MARQUEZAS or MENDA&A ISLANDS (Fr. Les Mar quises), an archipelago of the Pacific Ocean lying between 5o' and 35' S. and 5o' and 5o' W., and belonging to France. It extends over 25o m. from south-east to north-west, and has a total area of 48o sq.m. The southern or Mendalia group consists of the islands Fatuhiva or Magdalena, Motane or San Pedro, Tahuata or Santa Christina and Hivaoa or Dominica. With these is often included the rocky islet of Fatuhuku or Hood, lying in mid-channel to the north of Hivaoa. The north-western or Washington group is formed of seven islands, the four largest being Huapu or Adams, Huahuna or Washington, Nukuhiva (7o m. in circumference) and Eiao. Along the centre of each island is a ridge of mountains, attaining an altitude of 4,042 ft. in Huapu, whence rugged spurs forming deep valleys stretch towards the sea. The volcanic origin of the whole archipelago is proved by the principal rocks being of basalt, trachyte and lava. Vege tation is luxuriant in the valleys, which are well watered with streams and terminate seaward in small "bays." The flora includes about four hundred known species, many of them identical with those belonging to the Society Islands. The vegetable products comprise bananas, bread-fruit, yams, plantains, wild cotton, bam boos, sugar-cane, coconut and dwarf palms, and several kinds of timber trees. The land fauna however is poor ; there are few mammals with the exception of dogs, rats and pigs; and amphibia and insects are also generally scarce. Of twenty species of birds more than half belong to the sea, where animal life is as abundant as about other sub-tropical Polynesian groups. The climate is hot and damp. During the greater part of the year moderate easterly winds prevail, and on the larger islands there are often both land and sea breezes. The rainy season accom
panied by variable winds sets in at the end of November, and lasts for about six months. During this period the thermometer varies from to F ; in the dry season its average range is from to The Marquezas Islands were discovered in 1595 by Alvaro Mendalia, who, however, only knew of the south-eastern group, to which he gave the name by which they are generally known (although they also bear his own), in honour of Don Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza, marquis of Caliete, viceroy of Peru, and patron of the voyage. Captain Cook pursuing the same track rediscovered this group, with the addition of Fatuhuku, in 1774. The north-western islands were first sighted by the American Captain Ingraham in 1791, and given the name of Washing ton by him ; the French Captain Marchand followed in the same year, and Lieut. Hergest in 1792. The Russian explorer, Adam Ivan Krusenstern, made an extensive investigation of the archipelago in 1804. In 1813 the American Commodore David Porter failed to establish a colony here; and in May 1842, after French Roman Catholic missionaries had prepared the way, Rear admiral Dupetit-Thouars took formal possession of the archi pelago for France. A complete settlement was not effected with out bloodshed and about 186o-7o the colony was practically abandoned. At the time of the French annexation (1842) the population was 20,000 and this has now fallen to about 2,30o. The archipelago, which has some small trade in copra, cotton and cotton seeds, is administered by a French resident. The natives, a pure Polynesian race, are usually described as physically the finest of all South Sea islanders, and therefore preeminent among many finely built races.