Choiseul Island Santa Isabel Island as the Ortega channel after the commander of the expedition. Choiseul islanders suffered attacks from blackbirding in the nineteenth century (the often brutal recruitment or kidnapping of labourers for the sugar plantations in Queensland and Fiji). In April 1885 a German Protectorate was declared over the North Solomon Islands, including Choiseul. In 1900, under the terms of Treaty of Berlin (14 November 1899), Germany transferred the North Solomon Islands (except for Bougainville and its surrounding islands) to the British Solomon Islands Protectorate in exchange for the British giving up all claims to Samoa. Missionaries settled on Choiseul
Malaita for the morning. Tropical cyclones are the only violent weather, but they can be destructive. Like the other islands in the archipelago, Malaita is near the Andesite line and thus forms part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Earthquakes are common on the island, but there is little evidence of current volcanic activity. The main structural feature of Malaita is the central ridge which runs along the length of the island, with flanking ridges and a few outlying hills. There is a central hilly country, between Auki and the Kwai Harbor, which separates the central ridge into northern and southern