Malaita They first saw the island from Santa Isabel, where it is called Mala. One theory is that "ita" was added on, as the Bughotu word for up or east, or in this context "there." Bishop George Augustus Selwyn referred to it as Malanta in 1850. Mala was the name used under British control; now Malaita is used for official purposes. The name Big Malaita is also used to distinguish it from the smaller South Malaita Island. Malaita was, along with the other Solomon Islands, settled by Austronesian speakers between 5000 and 3500 years ago; the earlier Papuan speakers are thought
Choiseul Sound Choiseul Sound Choiseul Sound is a stretch of sea in the Falkland Islands. It runs parallel to Eagle Passage and is between Lafonia and the north of East Falkland. Lively Island is in its mouth. At its entrance, on the northern shore, is the Bertha's Beach Important Bird Area which is also a Ramsar site, recognising it as a wetland of international importance. It was named by Louis de Bougainville after the French Foreign Secretary, Étienne François, duc de Choiseul. The name is pronounced "Chisel" in Falkland Islands dialect. (Richard Munro, Place Names of the Falkland Islands, 1998, p. 18.)