NAVIGATION LAWS, THE, of which some notice has been given under the articles COMMERCE and ENGLAND, and which were considered obnoxious to the interests of commercial enterprise, were in effect repealed in 1854. An act to admit foreign ships to the coasting trade of this country (17th Vict., cap. 5) was passed March 23, 1854; and an act to amend and consolidate the acts relating to merchant shipping (17th and 18th Vict., cap. 104) on the 10th August 1854. The latter act received some amendment, particularly with regard to the erection and maintenance of colonial lighthouses (18th and 19th Vict., cap. 91) in 1855.
NAVIGATOR'S ISLANDS, or SAMOAN ISLANDS, a group in the Pacific, lying to the N.E. of the Friendly Islands, between S. Lat. 13. 30. and 14. 30., and W. Long. 168. and 173. They are eight in number, and three of them are of considerable size. The largest of the group is Savaii, which is upwards of 200 miles in circuit, and the principal others are Maoona, Pala, and Oyalava. They are for the most part mountainous and of volcanic formation. The soil is very rich and fertile, and the mountains are thickly covered with wood to their very summits. The trees are chiefly evergreens, and are remarkable for the beauty and variety of their appearance. Palms, cocoa-nut trees, breadfruit trees, banyans, sugar-canes, pine-apples, potatoes, coffee, yams, and tobacco are among the productions of these
islands. The climate is variable, and heavy rains fall during the winter. No indigenous quadrupeds are found; but horses, cattle, and swine, which have been introduced from other places, thrive well and increase largely. Fowls are numerous, and the surrounding parts of the ocean abound in fish. The inhabitants are superior in appearance to most of the tribes of the South Sea Islands. They are stout, well-proportioned, and of a dark-brown complexion, and the men are in general better looking than the women. In character, they are generally good-natured, hospitable, and affectionate, and they show great respect for the aged. They are intelligent, and display considerable ingenuity in making their canoes and houses; but they are indolent, fond of pleasure, covetous, and deceitful. Their language is smooth and liquid, and in it alone of Polynesian tongues the sibilant sound occurs. The Navigator's Islands were first visited by missionaries in 1830 from Otaheite; and since 1836 missionaries have been sent out directly from Europe, by whose means a great number of the inhabitants have been converted to Christianity. They are also beginning to pursue the employments of trade, and to learn the use of money. Cocoa-nut oil is the principal article of export, and the imports are cotton, calicoes, fire-arms, ammunition, &c., supplied chiefly by American whalers. The whole area of the islands is 2650 square miles; and the estimates of the population vary from 50,000 to 160,000.