0TS '2-'2-
Moulton Library
Bangor Theologioai Seminary J
Presented by
The Rev. Robert
Howard
va/.B. CLARKE Pr>'1
THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
" I AM HAUNTED BY NUMBERLESS ISLANDS AND MANY A DANAAN
shore."— W. B. YEATS.
"go 'little book and wish to all
Flowers in the garden, meat in the hall."
— R. L. STEVENSON in "Underwoods."
N.W. ANGLE OF CYCLOPEAN ENCLOSURE ON LELE ISLAND
THE TOKOSA, OR KING OF THE ISLAND, IN FOREGROUND
From a Photo by Di. Chanmn
THE
CAROLINE ISLANDS
<
TRAVEL IN THE SEA OF THE
LITTLE LANDS
BY
F. W. CHRISTIAN
B.A. (PALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD) AND F.R.G.S., AND CORRESPONDING
MEMBER OF THE POLYNESIAN SOCIETY OF
NEW ZEALAND
WITH FORTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS AND FIVE MAPS AND PLANS
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1899
;ME Lib-
state HOUSE t^S
JAN ^90
to, r {^CL.-)
■^
S3S
C5 3c
TO HIS EXCELLENCY
THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF RANFURLY
K.C, M. G.
GOVERNOR OF NEW ZEALAND
WHO, FOLLOWING THE EXAMPLE OF HIS GREAT PREDECESSOR, THE LATE
SIR GEORGE GREY, HAS TAKEN SO LIVELY AND PRACTICAL AN
INTEREST IN THE WELFARE OF THE MAORIS AND
THEIR CLOSELY-RELATED NEIGHBOURS OF THE
VAST POLYNESIAN AREA, THIS BOOK
ON THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
IS VERY CORDIALLY
DEDICATED
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE ........ IX
INTRODUCTION ........ I
GENERAL SKETCH OF THE CAROLINES ..... 17
PART I
CHAP
I. SYDNEY TO HONG KONG ...... 27
II. HONG KONG TO MANILLA . . . . 40
III. YAP AND THE MARIANNES TO PONAPE — DESCRIPTION OK
PONAPE ....... 50
IV. NALAP ISLAND — PONAPEAN SUPERSTITIONS AND CHARACTER . 63
V. FIRST AND SECOND VISITS TO THE RUINS OF NAN-MATAL . 76
VI. THIRD VISIT TO THE RUINS . . . . .89
VII. VISIT TO CEMETERY OF THE CHOKALAI OR LITTLE PEOPLE,
PONAUL AND LANG TAKAI, AND RETURN FROM METALANIM
TO KITI AND COLONY . . . . . IIO
PART II
VIII. PONAPE : DRESS, INDUSTRIES, AND MANUFACTURES . . 122
IX. VISIT TO MOKIL, PINGELAP AND KUSAIE . . . 142
X. STAY ON LELE ....... 154
PART III
XI. RETURN TO COLONY ; VISIT TO MUTOK AND PANIAU . . 175
XII. FEAST IN MUTOK, KAVA-MAKING, THE STORY OF THE NAMING
OF BIRDS, MAKING OF FISH OIL DESCRIBED . . . 186
XIII. PANIAU TO COLONY ...... I97
XIV. FROM PANIAU TO MARAU ..... 209
XV. PANIAU TO COLONY, THENCE TO GUAM AND YAP . . 225
PART IV
XVI. DESCRIPTION OF YAP ; TOMIL TO LAI .... 234
XVII. VISIT TO ONOTH AND GOROR ..... 247
XVIII. TO TOMIL, LAI, ELIK, JOURNEY BY BOAT TO NORTH YAP . 262
XIX. STAY IN PILAU, FOLK-LORE, LEGEND OF FLOOD, AN ACCOUNT
OF THE TABU SYSTEM OF YAP .... 278
XX. NORTH YAP — RETURN TO TARRANG .... 294
XXI. STAY AT TARRANG AND DEPARTURE FOR HONG KONG . . 31O
Vlll
CONTENTS
APPENDIX
(a) CLAN NAMES OF PONAPE ....
(6) NAMES OF NATIVE DISEASES
(<:) PONAPEAN TREES, PLANTS AND SHRUBS
(d) SUPPLEMENTARY LIST OF YAP PLANT AND TREE NAMES
(<?) PONAPEAN FISHES, INSECTS, BIRDS, AND ANIMALS
(/) MARINE CREATURES OF YAP
(g) PONAPE ONOMATOPOEAS, OR IMITATIVE SOUNDS
(A) PONAPE GODS
(?) YAP GODS ....
(/) VARIETIES OF BREADFRUIT IN PONAPE
(/•) PONAPE — DAYS OF THE MOON'S AGE
(/) LAMOTREK STAR-NAMES
(?/?) MORTLOCK STAR-NAMES
(;/) YAP STAR-NAMES
(o) LAMOTREK GODS
(/) LAMOTREK — DAYS OF THE MOON'S AGE
{q) MORTLOCK ISLANDS — DAYS OF THE MOON'S
(r) MORTLOCK MONTHS .
(s) MORTLOCK GODS
(t) YAP — DAYS OF THE MOON'S AGE
(??) NAMES OF MONTHS IN YAP YEAR .
(v) ULEAI — DAYS OF THE MOON'S AGE .
(w) SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM NOTES
(x) KUSAIAN TEXTILES .
(y) PONAPEAN SHELL — ADZES .
(z) COMPARATIVE TABLE OF THE NAMES FOR THE FOUR QUARTERS IN
THE MICRONESIAN AND INDONESIAN AREAS
324
326
328
347
352
376
379
381
384
386
387
388
389
39°
39i
392
393
393
393
394
394
395
395
396
397
400
403
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
N.-W. ANGLE OF CYCLOPEAN ENCLOSURE ON LELE ISLAND
MILLE LAGOON, MARSHALL GROUP
THE WALLED ISLET OF UCHENTAU — OUR CAMPING PLACE IN
METALANIM
GROUP OF YAP NATIVES
THE KING OF U AND FAMILY
A PALIKER FISHING CANOE
A NATIVE OF LOT
S.-E. ANGLE OF INNER WALL OF NAN-TAUACH .
PATTERNS IN PONAPEAN WOOD-CARVING (two half-plates)
great central vault, nan-tauach
breakwater at nan-moluchai
the haunted island of pan-katara
inner angle of great outer wall, nan-tauach .
king paul's big canoe ....
south side of inner enclosure, nan-tauach
n.-e. angle of inner court, nan-tauach .
n.-e. angle of outer wall, nan-tauach .
s.-w. shoulder of inner line of wall, nan-tauach
relics of old sea-wall, nakap island
ponatik chief
the beach at lot
nanaua, nephew of king rocha
a ponapean canoe
carved dancing paddles
pilung adolol, a chief of rul
ponapean house
landing-place, lele harbour
kusaian bags .
Frontispiece
PAGE
26
26
52
58
70
78
84
86
90
92
94
94
96
100
102
102
104
106
108
108
126
130
130
136
140
152
158
X
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
WOMAN S KUSAIAN SHAWL
DEACON OBADIAH OF ARU
THE GREAT CLIFF OF CHOKACH
STONE MONEY OF YAP .
THE HOUSE OF TANIS .
A PAL OR WOMAN'S HOUSE
BACHELORS' CLUB-HOUSE
A "BAl OR LODGE IN RUL DISTRICT
THE HILL-SIDE RUL DISTRICT, .
KUSAIAN BELTS
KUSAIAN BELTS
PONAPEAN SHELL-ADZES
PAGE
I58
204
226
236
256
2S8
266
29O
304
394
396
398
MAPS AND PLANS
PLAN OF THE SANCTUARY OF NAN-TAUACH
SKETCH MAP OF NAN-MATAL
PLAN OF THE CEMETERY OF THE DWARFS
PLAN OF LELE RUINS .
MAP OF THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
80
98
112
I70
402
PREFACE
THE period between the years 1890 and 1893 in
Samoa was marked by civil war between the rival
factions of Malietoa and Matafa, ending, as all the world
knows, in the overthrow and deportation of the latter chief.
A partisan feeling in the struggle, shared by me with Robert
Louis Stevenson, my neighbour of Vailima, resulted in
the extension of an intimacy with the Samoan people and
their chiefs. It sprung, naturally enough, in the first place,
from the interest I had always taken in their sports, and the
assistance I was happy to afford them by distributing medi-
cines in the outer districts during the epidemics of measles
and influenza which unhappily carried off so many of the
natives during these years. A keen interest in philology
and kindred subjects (especially in connection with the
Malayo-Polynesian peoples), dating from my college days
and encouraged by the sympathetic counsels of the late
Master of Balliol, could not well fail to take an active form
under the stirring influence of the genial author of " A
Footnote to History."
I entered fully into the romance of reef and palm,
but a sense of work to be done banished effectually all
thoughts of the do Ice far niente so generally identified
with the life of a settler in these isles of Eden. Deem-
ing idleness a thing unrighteous, I spent three years
in cultivating economic plants, mostly of the Eucalyptus
order, for distribution amongst the natives. Supplies of
seeds for this purpose were regularly sent me by the
Forest Department of New South Wales, in return for
which I consigned seed-packets of native trees and plants.
Subsequently I disposed of my land to Stevenson, and on
his advice, after election as a corresponding member of the
Polynesian Society of New Zealand, I went further afield
into Eastern Polynesia, where a somewhat lengthy stay in
XI 1 PREFACE
Tahiti and the North and South Marquesas gave me a
wider knowledge and a deeper interest in the customs,
language and legends of the attractive people of these
islands, now, alas ! fast disappearing.
Nor did my journeyings end here, for on my return to
Sydney I met Louis Becke, the well-known writer of tales
of the Pacific, who told me of an ancient island Venice
shrouded in jungle, an enchanted region of archaeology far
away in the Sea of Small Islands, termed Micronesia by
geographers. His theme was the story of a strange people
scattered up and down the lonely atolls of the great Caroline
archipelago, folk of a strange outlandish tongue, that pro-
mised rich results to the student of folk-lore and philology.
It is of this people and this region that my story deals, and
I must here say that even in this remote corner of the globe
I found not virgin soil — a German had been there before
me, an emissary of the firm of Godeffroy Bros, of Ham-
burg, by name J. S. Kubary. At the time I met him, he
was engaged in collecting land-shells and specimens of
birds (one species of ground-pigeon, a Phlegcenas, bears
his name); and had already — in 1872 — explored the
mysterious island-city on the east coast of Ponape. To
him I am indebted for the loan of his plan of the Metalanim
ruins, of which I have availed myself, making a good many
corrections in the names and a few in the charting of the
island labyrinth, at the same time supplementing his ac-
count by the information given by the natives of the
district and by an old American settler and his sons who
accompanied me on my second and third visits to the
spot. To many others, both native and European, I am
deeply indebted for much valuable assistance, and their
names occur more than once in the course of the story
which I will not anticipate here.1
Before my first visit to Metalanim, Kubary promised to
give me a full account later, so that I could have the
1 Five interesting views of Yap Island have been very kindly supplied me
by Admiral Cyprian Bridge, who visited these seas about 1884 in H.M.S.
EspiegU.
PREFACE Xlll
satisfaction of working independently ; and on my return
we had many interesting discussions together. Soon after
my departure from Ponape in 1896, I received a letter at
Yap telling me of Kubary's death, which occurred only
two days after I had left, under very sad circumstances.
Those who would do work in Micronesian waters might
well take example from the unobtrusive, painstaking work
of this true man of science.
For many years in these remote lands he devoted a
grand and tireless energy to clearing up problems which
have troubled so many European scientists who, from an
arm-chair in their studies at home, are sometimes inclined
to settle offhand, with a few indifferent strokes of the pen,
questions the weight of which they have only tested with
a crooked finger. Only too often, those who have borne
the burden on their shoulders are pushed aside into un-
thanked oblivion. Those can sympathise best who have
endured the scorching heats of the Line, the inclement
rain-torrents of the wet season, fever and bad food, thirst
and sleeplessness, the opposition of superstitious natives
abroad and the indifference of men at home, such measure
as the world metes out to the man who ventures to seek
out new facts or new methods of arranging facts. Such
men as Kubary during their life receive scant thanks, but
their praise should be a grateful duty to all who honour
pluck and enterprise. And though Kubary be no country-
man of ours, Science knows no such narrow boundaries,
such slender distinctions as race or birth-land, and bids us
render honour to one of her most faithful servants whom
the evil day found girt and harnessed to his task.
All honour to German scientists for their work in
Pacific waters. And shall we, the English, sit by and
dream whilst others are up and doing ?
F. W. C.
[Since these lines were in type Germany has taken over the Carolines for a
sum of ^800,000. It will be most interesting to see how she will develop the
resources of these strange new lands, her latest acquisition.]
INTRODUCTION.
MR CHRISTIAN'S reason for asking me to prepare
an Introduction to his account of his experiences
and investigations in the Caroline Islands was, no doubt,
his knowledge of the fact that I happen to be one of the
few people who have visited those islands and who are at
this moment in England. It should be stated at once
that I fully understand how very slender a qualification
that is for undertaking the task which I have been
requested to perform. Indeed, so fully is this understood,
that a real reluctance to give any cause for being suspected
of a desire to pose as an authority on the subjects dealt
with by Mr Christian, was only overcome on its being
made apparent that a short preliminary discussion in
general terms, whilst it might not strengthen what he had
to say, would at the least not weaken it, although readers
will be likely to note the contrast between his prolonged
residence and deliberate inquiries in the places described
and my own more hurried visits and superficial observa-
tion. It is true that I have been to a large number of
South Sea Islands, and it follows, almost as a matter of
course, that the visit to each was a short one.
My service on, as we call it in the Navy, the Pacific
Station, dates back to 1855 ; ar>d that on the Australian
Station — within the limits of which most of the South
Sea Islands lie — dates from 1859. On the latter station
I have served three times, and my most extended South
Sea cruises took place when I was a Captain in command
of one of H.M. ships, in the years 1882, 1883, and 1884.
Much of the water traversed was then imperfectly surveyed
or entirely unsurveyed ; the natives of many islands were
not friendly and had little knowledge of white men, and
A *
2 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
the older " Labour Trade " was still being carried on. In
such circumstances a captain of a man-of-war had a great
deal too much to do to find any considerable amount of
time at his disposal to devote to subjects even as fascinat-
ing as the ethnology, the botany, or the zoology of the
archipelagos visited, had he, indeed, possessed the
requisite preliminary training. I paid two later visits
to the South Seas, when in command of the Australian
Station in 1895 and 1896. The cruise of the former year
embraced several different groups and many islands, some
of which were new to me. It was not possible, however,
to get as far as the Carolines, and therefore my knowledge
of that group is not nearly so recent as Mr Christian's.
I owe an apology to anyone who may read this for
dwelling in this way on what may seem personal matters,
but it is desirable that the reader should know the real
extent of the qualifications of the person who has con-
sented to address him.
Before leaving this subject altogether it may be
permissible to make a statement likely to have a wider
than a mere personal interest. During the last two cruises
mentioned the officers and men of the ship were received,
at every place at which we called, by the islanders — of
every stage of culture, from perfectly naked savagery to
Church membership — and by white men, when there were
any, with every demonstration of delight. Considering
that an important part of the duty of the squadron on the
station is to keep order in these out-of-the-way regions
and to engage in punitive expeditions against offending
tribes, it may be fairly claimed for the officers and men of
H.M. ships so employed during many years that such a
reception proves that they must have performed the ardu-
ous duties in question with a thoroughness and at the same
time a moderation in the highest degree creditable to
them. No apology is offered for making this statement
here. It is largely action such as has been just indicated
that has made it possible for travellers like Mr Christian
INTRODUCTION 3
to move about many of the archipelagos of the Pacific
Ocean with the freedom necessary to enable them to carry
on their investigations. Moreover, as these parts of the
world lie far beyond the " sphere of influence " of the war
correspondent, nothing is known at home of the many
displays of devotion and gallantry which have been the
indispensable precursors of a state of affairs in which some
of the fiercest savages in the world have become the trust-
worthy entertainers of peaceful men of science.
The friendly intercourse of naval officers and blue-
jackets with the islanders has been greatly assisted by
the deep and wide-spread respect of the latter for the
Queen. Her Majesty's name has been made known to
many of them by the missionaries ; but I came across
cases in which the knowledge must have been derived from
others. On one of the Louisiades, where the people were
so little used to white men fourteen years ago that they
were frightened by the striking of a match, and put to
flight by the report of a rifle, I found that the name of
" Queen Victoreea " was quite familiar to them. To be
recognised as one of Queen Victoreea's " white chiefs " was
nearly always and everywhere to ensure a naval officer a
friendly reception. Where the natives could make them-
selves intelligible to white visitors they frequently ex-
pressed warm regard and admiration for Her Majesty.
They have an unfailing confidence in her desire to do
them good. There was something inexpressively gratify-
ing to an Englishman to notice this far-reaching effect of
our Queen's beneficent character. In the Pacific it has
been most advantageous to the Empire, as the native
races generally are desirous of being brought under the
sway of so kind and so just a monarch.
The reluctance, above alluded to, was, it must be owned,
somewhat modified by a perception of the possibility,
created by complying with Mr Christian's request, of
inviting attention to the desirability, if not necessity, of
investigations of the kind to which he has more parti-
4 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
cularly devoted himself. Paying visits, though short ones,
to many islands, has at least the advantage of enabling the
visitor to form an accurate estimate of the importance of
studying that which, at any rate relatively to other things,
has been studied but little, viz. the people. Few persons
will be likely to dispute the assertion that far less atten-
tion has been paid to the manners, customs, language,
institutions, and modes of thought of the inhabitants of
the South Sea Islands than to the fauna, flora, and even
the geology of their places of abode. The assertion holds
good, though it may be objected that anthropological and
ethnological observations were made by members of ex-
peditions of discovery and exploration commanded by a
Bougainville, a Cook, or a Wilkes. Passing observations,
in great number and often of great value, were made, no
doubt ; but the trained students residing for long periods
amongst the island people for the purpose of carrying
out their investigations have been almost exclusively
" naturalists " or geologists. We owe much of our know-
ledge of the south sea islanders themselves to mission-
aries ; but their very calling put them out of sympathy
with many native customs and institutions deserving of
study ; whilst the earlier missionaries, i.e. those most
favoured by opportunity, were without the proper pre-
liminary training.
There is ground for believing that men of science in
Europe and America were alive to the desirability of
obtaining more exact knowledge of the South Sea Island
tribes and their ways. Their difficulty seems to have
been to find a justification of the expense which the
necessary investigations were likely to entail. If money
were to be forthcoming, it must be for something that
promised a return. Study of the botany, the zoology, or
the mineralogy of Oceania might, indeed was expected to,
result in the discovery of marketable commodities. Even
now, as Mr Christian has probably found, it is well to
combine, at least to a small extent, examination of the
INTRODUCTION 5
economic botany of an island with linguistic researches.
Till lately, if not till this very moment, the general in-
terest in the branches of science dealing with material
was greater than in those which deal with man. The
latter were, and perhaps still are, thought less worth
attention by many of those who think about science at
all. We may count with confidence upon greater in-
terest being taken in the fortunes of an expedition to
the Caroline Islands to prospect for gold or rubies, than in
one to investigate the structure of the language or the
history of the inhabitants ; and the greater interest in the
former would not be confined to those who simply desire
to add to their riches.
Yet a little reflection will suffice to make us doubt both
the correctness and the durability of this attitude of mind.
In the civilised world of to-day — which we may define as
the world in which the men wear trousers and the women
read novels — the number of pupils, irrespective of nation-
ality, receiving a " general education," greatly exceeds
the number of those who are being " specially " trained.
The children of both sexes who are acquiring historical
knowledge, though it be but a smattering, far outnumber
those who are being taught " science," and still more
those who are being instructed in any special branch of
it. This means, in effect, the formation of a continuously
reinforced body of readers in whom a preference for the
perusal of narrative rather than " scientific " works has been
implanted. The difference in the figures relating to
demands for books on history, biography, and travel, and
to demands for those on science — as shown in the reports
of libraries — will furnish evidence corroborative of the
above contention.
This preference, being in accordance with and represen-
tative of natural inclinations, promises to endure. We
are really more desirous of knowing something about our
fellow-men than about anything else. This justifies
hesitation before accepting the conclusions of those who
6 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
assert that the British Empire will be maintained by the
establishment of " technical colleges " better than by
encouragement of the qualities which distinguished the
worthies who had a leading share in its formation. For a
long time to come there will be a more widely distributed
desire to read about Nelson or Clive than about volcanoes
or solar physics. This ought to be encouraging to men
who devote themselves to the study of the characteristics
of tribes in a world far removed from our own. These
students may hope for a larger and larger public. The
most influential section of that public may be respectfully
invited to note the advantages of which the studies in
question will make them the specially favoured recipients.
The section is composed of those who teach that widely
taught subject — history. In the South Seas they may
find producible living illustrations of the doctrines which
they occupy themselves in imparting to their pupils.
What a " cabinet of specimens " is to a professor of
mineralogy, what an " anatomical museum " is to a
professor of anatomy, the tribes of the South Sea Islands
may be to the professor of history, whether he teach from
a chair or by means of a printed book.
If only a small fraction of the time and intellectual
effort devoted to the investigation of obscure points in
the history of early Egypt, early Mesopotamia, early
Greece, or early Italy — or indeed of early Britain — had
been added to the little which has been devoted to South
Sea Island investigations of a similar kind, those points
would have been cleared up more easily. I will try to
support this opinion by evidence drawn from personal
experiences.
In one of the Marshall Islands there was a war, waged
for the recapture of a fugitive lady of rank. She and her
new consort were besieged by a force commanded, not by
a brother of her former spouse, but by her father. In that
warrior's camp was a grown-up daughter of the Micronesian
Helen. The latter's mature charms, like those of her
INTRODUCTION 7
Argive prototype, were still powerful enough — so white
observers thought — to furnish an excuse for hostilities as
good as that made by the Trojan elders sitting on the
tower by the Scaean gate. The chiefs on both sides were
known to each other ; and between them there was a fre-
quent interchange of compliments and abuse, such as
passed between Tlepolemos and Sarpedon, or between
Hector of the Glancing Helm and Diomedes. These were,
however, merely accidental circumstances recalling inci-
dents in a great poem.
What was of real historical interest was the mode in
which the besiegers carried on the war. On the shore
was drawn up a line of " hollow ships " — the great ocean-
going canoes in which the fearless navigators of the Mar-
shall group make long voyages. The besieging army,
having disembarked, lay cantoned in rows of huts. The
battlefield was the space between the cantonment and the
beleaguered stronghold in which the runaway dame had
taken refuge. The fleet was protected by a broad wall
(rb vroirjoavTo veZv uvtp), and a trench which had been drawn
round about. The belligerents were far from being mere
savages. The leader of the besiegers was a chief of im-
posing stature, dignified manners, like all South Sea chiefs,
and high intellectual gifts. Other chiefs were but little
inferior to him. Whatever resemblance it may have borne
to that which, perhaps, was waged for the destruction of
Troy, this war reproduced scenes that must have been
familiar, from personal observation or through tradition,
to the composer of the Iliad. It therefore furnished a
picture of a phase of life buried beneath many historical
strata. It was like a fossil in a museum, to which the
professor of geology sends the student who wishes to
understand thoroughly the lecture just heard or the
treatise just read.
In the Gilbert archipelago a little more than a dozen
years ago the " Heroic Kingship " was in course of super-
session by republican forms. In the more northern islands
8 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
of the group the king still existed ; in the others he had
disappeared. In at least one island there was an am-
phictyony with every tendency to consolidate into a league
or federation.
In a second Marshall Island also there was a war.
White visitors on an errand of peace to one of the armies
— their object being at the first misunderstood — were
received by the whole force in battle array. The warrior
in command took no part in, and indeed was not present
during, the subsequent negotiations. It turned out on
inquiry that he was not a chief, but a commoner by birth,
whose valour and military skill had gained him the posi-
tion of general. The islanders, like the ancient Germans,
reges ex nobilitate, duces ex virtute sumunt. This was
another proof that appointment to command on account
of personal ability rather than social rank was not — as
has been claimed somewhat pretentiously — an invention
of English radicals of the early Victorian period. Ancient
German warriors and more modern South Sea islanders
at the same stage of culture metaphorically carried a
marshal's baton in their knapsacks long before even the
immortal principles of 1789 were heard of.
Acquaintance with several races of the South Seas will
tend to weaken the belief that certain institutions are
exclusively Aryan, as has been asserted — still less,
exclusively Teutonic. De minoribus rebus principes con-
sultant, de majoribus omnes, though a concise, is an
accurate definition of the polity of more than one island
community. The comitatus is known in the Pelew (Palao)
Islands. There, it has peculiar features ; for instance, the
curious relations between the comites and the hetaira of
the chief, sanctioned by custom as long as the former
remain in the cal-de-bekkel. Another practice attributed
to the ancient Germans — consecrated reservation of
particular areas — bears a strong likeness to the more
beneficent aspects of the tabu, which is often adopted, on
the pretext of divine prohibition, to prevent unrestricted
INTRODUCTION 9
access to fruit-bearing trees and cultivated plots. The
traditional, perhaps historically warranted conception of
the mediaeval Vehm-gericht, as regards procedure, has
a counterpart in the legalised regicide of the Pelew
Islands. A secret tribunal condemns an unpopular king
to death. A rude effigy of the doomed chief is carved
on the bark of a particular tree. On seeing this — his
courtiers eager to terminate the uncertainty as to the
composition of the new household take care that he shall
see it soon — the king learns his fate and, it is said, never
tries to escape it. In the New Hebrides the weregild
custom was, and in some parts still is, reproduced with
considerable exactness. Fifteen years ago in southern
New Guinea the unconscious imitation of the Corsican
vendetta was, for all practical purposes, perfect.
The history of our own country might be elucidated by
a variety of illustrations from the South Sea Islands. In
many spots the descent of the inhabitants from immigrant
sea-rovers is obvious. Estuaries, rivers, and creeks, are in
the occupation of races quite distinct from the earlier
residents who have been forced inland. If this does not
exactly reproduce for us the conditions brought about by
the successive expeditions of Hengest, of ./Elle, and of
Cerdic with their companions, it may, surely, be taken as
illustrating what occurred in the more remote days when
the Aryan Celts invaded the island in the occupation of
primitive Euskarians. To have seen the settlements of
certain tribes of the Pacific enables one to understand
events of which we no more have written records than we
have of the generation of the Permian fossils.
