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Small Islands: History.—Historians are in general agreement that before 452 A.D., when Attila invaded northern Italy, the islands of the Venetian lagoon had a small native population of simple, poor fishermen. Refugees from the mainland occasionally fled from the barbarian invasions to the safety of the islands, but, when the danger had passed, most of them returned to their mainland homes. Some of these newcomers remained, however, and by 568, when the Lombards were beginning their conquest of Italy, a considerable population had gathered on the islands and formed small townships.
Other herds of commercial importance resort to the Commander Islands off the Siberian coast, controlled by Russia ; Robben Island and the Kuriles, formerly belonging to Japan, but now administered by Russia; Lobos Island belonging to Uruguay; and to the coastal area and adjacent islands in the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. Remnants of once large herds are still to be found on many of the small islands in the South Atlantic, the Crozet Isles in the South Indian Ocean, and on Guadalupe and the Galapagos Islands in Pacific. Tasmania, New Zealand, and Ausm still have small colonies but these have been reduced in size that the number of skins n obtained is insignificant.
SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS, island group, in South Pacific Ocean, administratively attached to the British protectorate of the Solomon Islands. They are north of the New Hebrides and 240 miles off the southern part of the Solomon Islands. The group comprises about a dozen small islands with a combined area of 380 square miles. The larger islands are volcanic and mountainous. Most of them are surrounded by coral formation. The climate is hot, humid and unhealthful but the soil is very fertile and the vegetation luxuriant. The largest island is Ndeni.
The inhabitants are chiefly Polynesians who are supported partly by their plantations of coco palms, partly by fisheries, and by trading with neighboring islands.
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