Ono Island is a member of the Kadavu Group, an outlier to

Kadavu Island Kadavu (pronounced ), with an area of , is the fourth largest island in Fiji, and the largest island in the ''Kadavu Group'', a volcanic archipelago consisting of Kadavu, Ono, Galoa and a number of smaller islands in the Great Astrolabe Reef. Its ...

, to the south of

Viti Levu Viti Levu (pronounced ) is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji. It is the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population. Geology Fiji lies in a tectonically complex area between the Australian P ...

, one of

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

's two main islands. It is separated from Kadavu Island by the Ono Channel. Located at 18.88° South and 178.50° East, this volcanic island is enclosed by the

Great Astrolabe Reef The Great Astrolabe Reef is in Fiji and surrounds the fourth largest island, Kadavu Island, which is approximately 65 km in length. Kadavu Island is approximately 100 km south of Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. The Great Astrolabe ...

. It covers an area of 30 square kilometers. Its maximum

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

is 354 meters. There are seven villages: Vabea (south), Waisomo (south), Narikoso (southeast), Naqara (northeast), Nabouwalu (northwest), Buliya, Dravuni.

History

A massacre occurred there on September 8, 1836, on the US Brigg ''Charles Daggett'' on a return visit to the

sea slug Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails (marine gastropod mollusks) that over evolutionary t ...

drying station set up there in 1831 by Captain Driver on the ship ''Clay'' from Salem, Massachusetts. The ''Charles Dagget'' (Doggett) returned to Vabea under the command of Captain Batchelor (sic. Bachelor), Chief Officer Charles Shipman, and a crew of 25 to collect sea slugs (''Beach le Mar''). The chief Ro Veidovi, whose parents were Roko Tabiawalu, chief of Rewa and mother was the daughter of the paramount chief of Tavuki, was part of the group of natives who took part. The names of those killed were Charles Shipman, 1st officer, Benjamin Barton, trading master, John Clark, seaman, William Wall, seaman, John Evans, seaman, Eggbert Smith, seaman; a black, name unknown; a boy, name unknown, and two Tahiti men, and five persons wounded – total 10 killed and 5 wounded, out of the crew of 25 persons. As the result of the death of the first officer, Charles Shipman, a full court of inquiry into this event was held upon their return to the US. The US Navy trial was inconclusive and included an open warrant to return anyone involved in the event to the United States for questioning in the sailing orders of the

US Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

that left for a voyage around the world from Newport News, Virginia, on August 18, 1938, and returning on June 10, 1842. The result was that when the US Exploring Expedition visited Rewa in 1841, Ro Vendovi was captured and taken to the United States to be questioned in the affair. Vendovi survived the trip around the world from Fiji to the Brooklyn, New York Navy Hospital, where he died a few hours after arriving. The samples, plants, and artwork collected during the expedition became the start of the Smithsonian Institution. Vendovi's personal effects, skull, and mandible (ascension #242) are part of the Anthropology Department collection. Ono is known for its ancient method of fermenting breadfruit,

plantains Plantain may refer to: Plants and fruits * Cooking banana, banana cultivars in the genus ''Musa'' whose fruits are generally used in cooking ** True plantains, a group of cultivars of the genus ''Musa'' * ''Plantaginaceae'', a family of flowerin ...

, and dalo underground. The food is stored in a hole in the ground, sometimes for several years, in preparation for future emergencies. The

primary sector The primary sector of the economy includes any Industry (economics), industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining. The primary sector tends to make up a larger portio ...

dominates the economy; a reforestation program, replanting the island with

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

seedlings, is in progress.

References

Kadavu Group Islands of Fiji {{Fiji-geo-stub