By observation of the islanders we may watch certain
processes of great social and political importance. We
may actually perceive the growth and evolution of classes,
and even of ideas and principles. If anyone wants to see
progress " from Status to Contract " in visible operation
he should go to, say, Santa Cruz, which has just been
brought under British administration. In half an ordinary
io THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
lifetime it would be possible to note, as land, owing to
the extension of trading settlements in the lowlands, be-
came a marketable commodity, how chiefs of clans in
some places can convert themselves into territorial
magnates by the simple process of monopolising the folk-
land, or, if that name be objected to, the common property
of the whole clan. It sharpens one's perception of the
essential identity of human actions under similar conditions,
when one sees in the Pacific also that the ager publicus
tends towards concentration in the hands of patricians,
and that amongst the commons the propriety of redistri-
buting it rises, in time, to the rank of a political principle.
We can also observe how a missionary Church is
received at first with wonder and submission by a
population in a less forward state of culture ; how it
grows powerful and, in comparison with even the foremost
natives, wealthy ; how power and wealth breed a dis-
position to domineer ; and how a spirit of resistance to
domineering methods arises and a belief in the justice
and efficacy of secession is developed. There is little
fanciful in discerning a parallel between contemporary
conditions in the islands and those which, in this depart-
ment of affairs, disclosed themselves in mediaeval Europe.
There have been moments when the white officials in
remote archipelagoes must have thought that, after all,
there was something to be said for Henry II.
It was not in the Congresses or Parliaments of the
English-speaking nations that " stone-walling " or " ob-
struction " first originated. It was an established practice
in the legislature of the Vaitupuans. Members of that
body who were resolved not to allow their proposals to
be " talked out " were provided with substantial wooden
couches, on which they could take a nap and thus out-
stay the longest-winded orator or the most adroitly-
arranged succession of obstructive motions. These
couches, which had evidently been long in use, were
shown to visitors sixteen years ago.
INTRODUCTION 1 1
Several South Sea Island races are not now savage in
any sense, except as to rarity of trousers and absence of
novels, and never deserved that epithet in its sense of
ferocious. There is no finer people on earth than the
Tongans and the closely related and but slightly less
vigorous Samoans. The physical beauty of both sexes
— which attains its highest development amongst the
Samoan women — is parallelled by their intellectual en-
dowment. The grace of manner and general dignity of
bearing, habitual with members of chiefly families, could
not be surpassed in the most polished of European courts.
The contrast in these respects between the natives of high
birth and the proselytising and trading white men who
come to " civilise " them cannot escape the notice of the
least observant.
Where they have not been made the victims of de-
liberate and pertinacious corruption these people have
shown a capacity for accepting our civilisation not inferior
to that exhibited by the people who listened to the teach-
ing of Augustine. The Tongans, till within the last year
or two, showed that there was at least one constitutional
monarchy that could prosper without a national debt. It
does not require financial genius of a high order to enable
you to discover that a young and inexperienced sovereign
can be seduced easily into extravagant habits ; and — if you
have the power of a great nation at your back and are
sufficiently " detached " to have no scruples — though you
may be but a tyro in finance, you can manage to convert
private indebtedness into that of the nation and insist on
liquidation in some form or other. The Tongans, it may
be remarked, have a highly respectable political virtue not
usually attributed to dark-skinned people by white men.
They are as passionately attached to their independence as
the Swiss or the Netherlanders ever were to theirs.
It is hoped that this rapid survey of South Sea affairs
will at the least help to make it seem likely that they will
prove interesting enough to justify efforts to widen our
12 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
knowledge of them. One cannot help thinking how full
and trustworthy the survey might have been had it been
carried out, in a leisurely manner, by a trained expert
instead of by a hurried observer with plenty of other and
more urgent work on his hands. It may be admitted that
to have been amongst the islanders, even the more savage
of them, begets a liking for them. There is no unworthy
prejudice in the longing that their good points may be
made more generally known. To have been in the South
Seas is apt to stimulate mental reaction against the
complacent self-sufficiency of the modern view that the
eighteenth century laudation of the " state of nature" was
an unmitigated absurdity. There is much that is most
attractive in the kindly communism of the island tribes,
and not a little that is economically sound. When a
civilised nation takes over the administration of some
group of islands, there is ingratitude, as well as impolicy,
in ignoring the fact that the institutions of the natives
have provided the new government with a ready-made
system of poor relief. The question of old age pensions
had been settled by the islanders long before white men
came amongst them. It would be interesting to be in-
formed by authorities on economics where co-operative
agriculture has reached a more efficient development than
it has in some South Sea Islands. A general recognition
of the true qualities of the people may ward off from them
many ills. To even a callous heart there must be some-
thing shocking in the case of the gracious, kindly, and
intelligent Samoans serving as the shuttle-cocks of rival
gangs of money-makers in a hurry to grow rich. Beli-
sarius begging for an obolus was not a more piteous
spectacle than Malietoa Laupepa, with his seven hundred
years of chiefly pedigree, accepting a dole of salted pork.
In that subject which Mr Christian has made his special
study, viz. language, the Pacific Islands offer a fine field
for investigation. The evolution of dialects, and, perhaps,
of distinct languages, can be followed as we follow an
INTRODUCTION 13
experiment in a laboratory. On Mallicolo (Malekula) and
Espiritu Santo of the New Hebrides one could measure
the extent of the separation between adjacent but mutually-
hostile villages by the varying pronunciation of personal
names which were common to all.
If we may regard the South Sea Islands as a museum
of living specimens to which students in many branches of
learning may resort in order to fortify their conclusions
and improve their knowledge, we must remember that it
is a museum which will not be open long. The island
races are diminishing and, besides, are rapidly changing
under the influence of " civilisation." The geology of
Oceania, whether examined now or a hundred years hence,
will yield the same results. The greatest disaster that
can be caused by postponement is the disappointment of
someone with a theory who is in a hurry to test it. Even
the fauna and the flora will have changed but little in a
century, and in easily discernible ways. In a much
shorter time the people will have died out or have been
transformed into weak and ineffective copies of white
originals. Therefore the student who wishes to do what
Mr Christian has done, and carry out his inquiries on the
spot, had better be quick about it. The operation will
help to enlarge our knowledge of the natives and their
ways, and can hardly fail to benefit the Empire.
The formation of the British Empire in its wide
dominion over alien races was made possible by —
amongst others — two things. The great men who were
the immediate agents of expansion possessed a high
capacity for understanding the native populations with
which they came in contact. Amongst the British
people at home the trick of fussy and desultory inter-
ference with that of which they know nothing had not
developed into a serious malady. The times are changed.
Nevertheless increased knowledge may counteract the
most menacing consequences of the disease.
There are a few particular points to which it may not
14 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
be impertinent to allude. I have ventured to form the
opinion that the great Ponape and Kusaie ruins, explored
by Mr Christian, are not those of buildings erected by
the races at present inhabiting the islands. The opinion,
I find, is not approved by persons of high authority.
Whether the ancestors of the present Ponapeans or an
earlier people built the great island Venice at Metalanim,
it will not, I expect, be denied that the builders must have
vastly out-numbered the existing population. The same
may be said of every Pacific island on which prehistoric
remains are found. Now, a tradition of a larger popula-
tion in early times is very common in the South Seas ; and
there is evidence beyond that supplied by the ruins to
support it. That the native population is diminishing —
equally under conditions of coddling and neglect — is
certain. There is, however, nothing to show that the
actual rate of decrease is greater than, or even as great as,
that of former ages. Indeed it is reasonable to suppose
that the natives had been moving rapidly towards extinc-
tion before the white man appeared on the scene. If the
great ruins were the work of a pre-existing people it
would strengthen the belief — which is quite tenable if
they were not — that the dying-out is really independent
of the white man's action. Consequently, we may console
ourselves with the reflection that, however sorely we may
have sinned against them, we are not responsible for the
extinction of the island races of the Pacific.
It is impossible to think of the South Sea Islands with-
out thinking of missionaries. They have played a great
part there ; or, at any rate, have had the good fortune of
telling the story of it themselves. For those who hold
that it is a more sacred duty to evangelise some tens of
thousands of islanders than some hundreds of thousands
of dwellers in certain quarters of the great cities of the
United Kingdom and the Australasian colonies, this must
have been a comfort. We are often ready to assume that
a work must be good because those who do it are men of
INTRODUCTION 1 5
noble spirit and unselfish practice. Intimacy with some
of the British missionaries of all the churches cannot fail
to raise one's estimate of one's fellow-men. I have heard
many charges brought by laymen against missionaries, of
improper trading or impure life. In not one single case
which I 'was able to investigate was there any truth in the
accusations. I have heard of one bad case ; but the
accusers and judges in that were missionaries themselves.
Though the British missionaries of one sect will talk very
fully of the proceedings of those of another, I never heard
from any of them a single expression of jealousy or ill-
feeling. On the contrary, they seemed to take a friendly
interest in each other's success. All the same, any really
open-minded visitor to the islands will soon discover that
other white men who are too seldom remembered have
also exercised a beneficent influence amongst them. The
civilisation of the islanders — Europeanisation would be
more accurate — has not been the work of the missionaries
alone. The white trader has had no insignificant share
in it.
Those who believe that the " beach-comber," or the
copra-trader, of the South Seas is necessarily a scoundrel,
err grievously. There is, proportionately to their numbers,
as much honesty, sobriety, and energy amongst the traders
as amongst any other body of business men. They have
their black sheep, no doubt ; let the community which
has none throw at them the first stone !
Thursday Island is so often the starting place for
visitors to the South Seas that it cannot properly be
passed without mention. I have occasionally found that
it is given — in my opinion most undeservedly — a bad
character. It has a noisy quarter in which there is much
debauchery. Anyone who expresses horror at this is in-
vited to inspect certain waterside parts of Liverpool or
Antwerp before he formulates his indictment. At one of
my visits to Thursday Island nearly all the residents were
good enough to accept an invitation to come on board the
16 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
flag- ship. What they thought of it I cannot say ; I only
know that their company gave me unalloyed pleasure.
The Thursday Island community is, in my opinion, a most
creditable one. The good Australian tradition of tolerat-
ing no lawlessness in newly formed and hastily populated
settlements has been respected there as well as in many a
mining " rush." Whilst nothing would induce me to cross
a London Park after 10 p.m., I would readily walk from
one end of Thursday Island to the other at any hour.
There is no need for me to dwell upon the romantic
side of life in the South Seas. That side of it has been
illustrated by such masters as Byron, Melville, R. L.
Stevenson, most conspicuously, and Louis Becke.
I have now only to leave Mr Christian to tell his story.
I apologise for having stood so long between him and his
readers, and may add that I have discovered, not from
information volunteered by him, that the whole cost of
his expedition has been defrayed by himself; and that
his only inducement has been a disinterested love of the
studies to which he has devoted so much time and so
much labour.
Cyprian A. G. Bridge.
London, 21st March 1899.
GENERAL SKETCH OF THE CAROLINES
SPANISH MICRONESIA
SPANISH Micronesia, according to the treaty made with
Germany in 1885, lies between the Equatorial line on
the south and the eleventh northern parallel, and between
1 390 and 1700 E. longitude.1 The great island of New
Guinea lies about 1000 miles to the southward. A long
chain of 652 islands lie scattered over this wide stretch of
sea, some 1400 miles in length. The inhabitants number
some 50,000, a combination of the Black, the Brown, and
the Yellow races. The Caroline archipelago contains
thirty-six minor groups. We will take the more important
of these one by one from west to east.
The Pelew group, lying on the western frontier of the
Carolines, contains about two hundred islands, of which
Bab-el-Thaob is the largest. The population of the Pelews
is considerably over 3000. The language is the harshest
and most impossible of all the Malayan dialects. The
principal products are turtle-shell, copra or dried cocoanut
kernel, and beche-de-mer or dried sea-slugs. In the
Chinese markets beche-de-mer brings as much as £So
sterling per ton. Copra in European markets fetches
about £25 per ton. It yields a capital oil, and the
crushed residue furnishes a grand cattle-cake and is used
as a basis for sweetmeats and confectionery.
Trouble is always going on between the various tribes,
and a firm hand is needed to keep things in order.
Captain Butron of the Spanish cruiser Velasco (lost in
the late naval battle at Manilla), who visited the group
in 1885, gives these natives a good name. Captain
1 Since these lines were in type, Spanish Micronesia is no more.
B I7
1 8 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
O'Keefe, of Yap, who knows the Pelews very well, de-
scribes the people as regular pirates. In olden time there
was great commercial activity in the Western Carolines.
The Yap and Pelew natives used to go on long voyages
of trading and conquest. The island of Babelthoab is
rich in good timber, and produces all the tropical fruits.
On the hillside are some interesting lines of ancient
fortifications, which I hope to explore next winter.
Alligators, called Gaiutsch or Aius, are found in some
of the creeks, and a peculiar kind of horned frog or Cerastes
in the valleys of the interior ; this they call Thagathaguk.
There are two kinds of snakes \Bersoiok and Ngiis\
some scorpions and centipedes. On the plateaus there is
plenty of good pasture for horses and cattle. Goats are
plentiful and very destructive to the breadfruit-trees ;
they break into a plantation, gnaw the bark away in a
circle, and then the tree dies, and so does the goat when
he is caught ! There is no Spanish garrison or mission
school or trading station in the Pelews. Nothing is done
at all to show that these islands belong to Spain. A
fringing reef, fifty-three miles long from north to south,
surrounds the Pelews — a menace to navigation which has
destroyed many a China-bound vessel. I have lately
heard that the Spaniards are now determined to sell the
Pelews, the Mariannes, and the Carolines to some foreign
Power, but neither America, Great Britain, nor Japan
need apply — and these the very nations best of all quali-
fied for colonising these fierce and intractable islanders.
In her business relations in Pacific islands Great Britain
would do well to take heed of the saying of Horace,
" Tarde venientibus ossa " — " Those who come late to
dinner only get bones." x
Three hundred miles north-east of the Pelews lies Yap,
surrounded by a coral reef thirty-five miles long and five
broad. There are hardly any rivulets on the island, but
inland are extensive swamps laid out in plantations of a
1 Recent events have proved these words only too true.
SKETCH OF THE CAROLINE GROUP 19
water taro, the Colocasia of the Nile valley. The island
is full of relics of a vanished civilisation — embankments
and terraces, sites of ancient cultivation, and solid roads
neatly paved with regular stone blocks, ancient stone
platforms and graves, and enormous council lodges of
quaint design, with high gables and lofty carved pillars.
The ruins of ancient stone fish-weirs fill the lagoon between
the reef and the shore, making navigation a most difficult
matter, and calling forth many most unkind remarks from
trading skippers. The fruits of the soil are sweet potatoes,
yams, of which there is a great variety, taro, mammee
apples or papaw, pineapples, water-melons, custard-apples,
bananas, sugar-cane, breadfruit, and the tropical almond.
Copra, that is, cocoanut kernel chipped up, sun-dried, and
put into sacks, is largely exported, mostly through the
German traders, who have spent a great deal of money
and labour here for the last thirty years. A varnish nut
grows here which should give good results. The principal
timber tree is the Voi, with a leaf like that of a magnolia
and in the wood resembling mahogany. Tomil harbour
on the East coast is the chief port ; here is the European
settlement and a small garrison of Manilla soldiers, and the
Spanish governor of the Western Carolines resides here
with a few Spanish officers and officials. There are about
a dozen European traders, mostly Germans.
Yap has beautiful scenery ; the groves of bamboo,
croton, cocoanut and areca palms are magnificent.
Huge green and yellow tree -lizards, called Galtif, are
found in the bush, and the nights are brilliant with fire-
flies glittering in and out of the woods like showers of
golden sparks. There are very few birds, however, very
few cattle, and no horses on the island.
The Uluthi or Mackenzie group lies a little to the
northward of Yap. Mokomok or Arrowroot island is the
chief port and trading place, with a great trade in copra.
The natives have from ancient times been subject to Yap,
and they come down every February to pay their tribute.
20 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
They are peaceful and law-abiding, a great contrast to
some of the people farther to the eastward. The next
island of importance is Uleai. Raur is the trading depot of
this group, exporting great quantities of copra, pearl-shell,
and beche-de-mer. The language contains many traces of
later Malayan, probably derived from trading vessels from
Java, Timor, and Sumatra, and piratical praus from Borneo
and the Sulus. All the central Caroline islanders have very
similar traditions, customs, and language. In olden days
they were great navigators, guiding their way fearlessly
by a most accurate knowledge of the stars and ocean cur-
rents. When the Spaniards conquered the Mariannes
about three hundred years ago, a great number of the
Chamorro or natives of the soil fled to Uleai and Lamotrek
to avoid forced conversion and slavery. I will give an
instance of the great naval enterprise about the beginning
of this century of the natives in this part of the Carolines.
The Uleai folk and their neighbours used regularly to
assemble at Lamotrek every February with eighteen or
twenty great canoes. From thence they sailed to Guam,
a distance of some five hundred miles, where they would
stay until April or May and then return, fearing the south-
west monsoon.
The two next Caroline groups, Hall and Enderby, are
only to be visited with great precautions. The islands
Pulo-Wat and Pulo-Suk are nothing better than pirate
strongholds. It would be well for an English or American
man-of-war to visit here, and warn the local chiefs against
cutting off peaceful trading vessels in their lagoon. They
have no respect at all for the red and yellow flag, for the
Spanish have taken little or no notice of several murders
committed here of late years. The next group is called
Ruk, from the name of the highest basaltic island in the
chain. It is also called Hogolu.1 The group consists of
1 The natives call Ruk " Te-Fan" " The Land," just as the Gilbert
Islanders style their little sun-scorched coral atolls " Te Aba."
The island-name Wap or Yap in the Western Carolines has the same
SKETCH OF THE CAROLINE GROUP 21
about seventy islands of basalt and coral lying in the
middle of a lagoon about one hundred and forty miles
round. There is a fine depth of water and good anchor-
age for vessels of large draft. There is a great annual
output of copra, mostly carried off to Europe in German
or Norwegian barques. Pearl-shell, turtle-shell, and beche-
de-mer are very abundant. Here they make from the
grated root of the wild ginger an orange-coloured cosmetic
( Taz'k) in little cones, which are readily exchanged all over
the Caroline group. There are thirty Japanese traders in
Hogolu lagoon, and a Hamburg trading firm sends many
vessels every year to fill up with copra. Figures are
sometimes better than photographs, so for those interested
in statistics 1 will say that the annual export of copra
from the Caroline group averages four million pounds
weight, of which Yap and Hogolu between them yield
more than half. Hogolu has a population of about ten
thousand, composed of two distinct races. The hill tribes
are dark in colour and the people on the coast light
reddish-brown. There is generally some small civil war
on hand, and the national game of head-hunting has
interfered a great deal with business, for the Spanish let
the islanders do just as they like. The natives of Ruk
and of the neighbouring group of the Mortlocks have a
curious custom, observed also in the Visayas of the
southern Philippines, among the ancient Incas of Peru,
and the Polynesians of Easter island, of piercing the
lower lobe of the ear, loading it with heavy ornaments
and causing it to expand downwards to an enormous size.
The Mortlocks consist of three groups, Lukunor, Satoan,
and Etal, containing in all ninety-eight islands. The
population is about two thousand. The Germans take
primitive meaning. The element Pon, Fan, Fal or Far enters frequently
into the names of Caroline Islands. Cf. Ponatik, Fanadik, Faralap,
Ponapei, Fanupei ; — and is cognate with Fijian Vanua, Malay Benua, and
with Polynesian Fanua, Fenua, Honua, Whenua. In Gaelic we find
Fonn = earth : land, and in Sanskrit Bonn ^id.
22 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
great pains to develop the copra industry here. Of great
interest to philologists is the existence of a pure Polynesian
dialect upon two little island groups named Kap-en-Mail-
ang and Nukuoro. These lie to the south-east of the
Mortlocks. The language is an antique form, combining
the phonesis of the Samoan and the Maori, spoken about
three thousand miles away down in the South Pacific.
I collected about five hundred words of the Nukuoro
dialect.
The next group to the eastward is that of Ponape or
Seniavin, with the neighbouring minor groups of Ant, Pakin,
and Ngatik, of which more anon. The islands in the
Ponape lagoon are somewhat thinly populated, and serve
mainly as fishing stations. The islet of Mutakaloch, off
the Metalanim coast, is remarkable for its cellular basalt
formation ; whilst near Kapara, which lies on the edge of
the barrier reef on the south-west coast, is seen the pheno-
menon of a spring of fresh water welling up through the
coral.
Farther east from Ponape are the Mokil (or Duperrey),
the Pingelap (or M'Caskill), and the Kusaie groups, the
easternmost outpost of the Spanish dominions. In con-
clusion, I may express my opinion that England may one
day have a great deal to do with the islands Kusaie and
Ponape, the latter of which really deserves the name of
the garden of Micronesia. I may be pardoned for saying
that our Government at home has of late years shown
itself somewhat indifferent to events in the South Seas.
The French and the Germans are pushing their interests
in Pacific waters, whilst we stand still. Even the Nor-
wegians are busy there, and we look tamely on and do
nothing. Let us wake from this strange torpor like men
of business and try what we can do. Surely where
French, Germans, and Norwegians can make money, we
can make money too !
I will refer briefly to the principal explorers who have
visited these waters.
SKETCH OF THE CAROLINE GROUP 23
On the 6th March, 1521, the illustrious navigator
Magellan discovered the Mariannes to which he gave the
name Ladrones ; from thence, he went on and discovered
the Philippine group, and on the 27th April of the same
year was murdered by the natives on the island of
Mactan.
In 1526, Alonzo de Salazar discovered one of the
islands of the Marshall group.
In 1528, Alvaro de Saavedra discovered the Uluthi or
Mackenzie group, and took possession of them in the
name of Spain. A little later he sailed into the wide
lagoon of Hogolu, or Ruk, and in the September of the
next year he found Ualan, or Kusaie. After him Villa-
lobos and Legaspi, on their way to the Philippines from
New Spain, made fresh discoveries in these waters, of
which Yap was the most important.
In 1595, the famous sea-captain Quiros fell in with
Ngatik, to the south of Ponape, which he called Los
Valientes, from the warlike character of the natives he
found there. In 1686, a small island to the south of the
Mariannes was called Carolina, and from this little island
the name became applied to the whole group. A series of
expeditions of a religious character followed the Spanish
discoveries in these seas. Attempts to introduce the
Catholic faith on Sonsorol and the Enderby group, known
as Los Martires, failed disastrously, ending in the death of
the missionaries who conducted them, through the
cowardice and incompetence of the captain who held
temporal command. Other Spanish vessels, no doubt, on
the course from Acapulco to the Philippines, may have
fallen in with some of the Caroline Islands or been wrecked
on some of the uncharted reefs. Of these we have no
record save the grim story on the south coast of Ponape,
of iron men who came up out of the sea and fought with
the men of Kiti, until overwhelmed with sling-stones and
spear-thrusts. A voyager of note in Micronesia was
Kotzebue, who, with the famous Chamisso, poet, dramatist,
24 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
and philologist, visited the Marshalls, the Mariannes, and
a portion of the Carolines in 1815. After 1819, Lutke,
Freycinet, Duperrey, and Dumont D'Urville, visited these
regions. In 1839, an English man-of-war, the Lame,
coasted around Ponape and entered Kiti harbour. A
number of geographical observations and soundings were
taken, upon which our present Admiralty chart is based.
Most unfortunately, nearly all the native names have
been cruelly mangled, and have become a meaningless
jargon.
Ever since 1830 the island has been repeatedly visited
by the New England and New Bedford whalers, who gave
the natives little cause indeed to respect the white man.
During the Civil War in America a Confederate cruiser,
the Shenandoah, caught several of these northern craft in
Chokach harbour, and burnt them to the water's edge.
About 1850 the American Methodist Mission was estab-
lished, and recent history may be summarised as
follows : —
ABSTRACT OF HISTORY OF SPANISH OCCUPATION.
August 1885. — The gunboat litis raises the German
flag at Yap. Excitement at Madrid. German
Consulate assaulted. The matter referred to the
Pope who pronounces in favour of Spain.
July 27, 1886. — Spanish flag raised at Ascension
Bay in Ponape.
April 19, 1887. — Founding of the Colony of Santiago,
and formal proclamation of Spanish rule at
Ascension Bay.
April 24, 1887. — Founding of the Catholic Mission
station in Kiti, followed by bickerings between
the Methodist missionaries from Boston and the
Capuchin priests.
June 16, 1887. — Mr Doane, the head of the Methodist
Mission, deported to Manilla.
SKETCH OF THE CAROLINE GROUP 25
July 1, 1887. — Massacre of a detachment of Manilla
soldiers under Ensign Martinez on the Island of
Chokach, followed by a general native rising and
the capture of the Spanish fort and the slaughter
of Senor Posadillo, the Governor, and some seventy
of the defenders.
October 31, 1887. — Arrival of punitive expedition.
The new Governor, Senor Cadarso, proclaims a
general amnesty.
1888 and 1889. — Interval of peace.
June 25, 1890. — Massacre of Lieut. Porras and his
party of fifty-four soldiers employed on the
military road at Oa on the east coast.
June 29, 1890. — Wreck of Mr J. C. Dewar's yacht, the
Nyanza, on the reefs off the Mant Islands on the
north coast.
September 1, 1890. — Arrival of relief expedition from
Manilla under Colonel Gutierrez Soto.
September 12, 13, and 14, 1890. — Bombardment of
the Metalanim coast. Landing of troops on
Tomun. Burning of native houses and King
Paul's residence destroyed. Abortive overland
march of Spanish troops across the U highlands
from the Colony and their return.
September 16, 1890. — Landing of Spanish at Tolopuel
in Metalanim harbour. Colonel Soto killed.
September 19, 1890. — Attack upon Oa from the
sea. The position brilliantly carried by the
Spanish, but with severe loss. Death of Chaulik,
one of the leading rebel chiefs of the League.
October 15, 1890. — Second desultory bombardment of
the Metalanim coast by the Ulloa. Arrival of the
American corvette Alliance, demanding compen-
sation for the proposed expulsion of their mission-
aries, and obtaining 1 7,000 gold dollars, leaving
on 2nd November, and conducting Mr Rand and
his Methodist colleagues to the Island of Kusaie.
26 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
November 22 and 23, 1890. — Hard fighting at the
stockade of Ketam in the Metalanim district.
The position captured by the Spanish at the
sacrifice of a third of their force.
