[2] Futuna and Alofi were first mapped by Europeans in 1616 by Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire during their circumnavigation of the globe on the ship Eendracht.

They also discovered a natural harbor along the southwest coast of Futuna, which they named Eendrachts baai (Unity Bay) after their ship.

This opened the way for a peaceful barter, with the natives offering coconuts, yams, and hogs in exchange for the sailors’ iron nails, beads and knives.

The sailors went on to get fresh water and meet the king, who told his subjects that their guests were not to be disturbed by petty thieving.

Without the risk of theft or hostilities, Schouten and Le Maire were able to study Futuna more thoroughly than had been possible for them in the case of the Niua islands.

Although they praise the men for being well-proportioned, they found the women ugly and ill-shaped, with breasts hanging down to their bellies like empty satchels.

[1] Futuna island has large Upper Pliocene volcanic lava flows, as well as breccias and hyaloclastite deposits from underwater eruptions.

[6] As recently as March 2000 this ridge was discovered to be a spreading center extending over a distance of more than 200 km (120 mi) from the north of Fiji to the northwest of Futuna Island and a boundary of the Futuna plate which is a slightly ill defined microplate with triple junctions with the Pacific and Australian plates.

[1] This contains the significant volcanoes of Ono, Tasi Tulo, Fatu Kapa and Kulo Lasi all south of the Vitiaz Trench.

[1] The young seafloor produced by these volcanoes in the SEFVZ means that the past tectonics is poorly understood as timings from say magnetic field changes cannot be obtained.

Except for Poi all villages are along the southwest coast, and they are from west to east: Toloke, Fiua, Vaisei, Nuku, and Leava (capital with the wharf) in Sigave, and Taoa, Malaʻe, Ono, Kolia and Vele (at the airstrip) in Alo.