Chatham Islands

Chatham Islands, so called from the name of the ship Chatham, commanded by Lieutenant Broughton, who discovered them in 1791, are a group of islands in the Pacific, 560 miles E. of New Zealand, to which they belong. The group consists of three islands and some rocky islets. Chatham Island, the largest of the group, contains over 305,000 acres, and has in it a large lake twenty-five miles long, and six or seven broad, which sometimes bursts through a separating sand-bank and communicates with the sea. The island is fertile, and produces much flax, and the climate is mild. The vegetation generally resembles that of New Zealand, but the trees are much smaller. Many horses and cattle are bred for the New Zealand market.