A trifling skirmish on the Chapalap River and a few
assassinations of stray Manilla soldiers wandering outside
the Colony, varied the monotony of affairs until the
arrival of Don Jose Pidal in 1894. His conciliatory
policy seemed successful, and the natives regretted his
departure in 1896. His successor, Don Miguel Velasco,
a distinguished naval officer, who it is to be feared perished
in the recently reported massacre, was popular alike
amongst Europeans and natives. The massacre was
doubtless caused by the imprisonment of Henry Nanapei
of Ronkiti, one of the principal chiefs, who held strong
American sympathies, and was head of the Protestant
Mission schools established in his district. Perhaps if the
Carolines are handed over to Germany, as Spain seems
disposed to do, we shall hear less of this odium theologicum
which elsewhere has proved such a firebrand to the world,
and here has brought about such lamentable waste of life
and treasure, and cruel humiliations to Spain.
LAGOON AND FORESHORE OF M1LLE, MARSHALL ISLANDS
UCHENTAU. OUR CAMPING-PLACE IN METALANIM
PART I
CHAPTER I
SYDNEY TO HONG KONG
EMBARKING on the S.S. Menmuir we start from
Sydney on a lovely evening, September 3rd, 1895,
passing Seal Rocks above Newcastle, the bane of our ill-
fated predecessor the Catterthun. A haze hung over the
land for the weather had been very dry, and frequent
bush-fires were torching up on our left. On the evening
of September 5 th we anchored in Moreton Bay to pick up
some passengers from Brisbane. Next night we sighted
Capricorn Light, and the 7th found us moored in a dense
fog off the pilot station in Keppel Bay, where by and by
we receive cargo from Rockhampton and a medley of
Chinese passengers. We leave about noon and pass
numerous barren islets that afternoon, and the morning of
the 9th found us lying off Townsville. We raised Cape
Grafton that afternoon, sighting Rocky Island about day-
light, and anchoring off Cooktown about nine o'clock,
where we took on board a cargo of beche-de-mer.
Cooktown with her mangrove belt is left behind us.
Several low islands lie to seaward, flat as the islets of
Tonga or the Low Archipelago without their redeeming
belt of graceful palms. The sea is calm as a mill-pond,
and the sky heavy with smoke from the bush-fires raging
along that desolate coast — the domain of savage hunting
and fishing tribes which the white man has not yet ousted
from their homes. But their turn will come by and by,
and the surviving blacks will follow their predecessors as
sure as the night the day.
Our dear old captain Hugh Craig is the life and soul
28 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
of our merry bachelor party. Day after day we creep
northward, gliding over a glassy sea, our Lotus eaters'
monotony only broken by sumptuous meals served by
noiseless and discreet Celestials in airy attire. Evening
after evening, many a noble rubber of whist is played out
on deck with the Southern Cross and the myriad lamps
of the sky gleaming overhead ; with the kindly breezes
of starry-kirtled night playing softly round us, as with
rhythmic beat of clanging machinery, the great boat
marches on with a fiery trail of phosphorescent sparkles
in her train.
On the evening of the ninth day out we anchor off the
mouth of the famous Torres Straits, so as to steam
through the jaws of the narrow and perilous Albany Pass
with the morning light. At dawn a most picturesque
scene unfolds itself. We are moving through a channel
not above eighty yards wide, to right and to left we catch
fleeting glimpses of pretty little sandy bays opening out
here and there, backed by clumps of cocoanut palms, re-
calling bits of scenery from the South Seas. On either
side shelves and ledges of rock stand out in bold relief,
while in the background stretches a wild bushland covered
thickly with low scrub and dotted pillars of grass-tree.
One picturesque foreland is covered with tall conical, not
to say comical mounds, the mud-castles of the Termites or
white ants. After a while the northern horizon is left
clear, save for three or four small islands on the New
Guinea side, but the great island itself lies too far off to
view. We sight the residence of Mr J., an extensive
landholder and J. P. of the district, a man of mark, and a
stern man to the marauding savages who cluster round the
lonely little settlement. This portion of Australia — all
around the Gulf of Carpentaria — swarms with fierce and
warlike blacks, tinged with a strong racial admixture from
Malay pirates, trepang-gatherers, Papuan war-parties, and
fleets of dugong fishers from South New Guinea, who
have haunted these coasts for many a hundred years.
SYDNEY TO HONG KONG 29
The seas hereabouts are famous for biche-de-mer and pearl-
shell, and Mr J. has several luggers in hand for this
service, which is one of considerable adventure and hard-
ship. The place is called Somerset, and was formerly the
residence of the local magistrate appointed by the Govern-
ment, who has now been removed to Thursday Island.
The waterway round us simply bristles with hidden reefs
and dangerous sandbanks. Later on we pass the four
year old wreck of the Volga, a Newcastle collier of some
2000 tons, and soon after slip by the Mecca reefs (so
called from the China steamer wrecked here thirteen years
ago), and now Thursday Island and its mosquito fleet of
pearling luggers and beche-de-mer craft comes into sight as
we round a curve and run alongside the William Fairbairn
hulk, where we moor. Presently three or four shoreboats
manned by Cingalese boatmen come alongside to take our
party ashore.
The island is a barren sandy spot, and the township a
miserable collection of tumbledown shanties and stores
faced with shaky verandahs and roofed with corrugated
iron, which with the fiery heat beating down overhead
makes the interior a positive furnace, creating a hell-
like heat and thirst, which many of the settlers appro-
priately quench with huge draughts of spirits that might
have come out of Beelzebub's own private still. Here
indeed is a wonderful mixture of races for poet, painter,
or artist of an unhealthy turn of mind. Crapulous, un-
washed white men with low foreheads and cunning shifty
eyes, Cingalese, Malays, Papuans, Chinamen, Portuguese,
African and Australian niggers, and half-castes of all sorts
of lovely dissolving shades of white, dirty brown, sooty
black and sickly yellow, pullulating together like vermin
in the mud-honey of drink, opium, and filth, the paradise
of the Australian larrikin and the type of native he
influences. Picture the estimable Captain Randall in
Stevenson's " Beach of Falesa," and you will get a notion
of the white loafer of Thursday Island. A class of men
30 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
unreasonably large in number here, who must be a sad
annoyance to their sober and respectable neighbours. The
landscape is slightly redeemed by a few melancholy look-
ing cocoanut palms and pandanus clumps, with here and
there a wilted and sickly pawpaw tree looking as if ashamed
of its surroundings. On every hand there are plenty of
vacant allotments covered with tall stalks of dried-up
vegetation awaiting a stray lucifer or spark from the pipe
of some careless wayfarer to break out into a glorious
conflagration of purifying flame, and make a bonfire of
this evil-smelling rookery. A few dull-eyed storekeepers
loll around on rickety benches grumbling at bad times,
and praying for some customer to come along, who when
he does come gets a taste of insolence for giving them the
trouble of getting up. Any remonstrance is answered by
a shower of invectives, which must keep the recording
angel very busy for the next few minutes. A tempting
curio-assortment lies arrayed in the windows of one shop
— but, alas, the shutters are down. The proprietor is
away " on the tangle," as a wild-eyed beach-comber pass-
ing by curtly informs us.
One of our party badly wanting a shave is rash enough
to approach a tumble-down barber's shop — one look at
the filthy interior, and the too sanguine customer flees in
horror. By-and-bye we come to a shop with heaps of
useful though not exactly ornamental household crockery
piled up in front. This is the " Hall of Arts," the title
set forth in bright blue letters on a green ground. By
the side of a broken window a flaring red-and-yellow
poster announces the production of a Screaming Farce —
a relic of a party of last month's strolling players. On
the hill overlooking the centre of the township are the
Barracks, wherein some fifty men of the Permanent Ar-
tillery are stationed — stalwart makers of roads, clearers of
bush, suppliers of water, and pioneers of civilisation gener-
ally, and preservers of law and order. Let us hope that
some years of Purgatory may be remitted them for doing
SYDNEY TO HONG KONG 31
their duty amidst such unpleasant surroundings — and men
say they perform it well. Lo ! the dingy street is lighted
up by a bright apparition of two neat little Japanese
musume's patrolling in their national garb — a harmony in
brown, blue and grey — under paper umbrellas, a pair of
human busy bees from the hive, the other side of the
jetty where lies the Japanese quarter. Now these Japanese
have certainly established a solid foothold in Thursday
Island. Possibly their nattiness, their thrift and superior
business ability, account for the bitter hatred of a certain
section of the white population towards them. Many of
the settlers look upon them as dangerous rivals, and would
gladly over-reach or terrorise these bright and energetic
little people. But the resident is a firm and a just man,
and a stern repressor of the lawless and rowdy element,
and he does not fight alone. Therefore the dogs in the
manger are allowed to growl and bark a little, but, when
they take to biting, measures are taken to muzzle them.
We climbed the hill and lunched at an odd little hotel
on top where there were a number of pet animals. After
admiring a stuffed alligator fourteen feet long, and supplying
the whisky-drinking baboon with sundry glasses of Scotch
and Irish to his infinite relish, we descended and made
our way back to the steamer. We found them hoisting
on board quantities of sandal-wood brought down in some
of the small schooners manned by crews of mixed nation-
ality, which trade between Thursday Island and the
southern districts of New Guinea.
The capture of a shovel-headed shark over nine feet in
length caused some excitement. He was hoisted in over
the side, and all but fell into the sheep pen, much to the
dismay of the woolly bleaters, and his evil life was cut short
by repeated slashes over the tail from the hatchet of the
Chinese cook. We remained at our moorings overnight,
and daybreak sent us ploughing across the Gulf of Car-
pentaria, with a smooth sea, a cloudless sky, and a pleasant
breeze to waft us towards the magic East.
32 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
On the 15th we sighted New Year's Island and passed
Cape Croker, anchoring off Cape Don for the night. Next
day we passed Cape Keith, and sighted King's Table in
the afternoon, reaching Port Darwin about two hours
before sunset.
The town is situated on a plateau, reached by a series
of steps leading up the hillside from the end of a long
jetty which stretches out seaward about four hundred
yards. At spring tide the rise is twenty-seven feet, which
necessitates high and stout supports. The posts are
suffering greatly from the attacks of the borer-worm, that
pest of tropical seas. It may console mariners to know
that the Board of Works is seriously contemplating the
construction of a new wharf with solid iron cylinders. In
twenty or thirty years the much-boasted innovation may
be an accomplished fact. In the meantime sea-captains
may grutch and grumble to their hearts' content.
The town consists of the usual cluster of four or five
score houses, a distant vision of flat-topped roofs capped
with the inevitable corrugated iron, shimmering like
burnished copper in the glare of the evening sun. On
a closer view, however, some of the houses of the better
sort appear lying back in little gardens of their own,
fronted by spacious verandahs with shades of split bam-
boo-cane, and embowered with masses of roses and climb-
ing creepers, conspicuous amongst which are the rich
purple leafy-petaled blossoms of the Bougainvillea and
the blue and white bells of the convolvulus major. Here
and there the eye rests pleasantly upon clumps of crotons,
and masses of arum-lily and caladium. There is a Post
Office lying back in a trim shrubbery ; and two Banks,
one of stone, one of wood, supply the monetary needs of
the townsfolk. In company with Messrs Fcelsche and
Holtze we drove out next day to visit the Botanical
Gardens, which lie about three miles out of town a little
way past Shell Bay, where a friendly tribe of neighbour-
ing blacks are encamped. The former of our entertainers
SYDNEY TO HONG KONG 33
is the Police Magistrate of the district, who has contributed
much interesting knowledge to scientific journals concern-
ing the languages and customs of the native races of the
Northern Territory. Mr Holtze is Curator of the Gardens,
and is a great botanical enthusiast. On reaching the scene
of his labours the first thing that strikes one is a grove of
cocoanut palms only seven years old but showing vigorous
growth. Clumps of feathery bamboo and sturdy bananas
give a genuine South Sea Island aspect to the scene.
There is quite a cosmopolitan gathering of palms. The
prickly-palm of Queensland, the cabbage palm and the oil
palm from Africa, the fan palm of the Marquesas, the
areca palm of India and the Philippines, the date palm
from Arabia and Egypt, are all here. Huge banyan trees
tower around, spreading wide their aerial root-sprays, their
tresses of small leaf nodding and whispering in the sway
of the free ocean breezes. Strange shrubs and trees from
the Moluccas confront us, the cinnamon, the Malay or
jamboo apple, the jackfruit, the gardenia, the cycas and
the freycinetia. The Australian flora is well represented.
Here flourish the red gum, blue gum, spotted gum,
stringy bark, lemon gum, black-butt, apple tree, sheoak,
black wattle and golden wattle.
The site of the gardens was heavily timbered in former
times and now green saplings are everywhere shooting
up from the boles of the felled giants of the forest. I
stayed to lunch at Holtze's invitation, and thus met two
ardent cullers of herbs. Finally it was agreed that he
should furnish me with a number of seed-packets and that
I should make a collection of assorted Micronesian seeds,
always giving economic trees and plants the preference.
In return he promised me a number of North Australian
curios and undertook to minutely tabulate and record the
species and genera of plants raised from the aforesaid
collection of seeds, which when they came to hand were to
be sown and tended with special care. Then our talk
turned upon the neighbouring tribes, and the new railway
C
34 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
extension to Pine Creek. He told me of the Palmer
Goldfield, of the Yellow Agony invading the Northern
Territory, and discoursed learnedly on nuggets, faults,
veins, signs, claims and codes of diggers' law, which
failed to inspire me with golden dreams, though, for all
I know or care, the reality may be hard at hand. He
spoke of the lovely scenery on the creeks, and promised
me first-rate sport in the way of alligator shooting, if I
would only stay over two months. But even the tempt-
ing prospect of " Shikar " fails to draw me. " I hear the
East a-calling " in Rudyard Kipling's phrase. What is
this unaccountable glamour ? I ask — this intense fascina-
tion, ever drawing on that strange child of the ages the
irrepressible youth of England, to explore new lands and
court new adventures. Some such indefinable power
holds us in its magic grip at some period of our lives —
sometimes later, often earlier — and urges us forward and
onward, and we go.
Despite the fierce tropical heat we spent two enjoyable
days in Port Darwin — though I doubt whether the men
at the winches enjoyed them. For, how the Menmuir
manages to stow all the cargo she takes in at every port,
must remain a dark mystery to landsmen for all time.
Everybody, however, seems at peace with himself and the
world at set of sun, and the evening whist on deck goes on
with — I remember — a phenomenally uneven distribution
of trumps and high cards, which left our veteran player
nothing to lead from, little to lecture upon, and hardly
a leg to stand on.
At last we are off — Australia sinking astern — our prow
turned towards the golden Chersonese of the ancients, the
fabled lands of the sea-robbers, the prahu and the poisoned
creeze of spice and cinnamon, nutmeg and pineapple, the
domain of the Orang Laut — those Phoenicians of Pacific
waters. Four hundred and thirty miles ahead of us
stretches the great island of Timor, on the southern horn
of which lies Dilli, our port of destination, one of the last
SYDNEY TO HONG KONG 35
strongholds of senile Portugal, erstwhile the successful
trading rival of the stubborn Dutchman in these far-off
tropic seas. About fifty hours out, passing Nusa Besi
(Iron Island) we sight the distant peaks of Timor melting
into the soft summer haze of the dying day, and early
next morning we are lying inside the reef abreast of the
little town with the magnificent name. For Dilli is the
Malayan form of Delhi, wondrous city of palaces, one of
the numerous Sanskrit place-names which have come
floating down into Malayan on untold waves of migration.
And here follows a singular dilemma or rather trilemma,
somewhat after the fashion of the triangular duel in
Marryat's immortal " Midshipman Easy."
Our fellow-passenger, P. of Adelaide, has a number of
samples of South Australian products, all excellent of
their kind, to put upon the markets of the East. The
question arises : How shall he set about in Timor ? The
Portuguese Governor, so Captain Craig avers, doesn't know
ten words of English, but knows a little French. The
eager P. doesn't know a word of Portuguese, but from his
schooldays preserves a sort of French that would be intel-
ligible in Adelaide. There is an interpreter at Dilli, it is
true, but his English is very limited. What is to be
done? Suddenly it occurs to me that where there are
Portuguese, there will be some sort of ecclesiastic. All
ecclesiastics understand Latin of a sort, even though it be
that of Jerome or Augustine. Let us therefore have at
them in good Ciceronian Latin, and expound unto the
shepherds of the people the products of the magic land of
South Australia.
So the very first night out, a most elaborate document
is drawn up and duly set forth, describing the fertility of
the great Provincia Australis, her groves of olives, yield-
ing vats of yellowest oil, her cornfields white with nodding
harvests of barley, wheat and rye, of African sorghum and
the tasselled corn of America, telling of her vineyards
crested with black and golden grape-clusters, and the
36 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
generous liquor expressed therefrom, grateful alike to
Caesar and peasant, to Pope and to priest.
Mention is made of flocks and herds — innumerable
as the finny droves of Ocean — that browse upon wide
green pastures watered by mighty rivers ; of the salted
hindquarters of noble swine (" Terga porcorum salinata
nobilium ") and the flesh of goodly beeves and sheep, and
delicious broth from their tails, encased in brazen pots
where corruption cannot enter in nor the smell of decay
mar their savour. " Pinguium caro bovum atque ovium
intra vasa ahenea involuta. Neque deest jus caudarum,
decoctio quaedam maxime saporosa, ubi corruptio non
potest intrare." (Ye ghosts of great Caesar and Apicius,
what think ye of this for hams, and the tinned meats and
soups of commerce ?) One suddenly-remembered tag from
an Eton gradus helps us out of a difficult corner. It ran
Candiduli divina tomacula porci, "Heaven-flavoured sausages
of whitish pork? This and Heaven knows what sad
stuff beside, all reeled off in sonorous Latin, ridiculously
pat and to the point, and may all the Caesars, Christian
saints, and Pagan heroes and poets downwards, forgive
a stranger, and an Englishman, too, for misusing their
mother tongue so damnably.
It was indeed quaint reading, left-handed and incon-
gruous : and the thing came off, reader, the thing came
off. We went ashore and looked up the Governor, who
called in the Bishop of the diocese to give a churchman's
opinion on a thesis that sorely taxed the Latinity of the
lay mind. To see the good Bishop calmly and seriously
reading off sentence after sentence, and halting here and
there in mild doubt — then suddenly grasping the thing
and translating it bit by bit into current Portuguese —
cruelly tried our stoicism, as we sat by grave as judges
but racked with inward laughter. When some corollary
about woollen goods and hosiery was being sonorously read
in some fearful dog-Latin, I felt I could not hold out much
longer, and was seriously thinking of making a bolt for
SYDNEY TO HONG KONG 37
the door, when the catalogue ended. The Governor gave
a liberal order, which was promptly filled. Up to present
date, however, I have never learned that my good old
friend or his firm ever recovered one farthing for the
goods supplied. That's the worst of dealing with Portu-
guese. They are a most unreliable lot. It seems to
cause them no uneasiness whatsoever to incur an obliga-
tion which they know very well they have no funds to
meet. It was just the same at Hong Kong the other day,
when one of the Sikh non-com. 's, who are great money-
lenders, summoned a Portuguese. The defendant had
borrowed considerable sums, and, after losing the money
in gambling, calmly declined to pay, and somehow got off
scot-free ! The injured plaintiff took the matter pretty
coolly, remarking that he thought it rather hard to lend
out money and lose principal and interest too. The
defaulter simply grinned provokingly, and said he didn't
care a straw. And I don't suppose the Governor of Timor
cares either. He has, doubtless, eaten the beef and bis-
cuits, relished the wine and oil, and dismissed the vexatious
trifle of payment for ever from his memory.
During our visit we find that one of the tribes in the
neighbourhood has risen in revolt. There has been a
skirmish in the bush ; the Portuguese have of course won
a glorious victory, but the enemy are unaccountably left
in possession of the field of battle, and a considerable
number of men and officers are laid up in hospital. Our
good-natured Captain gave two or three of the poor little
widows of the fallen men a free passage up to Hong Kong,
en route for Macao — the sheet anchor of Portugal in the
China Seas. In return for this service the Portuguese
some months later bestowed on our Captain Hugh an
elaborate decoration, which pleased the good old fellow
heartily.
The doctor and one of our party went off into the
interior on stout Timor ponies. The rest of us strolled
aimlessly along the sea-front. We meet a grimy little
38 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
boy parading around with a lemon-crested cockatoo.
" How muchee ? " says P. " No intendo. No savee,"
jerks out the urchin, and is gone down the road like a
flash. We meet a man with a wizened-looking monkey,
both looking as if life had used them badly. " How
muchee?" once more demands the Inquisitor-General.
" No savee," replies the terrified man, and clutching the
poor little beast tight, turns and clears out for his life.
We enter a shop and demand to see some goods. Again
" No savee," sulky looks and muttered grumblings. Re-
sisting with difficulty a strong desire to break somebody's
head, we rally our forces, and enter a long thatched house
by the roadside, where some natives are chewing betel-nut,
with calabashes of sweet coconut toddy by their side for
sale. Sorely smitten with thirst we attempt to deal.
Again arises the eternal " No savee," and the idiots clear
out, calabashes and all, as if the devil was at their heels.
At last we meet one of the Portugese non-coms., whose
company has been so roughly handled in the late action,
and who explains the extraordinary behaviour of the
people by suggesting that they take all English heretics
for cannibals and fiends with tails like scorpions. Perhaps
they really do.
Timor is very much like any high basaltic island in the
Pacific — the beach fringed as usual with groves of coconut
palms, with plenty of lemon hibiscus, pandanus, and native
almond trees growing by the roadside. Its dense popula-
tion is of mingled Malay and Negrito. The great extent
and fertility of the island will in the near future render it
a most attractive field for the botanist, the zoologist, and
the philologist. Later on, in Macao, I was so fortunate
as to receive from a worthy Jesuit Father a Portuguese
vocabulary and grammar of the Teton dialect, which is a
most bizarre and curious one, containing very many ancient
word-forms akin to the Polynesian.
As I found out afterwards from further information
carefully collected and sifted, Timor was anciently an
SYDNEY TO HONG KONG 39
important point in the migrations of the Malayan race, in
whose calendar Timor is still preserved to denote the East
Quarter, side by side with the more modern term Masrak
(Arabic Maskrik).
The easternmost province of Yap is Tomil.
In the Sulu Archipelago the east is Timol.
In the Mariannes the northern quarter is Tirni.
In the Pelews the southern quarter is Dimis and Ditnus.
In the Pilam dialect of Eastern Formosa the west is
Timor.
All variations of the ancient Malayan geographical
name denote different points of the compass. So we may
safely take Timor to have been one of the early homes of
the Malayo-Polynesian, or, as some will have it, the Poly-
nesian folk, ere they dispersed themselves wave upon
wave, flotilla upon flotilla, on their long ocean wanderings.
After taking cargo aboard we leave the same evening
and are soon past the south end of Kambing (Goat)
Island. After leaving Sula Besi, Limbi and Banka
behind, towards sunset on the 24th we fall in with the
S.S. Tsinan going southward, threading our way the while
through a multitude of carefully charted islands. A few
days later we find ourselves skirting the west side of
Mindoro. Every day now brings us nearer to our journey's
end, and one lovely starlit evening we raise the well-
known Peak, and a little later, amidst a host of shipping,
great and small, we drop anchor a few hundred yards off
the Praya or sea-front of the city of Victoria — the capital
of Hong Kong. This and Singapore are the two keys to
the gate of our commerce in the East, which the Pope or
Czar, mighty though they be, shall never grasp, whilst
British iron and gold and silver and steel shall last, and
while British pluck and enterprise shall endure to hold
fast the empire that Britain's sons have so greatly toiled
to win.
CHAPTER II
HONG KONG TO MANILLA
IN these stirring days of travel all the English-speaking
world, or nearly all, should know the city of Victoria
— the threshold of the gorgeous East, worn by the count-
less feet of tourists on their nineteenth century pilgrimage
in search of the strange and the rare. Victoria, the
wondrous emporium of silks, teas, and curios, cunning
bronze and silver work and quaint ceramics, ductile metal
and fictile earth, obedient to the deft hand of the subtle
Child of the Yellow Clay, teeming in his industrious
millions. Time and space forbid me to describe at length
the Lower Town with its steep narrow lanes and sky-
scraping dwelling houses tenanted by untold thousands of
the poorer Chinese, huddled together upon narrow noisome
areas ; the solid and splendid buildings of the European
merchants facing the craft-encumbered sea — the terraces
and high white walls and domes of the Middle Town, the
princely abodes of wealthy merchants. The Upper Town,
high on the breezy hills, is reached by that engineering
marvel, the Peak Railway, running up the steepest of in-
clines, through plantations of fir and larch and a hundred
other woodland trees that clothe the gaunt hillside, the
happy result of a grand Afforestation Scheme to fight the
island fever that proved so deadly in the early years of
British occupation. Below stretches a wonderful view of
the native and foreign shipping in harbour, of the penin-
sula of Kowloon and its busy docks and stores across
the water, and in the background the grey barren hills of
China loom skyward. A week of wonders ashore, and I
left by the Menmuir for Shanghai and Kobe, just to catch
HONG KONG TO MANILLA 41
a passing glimpse of these two famous cities of the East,
before setting out for Manilla and my yet far-off goal, the
Carolines. I will set down here no thrice-told tale of
places which have already been so well described by the
omnivious and omnivorous tourist. Suffice it to say that
I saw the sights of Shanghai, " did " the " Bubbling Well
Road," and practised with great satisfaction on the magni-
ficent cricket ground. My visit to Kobe, one of the
Treaty Ports of Japan, was a most enviable experience.
Here I met also with the greatest kindness and hospitality
from the European residents.
The temples of Kyoto, the ancient capital of the Land
of Niphon, where I stayed two days at the far-famed
hostelry of Yaami, were a glory and a revelation to me.
I wandered in the halls, cloisters, and gardens of Nishi-
Hongwanji and her sister Buddhist shrine, and marvelled
at the carvings of Hidoro Jingoro, the left-handed artist
of cunning. I saw the Shinto sanctuary of Inari-Sama,
the Fox-god and the guardian sentinels Ama-Inu and
Koma-Inu, prototypes of our Lion and Unicorn, and heard
the solemn chimes of the Temple bells ringing out in the
midnight stillness.
I conversed with polite samurai, and traversed miles of
street in rickety rickshas. I revelled in the island beauties
gemming the Inland sea, and viewed marvelling the grimy
procession of the basket-bearing damsels of Moji and
Shimonoseki, passing like imps of Eblis, along our gang-
way with supplies of coal to help us southward.
Then back again for a brief space to the cheery life of
Hong Kong with its cricket matches and dinner parties.
