itory preponderate in later
historical development.

[Sidenote: Political dominion of small islands.]

This early maturity, combined with the power to expend the concentrated
national or tribal forces in any given direction, often results in the
domination of a very small island over a large group. In the Society
Islands, Cook found little Balabola ruling over Ulietea (Raitea) and
Otaha, the former of these alone being over twice the size of Balabola,
whose name commanded respect as far as Tahiti.[924] The Fiji Archipelago
was ruled in pre-Christian days by the little islet of Mbau, scarcely a
mile long, which lies like a pebble beside massive Viti Levu. It was the
chief center of political power and its supremacy was owned by nearly
all the group. The next important political center was Rewa, no larger
than Mbau, which had for its subject big Mbengga.[925] In the same way,
the Solomon group was ruled by Mongusaie and Simbo, just as tiny New
Lauenberg lorded it over the larger islands of the Bismarck
Archipelago.[926] When the Dutch in 1613 undertook the conquest of the
coveted Spice Isles, they found there two rival sultans seated in the
two minute islets of Ternate and Tidore off the west coast of Gilolo.
Their collective possessions, which the Dutch took, comprised all the
Moluccas, the Ke and Banda groups, the whole of northwestern New Guinea,
and Mindanao of the Philippines.[927]

It was no unusual thing for classic Aegean isles to control and exploit
goodly stretches of the nearest coast, or to exercise dominion over
other islands. Aristotle tells us that Crete's location across the
southern end of the Aegean Sea confirmed to it by nature the early naval
empire of the Hellenic world. Minos conquered some of the islands,
colonized others,[928] and, according to the story of Theseus and the
Minotaur, laid Athens under tribute; but his suppression of piracy in
these waters and his conspicuous leadership in the art of navigation
point to a yet more significant supremacy. So insular Venice ruled and
exploited large dependencies. The island of Zealand, strategically
located at the entrance to the Baltic, has been the heart and head and
strong right arm of the Danish dominion, through all its long history of
fluctuating boundaries. England's insularity has been the strongest
single factor in the growth of her vast colonial empire and in the
maintenance of its loyal allegiance and solidarity. The widely strewn
plantati