6½ Acres Of
p. 63 · Read in the full issue
A New Outpost Of Empire
Britain Annexes
Sand For Fiji
After nearly 20 years of get ting rid of huge chunks of its
empire, Great Britain recently
enlarged its empire a little bit by annexing about 6\ acres of hitherto unclaimed land in the South Pacific, plus a formidable
reef, for Fiji.
THIS new outpost of empire is Conway Reef, a hazard to navigators some 300 miles south west of the Fijian island of Kadavu, in latitude 21 deg. 45 min. S,, and longitude 174 deg. 38 min. E.
It is the first land to be annexed in the South Pacific since 1924, when the US Naval Administration in American Samoa assumed control of privately-owned Swain’s Island.
However, the Stars and Stripes were not hoisted there until 1935.
Britain’s annexation of Conway Reef was not a case of neo-im perialist land-grabbing. It was a matter of expedience—to put any ships that came to grief there under marine law, such as the Japanese fishing vessel Fuji Maru No. 2, which was wrecked on Conway last September.
Conway Reef comprises a sandy cay about 6 ft high, 400 yards long and 80 yards wide (about 6i acres), with a reef extending about 7i cables eastward and westward.
Order By Queen Its nearest neighbours are Matthew and Hunter Islands, two small, steep, volcanic, uninhabited outcrops of land, which lie some 150 and 200 miles further to the south-westward from Kadavu, and 150-180 miles south-east of Aneityum, the south ernmost island in the New Hebrides.
The annexation of Conway Reef was made by means of an Order by the Queen in Council published with the Fiji Royal Gazette for January 29. A proclamation by Fiji’s Governor, Sir Derek Jakeway, pub lished with the same Gazette brought the Order in Council into effect from January 30.
The Order stated that Fiji’s boundaries were extended westward by one degree of longitude—from 175 deg. E. to 174 deg. E.—this
being thought the easiest technical way of acquiring the reef.
This westward extension means that Fiji’s boundaries now encompass about 24,000 additional square miles of water —the previous area being about 250,000 square miles, of which only about 3 per cent, was land.
The extension also means that the boundaries laid down by the Deed of Cession of 1874—the area lying between 15 deg. S. and 22 deg. S. latitude and 177 deg. W. and 175 deg. E. longitude—have been altered for the first time.
Discovered In 1838 Conway Reef, once known also as Rapid’s Reef, was discovered by HMS Conway in 1838, and surveyed by Captain Denham, RN, in HMS Herald, in 1856.
Captain Denham landed some mould and planted some coconuts on the cay in the hope that these would provide a beacon for navi
gators. However, it was reported in 1876 that nothing was visible beyond a few scrubby bushes. These bushes, in 1904, were reported to be 10 ft high.
In 1940, an American scientific expedition in the yacht Director 11, captained by Sheridan Fahnestock, landed on the reef and found the wrecks of three old ships, among which were a number of cannon and cannon balls.
When the Fuji Maru No. 2 was wrecked on the reef last September, the Italian cruise liner Fairsky went to her aid, but was told by radio that her help was not needed as another Japanese fishing vessel had been dispatched to the reef. An RNZAF Sunderland from Laucala Bay circled overhead for several hours.
Until rescued 24 hours after going aground, the crew of the Fuji Maru No. 2 lived on the sand cay, where they were able to collect enough wood to make a signal bonfire.—