Here I met several old London friends, amongst them
the Hon. Stewart Lockhart, one of the most accom-
plished Chinese scholars in the East, who has since suc-
ceeded to the post of Colonial Secretary, for which his zeal
and fine abilities had already marked him out. By his kind
offices I received ample credentials from the Governor,
Sir William Robinson, to the Spanish Governor-General
42 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
of the Philippines, requesting him to direct his subordinates
in the Eastern and Western Carolines to render me all
possible assistance in my explorations. This stood me
in good stead, and it is hardly anticipating matters to here
very cordially thank the Spanish officials for the polite-
ness and hospitality they always showed me during my
travels in their possessions.
A fortnight after my return from Japan saw me off for
Manilla via Amoy on a dark and drizzly evening, by the
good steamer, Esmeraldafighlmg her way through the tum-
bling seas in the teeth of a strong north-easter. Amoy —
a great centre for the coolie traffic — is just like other large
Chinese towns, laid out in the usual narrow and abominably
filthy streets. An interesting local industry was seen in
elaborate carvings in steatite or soap-stone. Of these I
obtained some fine specimens at a moderate price. Down
to Manilla we had rather a rough passage, which Captain
Taylor, our genial skipper, managed none the less to
enliven, and on the fifth night out I was glad enough to
spy the lights of Manilla twinkling ahead through the
gloom as we worked our way cautiously through the
wide and shallow bay leading up to the capital of the
island of Luzon. The population here, like the hill-tribes
of the neighbouring island of Formosa, form the northern-
most wave of migration from Indonesia and the Malay
Archipelago, the teeming mother hive of the brown race,
which occupies places so far apart as Madagascar and the
myriad isles of the wide Pacific area.
Next morning we found ourselves anchored some little
way out from the mouth of the Pasig River, which is so shal-
low a stream that even here vessels drawing above thirteen
feet cannot enter. On our left lay the business suburb of
Binondo, with its wharfs and counting-houses, with a
number of small inter-island trading steamers and sailing
vessels of every kind of rig drawn up alongside. We saw
also numerous Banka or native craft (Javanese Wang-
Kang) from which the South Sea Island canoe seems to
HONG KONG TO MANILLA 43
have been named {cf. Polynesian dialects Wanga, Waka,
Vaka, Va'a, and Wa'a). The Customs Officials were
rather late aboard, and it was not until nearly sunset that
I found myself ensconced bag and baggage in a com-
fortable upper room of the British Club-House in the
suburb of Nagtahan, some three miles out of town. It
lies overlooking a sharp elbow of the river, a substantial
building embowered in palms and ornamental trees and
shrubs, formerly the country residence of a Spanish official.
The next few days were spent in driving about the city
and suburbs, and visiting the quaint Old Town and Fort
across the river, with its massive walls, drawbridges, and
weed-choked moats, looking for all the world like a bit
out of the Middle Ages. I do not here propose to give
a full account of all the architectural beauties of Manilla,
interesting though they are. The churches are legion, the
most conspicuous being the fine new one of San Sebastian,
with a double spire, in the Quiapo quarter. In Tondo
ward, that of St Nino, a conspicuous landmark ; and in
Binondo, that of Santa Cruz. In Old Manilla, where
monks and priests and friars do mostly congregate, are
some magnificent edifices belonging to the great religious
orders of St Domingo, St Augustino, and St Francisco.
The Jesuit Cathedral of St Ignacio is a superb building
within and without, and the chapel of the Capuchins —
the poorest of the orders — is also worth seeing. Up to the
date of the Filipino revolt and the American war, which
almost marched side by side with it, the priestly orders
possessed broad lands and ample revenues, and wielded
enormous power over the indolent and superstitious races
of the land. But since then the Wheel of Fortune has
come round with a vengeance. To-day the men of the
Black Robe are in sad straits as were ever the saints of old
— threatened, plundered, beaten, tortured, burnt, impaled,
crucified, and this by the very natives who a year or two
ago were kneeling to them for a blessing, or imploring
pardon and protection as from semi-divine beings.
44 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
But then these things were hidden from me, as I held
my peace, looked and marvelled. In company with one
or other of the Macleod brothers, heads of two important
mercantile houses, I went through the bustling quarter of
Binondo with its banks, offices, counting-houses, stores,
timber yards, quays and wharfs. It is connected with the
Old Town over the water by three bridges of stone and
iron, the most important of which is the Puente D'Espana,
over which all day long passes a continual stream of traffic.
Down the middle of Binondo runs a fine street, the Escolta,
traversed by a horse-tramway plying out to the districts
of Tondo, Sempalok and Santa Misa. Along the Escolta
lie the principal shops and cafes. Away to the left is
artisans' quarter, full of odd little shops, stores and the
bazaars owned by the Chinese and native half-breeds, of
whom there are some seventy thousand in Manilla city
and wards. Still further to the left lies the insanitary
native quarter of Tondo, in early days the seat of an
independent Kingling or Rajah, with a population of over
seventy thousand, mostly of the poorer class. It is situated
on low marshy ground, intersected by numerous canals
half choked up with animal and vegetable refuse. Malarial
fevers, small-pox and other zymotic diseases, as may well
be imagined, are pretty common here. In fact the annual
death-rate from these causes is terribly heavy. The parish
is one enormous mass of palm-thatched dwellings, with
walls and floorings of light cane, raised on a framework
of wooden poles a few feet above the pools of stagnant
water that day and night send up their exhalations. On
Good Friday morning in 1895 one of these huts caught
fire, and the conflagration, fanned by a strong breeze,
marched two miles in the space of half-an-hour.
From Tondo a line of steam-trams runs to the village of
Malabon some seven miles out, so lately a scene of battle
and carnage, where are the go-downs and works of the
Luzon Sugar-Refining Company. In time past Malabon
was a centre of the tobacco industry, which has since been
HONG KONG TO MANILLA 45
nearly strangled in the clutch of Government monopoly.
A number of natives are still employed by a local firm in
manufacturing the commoner classes of cigars, of which
there is an enormous annual consumption. On the way
to Malabon the tram-line runs through the village of May-
payo, where there is a cock-pit keenly attended on Sun-
days and holidays by the local fancy. Parallel with this
sporting rendezvous, a few hundred yards back through
the palms and bamboos lies the village of Caloocan, the
scene of the late furious engagement between the American
forces and the Filipino rebels with their Igorrote allies,
and the first station of the solitary railway of Luzon which,
starting from the terminus at Tondo, runs through the
Kandava marshes skirting the Pampanga border, and up
to the port of Dagupan, the centre of a fertile rice and
hemp-producing district. Taken all in all the scenery of
the outskirts of Manilla is very rich and picturesque.
There are rice-fields and clearings for growing bananas,
taro and sweet potato, overshadowed by masses of Bolinao,
areca, sago, and coconut palms, topes of mango and of
native chestnut {Dungun), clumps of towering cane
(Kauaian and Boko). Here the spreading umbrella-like
leafage of the native almond (Talisai), there the yellow-
wreathed glories of the graceful Cananga (Ilangilang).
In between all nestle the frail cane and nipa huts of the
natives, lying back half merged in the bowery wilderness.
Every day brought new sights and scenes, and regularly
at sunset we used to visit the Luneta or Half-Moon
Esplanade on the sea-side beyond the Old Fort, where
crowds of citizens, rich and poor, stream out in the cool
of the evening in every description of vehicle to enjoy the
fresh sea-breeze, to hear the band play in the Kiosk, and to
gossip and promenade up and down under the long flash-
ing arc of electric lights. I saw the Carabao or native
buffalo harnessed to uncouth waggons drawing timber,
and watched a close-packed herd of these ugly beasts
wallowing in their noondav bath of mud and water, nose
46 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
to nose and horn to horn. I inspected factories of
tobacco and hemp — the two great staple trades of Man-
illa— and examined the delicate fabrics of Jusi and Pifia,
a famous Philippine industry well known and valued in
the marts of the East. I bought several Panuelos, speci-
mens of the latter stuff, which is composed of the fibres
of the pineapple leaf worked into an exquisite filmy
tracery, resembling the finest Brussels lace, the designs
on the border being taken from native trees, fruits and
flowers.
I attended a grand Fiesta at Malate, interminable pro-
cessions passing down the village street all day, the houses
hung with gay banners, and after dark a glorious supper-
party of the European residents followed by a brilliant fire-
work display, and songs, music, cards and dancing, lasting
well into the small hours. Some pleasant evenings were
spent with the Spanish residents, whose hospitality fully
bore out the old Castilian tradition. I took many country
walks, and found the peasantry good-natured folk. Only
it struck me as curious that the village children would
always clear out at the sight of the Castilay by which
name all Europeans alike are designated outside the
Metropolis. Is it not a lively recollection of the early
Spanish methods of conversion and conquest, which the
milder rule of the present day has not yet succeeded in
effacing ?
I spent one lovely morning in going through the
Botanical Gardens near Malate, where I greatly admired
the palms and ferns, as well as the rich flowers and
foliage of ornamental shrubs and trees under cultivation.
I succeeded in obtaining two monster packages of
specimen seeds to forward to the energetic Curator of the
Gardens at Port Darwin.
One Sunday Macleod and I indulged in a journey up
the line to a big Pampanga village to view the national
sport. They gave us the seat of honour above the cock-
pit, whence we witnessed some sharp combats of warlike
HONG KONG TO MANILLA 47
roosters before a large and excited audience of natives and
half-castes who staked their money as freely and merrily
as holiday makers at Epsom. Next evening we visited
the European Opera House at the foot of the Calle del Iris,
heard some interminable music and songs, and went away
rather bored. At the native theatre in Sempalok we
saw a drama in Tagala dialect, a highly comical perfor-
mance, where a poor Christian knight of Manilla wooes the
daughter of a " Moro " or Mahometan Rajah of the Sulu
Islands, wins her, and carries her off with all her wealth
after slaying her infidel father.
In company with a mestizo interpreter I entered
several native markets, Tiangui or Tianggi (Mexican
Tianquiz), taking down careful notes of all the odd fishes,
fruits and vegetables, laid out for sale in the stalls.
The sight of my notebook and pencil so busily em-
ployed aroused a deep suspicion amongst the simple-
minded vendors of fish and buffalo-beef, shrimps and
mussels, squid and sausages, taro and tomatos, onions
and bananas, yams and garlic, cabbages and coconuts,
sour toddy and medicinal barks. One and all they took
me for a local official, genus informer, entering in his
black book made-up complaints against the quality of
their wares, in order to extort money on his own account
out of their poor little profits. When assured of the real
nature of my errand they marvelled, but being by nature
pleasant people, they willingly gave me plenty of curious
information.
I called on the British Consul, presented my letters
from Hong Kong, and received the desired credentials
from General Blanco to his subordinates in Yap and
Ponape. Then I saw the head of the Capuchin Mission,
to whom was entrusted the spiritual welfare of the wild
Caroline islanders. He received me very kindly, and
presented me with Spanish vocabularies of the Yap and
Ponapean dialects. I secured further secular aid by
engaging as general utility man and photographer in one,
48 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
a quarter-caste from the Province of Pampanga, a quiet
and docile fellow, but weak and unstable as water, who,
little guessing what troubles lay before him in savage
ands, recklessly " signed on " in a spirit of adventure.
Well, everything was in order at last for my departure.
Two passages were taken on board the mail-steamer
Venus of the Planet Line, for her bi-monthly trip to the
distant outlying possessions of Yap, Guam and Ponape.
She was to leave at noon on the Sunday (Dec. 1 7th),
so I sent the lad on board overnight to take charge of the
baggage. Next day at Nagtahan, sad to say, it was late
when Willie Macleod and I arose. Hurriedly we got
through our lunch and drove down in hot haste to the
wharf at Binondo. Plenty of steam launches and small
craft lying at the water side, but never a soul stirring to
take us aboard ; and, to add to our perplexity, a distant
warning whistle from the steamer lifting anchor down the
Bay. In desperation we searched about, forcibly im-
pressed two half-sober wharf loafers and a fuddled
mestizo engineer out of one of the cafes, laid violent
hands on a launch, and were away down the Bay as hard
as steam would drive us. And none too soon. The
Venus is slowly moving off. In reply to our frantic holloas
and gestures, in the midst of which the excited engineer
nearly falls overboard, the good-natured Spanish captain
stops his vessel in her course, and she lies beating the water
with reversed screw. A steam launch hissing shoreward
nearly runs us down. In it was my Manilla man seated
upon a whole pyramid of bags and boxes, his and mine,
which, thinking for certain I had missed my passage, he
was dutifully taking ashore. When he saw us his face fell
like mercury before a storm. I roared to him to come
along, and he meekly followed our craft to the gangway let
down for us. Master and man climbed up, a thought taken
aback at arriving in such dramatic fashion. Not a word
of reproach from the Captain, only a little good-natured
chaff. This forbearance of a choleric ocean potentate
HONG KONG TO MANILLA 49
and a bit of a martinet reflects infinite credit on Spanish
politeness.
The aforesaid Captain and the new Spanish Governor
going out with us to the Mariannes were mightily amused
when they heard of the impressed steam-launch driven by
a strange engineer hauled head and shoulders out of a
wine-shop. They also made merry over my Manilla lad.
The poor creature, obedient to my orders, turned up early
on Saturday evening to look after the luggage. Feeling a
bit dull, he fell into talk with the ship's boys, and they filled
his noddle with all sorts of horrible stories of cannibal
" Carolinos," who, when he arrived at Ponape, would stick
him full of javelins, and make a divining bowl of his skull.
This wretched twaddle, and much more, Theodoro of
course had taken for gospel, and all that Sunday morning
had been peering wistfully over the side, longing to get
ashore and have done with so perilous a service.
Towards sunset we got into livelier water, and once out
of the St Bernadino Straits into the open sea, the vessel
rolled a good deal. My poor photographic artist, refusing
alike solid food and liquid consolation, betook himself to
a nice gloomy corner, where, stretched on his mat wrapped
in an ancient cloak, he lay dismally brooding on the ills that
awaited him in heathen lands oversea. In a comfortable
deck chair I made myself quite at home, attentively
conning over some Spanish books of travel. On my
departure friends in Manilla had thoughtfully presented
me with hundreds of cigars. Hence a contented mind
and holocaust unending.
D
CHAPTER III
YAP AND THE MARIANNES TO PONAPE DESCRIPTION
OF PONAPE
IN a day or two we shook down into our places on
board. The ship was lighted with electricity and com-
fortably fitted up, the fare good, and there were plenty of
Manilla boys who attended well to all our wants. I took
a special liking to Sefior Marina, the newly appointed
Governor of the Mariannes, who gave me some interesting
facts about the islands, in which he was going to maintain
law and order. Bound for the same port as myself is a
brusque Ponapean trader, Captain N., who does not always
appear to advantage, being taken alternately with fits of
gaiety during which he tells good stories, and bearish
moods in which it is hard to get a satisfactory word out
of him. Is this type peculiar to the Carolines ? Another
source of amusement is the Captain's dog Coco, a grossly
fat, absurdly short-haired animal, with a hide the colour
of an old copper coin and the temper of the traditional
East Indian Nabob with a liver. The creature paces the
slippery decks, growling at every lurch of the vessel, and
snapping at the spray as it bursts up through the anchor
chains. When feeding he growls, when fasting he growls.
He was, however, left only one day without food, and this
piece of neglect brought the lad in charge of him a smart
taste of the rattan. The first and second engineers speak
English very well, as is generally the case with those on
the mail-service lines. Many of them, like my two ac-
quaintances came from the Pyrenean Provinces in the
north of Spain, and spent some years in the Engineering
School of Instruction in Liverpool. Naturally our con-
50
YAP AND THE MARIANNES TO PONAPE 51
versation often turned on that philological puzzle, the
Basque language.
At noon on the seventh day out, we raise the western-
most isle of the long Caroline Archipelago — variously
termed Yap, Guap or Wap — a low-lying strip of land
rising in the middle into a round plateau looking down
upon an exquisitely green belt of coconut palms, and
recalling exactly my impressions on sighting Tongatabu
on my first Pacific island voyage. Slipping cautiously
through the narrow reef-passage we enter Tomil Harbour,
with the islands of Tarrang and Ngingich hard by, and the
little Spanish settlement of Santa Christina on the islands of
Tapalau and Belolach joined by a causeway, right in front
of us, and are soon beleaguered by a number of native
canoes and shore boats. To my disappointment Captain
O'Keefe, to whom I have a letter of introduction, and who
is to act as my banker and general business agent in these
waters, is away on one of his long cruises in the Pelews
and Central Carolines ; but has left in charge as foreman
and general agent a certain Joe Mitchell, with whom I
have no difficulty in making all necessary arrangements.
To Mr E. Oppenheim-Gerard in charge of the station of
the Jaluit Gesellschaft on Ngingich or Dunnitch I also
presented my credentials when he came on board. I found
him a most interesting comrade with a fund of varied and
curious information. He pressed me to come ashore to
dinner at sunset, and stay overnight at his place ; so as
the steamer did not leave till noon next day, I gladly
accepted his invitation. Theodoro had plucked up spirit
wonderfully at the sight of land and got camera and
plates into working order, and we went ashore about sunset
well pleased with the prospect of strange sights in a strange
land. A jovial evening was spent and the night was well
advanced when we retired. Captain N., on business
thoughts intent, elected to stay overnight upon O'Keefe's
island close by. How he fared I cannot tell.
Out of our table-talk I noted some peculiar facts about
52 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
the people of Yap, and their language, which appears to
be a crabbed form of some ancient Asiatic tongue allied to
the Dravidian coloured with a tint of Malay and Japanese,
and crossed or chequered, in a very remarkable way with
unmistakable Polynesian words.
We are up bright and early, the man with the camera
first of all.
The best photo he took was one of a group of natives
with three women from the Fe-Bai or Lodge at Rul, with
our kindly host a single splash of white in the background
of seven ebony statues.
At the steamer's first whistle reluctantly we made our
way on board, promising our kind host to look him up
without fail on my way back from Ponape, which promise,
it will be seen, I faithfully kept. On my return to Yap
I took many notes on the manners and customs of the
natives — their antiquities, traditions and folklore, marine
life, flora and geography — all of which I have reserved
more appropriately for a later chapter ; our first glimpse
of Yap being, as it were, a mere bird's-eye view, and as
such I give it here.
We noticed that the people were very much darker
than the light brown folk of Polynesia, and that their
canoes were on a different model, running up high bow
and stern with a peculiar fish-tail ornamentation fore and
aft, and fitted with a wide and heavy outrigger that must
stand them in good stead in long sea-going voyages.
Punctually at noon we are off, heading straight for
Guam, which lies up some 400 miles to the N.E. towards
the Bonins and Japan. This track is followed by the
mail-steamers in order to avoid the dangerous reefs which
surround the imperfectly charted islets of the Central
Carolines.
During our voyage from Yap, Senor Marina, who
seemed very well up in the history of his new dominions,
gave me the following facts : Discovered by Magellan
in 1 521 and Christianised about 1662, the islands of the
YAP AND THE MARIANNES TO PONAPE 53
Marianne or Ladrone group came under Spanish power.
The present population is under ten thousand, of which
more than two-thirds are located in Agafia, the metropolis
and residence of the Governor. The native race are called
Chamorros, and at the time of the Spanish conquests had
reached some degree of civilisation and clan organisation,
and had acquired no mean proficiency in agriculture and
pottery-making.
What mightily stirred my curiosity was an account
given me by the Governor of some interesting ruins in the
group. For more minute information he referred me to
a chapter in a Spanish historiette published lately in
Manilla, of which I subjoin a partial free translation.
All over the Mariannes, in the seats of the native
population, before their discovery by the white men,
there exist certain pyramids and truncated cones, on the
top of which are placed semi-esferas, i.e. half spherical
bodies. These cones or pyramids on the island of
Guahan do not exceed three feet in height, the diameter
of the curious pieces on the tops being about two feet.
Those seen on the island of Saipan near the village of
Garapui on the west coast are somewhat larger and
generally composed of stone. Amongst the natives these
go by the name of Houses of the Ancients. They face
each other in two parallel lines like a regular street.
According to tradition the old inhabitants used to inter
their dead in these houses or cairns. Many even of the
present generation have a superstitious fear of touching
the stones or cultivating the ground in their neighbourhood
— a fear which is disappearing nowadays as shown by the
fact that the Church of Tinian was partly constructed out
of the ruins of one of these monuments. In 1887 a
French naturalist, M. Alfred Marche, accompanied by the
Spanish author referred to above and several Chamorro
and Caroline natives, visited the site of some of the ruins
on Tinian and Saipan. Those of the most imposing pro-
portions are found on Tinian near the pueblo of Sinharon.
54 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
One of these monuments is styled The House of Taga and
measures four and a half metres in height, and one and a
quarter in diameter at the base. On the top, which runs
up to 75 of a metre in breadth, is placed a semi-esfera
two and a half metres in diameter.
The monuments are twelve in number, arranged in a
double row as those in Saipan. Seven are standing, but
cyclones have levelled five with the ground, showing
clearly that they have no solidity of foundation. The
distance between each of them and its neighbour in line
is about one and a half metres, and that between the rows
about four. The material is ordinary rubble from the
coral-reefs mixed with a great quantity of mortar made
of burnt coral lime and sand. One of these curious
pyramids still standing had on its top a large bowl about
five feet in depth. This, according to tradition, was the
grave of Taga's daughter and in it, sure enough, the ex-
plorers found some human bones ; but of these, unfor-
tunately, no scientific measurements were recorded. This
monument is at the end of the village and faces north-west.
Thus far the Spaniard, and it is much to be hoped
that some English explorer will try his luck in turn and
furnish our scientists at home with fuller information
upon the origin, design, and distribution of these singular
structures of an all but vanished people.
About sunset on Christmas eve, we sight the high table
lands of Guam or Guahan. We draw in to a prospect of
woods and green valleys, backed by steep cliffs and
curiously shaped turreted masses of limestone rock, and
finally drop anchor in Port Luis de Apra, about two miles
off the little town, the water abruptly shoaling further
inshore and blocked on every hand by coral-reefs. As
there was nothing to be gained by going on shore long after
dark, we deferred our landing till next morning. About
nine o'clock a boat comes off, manned by a crew of natives
under the command of the son of Joe Wilson, the pilot.
We pulled in through the shallows marked out by a long
YAP AND THE MARIANNES TO PONAPE 55
line of stakes. Our way lay under the lee of Goat Island,
the scenery of which much resembles that of Mauke in the
Harvey Group. It is composed of honeycombed water-
worn limestone of bluish grey tint, covered by a rich
green mantle of forest and low scrub. The Thespesia,
the Cycas circinalis {Fadan), and the Pandanus grow
abundantly amongst the blocks and boulders, also the
handsome large-leaved tree, the Puka or Pukatea of
South Polynesia.
Landing at Port Louis next morning behold a strange
party setting forth for the interior in a strange vehicle,
drawn by a stranger beast of burden. Captain N., his little
daughter, myself and the Manilla man, all perched behind
a red cow, who for evident reasons should have been
exempt, and who, under protest and the propulsion of a
small native boy armed with a switch sitting on her
shoulders, drags our clumsy old Noah's ark through the
ruts on a pair of wheels totally innocent of spokes and
each being of one solid circular piece like a table top,
hewn roughly out of Daok wood {Callophyllum). From
Port Louis to Agafia is no very long journey, but it
seemed an age getting there, and when we did get there,
there wasn't very much to see. A little township of some
six thousand souls, allowing a soul to each inhabitant, at
least as far as the Catholic priests will permit them to own
one. The Chamorros, though akin to their neighbours
the Tagals and Pampangs of Luzon, whom the Spanish
military system has quartered on them in the form of
garrison, yet preserve some indefinable personality of
their own. They are a pretty people, gentle, kindly, and
reasonably honest. It is a pity so few of the old race
are left — less than ten thousand I believe, and they mostly
half-castes. But the narrative of " Kotzubue's Voyages " has
given us one consolation. In it Chamisso tells us clearly
of the emigration of the greater part of the Chamorros
into the Central Caroline area, whither the cruelty of petty
Spanish officials and the motherly solicitude of the In-
56 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
quisition with its gentle persuasive measures, dared not
and dares not to this day follow them. Chamisso, poet,
dramatist and philologist, has told us of one good, honest
Spanish governor, and one alone, who really understood
these Ladrone islanders. From results, we may guess
what the others must have been, despite the furious denial
of the Spanish historian. None of these things troubled
Captain N., who all the while was thinking of nothing but
dollars and cents, nor Theodoro either, poor creature, who
did what he was told to do, when he would much rather
have sat idle and slept. He did not sleep and he did not
sit idle.
That afternoon I recollect to my infinite boredom, we
interviewed a Japanese storekeeper, a Spanish padre, a
Chamorro rice-farmer and a German trader, who barring a
strong tendency to talk " shop," and nothing but " shop,"
seemed a decent fellow. He gave us a good Christmas
dinner, and somehow our patient beast got us down to
Port Louis that night about eleven. But it was hard
lines on that cow. Thence on board and away next
morning for another five days' tumbling and tossing, the
wild winds whirring through our rigging as night and day
we drone on and on into the south-east.
On the ist January 1896, the Venus enters the harbour
of Ascension, where the little white-walled Spanish Colony
of Santiago lies, surrounded by a clearing on a slope by
the waterside at the mouth of a wide creek, protected to
the east and west by rude block-houses. I landed and
presented my credentials to the Governor Don Jos6 Pidal,
who scanned them and me narrowly, and appeared some-
what chagrined at an Englishman being unable to speak
Spanish like a native of Castille, after only two months'
study of that interesting tongue. However, we contrived
to make our meaning tolerably clear to one another. It
turns out from the Governor's account that the ruins lie in
a district hostile to Europeans, the rulers of which are
only kept in good humour by the receipt of monthly sub-
DESCRIPTION OF PONAPE 57
sidies. As late as six years ago they proved themselves
treacherous and bloodthirsty to a degree. He tells me
that the natives are savages no better than heathen Moors
or Ethiopians, and that sundry ignorant and self-willed
bigots of the Methodist Mission from Boston have been
all the while stirring them up against their lawful rulers to
the great detriment of Spanish prestige, and the glory
of the Catholic Church. That extreme danger and much
discomfort would accompany the quest, and that he him-
self should be much concerned at an English visitor under
Spanish protection risking his life for so doubtful an
advantage as photographing old stone walls, and excavating
uninteresting relics. Undeterred by this formidable picture,
I still held firm to my purpose, and finally after much
persuasion he yielded and gave his word under protest to
do his best to assist me in my explorations. And this
promise I must say he kept most truly and honourably,
once especially at a rather critical time, where a weaker
man might have yielded to native craft and subtlety.
The interview over, and the required permission gained,
with a light heart I introduced myself to the good
Capuchin priests, Padres Saturnino and Augustino. I
occupied all my spare time in studying a Spanish-Ponapean
vocabulary and grammar, with which the head of their
order had presented me in Manilla.
