The Duff Islands (Pileni Taumako) are a small island group lying to the northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands in the Solomon Islands province of Temotu. They are also sometimes known as the Wilson Islands.
The islands are located at 9°51'48" S. lat., 167°4'48" E. long.
The Duff Islands consist of:
- Taumako, the main island, with nearby Tahua and Tohua
- The Bass Islands: Lua, Kaa and Loreva
- Treasurer's Islands: Tuleki (Anula), Elingi (Obelisk Island), Te Aku (Te Ako), Lakao and Ulaka
Frequently, Hallie Jackson Reef is mentioned in the context of the Duff islands, although it is located 45 km west of the 32 km long island chain, and although it is no island, but at most a submarine reef. In the Sailing Directions of 1969 Hallie Jackson Reef is described as a reef 24 feet deep, at 9°44'S, 166°07'E. The corresponding current (2010) publication has no mention of the reef anymore.
The inhabitants of the Duff Islands are Polynesians, and their language, Pileni, is a member of the Samoic branch of Polynesian languages. On the islands of Duff live about 500 people. The way of life is traditional by subsistence farming and fishing. Taumako has no roads, airport, telephones, or electricity. Contact with outsiders comes by battery-powered marine radio and the occasional cargo ship.
The Duff Islands were named after missionary ship Duff, captained by James Wilson, which reached them in 1797.
Read more about Duff Islands: Traditional Navigation
Famous quotes containing the words duff and/or islands:
“‘But why is your face so yellowy white,”
—Henry Duff Traill (1842–1900)
“Consider the islands bearing the names of all the saints, bristling with forts like chestnut-burs, or Echinidæ, yet the police will not let a couple of Irishmen have a private sparring- match on one of them, as it is a government monopoly; all the great seaports are in a boxing attitude, and you must sail prudently between two tiers of stony knuckles before you come to feel the warmth of their breasts.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)