Tin can mail

Abstract

NIUAFO'OU is the most remote island in the whole Tongan group, being much closer to Samoa and Fiji than it is to the main Island of Tongatapu. It is a 109 miles West N. West of its nearest neighbour Niuatoputapu and 211 miles N. West of Vava'u, the closest of the three main groups that makeup the Kingdom of Tonga. Tin Can Island as it is sometimes called is almost circular and is 19 sq miles in area, including the lakes which cover 6 miles. Rising nearly 600ft out of the S Pacific Ocean the regular eruptions are proof of its volcanic origin, in fact the Island is really nothing more than the rim of a crater with the central lake being the very crater itself. Violent eruptions have occurred in 1853 (when 25 people were killed), in 1867, 1886, 1912, 1929, 1935, 1936 and 1946. The village of Ahau was destroyed in 1853 and Futu in 1929, both these sites have remained abandoned. [excerpt]