My late fellow passenger, Captain N., with whom I am
lodging pro tern., has once more turned gruff and snappish.
He has plenty of hard work in hand, and is deeply
immersed in business matters with his Madrid partner.
The first few days hung somewhat heavy on my hands.
The Manilla soldiery, who formed the garrison did not
particularly interest me, though my photographer Theodoro
fraternised with them readily enough. But there were
always a few natives from over the water, or from the coast
districts, pottering around the store, who had picked up
a little broken English. Both the Governor and Captain
N. advised me to wait until Henry Nanapei of Ronkiti
58 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
came up from the South Coast, whom they declared to
be the very man to help me to make a success of the
undertaking.
One morning Captain N. expresses himself bluntly after
the fashion of old trading skippers. " Ponape natives are
a queer sort, but they aren't bad natives. They don't
think much of killing a man. I know some of them down
the east coast who'd like to have my head, sure enough,
because I showed some Spanish men-of-war the way into
one of their harbours in the last war. Go easy, my lad,
go easy. They aren't like your quiet Tahiti and Samoa
folk, but the real rough article and no mistake. You just
remember that, and go easy with them, and you'll be all
right. If you don't you'll get left, as sure as fate, as a
good many others have been, that's all. So now you
know what's what, and I can't stand here giving advice all
day. It's none of my business after all. You stick
to Nanapei and he'll see you through ; and the King of
U is a good-natured cuss, drunk or sober. Old Lapen
Paliker too is about as straight as they make them. Some
of his people are sitting round outside now. You'd
better go and yarn with them, and listen to a few of their
lies. Just make friends with the old people first, give the
girls some presents and the men a few sticks of tobacco,
and you won't be able to get rid of the crowd. They'll
talk with you all day, and want you to go and pay them
a visit, and when they go home the story will go all
round the island like a telephone, and maybe do you a
lot of good. I'm busy. Now git ! " And I got.
I soon made friends with the Paliker natives and their
headman, who entertained me most hospitably for a
couple of days at the little hillside settlement just below
Chokach. I also visited the Ichipau, or King of U, and
the Wachai of Chokach, whose respective territories
bounded the colony in the north-east and north-
west. The two chiefs were a curious contrast to one
another. The former is a very genial old gentleman, and
DESCRIPTION OF PONAPE 59
a great admirer of English and Americans. He is neither
Protestant nor Catholic, and I am sorry to say I once
caught him using pages of a Missionary Bible for pipe-
lights. He joined in the native rising of 1887, was
deported to Manilla, tried for his life, acquitted, feted, and
sent back safe home again. Since then he has rarely
known a sober moment. Every Sunday he appears in
the colony gorgeous in an orange-coloured kilt, a black
coat, and turkey-red shirt. Bottle under arm he marches,
offering a dram to every European he meets in the fulness
of his regal heart. The Spanish allow him about forty
dollars a month to keep him in good humour, and thus as
a rule he is able to pay his debts — a very rare thing in a
native, and from its rarity much esteemed. The photo-
graph shows him seated in front of his house near Auak,
with the Likant or Queen, his children, and his faithful
yellow dog, Clarita, by his side. The Prince of Chokach
has a fancy for European garb. Like the King of U, he
also was in the rising of 1887, and draws the same monthly
salary. Unlike his brother monarch, he is a Catholic and
a teetotaler, hoards his money, and lets his debts run on.
A digression on the physical aspect and natural pro-
ducts of Ponape, the chief island of the eastern Carolines,
may enable the reader to picture our surroundings at
this time.
The area of the island of Ponape is some 340 square
miles. It is surrounded by a barrier reef (paina) enclosing
a lagoon (nallani) about a mile and a half in breadth, and
of varying depth, studded in all directions with detached
reefs (mat) and patches of live coral, the rapid growth of
which on the south and south-west coasts bids fair to
render navigation — except for the lightest canoes — an
impossible task. On the north coast, however, the lagoon
in many places is of considerable depth. In this lagoon
are scattered thirty-three islets, mostly low and of coralline
formation ; a few of them, however, are volcanic in origin.
The principal of these are Langar, Parram, and the
60 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Mants on the north coast, Tapak and Aru on the north-
east, and Mutok in the south. The limestone islets are
called Takai-mai or Light-blue Stone, and those of basalt
formation Takai-tol or Black Stone.
Chokach has a remarkable scarp or precipice, the Paip-
Alap, 937 feet in height, on the north side of it, where
the columnar form of the basalt is very clearly defined.
The glen below, tradition declares, was the quarry whence
the early builders gathered the material for their wonder-
ful works on the east coast, straight from the workshop
of Nature. Langar is the headquarters of a German
trading firm.
The other islets are mere patches of sand and coral,
overgrown with palm, pandanus and littoral shrubs, and
visited occasionally by fishing parties.
The principal harbours are six in number: (i) Ascension
Bay in the north, at the mouth of the Pillapenchakola
River, on the south bank of which stands the little Spanish
colony of Santiago, with the peaks of Kupuricha and
Telemir towering some 2000 feet high in the background.
To the south-west is the great scarp of Chokach, a notable
landmark far out at sea. (2) Port Aru, or Oa, on the
U and Metalanim border, has a very narrow and tortuous
entrance, and was the scene in 1890 of a brisk action, in
which the Spaniards brilliantly carried the rebel defences
from the sea. (3) Metalanim Harbour on the east, over-
looked by Mount Takaiu, or the Sugar-loaf Peak, in the
neighbourhood of which are the celebrated ruins. (4)
Port Mutok, at the mouth of the Kiti river, with the
peaks of Roi, Lukoila, and Wana in the background, with
a remarkable obelisk-shaped rock, called by the native
Chila-U, or the Adze-head, and by trading skippers, the
" Sentry Box." (5) Ronkiti Harbour, at the mouth of
the river of the same name, which rises in the slopes of
Mount Tolokom, the highest peak in the island, judged to
be 2861 feet high. (6) Ponatik or Middle Harbour, in
South Metalanim.
DESCRIPTION OF PONAPE 61
The island is divided into five districts, U, Chokach,
Not, Kiti, and Metalanim ; the two latter with a popula-
tion of i 300 and 1 500 respectively. The whole population
is about 5000, living in Kanim or scattered open villages
confined to the sea coast. They are Christianised, though
some of them retain many of their old heathen practices.
The north province of U is very mountainous, and some
of the cliffs looking down upon the valleys show a very
fine example of columnar basalt formation. The interior
of the island is an almost impenetrable wilderness of
densely wooded mountains and sierras, seamed with
deep valleys, and ravines. The heavy annual rainfall
sends down numerous torrents from the slopes of the
mountains which form the central water-shed. A belt of
swamp, covered by thick clumps of mangroves and other
salt-water brush, surrounds the island. The mangrove
belt at the mouth of the rivers is traversed by a network
of shallow tau, or waterways, barely wide enough to allow
a single canoe to pass. The scenery a little way up the
stream is rich in beauty. The mangroves once pierced,
one passes into a region of Nipa palm, tree-ferns, and tall
trees interlacing overhead, hung with all manner of ferns,
orchids, and creepers, the advance-guard of the hosts of
the forest sweeping down upon the rich low levels. At a
little higher elevation are found two varieties of the areca
or betel-nut palm, which the Ponapeans, unlike the Malays
and their Yap relations in the west, do not chew. Higher
up still on the mountain slopes are found some valuable
timber-trees (a full description of which as well as Ponapean
economic shrubs and plants, will be found in the Appendix).
Amongst the mountains there are some well-grassed table-
lands admirably suited for the pasture of cattle. In the
mountains behind Ronkiti is a lake swarming with huge
eels. Other lakes doubtless exist, but unfortunately very
little is known about the interior, of penetrating which the
natives appear to have a superstitious dread.
The most productive copra districts are Kiti and
62 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Chokach, and there is a considerable trade in fruit of the
vegetable ivory palm.
The climate is hot and moist, tempered from October
to May by the trade wind blowing fresh and clear out of
the north-east. The rainy season sets in about June,
lasting to the end of September. This is the time of
light variable winds, with frequent calms, with occasional
heavy thunderstorms and south-westerly gales. Accord-
ing to Dr Gulick's observations, the highest temperature
marked in a period of three years was 31 "j° Cent. {i.e.
about 870 Fahr.), and the lowest 210 (about Jo° Fahr.).
The average temperature is 28*3° Cent. ( = about 8i°
Fahr.). The annual rainfall is somewhat heavy. In the
year 1890, observations taken on the Maria Molina hulk
in Ascension Bay gave 230 days in the year on which
rain fell, and a total rainfall of some 36 inches.
CHAPTER IV
NALAP, AND PONAPEAN SUPERSTITIONS AND CHARACTER
SHORTLY after our visit to the Ichipau of U and his
brother monarch of Chokach, we met Henry Nanapei
on one of his visits to the Colony, who, on learning our
needs, promptly agreed to place at our disposal the island
of Nalap, just off the mouth of the Ronkiti River, on the
south-west coast. Accordingly, after laying in various
stores, and carefully stowing boxes, baggage, and photo-
graphic apparatus, we borrowed a big canoe and two
natives of Not to sail her, and slipped down the coast past
the great crag of Chokach, the hill ranges of Paliker, the
valley of the Palang River, and the round hill-tops of
Marau and Tomara. The lagoon in many places is filled
with stacks of living coral shooting up to within four feet
of the surface. Shoreward the thick line of mangroves
marks the region of the salt marshes girdling Ponape like
a great green ribbon. This, as already mentioned, is
seamed by myriad narrow lanes or waterways just wide
enough for a single canoe to pass. When Ponape is fully
civilised there will be need to elect a special Minister
of the waterways for the effectual clearing and widening
of these precarious channels. For the canals are hardly
navigable, and, worse still, from time to time, a vigorous
gale of wind brings down some great forest tree across
the passage, blocking the way to all craft until some
one comes with an axe or crosscut saw and removes it.
We strike into the maze and pass swampy banks
bordered by Nipa palms and tall forest trees, their boughs
and trunks laden with drooping festoons of orchid, creeper,
polypody, and lliana, and huge round, glossy green clumps
63
64 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
of birds' nests firm-rooted in the fork where each sturdy
branch springs out of the parent tree. A turn at length
brings us in sight of the Ronkiti landing-place, called
Chakar-en- Yap, i.e., The Yapmen's heritage, and we know
that our journey is over.
Nanapei took us over to see Nalap the same afternoon in
his own boat. The islet lies out in the bay near the outer
reef, some two miles off the mouth of the Ronkiti River,
which waters a fertile valley of the same name, which Nana-
pei has planted with enormous numbers of coconut palms.
We returned to the mainland that evening, and next morn-
ing bathed in the river, which near its mouth broadens out
into a little lake, lively with the silvery arrows of darting
fish, the palms fringing the banks mirrored to the life in
the placid water. Here flits the kingfisher (Kotar) with
a flash of sheeny blue. Fly catchers and honey-eaters
chirrup in the tree-tops, and dragon-flies, gaudy with blue
and brown, with red and orange, wheel and circle in the
sleepy noontide. The whole valley is one great garden,
sadly marshy in parts, but seemingly of a prodigious and
inexhaustible fertility. A little dyking, ditching, and
hedging would do no harm here. Sago-palms, bananas,
mangoes, orange and lime trees, grow in the greatest
magnificence. Great beds of wild ginger carpet the
ground, sending up a pungent aromatic reek from their
trodden leaves. Here and there peeps out from the green
veil of forest a bit of rich russet thatch, a patch of yellow
and brown house-wall of canes and reedgrass, occasional
glimpses of native dwellings lying back in the shadow
The valley is populous and the people industrious, for
Nanapei has his folk well in hand. There is no lack of
food in the land, for yams and taro are zealously culti-
vated. A giant species of Arum {A. costatum) is especially
noticeable. The Caroline islanders call it Pulak, the Poly-
nesians Puraka and Kape or 'Ape. In the Philippines it
is called Gabe. It has a very large tuber, but contains
much acrid juice, only dispelled by long and careful cook-
THE FISHING-STATION OF NALAP 65
ing, and is only eaten in times of famine. There is quite
a mixture of nationalities in Ronkiti. Men from Ruk and
the Mortlocks are easily discerned by the enormous size
of the lower lobe of their ears, unnaturally distended,
loaded down with shell-ornaments, as is the custom of
their race. There are some Pingelap and Mokil men,
naive, awkward, and stolid, but cheerful and harmless folk,
and there was a man from the remote islet of Nuku-Oro.
His name was Caspar, and Nanapei employed him as
carpenter and boat-builder — a very quiet, good fellow, who
was delighted at my being able to converse with him in
Samoan, to which the Nuku-Oro tongue bears an extra-
ordinary resemblance. At the mouth of the river is the
Chakar-en-Yap landing-place, where Nanapei has built a
substantial wharf, boathouse, and storehouse. A steep
road runs up the hill- slope behind to the main settlement
on the plateau, where Nanapei has a pretty residence of the
bungalow type, with a lawn in front dotted with rose-
bushes and clumps of croton and scarlet hibiscus.
We stayed two or three days below by the waterside,
coming up hill for our meals, which were served either in
Nanapei's house or that of his mother Nalio close by.
Nalio, who has since unhappily died, was a lady of strong
character and intelligence. She had a most kindly and
charitable nature, which very much endeared her through-
out the tribes, and doubtless brought many powerful
local chiefs under the influence of her son. When every-
thing was ready, Nanapei sailed us over to Nalap. The
house he placed at our disposal was roomy and comfort-
able, built of lumber, with all furniture complete, even
to tables and chairs. There were two other house-
holds on the island. The nearest to us was that of
Judas, the native teacher, his wife and their boy called
Chilon, a bright little fellow. An old fisherman and
his wife, with a number of ugly yellow house-dogs,
lived away on the further seaward horn of the islet.
Close by Nalap was a tiny little patch or cay of sand
E
66 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
covered with mangroves and ironwood trees. Here
an old Gilbert islander, Te Bako, " the Shark" and his
wife lived. In his youth a notorious homicide, but con-
verted in middle life, he was now passing a hale and
hearty old age, darkened by occasional fits of gloomy
repentance. He said the ghosts of dead men wouldn't
let him sleep at night, and at all hours of the darkness,
storm or calm, one would see him out upon the reef with
torch and spear vehemently striving by hard toil to quell
both the devil within him and the devils that he declared
were ever mocking and gibing at him from without. Fish
he brought us in plenty, and was always glad of a bit
of tobacco. Biscuit he also accepted thankfully. One
stormy night, seeing him pitiably drenched and chilled
through and through in the northerly gales, I offered him
a little rum. This he refused, as a native rarely does,
giving me plainly to understand that in his youth he had
slain a relation in a drunken brawl.
" There was a feast in the Moniap (Council Lodge).
My head was hot with the Karuoruo {sour toddy). Words
grew to a quarrel, and men fought. In the morning my
brother {i.e. cousin) lay by me dead, and I was the man
who had slain him. Bad is the strong liquor of Te-Aba
(the Gilbert Islands), but worse is the fiery water of
Te-Matang (the foreigner)." And the old man was
quite right, for the drinking of coconut toddy has pro-
duced frightful consequences in the Gilberts and the
Marquesas. Indeed the total extinction of the latter
islanders is now only a question of a decade. The opium
of China, the rum and absinthe of the French, also work
their havoc there. To these four grim foes add the
Chinese leprosy and the measles and phthisis of Europe,
which are pressing these hapless natives faster and faster
to extinction. The Gilbert islanders will possibly just
scrape clear and make a new start. But the Marquesan
race is doomed — a bright and amiable people sinking
down into lurid and smoky darkness.
THE FISHING-STATION OF NALAP 67
Many a talk had Te Bako and I on the verandah by
night, whilst the Manilla man was snoring. The old
warrior would tell of inter-island wars and of the coming
of the Kaibuke, " tree-mountains " or foreign ships. For
my part I would tell him of the great wars in England
and America, France and Germany, and of the little wars
in the Pacific, Kamehamahas' conquest of the Sandwich
Islands, of Mataafa in Samoa, Pomare in Tahiti, Thakom-
bau in Fiji, Te Whiti and Tawhiao in New Zealand.
And the more I told him of these things the more eagerly
he listened, like all the natives I have ever met.
But my poor artist was another character altogether
pretentious child of an effete civilization. He dared to
look down upon the magnificent old barbarian, who late
in life was himself crushing out the inherited savagery
of generations of fierce warriors and sea rovers. The
Gilbert islander eyed the Manilla citizen askance, sized him
up as a poor sort of creature, and despised him then and
there. Theodoro for his part, as much as possible kept
out of Te Bako's way, and always carried about with him
a small revolver for fear of accidents ! And this was the
beginning of the terrors that his prophetic soul saw loom-
ing up before him on the steamer, that eventful Sunday
of our start from Manilla Bay.
A term of serene and glorious weather succeeded. The
days glided by filled up with excursions on the reef and
in the lagoon, and occasionally to the mainland. My
evenings, as a rule, were given up to the fascinating study
of the Ponapean language and its curious idioms. Here
I laid the groundwork of a Ponapean dictionary contain-
ing some four thousand words, since much elaborated and
added to. The results obtained stood me in good stead
during the rest of my stay on the island, upon which I
found there were two dialects spoken by the tribes on the
East and West coast respectively, mutually intelligible,
but each with many words peculiar to its area, and a
number of minor local variations, mostly vowel changes.
68 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
As an instance of the former, Taip is the East-coast word
for the Pandanus, called Kipar on the Western side. The
varying local names for the Morinda citrifolia — Umpul,
Wompul and Weipul — show the vowel-changes. Not to
detain the reader over the dry bones of philology, I will
merely remark here that the Ponapean language is full of
diphthongs, and that in grammar it seems to form a con-
necting link with the languages of Malaysia, with the
somewhat complicated tongues of Melanesia, and the later
and abraded forms of the Polynesian area. It has very
many cognate words with those of the dialects of the
Philippines and the Kayan and Dayak of Borneo. The
simple root-words mostly consisting of one or two syllables
are akin to those of the Indian hill-tribes, apparently belong-
ing to the primitive Aryan substratum.1 The letter-sounds
F and V are conspicuously absent, their places filled
respectively by P, which also does duty for B, and by
W, agreeably to the precepts laid down by the father of
Sam Weller. H is never heard, even in words cognate with
Polynesian. Cf. Polynesian Hetau, Fetau, a Callophyllum.
Ponape, Ichau id.
Polynesian, Hetu, Fetu, a star.
Ponape, Uchu id.
Polynesian, Hoto, Foto, a barb ; prickle, sting.
Ponape, Och, id.
Polynesian, Hitu, Fitu, seven.
Ponape, Ichu id.
(But Polynesian Hatu, Fatu, a stone ; we find Ponapean
Pat.) where by analogy one would expect Ach or Ech.
The verbal roots are most elaborately modified by the
addition of qualifying suffixes, which gives great flexibility
1 This I know has been called in question, as well as the wider theory
involved of the overflowing and infiltration of words cognate with Aryan
roots into the Polynesian area. Yet after most careful and minute inquiry, I
feel bound to range myself on the side of Fomander, Tregear, Percy Smith
and the Rev. J. Fraser. Those interested further in the subject I may refer
to my comparative Table of some 40,000 Micronesian and Indonesian words
published shortly in the Journal of the Polynesian Society of New Zealand at
Wellington.
THE FISHING-STATION OF NALAP 69
and even elegance to a tongue which at first strikes one as
rather harsh.
A common prefix to names of birds and fishes is Li,
i.e. Woman.
It also occurs very frequently in compound words
denoting qualities or actions held in light esteem.
Cf. lA-kam, a lie, i.e. a woman 's fault.
\J\-ngarangar, Fury, passion, i.e. a woman's angry voice.
lA-porok, Curiosity, i.e. a woman's peering.
Uv-motigin, Conspiracy, i.e. a woman's whispering.
But lA-mpok denotes deep, sincere affection, i.e. a
woman's love.
\Ji-pilipil, Favoritism, i.e. a woman's choice.
In Chinese we find the word for woman affixed to many
uncomplimentary adjectives.
I pass rapidly over our life upon Nalap, somewhat un-
eventful, save that one evening we were nearly cap-
sized on a shoal called the Horseheads, where two years
ago one of the Kiti chiefs was upset, and lost an entire
set of false teeth supplied him by a compassionate Spanish
doctor in Ascension Bay. One little expedition of mine,
however, is worth noting. Guided by Harry Beaumont,
Nanapei's chief carpenter, I walked from Ronkiti through
the woods to Annepein, through a picturesque but also
sadly swampy district, stopping on the way to notice the
Tumulus of Kona the Giant, which lies in a clearing
dotted sparsely with wild pandanus trees, which give the
name to the neighbouring settlement of Kipar. The
mound or barrow is about ten feet in height, twenty in
breadth, and about a quarter of a mile in length. It is con-
siderably overgrown with a tangle of creepers and hibiscus.
The name Kona also occurs in Hawaiian and Peruvian
as the name of a giant. The local tradition runs to the
effect that a giant was buried here with his body on land,
and his legs stretching seaward to the little islets of
Kapara and Laiap, lying out near the edge of the lagoon.
The Spanish historian Pereiro sets the mound down, and
70 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
I think correctly, as a construction for defence or a ceme-
tery wherein they interred the dead after a great battle.
I had no implements for excavation handy, and soon after-
wards the absorbing interest of exploring the Metalanim
ruins quite engrossed my attention. But I mention the
Barrow of Kipar, hoping that the next explorer here will
come better provided, and that here also diligent excava-
tions may bring to light many interesting relics of the
past.
We received a good many visits from time to time on
Nalap from the district chiefs, and saw a couple of whaling
vessels and one Honolulu trading schooner enter and
leave Ronkiti harbour, also a copra-laden vessel from
Nagasaki, with a Japanese crew and skipper. We also
had an enjoyable two days' visit to our Paliker friends up
the coast, marred only by the discomfort on our journey
up, of missing the right landing-place in the twilight
amongst the dense mangrove thickets, and remaining
moored all night in utter darkness cooped up in our
narrow craft under a terrific tropical downpour. Next
morning, chilled to the very bone, we struggled up to the
little hill settlement, where the warmth of our reception
speedily made us forget all our miseries. A mighty feast
was prepared for us, there was Kava-making, there were
speeches and orations, and the proceedings closed with an
exposition of native dancing and singing. The second
day was a repetition of the first, and after delighting our
good old host, the village headman, with a present of knives
and tobacco, we sailed back again to Nalap, where we
found the Spanish gunboat Quiros in harbour. Nanapei
introduced me to her commander, Don Miguel Velasco,
who very kindly invited us all three to go down with him
to visit the Ant Islands, which lie about twelve miles off
the west coast. They were colonised from Kiti as the
Pakin group, a little to the northward was from Chokach.
The Ant's are a cluster of thirteen small and two larger
islets, disposed in the usual horse-shoe formation, the prin-
PONAPEAN CHARACTER AND SUPERSTITIONS 71
cipal entrance being the Tau-en-iai or Channel of Fire at
the south end of Kalap, the largest, upon which live
about thirty of the Kiti folk, engaged in collecting copra
from the magnificent groves of cocoanuts that cover one
and all of them. Here we stayed two days, taking
soundings in the lagoon. I walked the length of Kalap
and shot a number of green and grey doves. Theodoro
took some views, amongst others, one of the coral-paved
precinct of the Pako-Charaui or Sacred Shark, the Patron
Spirit of Ant. In the background was a great native
chestnut tree, with bundles of sugar cane and kava root,
and some fishes' heads of no very recent date, hanging up
in honour of the dread divinity. Then back to Nalap
for a few days more study.
By this time I had formed an opinion upon native
character, with its strangely mingled strength and weak-
ness, which subsequent events rather tended to confirm.
I here give it to the reader for what it is worth.
The character of the Ponapean, like that of the Caroline
Islander in general, in whom so many different race-
elements are merged, has some curious contradictions.
He alternates fitful seasons of wonderful energy at work
with long spells of incorrigible laziness. In supplying his
simple needs he shows considerable ingenuity and resource.
He is very superstitious, yet exceedingly practical in small
matters. He has a good deal of the Malay stoicism and
apathy, joined to great penetration and acuteness. His
senses, like those of all half-civilised tribes, are very keen,
and his powers of minute observation most remarkable.
In many of his doings he exhibits a highly comical
mixture of shrewdness and simplicity, of seriousness and
buffoonery, of a light-hearted knavery tempered by a
certain saving sense of rude justice — in short, a regular
moral chamceleon. He is a capital mimic, something of a
poet of the doggrel order, and very fond of dancing, feast-
ing, and, of late years, of fiery alcoholic liquors. With
strangers he is reserved and suspicious, and often shows
72 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
a cross-grained reticence when questioned on the past
history or traditions of his race, with which, I presume, he
fancies strangers have no concern. As a rule he is fairly
honest. Once lay his suspicions to rest and win his con-
fidence, and he will prove himself a faithful friend and an
excellent host, courteous and just in all his dealings, as I
have very good cause to know. On the other hand, when
dealing with his enemies he calls into play a talent for in-
trigue, lying, and chicanery that would delight a Machiavel.
In his private life, he is unselfish, frugal, and economical, a
man of careful small habits. Like all folk of Melanesian
admixture, he is liable to fits of dangerous sullenness
when he considers himself slighted in any way. He is
inclined to be revengeful, and will bide his time patiently
until his opportunity comes. Yet he is not implacable,
and counts reconciliation a noble and a princely thing.
There is a form of etiquette to be observed on these occa-
sions— a present {katoni) is made, an apology offered —
a piece of sugar-cane accepted by the aggrieved party —
honour is satisfied and the matter ends. The Ponapean
is a stout warrior, a hardy and skilful navigator, fisherman,
carpenter and boat-builder, but a very second-class planter
and gardener. He is a kind father, but alas, according
to western ideas, a stern and exacting husband. Many
of the old men are skilled observers of the stars, the
weather, the winds, and the prevailing currents. The
Ponapean reveres old age, especially when coupled with
wisdom or ability. The priest, counsellor, leech, diviner,
and the culler of simples are held in high esteem. The
generous and provident man is praised, the mean man
and thief generally despised. Lack of filial piety or
natural affection carries with it a lamentable stigma
amongst them, and the curse of the ancestral spirits here
and hereafter. It is much to be regretted that the Pona-
pean character has changed notably for the worse of late
years. Many of the natives have grown thievish, churlish
and disobliging : this more particularly with the Metalanim
PONAPEAN CHARACTER AND SUPERSTITIONS 73
folk on the east coast who are the most difficult of all the
tribesmen.
