The New International Encyclopædia/Santa Cruz Islands

SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS. A group of seven large and a number of small islands in Melanesia, in latitude 11° S., longitude 166° E., north of the New Hebrides and southeast of the Solomon Islands (Map: Australasia, J 4). Aggregate area, 356 square miles. The large islands are mountainous and volcanic, the smaller mostly of coral formation. The climate is hot, moist, and unhealthful. The vegetation resembles that of New Guinea, and includes the mangrove, cocoanut, sago-palm, and breadfruit tree. The inhabitants (about 7000) are mostly Melanesians, though in some of the islands Polynesians predominate. They are still uncivilized and hostile to Europeans. The islands are now under the administration of the British High Commissioner for the Western Pacific. They were discovered by Mendaña in 1595.