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COOK ISLANDS WJDSCAPE 
Edwin Doran Jr. 
The Southern Cook Islands are intermediate in character between the 
large,  high, and rainy F i j i  and Solomon Islands and the tiny, low, and 
sparse atolls of the Gilberts and Marshalls (Fig. 12).  The areas of 
Aitutaki and Rarotonga, f o r  example, are respectively 6 and 26 square 
miles. I f  the en t i r e  group is considered we f ind  an interest ing t rans i -  
t i on  vhich not only presents a miniature cross-section of the types of 
topography to be found i n  the Pacific but  as well i l l u s t r a t e s  the sequence 
of configurations to be expected w i t h  the Darwinian hypothesis of a t o l l  
formation t h u g h  subsidence. 
On the south Rarotonga consists consists pr incipal ly  of a !rB.Ssi~e 
core of igneous rock surrounded by a narrow fringing reef of coral  (pig. 
13). This intensively dissected volcanic remnvlt extends upward i n  jag- 
ged ridges and spires  t o  elevations over 2000 fee t ,  the  whole engirdled 
by a narrow coastal  plain and reef. Aitutaki represents a second stage 
in which the o l d  volcano has subsided while cora l  has grown up and out  
to form a ba r r i e r  reef  encircling a lagoon (Fig. 14). The maximum e l e -  
vation is a modest 450 feet ,  and the rounded sunmit with i ts  thick cover 
of reddish s o i l  bears witness t o  a long period of weathering and denuda- 
t ion.  The t h i r d  stage, with the presumed volcanic core long vanished 
below the sea, i s  shown by Tongareva, a typical  a t o l l  (Fig. 15). A l l  
t h a t  remains is a th in  annulus between lagoon and ocean. 
Although va r i ab i l i t y  i n  the 60 inches of precipi ta t ion averaged a t  
Aitutaki occasionally produces drought years with a s  few as 30 inches the 
general aspect is one of adequate rain;  Rarotonga does not vary markedly 
from its annual average of about 80 inches. Totals greater than these 
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are t o  be found in the Northern Gilberts and Southern Marshdls, but 
the means fo r  those groups taken together are not only lower but much 
more variable as  well. The high Melanesian islands, on the contrary, 
average considerably more. Vegetation i n  the Cook Islands, i n  terms 
of luxuriance and number of species, also f a l l s  in to  an intermediate 
position. 
The crude population density of the Cook Islands, 85 persons per 
square mile, may be contrasted with f igmes  well in to  the hundreds on 
the  atolls and below 50 for  the large islands. Although this density 
gives r i s e  t o  some pressure it i s  not extreme, and people support them- 
selves rather  comfortably by an economy based on subsistence f ishing 
and agriculture.  The coconuts found everywhere along coastl ines are  
u t i l i z e d  by all, from dignified vil lage leaders t o  t ruants  evading 
school. As through most of the Pacific ta ro  is a s taple  which may be 
varied when bre-it is in  season. The physical environment, then, i s  
one which has offered optimum conditions fo r  development of a typica l  
Polynesian culture. 
One br ie f  comparative note on the inter-relationships between phys- 
i c a l  landscape and population density may be cited. Where population 
pressures e x i s t  and where the landscape changes i n  character a s  one 
passes from fr inging reef in to  the land t o  e i the r  in t e r io r  lagoon or 
mountains islanders recognize the necessity of dis t r ibut ing the land i n  
Such fashion t h a t  all persons have access to all types of terrain.  The 
radial pattern of land-holdings from the island center r e su l t s  from t h i s  
recognition. The pie-shaped tapere of Rarotonga and the c ross- i s le t  
weye of the Marfiha1l.s mu: certainly mal~oua  shapes. They document 
m implieit recngnition on the part of both Marshall Islanders and Cook 
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Islanders of a controll ing geomtry within trlflich t h e i r  respective land 
tenure patterns had to be developed. No such control obtains i n  the 
Solornons where the larger  l imi t s  of landholdings are only roughly dicta-  
ted  by topography and the small square o r  rectangular p lo ts  under c u l t i -  
vation have l i t t l e  re lat ion t o  the major aspects of is land form. 
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