Their manner of life is simple and hardy. They go about
in all weathers, rain or sunshine. Nowadays, greatly to the
peril of their health, they have adopted European clothes.
These they keep on their back whether wet or dry, which
induces all manner of rheumatic and pulmonary ailments.
Their food consists generally of fish or shell-fish and a
vegetable diet of yams, bananas, taro, and breadfruit.
The forests yield pigeons and some smaller birds very
good for food. On the occasion of a feast, pigs and
fowls are added to the bill of fare. The flesh of the dog
(kiti) is highly relished, especially on the east coast.
Crabs, crayfish and freshwater prawns are also in request.
The turtle is set apart for the chiefs alone. Eels, whether
of the salt or fresh water they will not eat, and hold them
in the greatest horror. The old name for eel is // — the
modern Kamichik or the Dreadful One.
The special department of the women is the making of
mats and shutters of reed-grass, the plaiting of baskets,
and binding the leaves of the sago-palm into bundles for
thatch. They make the leaf-girdles of the men, and com-
pound the coconut-oil and fish-oil, and mix the cosmetic
of turmeric, without which no Ponapean dandy's toilet is
complete. They fetch water in calabashes, light the fires,
build the stone ovens, prepare the food, and perform all the
household duties. When required they cheerfully assist the
men in their outdoor labours, and in time of war accompany
their husbands and relations fearlessly into the battle.
Marriage. — The formality of marriage between young
people is singular. The girl is brought into the house
and sits down, whilst her future mother-in-law rubs coco-
nut oil vigorously into her back and shoulders. This is
called Keieti or Anointing. A garland of flowers is placed
on her head and the ceremony is concluded by a feast.
The marriage bond may be severed at any time at the
consent of either party. The Ponapeans for the most part
74 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
content themselves with a single wife, polygamy being the
privilege only of the wealthy and powerful chiefs. Adultery
is usually settled out of court by a sound thrashing of the
offending wife and possibly a separation of the parties.
Exchange of wives (Peickipal) between friends and rela-
tions, as in the Marquesas, is occasionally practised. The
demi-monde class (Raran), like the N iki-rau-roro of the
Gilbert Group, is tolerated in each district. Doubtless an
heirloom of their Asiatic forefathers. The Sanskrit word
Lalana has the very same meaning.
Adoption of children is universal and forms a com-
plicated [chain of relationships, an arrangement quite clear
and simple to the native mind, but extremely puzzling to
a European. Descent is traced through the mother — a
custom tolerably common amongst the Oceanic races in
general. Members of the same Tipu or clan cannot
marry. A wife must be taken from one of the other
divisions. The suitor serves for his wife in the house of
his father-in-law elect, as Jacob did with Laban, and fre-
quently has his pains for nothing. Men and women alike
practise tatooing (Inting) on the arms and lower limbs.
Unlike the Marquesan islanders they do not tatoo their
faces. The women use a design taken from the interlacing
of coconut fronds in their leaf baskets. Other designs
are circles and eight-pointed stars and crosses ; some of
very bizarre form. The young men, to show their con-
tempt for pain, are in the habit of inflicting knife-gashes
and burning deep scars on their breasts and arms. A
terrible ethnic mutilation is practised upon the young men
on reaching marriageable age. It is called Lekelek and
consists of the excision of one of the testicles — generally
that on the right side. The Ichipau of Metalanim in a
fit of religious mania, brooding over the threatened lake
of fire and bethinking himself of a certain passage in St
John, went even further than this.
Burial. — They bury their dead with great ceremony
and solemn funeral orations. They are most unwilling to
repeat the name of a dead ancestor — a very Melanesian
PONAPEAN CHARACTER AND SUPERSTITIONS 75
trait. Consequently, I did not meet with in Ponape any-
elaborate family genealogies, like the ancient and carefully
preserved oral records of the Marquesans and Maoris, and
the kindred Polynesian races. Something of the sort may
however exist.
The worship of the Ani or deified ancestors, coupled
with a sort of zoolatry or totemism, is the backbone of the
Ponapean faith.
Every village, every valley, hill or stream has its genius
loci, every family its household god, every clan its presiding
spirit, every tribe its tutelary deity. Thunder, lightning,
rain, storm, wind, fishing, planting, war, festival, harvest,
famine, birth, disease, death, all these events and pheno-
mena have their supernatural patron or Master-spirit.
The gloomy fancy of the Ponapean, peoples the swamp,
the reef, the mountain, and the hanging woods of the
inland wilderness with hosts of spirits, some beneficent,
the greater part malignant. All these Ani are honoured
under the guise of some special bird, fish, or tree in which
they are supposed to reside, and with which they are
identified. These they style their Tan-waar, literally
canoe, vehicle or medium, (like the Vaa or Vaka of the
Polynesians, the Huaca or Vaka of the Peruvians). Thus
the chestnut tree is the medium of the god of thunder, the
blue starfish of the god of rain, the shark of the god of
war, and the Lukot or native owl the emblem of the fairy
Li-Ara-Katau, one of the local genii of the east coast.
In their mythology they have a submarine Paradise
{Packet), a place of perpetual feasting amongst lovely
sights and sweet odours. They also have a subterranean
Tartarus (JPueliko) of mire, cold and darkness, guarded by
two grim female forms (Lichar and Licher), one holding
a glittering sword, the other a blazing torch — a gloomy
conception very much resembling the Yomi of Japan and
the Yama of the early Vedas.
And now we made up our minds to fly at higher game,
and dive into the mysteries of the Metalanim Ruins on
the east coast.
CHAPTER V
FIRST AND SECOND VISITS TO THE RUINS
OF NAN-MATAL
EARLY in March 1896, we left Nalap in Nanapei's
sailing-boat, our plans being to run up to the
Spanish Colony in Ascension Bay to lay in a stock of
European provisions and other necessaries, for neither
stores nor groceries are found in Metalanim. After load-
ing up to sail along the U. Coast to the north, and touch
at two interesting islands, Mantapeiti and Mantapeitak
(Mant-to-leeward and Mant-to-windward), in the neigh-
bourhood of which in 1887, Mr J. C. Dewar's fine yacht
the Nyanza was cast away on the reefs, a total wreck.
After leaving the Mants we passed close by the islands
of Tapak and Am, upon the former of which are some
ancient platforms and tetragonal enclosures of stonework.
Thence we sailed down the east coast, and early in the
morning came to the King's island of Tomun, or Tamuan,
which lies a little inside the mouth of Metalanim Harbour.
Here we found David Lumpoi, an English-speaking chief
to whose care Nanapei commended us, and sailed home
again. That very day a great festival was being holden
under Mount Takai-U, the odd-looking sugarloaf hill at
the head of the bay. Here King Paul with his nobles
and commons around him, sat in state prepared to receive
us. Our welcome was coldly ceremonious, and I in-
stantly read distrust and dislike in the faces of the notables
present. The king was a corpulent old man with a large
broad head, and a massive square chin, his somewhat heavy
features being of a Melanesian rather than Polynesian
type. Looking into his shifty eyes I could see surly
76
FIRST VISIT TO THE RUINS OF NAN-MATAL 77
pride mingled with suspicion and vague uneasiness. The
gruff old churl's countenance irresistibly recalled to me the
description of the wicked island king in one of R. L.
Stevenson's South Sea Ballads : —
" Fear was a worm in his heart, Fear darted his eyes
And he probed men's faces for treason and pondered their speech
for lies."
The lodge was filled with smoke as a Highland cottage
with peat-reek, whilst myriads of lively mosquitoes hovered
up and down, in and out, seeking to flesh their suckers in
the august assembly shrouded behind that fleecy veil.
The interview was soon over. We obtained a sullen and
grudging permission to explore the ruins, for which, how-
ever, a fee of five dollars was demanded. For one of the
Boston missionaries about 1880, foreseeing that on some
later day Europeans might come here to explore, put into
the head of the Metalanim chiefs to exact this toll, which
the Spanish Governor had told us would certainly be
enforced. I handed him over five Spanish dollars, which
he eyed doubtfully, weighed, smelt and nipped between his
teeth, to make sure I had not palmed off lead on him.
With the remark, " Moni-n-Sepanich, moni chiuet," —
" Spanish money, bad money ; " he locked it up carefully
in a box. Scenting, perhaps, further opportunities for
imposition, and assuming an air of cordiality that sat but
ill on him, he pressed us to stay. But I was firmly
resolved to go before his majesty's dull brain had time to
devise some new pretext for extortion. Therefore, as
soon as we decently could, we departed, itching sorely
from mosquito bites, half-choked, half-blinded, eyes and
nostrils tingling sharply from the acrid smoke that filled
every corner of the house. A portion of cooked and pre-
served breadfruit, the latter in odour recalling a Stilton
cheese some three years old, followed us down to the boat
according to a hospitable native custom. With a stiff
breeze behind us we stood across the bay. Just off
78 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Tomun, David, who was steering, managed to run the
craft upon a stack of coral rocks, staving in several planks
and making an ugly hole in her bows, which we had some
trouble in stopping. We put inshore awhile, and after
repairing damages, loosed away south for Ponatik, catch-
ing our first glimpse of the famous ruins by our way.
We entered a wonder of tortuous alley-ways, a labyrinth
of shallow canals, with shady vistas stretching away to the
right and left, bordered on either side by dense walls of
tropical leafage and the ever-present mangrove and salt-
water brush, the vanguard of the hosts of the forest in
their march seaward upon the rich belt of alluvial soil
which the rivers of Ponape have washed down. Here and
there grim masses of stonework peer out from behind the
verdant screen, encrusted with lichen, and tufted with
masses of fern waving from between the crevices in delicate
feathery outlines. But we have little leisure to stay, the
clouds are banking up ominously in the south. Mount
Telemir is black with storm-wrack. " Onward " is the
cry, and we push on in the fading light past foreland,
sandspit and salt-marsh, down to Ponatik, where we land
at the base of an enormous Tupap tree.
We found David's house all ready for us. Next day
we looked round the settlement, in which there was
nothing specially remarkable, save a singular abundance
of Parram or Nipa-palm, which with the numerous coconut
and sago-palms gave a pretty setting to the scene.
A couple of days later I visited the ruins accompanied
by Keroun and Alek, two men of Ponatik, who were with
difficulty induced to face the anger of the Ani or ancestral
spirits and the tabu which enwraps the Lil-Charaui or
Holy Places, and answers very much to the Luli so
strictly observed by the natives of Timor. Passing the
southern barricade of stones, we turned into the ghostly
labyrinth of this city of the waters, and straightway the
merriment of our guides was hushed, and conversation
died down to whispers.
A NATIVE OF LOT
FIRST VISIT TO THE RUINS OF NAN-MATAL 79
We were bound for Uchentau, where a little native
house had been set apart for our temporary camp. We
arrived about nightfall, and as there was no particular use
in exploring ruins by torchlight, we reserved our energies
for the morning.
Next day broke clear and bright, the canoe was
manned, and away we started. As we shoot round a
sharp bend on the right after five minutes' paddling, a
strange and wonderful sight greets our eyes. We are
close in to Nan-Tauach (the Place of Lofty Walls), the
most remarkable of all the Metalanim ruins. The water-
front is faced with a terrace built of massive basalt blocks
about seven feet wide, standing out more than six feet
above the shallow waterway. Above us we see a striking
example of immensely solid Cyclopean stone-work frown-
ing down upon the waterway, a mighty wall formed of
basaltic prisms laid alternately lengthwise and crosswise
after the fashion of a chock and log fence, or, as masons
would style it, Headers and Stretchers. Our guides smile
indulgently, as they assist me and my Manilla photo-
grapher up the sides of the great wharf, for it is now
low tide in the streets of this strange water-town. On
a brimming high-tide, landing is an easier matter. We
were soon at work tearing down creepers and lianas, and
letting in the light of the sun upon the mighty black
masses.
The left side of the great gateway yawning overhead
is about twenty-five feet in height and the right some thirty
feet, overshadowed and all but hidden from view by the
dense leafage of a huge Ikoik tree, which we had not the
heart to demolish for its extreme beauty — a wonder of
deep emerald-green heart-shaped leaves, thickly studded
with tassels of scarlet trumpet-shaped flowers, bright as
the bloom of coral or flame tree.
Here in olden times the outer wall must have been
uniformly of considerably greater height, but has now in
several places fallen into lamentable ruin, whether from
80 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
earthquake, typhoon, vandal hands, or the wear and tear
of long, long ages. Somewhat similar in character would
be the semi-Indian ruins of Java, and the Cyclopean
structures of Ake, and Chichen-Itza in Yucatan. A
series of huge rude steps brings us into a spacious court-
yard, strewn with fragments of fallen pillars, encircling
a second terraced enclosure with a projecting frieze or
cornice of somewhat Japanese type. The measurement
of the outer enclosure, as we afterwards roughly ascer-
tained, was some 1 8 5 feet by 1 1 5 feet, the average thick-
ness of the outer wall 15 feet, height varying from 20 to
nearly 40 feet. The space within can only be entered
by the great gateway in the middle of the western face,
and by a small ruinous portal in the north-west corner.
The inner terraced enclosure forms a second conforming
parallelogram of some 8 5 feet by 7 5 feet ; average thick-
ness of wall, 8 feet ; height of walls, 15 to 18 feet.
In the centre of a rudely-paved court lies the great central
vault or treasure chamber, identified with the name of
an ancient monarch known as Chau-te-reul or Chau-
te-Leur, probably a dynastic title like that of Pharaoh
or Ptolemy in ancient Egypt. (N.B. — Chan was the
ancient Ponape word denoting, (a) the sun (b) a king.
The latter signification tallies with the Rotuma Sau,
a king, and the Polynesian Hau and Au, a king, chief.)
The plan of the enclosure facing this page shows three
other of these vaults, the double line of terraces built
up of basalt and limestone blocks, and the several
courtyards separated off by low intersecting lines of
wall. In this connection Kubary remarks, and I think
very truly, " A certain irregularity in the whole build-
ing, as in the differing height and breadth of indi-
vidual terraces, betokens a variety of builders, following
one another, and knowing how to give expression to their
respective ideas."
Over the camp fire that night the Spanish doctor's his-
toriette again is eagerly studied. Let us hear what the good
Scale I inch to 40 feet,
Plan of the double parallelogram enclosed by the walls of NanTauach,
in the district of Nan Matal, tribe of Metalanim, East coast of Ponape.
FIRST VISIT TO THE RUINS OF NAN-MATAL 81
doctor, Pereiro Cabeza, who in 1890 nearly lost his life in
battle near these same ruins, has to say. " Between the dis-
covery of Ponape in 1595 and modern times the island
must have been re-visited by the Spanish. In 1886 a
derrotero Inglese or map-making Englishman (name not
specified) noticed them as follows : " Around the harbour
of Metalanim there are some interesting ruins whose origin
is involved in the greatest obscurity. The oldest inhabit-
ant can tell nothing about them, and has no tradition as
to their history. Doubtless there existed here a fortified
town inhabited by a folk of superior civilisation. Some
of the stones are about ten feet in length and worked into
six faces, no doubt brought from some civilised country,
for they have no stones like them in the island. The
whole settlement appears to be a series of fortified houses,
and various artificial caves have been discovered inside the
fortifications."
Without anticipating the narrative, or pausing here to
seriously criticise Dr Cabeza's view (which Kubary clearly
shows to be untenable) that these structures were the
work of pirates or early Spanish voyagers, it may be worth
while here to remark : —
1 . The old inhabitants do retain certain traditions about
the origin of these ruins, but will not tell everybody, least
of all a mere passing traveller. They would regard it as
casting "pearls before swine." The Englishman of 1886
evidently does not know what native reticence means.
The Ponapean tradition told me by the Au of Marau is
sufficiently explicit. Two brothers, Ani-Aramach, God-
men or Heroes, named Olo-chipa and Olo-chopa, coming
from the direction of Chokach, built the breakwater of
Nan-Moluchai and the island city it shuts in. By their
magic spells one by one the great masses of stone flew
through the air like birds, settling down into their appointed
place. These two names of curious assonance are cognate
with those of the Tahitian Demigods Oro-tetefa and Uru-
tetefa, the traditional founders of that remarkable brother-
F
82 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
hood the Areoi, which before the introduction of Christianity
wielded so grim and tremendous an influence throughout
the whole of the Society group.
2. The doctor speaks of "stones worked into six faces."
The stones, as a matter of fact, are polygonal or multi-
angular, some five, some eight-sided. Many are certainly
six-sided, but by no means uniformly so. Here comes
in the interesting question of the early use in Micronesia
of iron or copper tools, which is fully discussed in the
chapter upon Ponapean tools and implements. It is
enough here to say that I saw no marks of cutting or
graving tools on the stonework, neither did Kubary. I do
not say they may not exist, but we certainly saw none.
The native Ponapean axe of Tridacna shell, excellent as
is the edge it takes, would be far too brittle to chisel
such hard and massive blocks into shape. A geologist
would immediately declare them to be unhewn slabs of
basalt of natural prismatic formation.
N.B. — Dr Wichmann of Leipzig says they are akin
to the basalt of the Siebengebirge.
3. " No stones like them in the island." If the
Englishman of 1886, and the Spaniard who quotes him,
had had time or opportunity to inquire further, they
would have found that on Chokach Island, below the
Paip-Alap or Great Cliff on the north-west coast, and
away up one of the mountain glens of U, on the north
coast, are the two places whence all this enormous quan-
tity of basalt was brought down. The landing stage at
Auak in U, and some remarkable sacred enclosures on
Tapak Island near the Mants, are built of the same stone.
Moreover, as we sitting by our camp-fire already know
very well, similar remains occur on Tauak Islet off the
Paliker coast. Subsequently we fell in with others at
Nantamarui, Lang Takai, Ponial and Pona Ul, on the
Kiti and Metalanim borders, and at Chap-en-Takai, an
ancient fort and holy place crowning one of the hills above
Marau on the Kiti coast. In the same district similar
FIRST VISIT TO THE RUINS OF NAN-MATAL 83
ruins are reported in the hill-settlement of Chalapuk near
the head-waters of the Ronkiti River.
Kubary with his usual keen and minute observation
remarks : " The oblique inward slope of the upper basalt
layers seems to suggest that the stones were brought here
b)' means of an inclined plane." Such a system, in the
absence of powerful cranes and other machinery, certainly
seems to me very feasible. In my mind's eye I viewed
an even slope of felled tree trunks copiously sluiced with
coconut oil, to avoid friction, up which the great blocks
would be hauled, one relay of workmen above pulling
upon long and thick cables of coir fibre or cinnet and
supplementary ropes of green hibiscus bark, another relay
below with solid staves and handspikes by turns pushing
the huge mass upwards and resting with their poles set
against and below it to prevent it slipping back.
Kubary adds that the blocks of basalt were rafted down
from the Not district on the north coast. This tallies
exactly with what Nanchau of Mutok and the Au of
Marau told me, and with the singular phenomenon I
observed in the shallower portions of the lagoon : the
presence of numberless broken fragments and sometimes
pillars of basalt lying upon the coral bottom. To my
inquiry of my boatman what brought them there the
answer was always the same — Takai-tol poputi nan chet-
uech, 0 ari, — " When a bit of black stone falls into salt
water it grows, and t/iat's all about it."
The tale of how we fared amongst the fortified houses
and artificial caves shall supplement the account of the
mysterious map-making Englishman of the Spanish
chronicler.
As far as we could gather, then and subsequently, in
olden time Ponape (in the West Carolines Fanu-Pei, the
Land of the Pel or Holy Places), then much more popu-
lous than now, was united under the rule of the Chau-te-
Leur line of kings like the Tui-Tongas of Tonga-tabu.
The last of the dynasty met his death facing a barbaric
84 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
horde from the Pali-Air, the barren lands of the south,
probably some portion of New Guinea or the Melanesian
Islands, led by a fierce and terrible warrior, Icho-Kalakal,
Kubary's Idzi-Kolkol. Swarms of savage invaders poured
in upon the peaceful settlers, and almost completely de-
stroyed the ancient civilisation after an obstinate resist-
ance, in which numbers were slain on both sides ; the
king himself, in his flight, being drowned in the Chapalap
River at the head of Metalanim Harbour. The pitying
Ani or gods changed him into a blue river fish, the Kitaly
which the Metalanim folk to this very day refuse to eat.
And the conqueror Icho-Kalakal ruled the land, and in
process of time died and was buried on Pei-Kap (one
story says Nan-Pulok, and another Peitok). He became
the War-God of Metalanim, and remains a dreaded spectre
to this very day.
It is an interesting fact that two of the principal septs
or clans on Ponape, the Tip-en-Uai or Foreign Folk and
the Tip-en-Panamai or People from Panamai, trace their
descent from Icho-Kalakal — Panamai being the name of
the land from which the invasion came. Possibly the
island of Panapa (Ocean Island), or one of the Gilbert or
Line Islands may be designated, where we find a mingled
Polynesian and Melanesian population. Other interesting
facts in this connection are : —
i. The presence of an elaborate chiefs language in
Ponapean, some words of which are pure Polynesian and
others later Malay.1 \Cf. — Lima is the hand of a chief,
Pa that of a commoner. Kumikum a chief's beard, Alich
a subject's beard. Chilani a chief's eye, Macha the eye of a
subject. Achang tooth of chief, Ngi tooth of common man.]
In Malay Kumi is a moustache, and in Javanese Alls is
the eyebrow.
1 To my mind this is proof positive of the coming in of a conquering race
forming a ruling aristocracy, like William the Conqueror's Normans amongst
the Saxons, or Strongbow and his brother barons amongst the Irish of a later
day. And this conclusion, indeed, is amply borne out by the Ponapean
tradition of Icho-Kalakal and his invasion from the lands of the south.
E j;
SECOND VISIT TO THE RUINS 85
2. A wonderful similarity in root-words between Pona-
pean and the language of the Gilbert group and the
dialect of Efate in the New Hebrides and that of Mota in
the Banks group.
3. The presence of Ponapean place-names in the
Melanesian area.
4. The occurrence of stone buildings like those of Nan-
Matal, but on a smaller scale, sketched and described by
the Rev. R. H. Codrington at Gaua upon Santa Maria,
one of the Banks group.
The result of our first visit was to give us some idea of
the lie of the land. Clearly, in my opinion, the place was a
town built out of the water by a sea-faring race, not as
Hale has pronounced it, a land city which has sunk. In
this I find Kubary and Dr Gulick agree with me. Darwin
and Dana, however, hold Ponape as an instance of the
subsidence of an island within the sunk plane. We
took a few photographs, and managed to scratch up a few
beads in the central vault, which, of course, only whetted
our appetite for more. So we went back to Ponatik to
engage more labour, and the morning after our return an
old American settler in the neighbourhood, J. Kehoe, called
on me and volunteered to give his help in exploring the
ruins, where he had himself often been before. So we
arranged a second expedition, and left on March 14th.
Our party consisted of J. Kehoe, Theodoro, Nanit, a native
of Kiti, Keroun and myself. Arriving at Nan-Tauach by
way of Uchentau about noon, we set about our excavations
in the main vault (A). We all took turns with the digging
and worked till sunset, turning out heaps more bracelets
and shell beads, some of the latter thick and some of very
delicate make. We returned muddy, grimy and weary,
with marvellous appetites for beef and biscuit, and lay
down longing for the morrow. Next day we were hard at
work again with increasing good fortune, for several mag-
nificent shell-axes or Patkul rewarded our efforts. Then
we went in for a new sort of toil, hewing and hacking
86 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
away, making tremendous gaps in the jungle which
envelopes the precinct within and without, climbing around
on the walls heedless of tottering slabs, tearing away long
festoons of creeper and great clumps of weed and fern,
close-rooted in the crevices of the mighty structure. The
patient man with the camera clicks off view after view of
the massive walls sullenly frowning down upon the assail-
ants, who have rent their way through the mazy wilder-
ness and lifted the veil of clinging greenery and let in the
light of day upon these halls of Eblis. A jovial party
surrounds the blazing hearth that night, all but Keroun,
who sits apart fitfully muttering to himself, a prey to
supernatural terror, and a horror of unseen horrors.
March 16. — Next morning we visited Pan-Katara and
cleared the angle, and measured the height of the wall,
which turned out to be 27 feet. With difficulty we forced
our way through the jungle into the paved enclosure in
the heart of the island, where in olden times the king used
to sit with his priests and nobles round him, drinking the
choko or kava in solemn state. Keroun flatly declined to
accompany us, and remained with the canoe on the canal-
side in a state of great nervousness. The afternoon was
devoted to a second onslaught on the bush and creepers.
The inner courtyard and surrounding terraces of Nan-
Tauach were cleared of undergrowth, together with
portions of the walls of the inner enclosure and the inner
and outer angles at the corner of the great wall facing
south. These operations put the finishing touch to
Keroun's dismay, who repeatedly declared the precinct to
be haunted. " The eyes of the spirits are watching every-
thing you do," said the obstinate old donkey. " They
will not hurt you because you are a white man, but they
will punish us. I cannot sleep at night; I am very much
afraid, and I should like to go home."
March 17th was spent in digging in chambers A and
B with moderate results. I returned with my party to
Ponatik in the afternoon, leaving the exploration of the
SECOND VISIT TO THE RUINS 87
pits, the taking of more elaborate measurements, and
photographing of the north side for next excursion.
We were busy sorting and washing curios till late
that night, and during the whole of next day. The
people of the settlement still continued sullen and
stupid, and left us strictly alone. Keroun thought to
make a brilliant move by suddenly demanding double
pay, but looked very blank when calmly informed that
in future his salary was to be reduced in proportion
to his services.
Next morning (March 19th) Alek came in with some
ornamental dance-paddles, and a collection of square
tablets of native woods which he had carved into beautiful
patterns, and stained in red, black, white and yellow,
using native dyes.
That afternoon I went over through the woods with
Keroun to Nantiati, and attended a Kava festival at the
waterside. I met Joe Kehoe there, and went home with
him to Nantamarui in the evening in order to discuss our
plan of exploration quietly together, not caring to take the
selfish, sullen Lot or Ponatik natives into my confidence.
