ADMIRALTY ISLANDS, about 4o islands of the Bis marck archipelago, north of New Guinea, between 1 ° and S. and 146° and 148° E. Area 600 sq. miles. Manus, the largest island, has a length of 6o miles ; it is sometimes termed Great Admiralty island, its chief town being Lorengai. There are cultivations of coconuts for copra and valuable pearl and shell fisheries. Manus has hills of 3,000ft., but the other islands are low, small and mostly of coral formation. They were discovered by the Dutch in 1616, and Philip Carteret visited them in 1767, but the first landing seems to have been from the "Challenger," in 1875. They were part of a German protectorate from 1885 1914. In Nov. 1914 they were occupied by Australian troops, and in 1919, under the Treaty of Versailles, they were made part of the Mandated Territory of New Guinea, under the Commonwealth of Australia. Estimated pop. 13,75o. The natives are Papuan, with some mixture of blood, and are cannibals, not well-disposed to strangers, but they are becoming more tractable under European supervision. The language is Papuan in type and displays many dialectical variations, every district having its own particular patois (see PAPUAN LANGUAGE).