62.5 per cent of Western Samoas exports to New Zealand. Nearly 20 per cent of the total

Geographers in Papua New Guinea: a preliminary bibliography

Summary A brief survey of the work of geographers in, and on, Papua New Guinea is followed by a preliminary bibliography of their publications.

Cash Cropping and the Fijian Village

The change from a subsistence to a commercial rural economy frequently brings new attitudes to the allocation of labour and time, to socio-economic organiza? tion, to value systems and to the appraisal of the land. This paper is an examination of some of the changes which such a widening of economic relations has brought to the settlement and agricultural geography of Fijian villages. Other influences, such as Christianity, peace, the presence of a large Indian population and medical innovations have also had an impact on the village, but it may be suggested that the grafting of cash cropping on the subsistence economy has caused some of the most important changes and, in recent years, has become the main factor resulting in accelerated cultural and geographical change. Rural settlement patterns in Fiji are now at a critical point. Throughout 150 years of European presence the nucleated village has been the principal settlement unit. This unit has been intimately bound up with the nature of Fijian society. But, in the face of new modes of life, new forms of economy and new levels of technology, there are signs that the stability of the village as a settlement form is threatened and its relative importance vis-d-vis other forms of rural settlement is declining. If this tendency gathers further momentum it will bring a revolution in the rural landscape. The setting.?The Fiji group includes about 250 islands, of which approximately ninety are inhabited. Viti Levu, which accounts for 60 per cent of the Colonys land, supports 70 per cent of the population. On the larger islands there is a marked climatie contrast between the north-west, with a dry season of up to five months, and the south-east, where the dry season in most years is not sufficiently severe to affect plant growth. The contrast is reflected in the difference between the scrub and grass of the north-west and the forest cover of the south-east. In the early nineteenth century the Fijian population was widely distributed throughout the group and virtually all the habitable islands were occupied. Some early observers (e.g. Wilkes, 1844, p. 342) thought the interiors ofthe main islands were probably sparsely populated but later exploration, and evidence of terracing revealed by aerial photographs, show that the interior was well populated. Although almost all villages were largely dependent upon production from their own land, there was some exchange and a little specialization. For instance, pottery was made in some villages, canoes were a speciality of Kambara Island, salt was a trade item between coast and interior, and mats and baskets came from Nairai Island (Wilkes, 1844, PJ94; Williams, 1858, pp. 93-4). But it is doubtful if any village depended on an exchange economy, or that trade greatly influenced siting or form. The subsistence village.?Apart from defence requirements, the factors influencing the location of the subsistence village were generally internal. Access to a variety of soils, to water and to fishing grounds was important; and it appears that the desirability of having a range of land resources within the territory of the village or social group sometimes led to an arrangement of land holdings across the grain of the countryside. ?^ Dr. R. Gerard Ward is a Lecturer in Geography at University College London. When on the staff ofthe University of Auckland he undertook field-work in the Pacific, especially in Western Samoa during a survey which was supported in 1956/57 by the Carnegie Social Sciences Council, and in Fiji during visits between 1958 and 1961.

The Pacific Science Association: More than eight decades of science in and of the Pacific

The Pacific Science Association (PSA), which is dedicated to the science of and in the Pacific, is the oldest Asia-Pacific regional inter-disciplinary science association. The PSA has been an influential organisation in the region over the course of its eight decade history. It has also served as a seedbed for other organisations and projects. The changing contexts of the late 20th century posed challenges for the PSA as they did for other scientific organisations. The complexity of current demographic, environmental and development concerns demands inter-disciplinary approaches to contemporary challenges. The PSA, an inter-disciplinary organisation from its inception, must review its mission, address its policy relevance, adopt new communication strategies and become a scientific resource for the future.

The first chart of southwest Fiji, 1799

At daybreak on Thursday the fifth of December 1799, crew of the Ann and Hope (Christopher Bentley, Master) sighted ‘a very high peak resembling a Sugar Loaf’, not ‘Laid Down in any Chart on Board But We have Reason to Believe they are part of the friendly Island[s]’. In a letter written from Whampoa, Canton Bay on 20 January 1800, the ship’s surgeon, Benjamin Carter, wrote that ‘the course steered must have precipitated us on the reefs or ashore; but the Deity, who regards the lives of the meanest of his creatures, tempered the winds contrary to our vain wishes; and at dawn, on surveying the dangers we had escaped in the night our sense of his wisdom and goodness was increased. He it was, and not our prudence and foresight, that preserved our barque from a fatal contact with the rocks and shoals which lurked so near us’. Under the command of Captain Christopher Bentley, the Ann and Hope had sailed from Providence, Rhode Island, bound for ‘Canton by the ‘‘Eastern Passage, round new Holland, & Norfolk Island’’; he was to stop nowhere, except from absolute necessity, and to give the Cape of Good Hope, the Île de France (Mauritius), and Bourbon (Réunion) ‘‘good births’’’. Care was to be taken to avoid any vessels flying the French flag and any possible privateers. The Ann and Hope reached Whampoa on 19 January 1800 and, the following day, Carter wrote his report of the sighting of new lands for dispatch to New England. In doing so, he drew on his journal, which in turn drew extensively (especially for the navigational data) on the log of the Chief Mate, and/or that of Captain Bentley. Extracts from Captain Bentley’s log were published in London in 1826 and are quoted in Henderson. The wording in the logs of Bentley and Warner are almost identical, except that Warner’s log identifies the islands they saw by letters A to H, as used on the