When I returned to Ponatik next morning I found that
Chau-Tapa, a native preacher from Aru, whose church
name was Obadiah, had, on Nanapei's recommendation,
come to look after our spiritual welfare, and at the same
time earn a few honest dollars by teaching me some key-
words in the dialect of the Mortlock group, where his
missionary labours had long engaged him. A few years
previously his white superiors had transferred him to
Aru, viewing with alarm his devotion to the bottle, and
several sad lapses from grace, in which certain fair young
female converts were equally blameworthy. He amused
us mightily with his comical ways and glib Biblical quota-
tions, and on the least provocation would put up an
extempore prayer with all the unction of a Salvation
Army captain. I don't know how far he deceived him-
self, but I know he never deceived me, for I had seen
88 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
plenty of that kind of native before in Tonga and
Samoa, especially Tonga. Obadiah really was a curious
study. He was the oddest mixture of shrewdness,
fanaticism, and fatuous self-complacency that I should say
the Boston Mission ever turned out. He was avaricious
yet benevolent, covetous as a Jew, yet, strange to say,
liberal. What his left hand grabbed, his right would
disperse again in largesse. Nobody ever visited his
place at Am and left hungry. For the rest, he was a
diplomatist of the species trimmer. His air was grand
and consequential, and last, but not least, he dearly loved
strong liquors. All that day he took great pains to teach
me the rudiments of Mortlock, by no means refusing a
glass or two of red wine in between whiles. He descanted
earnestly as a monk upon fasting and vigils. Yet he
supped heartily at sundown upon beef, pork, yam, ship-
biscuit and baked dog, and I am sure his potations of
Vino Tinto must have given a rosy tinge to his dreams
that night.
Next morning (March 21st) our guide Joe came over,
and we made final arrangements for a third expedition to
start on the next day but one.
CHAPTER VI
THIRD VISIT TO THE RUINS
AFTER paying off Obadiah, who was further gladdened
at the gift of an old black coat and trousers, —
" Him broke behind " critically murmured the recipient ; —
on the morning of the 23 rd we started from Lot, forming
quite a respectable party. Keroun, it is true, yielding to
spectral terrors had begged earnestly to be left out this
time. Two men from Lot who volunteered for five dollars
a day have been politely sent about their business. Alek,
too, is away on the service of the king, who, instead of
making roads and plantations, has a mania for building
churches and private mansions all over the Metalanim
district. Our party consisted of Joe and his two stalwart
sons, Lewis and Warren, a fine young fellow from the Kiti
border called Nanit, and a smart little boy called Chetan.
The Manilla man with his camera came too, but he was
never quite at his ease. That very afternoon we set to
digging by turns in the central vault. This delving carries
a peculiar charm with it. One never knows what may turn
up next. The prospect of a reward for every undamaged
bracelet or shell-axe proves a famous incitement, even the
apathetic Manilla man turning to and scratching away at
the mould like an old hen at a rubbish heapi^ We con-
tinued next morning, and held on with unabated vigour
until noon. Then we counted up our treasures and thus
reads the tally : —
A quart of circular rose- pink beads, worn down by rubbing
from the Spondylus strombus and Conus shells varying
generally in diameter from the size of a shilling to a three-
penny bit, some being very minute and delicate in design.
89
90 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
They answer exactly to the Wampum or shell-bead-
money of the North American Indians, who use them for
ornamenting pouches, mocassins and girdles.
Some were circular (Put), others rectangular {Pake),
used strung in regular rows for adorning the primitive
girdles woven from banana-fibre. Some were very much
abraded and others decidedly bleached in hue as though
they had been buried a very long time. Beads exactly
similar in design have recently been discovered in the
ruins of Mitla in Central America. The shell-discs
found in Nan-Tauach are more elegantly ground and
finished than those in the other graves, a circumstance
which induces Kubary to believe Nan-Tauach to be a
later structure. This, I may add, is the opinion also of
some of the older Ponapeans, my informants.
Eighty pearl-shell shanks of fish-hooks in a more or
less perfect condition, exactly resembling those used all
over Polynesia before the coming of the white man. The
hook itself was generally of bone, but we found some
fragments of pearl-shell which were clearly relics of the barb.
Five ancient Patkul or shell-axes of sizes varying from
2 1 feet to 6 inches.
Five unbroken carved shell-bracelets of elegant design
{Luou-en-Matup), so called from the district of Matup to
the north of Metalanim harbour, the seat of this industry in
olden time — just as Icklingham in East Anglia was noted
for the manufacture of ancient British flint implements.
A dozen antique needles of shell used for sewing
together the leaves of the Kipar or Pandanus to make the
/ or mat-sails for their canoes. Others who have seen
them declare them to be shell-ornaments strung in rows
and worn round the neck, curving outwards like a neck-
lace of whale's teeth.
Thirty or forty large circular shells, bored through the
centres and worn as a pendant ornament on the breast.
We also turned up a vast number of fragments of bone,
portions of skulls and bits of shell-bracelets, a couple of
THIRD VISIT TO THE RUINS 91
small shell gouges, a piece of iron resembling a spear-
head, and a smoke-coloured fragment of vitreous appear-
ance, that Kubary and others since have pronounced to be
obsidian or volcanic glass, the ltztli of the ancient
Mexicans.
The underground chamber A from which we took
these relics lies in the centre of the inner precinct facing
the great gateway. It is about 8 feet in depth, roofed in
by six enormous blocks or slabs of basalt. The floor con-
sists of loose coral and soft vegetable mould thickly
matted with the roots of a breadfruit tree which has
sprung up just behind the structure, and which, by a
vigorous root-growth, is gradually displacing the blocks
from their old position. The side nearest the entrance is
threatening to sink into ruins at no very far-off date. In
fact no little caution was needed on this side during our
digging operations to avoid a disastrous collapse of
masonry. J. S. Kubary, when photographing the ruins
about twelve years ago, used this very vault as a dark-
room for developing his negatives, all unconscious of the
treasures under his feet. My photograph of this tomb,
taken on Expedition No. 2, represents our shifty workman
Keroun, and gives a very fair idea of the size of the basalt
blocks forming the roof. A tangle of grasses and creeper
carpets the precinct ; amongst them a poison-weed like
a Wistaria, the bruised roots of which, tied in bundles,
native fishermen dabble in the water of the surf-pools at
low tide, to which they impart a milky tinge and stupify
the fish. The Ponapeans call it Up, the Malays Tuba.
All around are springing up saplings of Oramai, a
broad leafed shrub, a species of Ramie (Kleinhovia),
the bark of which is used for making nets and fish-
lines. In the middle of the court we saw several fine
Ixora trees in flower, possibly the same as those observed
by Mr Le Hunt in 1885, who happily describes them as a
scarlet waterfall of blossom. The afternoon of March
25 th was spent in clearing the walls of the inner precinct.
92 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
and taking various photographs. Just beyond the cross-
wall at the back of vault B we saw a long basalt slab
curved into a shallow crescent and balanced on two pro-
jecting shafts of masonry on the inner side of the south-
west wall. When tapped it gave a clear ringing sound,
and was probably used for an alarum or for a sort of bell
in sacred ceremonies. We found just such another sub-
sequently in Nanapei's settlement of Ronkiti. I brought
it home and it is now in the British Museum.
On March 25 th we visited the island of Nakap, and
photographed the reef and ruins of an old sea-wall, with
Na in the distance, and King Paul's canoe in the Nach or
Lodge. After Nakap we landed on the breakwater of
Nan-Moluchai at considerable risk, for the approach is
dangerous even in calm weather from the heavy swell.
Out in the lagoon off the harbour-mouth the magnitude
of the task of the early builders impressed us deeply.
For three miles down to the south one can descry here
and there the massive sea-walls showing out through the
mangrove clumps which girdle the islets of Karrian, Likop,
Lemankau, Mant, Kapinet, Panui and Pon-Kaim, the
last of the seaward series, which make up the outer line
serving as a breakwater against the deep sea roaring at
the doors, yet interrupted at intervals, and forming a
re-entering angle between Karrian and Nan-Moluchai.
On Nan-Moluchai are the relics of another walled
sanctuary, and in this lonely and surf-beaten spot an old
castaway Frenchman spent his failing years. A pile of
enormous stones block the entrance to the re-entering
angle, at the head of which is Pein-Aring Island. They
lie half submerged here in deep water. The photograph
shows our American guide's eldest son sitting thereon,
with a breaker just curling over ready to fall.
There are over fifty walled islets in the parallax which,
together with the intersecting canals, occupies some eleven
square miles.
It may be well here to take some of the island names
THIRD VISIT TO THE RUINS 93
and explain them, giving at the same time any interesting
points attaching to them, for some of them throw light on
the early history of the place. The meaning of a few of
these antiquated names is apparently lost altogether, but
by the aid of an old man of the district much of the
difficulty was overcome.
The phonesis of the names and their spelling has been
revised, and the correct native renderings given instead of
the bewildering and meaningless jargon into which even
Kubary has fallen in the otherwise valuable sketch-plan
which, with his permission, I have adopted as the ground-
work of the present chart. With the aid of Joe Kehoe
and his sons, and the minute and careful scrutiny of some
old tribesmen familiar with the locality, we managed to
advance Kubary's industrious work another stage forward
towards completeness.
The name Nan-Tauach or Nan-Tauas means the Place
of Loftiness or High Walls. (Tauach — cf the Philippine
Taas, high, and Hindustani Taj or Tej.) [Kubary calls
it Nan-Tauacz, and Mr C. F. Wood, in the account of
his visit, Nan- Towass.~\
Chap-on-Nach means the Land of the Council-Lodge or
Club- House,
The name Nan-Moluchai is variously given as Nan-
molu-chai, the place to cease from paddling — an ironical
designation for one of the most dangerous landing-places
on the coast, or Nan-mo luch-ai, the place of the cinder
heaps, i.e. those left from the cooking fires of the host of
workmen who assisted the demi-gods Olosipa and Olosopa
in the construction of the mighty breakwater and the
walled islets which occupy the space within.
Na means a ridge of rock. {Cf Nana, a cordillera or
mountain chain.)
Na-Kap means New Na, an islet of later origin.
Pal-akap means New Sanctuary or New Chamber. With
the Ponapean Pal, a temple or chamber, compare Sanskrit
Pal, a tent, habitation ; Pelew Blai, a house ; Yap Pal, a
94 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
house set apart for the women ; and Malayan Balai, a hall ;
Polynesian Hale, Fale, Fare, a house, dwelling.
Pei-kap = New Pavement or New Enclosure. On the
east side of Pei-kap is the turtle-stone of Icho-Kalakal
{cf p. 96), and a long narrowish slab called the Uanit-en-
Tare, or shield of Tare.
Lemenkau or Lamenkau = Deep blue water off the edge.
There is another Lamenkau in the Banks group in
Melanesia.
Panui, at the southern angle, may be a Polynesian word,
and = big wall. More probably, however, it means " under
the Wi or Barringtonia trees.
Peitak = Up to ivindward. The rumoured burial-place
of the great warrior Icho-Kalakal, i.e. Prince Wonder-
ful, progenitor of the famous Tip-en Panamai clan, who
led the invasion from the south which blotted out the
civilisation of the Chau-te-Leur dynasty.
Chau-Icho = King and Prince ; also name of a small
district on the south coast near Marau.
Pan-ilel = the place where you have to steer — a most
appropriate designation of the maze of shallows, choked
up with water-weed and salt-water brush. Near Pan-ilel
is a huge block lying under the masonry at the canal-side
with two other masses supporting it, called Uanit-en-
Chau-te-Leur, the shield of Chau-te-Leur.
In the waterway close by is the Tikitik of stone known as
the Head of Laponga, a famous wizard of old mentioned
in Ponapean folklore in a quaint tale entitled " The
Naming of the Birds," " Ka-atanakipa-n-Men-pir-akan."
The name Laponga recalls the Lampongs, a tribe of
Sumatra, distinguished among its less civilised neighbours
by the possession of Untang-untang, or hieroglyphic records
of ancient law {Cf Ponapean Inting to write). This fact
may have spread the use of the word Lampong as a generic
term for wizard in these parts of the Malayan area.
The islet of Pulak gets its designation from some fine
specimens of the timber tree of that name which over-
THE HAUNTED ISLAND OF PAN-KATARA
INNER ANGLE OF GREAT OUTER WALL, NAN-TAUACH
THIRD VISIT TO THE RUINS 95
shadow it, and similarly a neighbouring islet is named
Pan-Tipop, i.e. Under the Tipop or Tupap, from a huge
umbrella tree (the Pacific almond) which grows at its
north angle.
Pan-Katara, the haunted island, which our guide persists
in styling Pan-Gothra (Kubary calls it Nan-Gutra), "the
place of proclamation," or, " sending forth of messengers."
A native gloss is Pach-en-Kaon or the House of Govern-
ment, denoting a metropolis or capital. This precinct,
from all accounts, was anciently the seat of government
and solemn feasts of king, priests and nobles. The
solitary inhabitant is the white goat in the picture, who,
tired of the society of ghosts and shadows, came down
bleating his welcome, anxious to meet with honest flesh
and blood once more. We see him browsing upon the
green leaves and shoots of the masses of shrub and
creeper we tossed into the canal below. There is
another Pankatara amongst the ruins of Chap-en-Takai
across the Kiti border, and yet another on Ngatik or
Raven's Island, some thirty miles away on the west
coast of Ponape.
Kubary made an elaborate plan of Pankatara and of
the neighbouring island of Itet in connection with the
ancient ceremonies observed there. His description of
these is very graphic and I quote it here.
The Dziamarous {Chaumard) i.e. High Priests of the
district of Metalanim had their chief temples in Nan-
matal, and on the Island of Nangutra, where once
a year, in the end of May or beginning of June,
they met together and celebrated the feast of the
" Arbungelap." All the natives of the district repair
for this purpose to Kuffiner, a place in the Bay of
Metalanim.1 All canoes made ready during the past
year are launched on this day to be consecrated, only
the vessel destined for the Divinity remains suspended in
1 The wives of the chiefs were not present, as the men of the lower classes
are forbidden on pain of death to see them.
96 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
the king's house. After having begun the celebration
at Kuffiner with religious dances and kava drinking, the
whole crowd adjourns to Nangutra with singing and boat-
racing, where the king plants his spear by a long stone
visible to this day by the entrance. The lower classes
range themselves in the space marked off to the left, the
chiefs however and the Dziamarous place themselves round
the Kava stone before the god's house in the middle space.
On the right side food is heaped as an offering for the god
or spirit. Then kava is pounded and the first cup, as is
customary to this day, offered to the god, and the two
next to his two priests. No one may enter the temple
except the king's two magicians, Nangleim (Nallaim) and
Manabus (Manapuch). After the kava offering, they
adjourn to the Island Itet, where the gigantic deified
Conger-Eel x lives within a wall five feet high and four
feet thick. On a huge stone a turtle2 is killed, and its
entrails laid on a paved space in the Eel's house.
I give here an independent native version of Kubary's
tale of the Itet monster.
In the reign of King Chau-te-Leur, a huge lizard (Kieil
alap amen) came swimming into the great harbour and
took up its quarters on the island of Pan-Katara, other-
wise called Pangothra. Taking him for an Ani or tute-
lary genius, they brought him baskets of fruit and savoury
messes of cooked yams and bananas to conciliate the
favour of their spectral-looking visitor (man likamichik
aman). As might well be expected, vegetable diet did
not content him, and there was soon a disappearance of
some of the basket-bearers, which the chiefs, after losing
some of their most industrious slaves, considered a mean
act of ingratitude. So the big lizard was proclaimed a
public enemy and a cannibal fiend, and the warriors of
1 I did not myself hear of this Conger-eel, but I did hear of a pet alligator
which was kept in Nan-Matal and fed as a sacred animal.
2 This probably represents a human sacrifice. In the same way in New
Zealand, Ika or Ngohi, a fish, is used to denote a human victim.
THIRD VISIT TO THE RUINS 97
the tribe went forth to battle with the monster. But he
came forward very angry, seized some of the boldest in his
iron jaws, and crunched them up in pitiable fashion. They
belaboured him industriously on every side, but their
spears and shell axes failed to make impression upon
his thick skin, whilst pebbles and sling-stones glanced
off him harmless as raindrops. So at last since the
lizard would not run away, of course the Metalanim
braves had to. Finally subtlety triumphed where
numbers and valour availed nothing. It was suggested
to slay a fat hog, cut him open, and after stuffing him
full with pounded Up root, to leave him roasting over
a great fire blazing in the basement of the Nach or
Council Lodge. All the sides of the Nach were to be
walled up with logs and driftwood, save one opening
big enough for the monster to crawl through — attracted
to his last meal by the far-reaching scent of the crackling
pork. When their foe was fairly stupefied with the
working of the narcotic drug, the opening was to be
quickly filled up and the building set in a blaze. Such
was the fate of this solitary alligator, no doubt washed
out to sea on driftwood from one of the great rivers
of New Guinea, or drifted away through the Straits of
Gilolo by the ocean currents. He crawled right into
the trap set for him, devoured the cooked pig, felt very
drowsy and went off into deep sleep, to wake up finding
himself lapped shrivelling in a merciless furnace of flame,
with his triumphant enemies shouting and dancing round
his funeral pyre.
Pon-Kaim is the southernmost and last of the parallax,
as its name " On the Angle " or Corner, sufficiently indicates.
There another great line of partially submerged blocks,
remnants of an ancient dyke, with a narrow passage in
the centre, closes in this strange island-city.1 In the
absence of written annals, a careful examination of
1 Nan-Matal contains in all some fifty of these curious artificial islets and
encloses an area of some 1 1 square miles.
G
98 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
local names sometimes gives us useful little bits of
history. As an instance of how geographical names
embody an historical fact, take such names of cities as
New York, New Orleans, Newcastle, and Carthage
(Kiriath or Karth-Hadeschah, i.e. New Sanctuary). Thus
even in lonely little Ponape History repeats herself.
That evening Joe Kehoe is in high spirits over his
good luck. " Happy as a clam at high water," as he
poetically phrases it. He gives many old-time reminis-
cences— one tale really characteristic of the times, the
people and the place. The reader will pardon the
digression, for his account is an independent version
(i) of a crude minor paragraph on current events in
a Boston missionary journal ; (2) of Mr J. C. Dewar's
account of the wreck of his yacht the Nyanza off the
Mant Islands in 1889 ; and (3) of the historiette of Don
Cabeza Pereiro, medico of the first column in the Spanish
attack on the rebel stronghold of Oa in the same year.
We shall see how these four independent accounts tally.
Joe Kehoe's story concerned a Portuguese negro half-
caste named Christian*) (no connection of the author's), a
deserter from the whaler Helen Mar, who settled in Ponape
some twelve years ago in the fearless old beach-combing
fashion, and roved about at his own sweet will like Steven-
son's Tahitian hero Rakero, who " as an ' aito ' wandered
the land, delighting maids with his tongue, smiting men
with his hand." This negro Don Juan certainly did bear
the marks of some twenty knife-wounds, gained in these
adventures. The Spanish chronicler mentions him acting
as a guide to their first column in the morning march from
Oa, through the ravines of Machikau, towards the eastern
front of the stockade of Ketam (where that same evening
they met with a disastrous repulse). The account runs : —
" Cristiano, a negro of Cabo Verde, a Portuguese subject,
led the way, a man of herculean strength and proved
valour, whom the natives held in dread. His three Caro-
line wives accompanied him, one of whom, Li-Kanot, in
/
SKETCH PLAN
— OF —
m>., NAN-MATAL
ll The Metalanim Venice.
■■iSi? =- Mangrove Clumps.
THIRD VISIT TO THE RUINS 99
the firing which presently began from a body of natives
in ambush, was disabled by a bullet in the knee " (for
which she still enjoys a small monthly pension).
Compare with this, the terse and uncomplimentary
notice given of him, sent from Ponape by one of Mr
Doane's co-religionists, and published in a Boston paper.
" We have had great trouble here lately from a black
Portuguese, banished some time ago from Manilla for
some enormous crimes. He has sought the favour of
the Spaniards, asserting that in time of need he supplied
the late governor (Don Isidoro Posadillo) with food.
This atoned in their eyes for many huge sins, and he is
allowed to roam up and down the island doing Satan's
work most completely. But we fear him not."
Mr Dewar's account tells feelingly of the stranding of
his vessel on the reefs of the North Coast and the rascality
of a certain Portuguese settler of U, who, when left in charge
assisted various natives to plunder the wreck. Now the
aforesaid negro Christian, who seems on the whole to have
been a good-natured, honest old soul, gave evidence which
led to the conviction of some of the delinquents, and their
subsequent detention in irons on the hulk Maria Molina.
If missionaries mean that giving up Church members
who are thieves and wreckers to justice is doing Satan's
work, I confess they appear to me to have singular ideas
of right and wrong. I should counsel them to teach their
congregations industry, and, if possible, sturdier notions of
honesty. And Joe Kehoe's account, as might be expected,
ends by the cowardly assassination of the negro witness
by one of the convicted wreckers — called Chaulik. This
scoundrel, who had vowed revenge, by a lying message
enticed him to an island called Mang off the Paliker coast,
laid wait in the bush by the landing place, and shot him
through the head at short range ; then darting from
ambush, hewed to pieces his expiring victim, whom he
was not man enough to encounter fairly hand to hand.
Joe Kehoe the same evening told us of a curious large
IOO THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
flat stone on the Chapalap River called Takai-nin-Talang.
It stands near Ketam where the Spanish met with such a
warm reception in 1892. It has prints of a man's feet in
the stone, and on its face weapons carved in outline, which
from his description mightily resemble the Japanese Kat-
ana or curved swords. He gave us further edifying anec-
dotes ; amongst others, one of his meeting a boat-load of
missionaries on the Matup flats near Metalanim Harbour,
whilst he was taking a cargo of kava down to a Fijian
trading schooner lying in port. " Oh, for shame, Mr
Kehoe," rose their reproachful chorus. " Why have you
got your boat loaded with that nasty root ? " To which
impertinence Joe answered like a man, and thus he took
up his parable. " See here, and don't make no mistake.
You won't use it yourself, more fools you ! You won't
let natives use it or sell it. Haven't you got sense to see
this is the only way to get quit of it out of the country.
You make me tired."
On the next day, March 26th, we continued our clear-
ing operations and took more photographs of portions of
the wall at various angles, and explored the underground
chambers C and D, which, to our disappointment, yielded
only scanty results. C is about fourteen feet deep and
extremely narrow. Joe Kehoe, being of slender though
wiry build, was lowered with a lantern to assist him in
his labours. He turned over a lot of soil, but only got a
few beads, fragments of shell bracelets, and mouldering
bones. Just as we are finishing chamber D with a like
result, a native arrives in some excitement to tell us that
a steamer is coming into the great harbour, a rare occur-
rence, for prudent skippers nowadays give the place a wide
berth. She turns out to be the Quiros, on one of her
cruises round the island. Her kind-hearted commander,
Don Miguel Velasco, has put into this uninviting port on
the chance of conciliating King Paul, and at the same
time rendering any possible assistance to our expedition.
That very afternoon I sent Nanit and Ch£tan on board
3 2.
THIRD VISIT TO THE RUINS ioi
with a letter to the Captain and his Lieutenant Don
Lorenzo Moya, inviting them next day to visit the scene
of our operations and witness the clearing of the east and
north sides of the great outer wall, and the photographing
of further portions of the stone-work. By and by the boys
came back with a courteous letter from Don Miguel ac-
cepting the invitation, and asking me to come on board
to dinner that evening. Joe preferred to stay with
Theodoro and Nanit and keep watch and ward, but his
two sons and Chetan willingly came along. Once in the
broken water by the entrance to the great harbour, we find
navigation in our small canoe a very different business from
paddling along the still backwaters of Nan-Matal. The
wild white horses are cresting the seas outside the harbour
mouth to eastward ; inside there is a very heavy ground-
swell, the rollers sweeping in one after another, and huge
masses of green water toss us skyward like a plaything.
Then down again into the deeps we sink, with the spume
hissing and tingling in our ears, and another great wall
forming up behind us in the gathering dusk. Just off
Tolopuel there is a submerged stack of rocks over which,
even in calm weather, comb great shoal-water breakers.
Our little steersman from Kiti, not knowing the dangers
of this part of the coast, takes us right into the heart of
the foaming welter, and the next quarter of an hour is
lively indeed. But the lights of the Quiros — welcome
beacon — are shining out ahead in the deepening gloom.
Our canoe, though small, is solid, and we dash our paddles
in with a will, and after some narrow escapes from upsetting
win our way slowly into calmer water, and think ourselves
fortunate to be there.
We met with a warm welcome on the Quiros, but
noticed with misgiving certain sinister-looking fellows —
strangers to us — on the deck ; spies of King Paul, sent
under the mask of friendship to take note of the vessel,
her fittings and stores, and to repeat every word uttered
which might give information of Spanish plans. When
102 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
they saw us their countenances fell, and they were soon
paddling ashore — their plans for the time defeated — from
which I augur a sleepless night for suspicious King Paul
and trouble brewing for us in the near future. We re-
ceived cordial congratulations on our success, and after
spending a pleasant evening rowed back, passing under
lee of Tomun and reaching Uchentau about midnight, by
a new route altogether, through an uncharted portion of
the amazing labyrinth — a thorough clearing and explora-
tion of which would entail the labours of a small party
for several months.
March 27th. — As agreed, the first and second lieu-
tenants, with two Manilla sailors, turned up at Uchentau
about nine o'clock in the morning. This was their first
visit to the ruins, and the sight of the great gateway and
the high walls peeping out of the masses of jungle, keenly
excited their wonder and admiration. We showed them
the central vault, and pointed out the peculiar Japanese-
looking frieze or cornice running along on the top of the
inner line of wall. We then viewed the portion near
tomb C, where the inner wall is in a ruinous condition,
and the court strewn with broken shafts and pillars of
toppled masonry, taking our visitors round the courtyard,
which by this time had been cleared of its jungle by
vigorous knife and axe work.
With the assistance of the two Manilla sailors we fell
to work once again to bring more of the masonry into
view, and more photographs were taken of the south-west
and north-east angles. Clearing as we went, we made a
complete circuit of the Place of the Lofty Walls, as the
Ponapeans term the precinct. Every foot of the island is
covered with almost impenetrable forest and jungle. On
three sides the walls face directly on the waterway, on the
south there is a belt of vegetation which we had no time
to explore. Standing on the south-east angle, where the
wall is nearly forty feet in height, one looks down on a
green abyss of nodding woodland, with never a glimpse of
N.E. INNER ANGLE OF INNER COURT, NAN-TAUACH
N.E. ANGLE OF OUTER WALL, NAN-TAUACH
THIRD VISIT TO THE RUINS 103
the network of canals rippling beneath the screen. In
clearing this angle on the inner side we found the stone-
work less regular than on the outer face, where these
astonishing blocks lie alternately sidewise and crosswise
on a plane of the greatest nicety. Effect from the out-
side was clearly the aim of the builders. The north-east
angle is occupied by an enormous Aio or Banyan tree,
firm-rooted in the solid masonry, over which it towers full
fifty feet, buttressed with its long root-sprays, and thrust-
ing bunches of thread-like root-fibres into every crevice.
As they swell these exercise a constant and gradually
increasing force, wrenching asunder the blocks from their
resting-places. When a high wind blows through the
tree-tops the continuous swaying and rocking movement
racks the structure through and through in every joint
and key-stone. These mighty forces, working slowly but
surely, must sooner or later bring the wall down in ruins.
The picture of our group excellently shows up the pro-
portions of the masonry, with its tasselling of birds'-nest
and polypody fern, and the mighty Incubus, king of the
forest, perched above firm-rooted, shaking his myriad
branches in the breeze. After resting awhile we hewed
our way along the north terrace, finally coming out upon
the canal which bounds the west side. Our photograph x
of the north-west angle gives a happy impression of the
style of masonry at this junction, the two walls running
up high and bluff like the bows of a Japanese junk, from
which model they were possibly designed. The figure in
the foreground is that of the Spanish first lieutenant,
bestriding a projecting shaft of the stone-work that shoots
out like a bowsprit over the canal below. Beneath
stretches a belt of young coco-palms of recent growth,
their reddish stems just merging into green.
In order to take the bearings of the place properly,
our visitors kindly promised me the use of the cruiser's
compass next day, and as it was now getting near sunset,
1 Journal of Royal Geographical Society, February 1899, p. 122, q.v.
104 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
insisted on my taking a couple of boys and going on
board with them to dinner. Not content with this, on
our return they supplied us with various articles from the
ship's stores to reinforce our scanty commons. We re-
tired to rest, taking no thought for the morrow, and
well contented with the day's work done. But whilst
we were sleeping mischief was brewing.
March 28th. — Early next morning a canoe glides up
manned by five of King Paul's braves, evil-looking vaga-
bonds, bearing a request from that monarch for the two
white-faces and the Manilla dog (Kiti-en- Manila) — (poor
Theodoro !) — to present themselves, and give account of
their nefarious doings. It turns out that King Paul is
filled with rage at the coming of the Quiros into port,
and suspects some deep design of the Spaniards. His
superstitious terrors have been awakened by tales from
stray fishermen, who, passing through the waterways of
Nan-Matal, were startled to view the havoc wrought in
the shrouding jungle by our axes and knives. At first
they thought the devils of the wood and air had done
this thing, but a closer inspection revealed human agency.
It seems that they had a tradition that the spirits of
the slaughtered Builders had entered into the trees that
have sprung up where the great battle was fought. Mr C.
F. Wood mentions the same superstition shown during his
visit to Metalanim, and Mr H. O. Forbes tells of a similar
experience of his in one of the Uma-Luli or sacred groves
in the interior of Timor. His Majesty has also heard of
our find, which he interprets as a hoard of hidden gold or
silver. This appeals to his ingrained avarice, and he wants
his share. Theodoro, with a small revolver, slips out of
the house and takes to his heels into the bush. The
little boy Chetan also makes good his escape — steals
somebody's fishing canoe and flees for his life down the
coast, and never looks behind him till across the Kiti
border. Wondering what rod in pickle lies ready for
us, we are conducted to Tomun where King Paul and
THIRD VISIT TO THE RUINS 105
two or three of his chiefs await us. Amongst them I
saw my Ponatik landlord, Mr David Lumpoi, who seemed
very ill at ease. The angry old monarch turned to us
and rated us sharply for our unhallowed work which
he bade us cease once and for all, and leave the district
that very day on pain of being treated as enemies to the
tribe. As the Roman philosopher said to Julius Caesar,
" It is ill arguing with a man who commands ten legions."
Nevertheless, observing that David was not giving full
effect to my answers, I took up my parable, regardless of
etiquette, addressing the irate monarch in a few straight-
forward sentences in the local dialect to this effect : —
(1) That we had made a contract and expected him,
having received payment before hand, to keep his side
of it. (2) That we had done no harm to the masonry,
and had dug up no gold or silver as he supposed.
(3) That since our coming in the tribe we had behaved
peacefully and defrauded no man. (4) That as he de-
sired us to go, go we should, but at our own convenience,
not his. (5) That we would make him a by- word amongst
the tribes for his broken faith. Finally I told him that if
he meditated any treachery that an English man-of-war
might call in one day and ask inconvenient questions.
To these observations he made no reply for a while,
scanning me earnestly, seemingly puzzled and at a loss
what to make of it. At length he grunted out sulkily
that he didn't like white men, and that his people didn't
either, and was dismissing us with further threats and
warnings, which, to his infinite wonder, I treated very
lightly. " Tell your king there," said I, in the current
Ponapean, to a chief close by, "that I will return in a
year or two and bring with me a party of Irishmen with
picks and spades and lamps and muskets, and we will dig
where we please. By and by you will understand white
men better." The king took my jesting remarks, which
may come true some day after all, in earnest. We parted
gravely and ceremoniously. And this was the last I saw
106 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
of that puissant monarch the Ichipau of Metalanim. We
made our way back to Uchentau, and consoled poor
Theodoro whom we found in a very dismal frame of
mind. But he brightened up about mid-day when a
boat of armed Manilla sailors came ashore from the
Quiros with the promised compass. We soon turned
to and established the bearings of Nan-Tauach, made
certain measurements, which hitherto we had left undone,
and the man with the camera took shots until nearly the
last plate of his stock was used. We took a farewell pull
around the canals — our crew gazing with wonder at the
relics of a past civilisation that greeted them at every bend.
Presently we gathered from our escort that overnight a
present of bright-coloured poisonous fish had been sent on
board from King Paul. The cook or one of the forecastle
hands, happening to taste a portion, was seized with violent
pains to which he almost succumbed. Treachery, with-
out doubt, is in the air.
Between Kontaiak and Panachau it appears that we are
not the only folk out on the water this day. Two other
boat-loads of sailors and marines, on shore leave, are
rowing up and down the waterway in an aimless sort of
fashion. One or two native canoes are also going about
under colour of fishing, but doubtless in reality sent out to
observe and report upon the movements of these un-
authorised bodies of strangers invading the precinct.
Quite possibly many more of King Paul's spies lie hidden
in the bush, burning to make a dash upon the unconscious
liberty men. For the sight of a Manilla man to a native
of these parts is like a red rag to a bull. Fortunately,
however, nothing of the kind happens.
Our Manilla men land us at Uchentau and return to
the ship, taking off some curios as a present to the captain,
also a note informing him of the interruption of our opera-
tions in the district, begging him to report the facts at
headquarters, and strongly advising him to run no risks
by giving his men leave to go ashore in the present state
THIRD VISIT TO THE RUINS 107
of affairs. And the same afternoon we started for Lot,
where for the next two or three days we had ample work
in hand, sorting and washing curios, with Theodoro
industriously developing plates with his mysterious and
evil-smelling chemicals. Curious natives dropped in from
time to time sniffing the strange odours, which they plainly
told us in the jargon of their kind savoured strongly of
Rakim, or demoniac powers and the Lake of Fire and
Brimstone — L4-en-Kichiniai, the mainstay of their chari-
table creed. After a day or two our landlord arrived and
promptly demanded double the original rent agreed upon,
clamouring loudly for instant pay. His ruse absolutely
failed, and we elected to leave his inhospitable roof and
move further down the coast towards the Kiti border.
A good opportunity for departure was given us by the
arrival of a Tahitian trader, Ruiz, with his sailing-boat,
engaged in collecting copra and ivory nuts along the coast.
He readily agreed to take us off, and to land me at Joe
Kehoe's place at Nantamarui, and take the Manilla man
and the curios over to his own place in Kiti. So we paid
our small debts in Ponatik after a deal of palaver with
Keroun — mercenary old rogue — who demanded five
dollars for the loan of a kettle, three for a fowl, and ten
more for a dozen wild yams he had supplied. He
frightened the Manilla man into tears with his loud talk
and bluster until I flung him a dollar and a few sticks of
tobacco in full quittance, and as he was still dissatisfied,
forcibly thrust him off the verandah. David, for his part,
agreed to meet us up in the Colony a little later on, and
there receive a full settlement of the rent due to him. I
may here remark that when we met a fortnight later this
Ponapean Shylock caused us great annoyance by his
extortionate demands. He behaved in a most insolent
manner before the Spanish Governor, who, though plainly
unwilling to disoblige a chief of influence in so turbulent
a district, could not in justice allow him to make such
unheard-of overcharges. For he kept on demanding
108 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
double pay, utterly repudiating his own written and
signed agreement when shown him, and putting forward
yet further frivolous and unreasonable claims. Finally,
Master David, after a stern reprimand from the Governor
and a sharp rebuke from Nanapei, who acted as mediator,
received his just payment with the sour phiz of a cabman
accepting his exact fare, and amidst the undisguised con-
tempt of the Kiti and Paliker natives in town sailed away
home again, still grumbling.
To resume. We embarked and dropped down with the
afternoon tide to Nantamarui, where I landed at Joe's to
stay a few days with the good old fellow. During this visit
I examined a curious pile of stone-work about three hun-
dred yards in the rear of his house, and added still further
to my long list of rare and curious dialect words, Mrs
Kehoe (Litak-en-Na), a most kindly old lady, lending most
zealous and effectual aid. We also indulged in a deal of
speculation as to the origin and history of the engineering
marvel we had so lately quitted, and I may here quote in
conclusion Kubary's able summing-up of the whole matter,
which to me seems amply borne out both by native
tradition and inherent probability, not to mention the
result I was fortunate enough to obtain on the spot.
In his conclusions I heartily concur.
i . The stone buildings of Nanmatal were erected by a
race preceding the present inhabitants of Ponape. For
tradition declares that the last king of the primitive race,
the Dziautoloa (i.e. Chau-te-leur), lived on the island of
Nangutra. He himself resided in the stone-town, whilst
the people lived on the chief island and had to support
the ruler. One day a stranger of the name of Idzikolkol
landed on the little island of Nan-Pulok. He came from
the Ant or Andema Islands, lying about ten nautical miles
west of Ponape, and fearing that Nanmatal was too thickly
populated, he thought it advisable to go back again. A
new landing followed in Metalanim, and being informed
by a woman of the military weakness of the Dziautoloa,
A PONATIC CHIEF
HOLDING A CARVED DANCING PADDLE, WITH A PILE OF IVORV NUTS BESIDE HIM
THE BEACH AT LOT
RUIZ SURROUNDED WITH BUNCHES OF K.4RRAT OR GIANT PLANTAINS
THIRD VISIT TO THE RUINS 109
he was fortunate enough to drive the king back upon the
chief island, and even to kill him. This Idzikolkol was
the founder of the customs which endure to this day, and
the Idzipaus of Metalanim are his successors.
2. The builders of Nanmatal belonged to the black race
and the Ponapeans are a mixed race.
The proof lies in the following. At the excavation of the
three vaults of Nan Tauacz, and the till then undisturbed
graves of Nanmorlosaj (i.e. Nan-moluchai) and Lukoporin,
Kubary found amongst the human bones four calvaria —
skull-tops — which clearly showed that the heads were
dolichocephalous, or corresponded with a middle form
between long and short skulls.1 The difference between
one of these disinterred skulls and those of the present
race, is : —
Disinterred skull : length 181 millimetres, breadth 127
mm. [cephalic index 70*2], facial angle unknown.
Native skull of to-day : length 170 mm., breadth 1 3 5 J
mm. [cephalic index 797], facial angle j6° 3c/.
3. The ruins of Ponape afford no proof of the sinking of
the island, on the contrary they unmistakably show that
they are the remains of a water-building.
4. The four-fold aspect deprives of all support the theory
that the ruins are the remains of fortifications built by
Spanish pirates. The discovery of a Spanish cannon in
the year 1839 by H.M.S. Lame proves nothing, beyond
confirming the rumour of the wreck of a great ship on Ant
Island long before the rediscovery of the Seniavin Islands
by Admiral Liitke in 1828 ; probably one of the cannons
lying on the shore was taken from thence to Roan Kitti
(i.e. Ronkiti).
1 A skull measured by Dr Cabeza Pereiro from Ponape had a length of
184 mm. and a breadth of 140, which gives a cephalic index of 76*1. Four
other Micronesian crania from the neighbouring group of the Mariannes had
respectively cephalic indices of 76*55, 73*31, 71*27, and 70*98, giving a mean
of 73-66.
CHAPTER VII
VISIT TO CEMETERY OF THE CHOKALAI OR LITTLE
PEOPLE, PONAUL AND LANG TAKAI, AND RETURN
FROM METALANIM TO KITI AND COLONY
ON hearing from my kind old host of some curious
ruins on a hill-side in the back country, I deter-
mined to explore them. Theodoro, my photographer, it
will be remembered having finished all his plates, much to
his satisfaction had been despatched across the border to the
Catholic settlement of King Rocha at Aleniang — to per-
form his chemical operations in peace, and there abide
collecting and labelling botanical specimens until he
received further instructions. Accordingly one fine morn-
ing Joe Kehoe, his eldest son Lewis, and myself are trudg-
ing sturdily up the hill-ridge behind Nantamarui over a
rough, steep and intricate trail — I will not call it pathway
— thickly carpeted with the convolvuluses Yo/ and Chenchel.
The weeds underfoot treacherously hide from our view
numerous slippery boulders and fragments of shivered
basalt. By and by the labyrinth gets worse than ever,
and for several hundred yards we have to fight our way on,
hewing right and left with our eighteen-inch knives, climb-
ing over fallen trunks of great forest trees and ducking
under low natural archways of Kalau or hibiscus. As by
degrees we worked our way nearer to the region of tall
forest trees the underwood became less dense. On our
right lies a green valley planted with taro, bananas, and
breadfruit, with a full-fed brook singing down through it in
its zigzag course beneath the mellow shadows. To our
left stretches a steep mountain-slope, along whose slippery
sides we scramble, picking our way cautiously amongst
Note. — A portion of this chapter is from a paper read by the author before
the Royal Geographical Society, December 12th, 1898.
VISIT TO CHOKALAI CEMETERY in
gnarled roots and spreading buttresses of the ficoids Nin
and Aio — the lesser and greater Banyan trees. Scattered
at our feet like little bright-blue olives, lie the berries of
the Chatak or Elczocarpus, dear to the fruit-pigeons, the
grey-dove (Murroi), the green-doves {Kinuet and Kingking),
and the violet-brown ground pigeon (Paludi). These
Elaeocarpi grow often to over ioo feet in height. Finally
passing one of the buttressed kings of the forest we
suddenly came upon a low breastwork of stones enclosing
the object of our search, which turned out to be a cemetery
in the shape of an irregular or broken parallelogram, as can
be seen from the sketch plan. Six graves were found in
the lower enclosure and three on a platform raised five feet
above the level of the ground. All were little vaults not
exceeding four or four and a half feet in length — roofed
in with massive slabs of basalt — the graves of the Chok-
alai, Kichin-Aramach or Little Folk, woodland elves,
answering to our own pucks and pixies, to the Trolds,
Cobolds, and Dwarfs of the Teutonic peoples, and to the
Patupaiarehe of the Maoris. Ethnologists would style
them dwarf Negritos. These, according to Ponapean
tradition, were the little dwarfish folk who dwelt in the
land before the coming of the Kona and Li-ot, the giants
and the cannibals. The two latter terms probably repre-
sent respectively the Malayo-Polynesian settlers and the
Melanesians from the south. The speech of the dwarfs,
it is said, was a chattering and a gibber as that of bats.
They were dark of skin and flat-nosed (Timpak). They
are believed still to haunt the dark recesses of the forest,
and to be very malignant and revengeful. I was told that
one man who came to this haunted dell to plant kava was
caught up and spirited away by the revengeful goblins, and
his lifeless body was found days afterwards stretched upon
a great fiat rock by the seashore off Nantiati Point. A
curious fact concerning this primitive race was supplied
me by the Au of Marau shortly before leaving Ponape.
The people at the mouth of the Palang River near the
112 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Chokach and Kiti border are said to have been descended
from the Chokalai, who it seems were not everywhere
exterminated by the Malayo-Polynesian conquerors. The
Au's description runs thus. " In the speech of the Palang
folk is a most foolish undercurrent of chatter ; they are
shorter in stature, and their skins darker than their neigh-
bours ; their noses are flat and they are known throughout
the tribes as Macha-en-Paikop or the Paikop-faces. Now
the Paikop is the most ill-favoured of fishes, with wide
goggle-eyes, and a face as flat as a dish."
Unluckily I had no opportunity of visiting the Palang
folk, who are said to be thieving and treacherous. There
seems no reason why the tale of the Au should not be
true, and that we have here overlapped and all but exter-
minated the survivors of the Negrito race who made these
curious little graves. Be it remarked that in Ponape, the
Marquesas, and many other islands, the natives have a
dread of venturing too far into the interior — their sensi-
tive fancies filling the mountain jungle with deadly lurk-
ing influences and the arrows of fairy foes — doubtless a
recollection of early struggles of the Malayan races in
Indonesia and their own islands with the dwarf aborigines
of the mountain and the bush.
The name of the dell is Ponial, i.e. " Over the pathway,"
so called because the mountain slope overhangs an old
trail leading down to Nantamarui, over which we have
with such difficulty won our way. The wild pandanus
{Matal or Taip) shoots up everywhere around the ceme-
tery, waving her sword-shaped blades, triply fluted and
edged with fine rows of prickles, and the Hibiscus tiliaceus
weaves her intricate labyrinth of shoots ; branches and
roots spreading in, out, above, around and below. The
Talik-en- Wal, or climbing hartstongue fern, twines thick
around the stems of infant forest trees in this grand
nursery of Nature. The small round yellow fruits of the
Nin and the blue oblong fruits of the Eloeocarpus lie
sprinkled amongst greenest cushions of moss and the
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VISIT TO CHOKALAI CEMETERY 113
fibrous roots of the bush-ferns, which in thick wavy
clumps flourish under the shadow of great forest trees.
We set to work at our excavations. After clearing away
the luxuriant undergrowth, we cautiously removed the
basalt slabs at the top of each little vault, and found in
the red soil within an abundant deposit of blue mould
promising good results. In the first few minutes a very
diminutive stone gouge was turned up and a stone knife.
No other results rewarded our efforts, save a few pieces of
mouldering bone. All the rest with the great lapse of
time in a damp and hot climate have literally melted
away like sugar. A fresh proof of the great antiquity of
this burial place is the fact that not one single red or
white shell-bead was brought to light in any of the seven
graves opened, although in the central vault of Nan-Tauach
we had found a very large number. The form of the
cemetery is an irregular or broken parallelogram, as will
be seen from the accompanying sketch. The upper por-
tion of the cemetery was occupied by a raised platform
of basalt blocks five feet in height. Upon this were
three vaults overgrown by a tremendously thick awning
of the ever troublesome Hibiscus. The graves on the
upper platform gave no better return, yielding only a few
pieces of mouldering and unsubstantial bone to our most
careful search ; whereupon Lewis shrewdly remarked that
the Chokalai must have been either very stupid people
who wouldn't work, or very poor and barbarous wretches
not to have any treasures to bury.
Whilst making our measurements and excavations, we
came across several skink lizards rather large in size, called
Kieil by the natives, who hold them in a holy horror.
During our work we were bothered by the attentions of
numerous minute bush or sand-flies (the Em-en-wal),
which, however, are not nearly so troublesome as their
cousins of sun-scorched Nukuhiva in the North Marquesas.
Towards sunset we departed, leaving the dell to the fairies
whose solitude we had so rudely disturbed. A second
H
114 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
journey next day proved equally fruitless as regards relics,
resulting only in the clearing away of a huge quantity of
brushwood, which the teeming life of the bush by this
time has certainly replaced in ten-fold luxuriance, to cover
up the sleeping-place of these departed folk once more
from the face of man.
The evening of our second visit to the Valley of the
Dwarfs, my host told me of another ancient burying-place on
one of the hills to the north-west of our valley. So next
day, armed with a whale-spade and a bundle of digging
sticks, we struggled up the steep hill-side over the most
primitive of pathways. A quarter of an hour's sharp climb
brings us into a dense thicket crowning the summit of the
duff. A few areca palms are in evidence. From the tree
trunks the Freycinetia droops her narrow sword-shaped
leaves, and the long green tongues of the Bird's-nest fern are
waving in their serial circles, and the plumes and crests of
many another knight of the forest army glance and glim-
mer in the cool dark silence. Restful to the eye are the
mellow harmonies of green melting into one another on
every hand like the notes of a mighty anthem. Masses of
wild ginger {Ong-en-Pele) carpet the ground below, dappled
with the shadows of boughs see-sawing overhead in the
deep fresh draught of the trades. The air is filled with the
aromatic fragrance of their crushed leaves, as we patiently
win our way onwards. Under the shadow of lofty forest
trees flourishes many a clump of lowlier shrub of the
woodland, the Ixora with its gorgeous cascade of yellow-
centred umbels, and the minute starry blossoms of the
Ka-n-Mant, a firm-grained yellow-wood shrub, and the
knotted stems and powdery catkins of the sombre Kava
plant. These and many another, some ornamental, very
many medicinal, each with its picturesque native name,
associated with some quaint legend or fancy. Ever
and anon comes down through the aisles of the woodland
a waft of fragrance from the Matakel, the flower of some
remote tree-pandanus, distilling its subtle and delicate
VISIT TO LANG TAKAI 115
exhalation rich as incense-cloud, all as though some old
god of the forest were breathing down a benediction upon
the weary sons of men.
Working our way through the wilderness we came upon
a double parallelogram of stone-work, the outer wall on
the east side measuring 115 feet in length, and the south
side 75. The average thickness of the wall was 6 feet,
the height about 5 feet. It was built up of rough blocks
of stone of varying sizes, the largest being 4 feet in length
by 3 in thickness. The inner conforming parallelogram
of wall measured 35 feet on the east side and 30 feet on
the south, and was about 4 feet in height. In this last
enclosure were two platforms of stone facing one another,
doubtless the tombs of two heroes of ancient date. These
we cleared of loose stones and excavated superficially.
Nothing, however, but a few fragments of bones and bits
of shell ornament rewarded our labours. Perhaps the
next comer with more time and better implements may
be more fortunate. In any case it will not be labour lost.
There are many more such stone enclosures {Lil-charaui)
upon Ponape, especially upon the island of Tapak, a little
south-east of the Mant Islands, off the coast of U, near
the Nallam-en-Pokoloch deeps, before you come to Aru
on the Metalanim border. It is for future explorers to
make them give up their secrets, and for the skilful artist
to set down upon his magic canvas some of the wonder-
fully beautiful woodland scenes and effects which I have
striven feebly to depict in words. Neither must they,
nor indeed can they, pass over indifferently these relics of
a gray antiquity, venerable as dolmen, kistvaen, or
kjoekkenmodding — the work of a vanished people who,
Titan-like, have stumbled down into the darkness of a
mysterious doom.
A few days after our excursion to Pona-Ul we visited
the remains of an ancient native fortress near the summit
of a hill to the eastward. We reached the place after a
tedious hour's climb, tramping along winding slippery
n6 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
paths and over boulders and masses of fallen rock, making
our way upward through the shadow of hanging woods.
We passed the foundations of some old houses and two
or three clearings in the lonely mountain wilderness where
bananas were growing, and at last, high up on the slope of
another steep hill, its rugged sides carpeted with the large
round leaves and white and sulphur bells of the mountain
convolvulus, we find ourselves confronted with a forbid-
ding-looking wall of loose stones, up which we scramble
on to a rude terrace, with another high and compact mass
of stone-work looking down upon us. Yam creepers have
everywhere forced their way up through the stones, their
long twining stems furnished with a bristling array of
small black prickles. These possibly the relics of an old
plantation in the neighbourhood, which when there was no
one left to tend it any longer, was swallowed up once
more by the envious bush.
We climbed gingerly up the slippery face of the
masonry and found ourselves standing on a flat level
terrace on top of the pile which is some 1 5 feet above the
circling ring of stone-work below. The length of the
terrace facing seaward is 48 feet, and its width 20 feet.
Tradition declares that many years ago the Noch or chief
of the Nantamarui and Nantiati districts built this strong-
hold and reared a great Lodge on top of the platform,
which looks very much like one of the Mexican teocalli
or truncated pyramids. As he failed to pay nopue or
tribute, the king of Metalanim assailed him in his moun-
tain stronghold, but on two or three occasions was hurled
back with great loss. Despairing to take the fort by
storm, the besiegers had resort to subtlety, and drew off
their forces. Some while after news came up from the
valley of the Chapalap River that civil war had broken
out and that a favourite cousin or brother of his own was
in danger. The fearless defender of this mountain fast-
ness determined to take his best warriors with him and
go down to the aid of his hard-pressed relative. When
VISIT TO LANG TAKAI 117
he reached the village with his succour, the very people
he came to help, who were in the plot all along, turned
on their bewildered visitor and massacred him and his
whole following. Another party stormed Lang-Takai,
killing old men, women and children who had been left
behind. Only two or three of the women were spared
from the butchery, and were added to the seraglio of the
conqueror, and their descendants are in Metalanim to this
very day.
Another tale of blood will further illustrate the martial
side of Ponapean character.
Nearly one hundred years ago there was war between
the tribes of Kiti on the south-west and Metalanim on
the east, and many were the men of might who were
slain on both sides. Now it fell out that there was a
mighty festival holden on the southern slopes of Mount
Wana, near the settlement of Aleniang. A Metalanim
war-party came softly up the tau through the marshes
and stole upon the settlement. The Nach was filled with
feasting and the noise of revel, when in burst the enemy
and slew and slew till they were weary and — behold the
weakness of mighty men — sat them down to drink and
boast and make merry, for a strong delusion was leading
them to doom. For the conquered were no cowards, and
some of them that fled turned again and took counsel
together. One crept back and from his hiding-place saw
the foes drinking in the lodge and heard the insults of
their triumph songs. He returned and told his comrades,
and wrath and desire for revenge quenched their fear.
Through the woods they sent to Annepein for succour,
and the dwellers on the banks of Palikalau armed and
came over. Some of the people of the Ichipau were
sleeping, and more were drunk and helpless, when the
Children of the White Bird broke in upon them like a
raging sea. And the scent of more than kava greeted
the hovering crowds of Spirit-shapes (Am) in that reeking
temple of slaughter. Hence the proverb to this day :
n8 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
" Many came unbidden, but all came to stay." Thus the
Children of Kiti held their own and more, taking five
lives for every two. And the hearts of the "Stammerers" 1
turned cold and for many months there was peace in the
lands of Wana.
During the revolt of 1890 and the Spanish bombard-
ment of Metalanim that followed, Lang-Takai was the
fastness whither King Paul determined to send the old
men, women and children of the tribe for safety if the
hated white men gained the upper hand.
A fine view of the island and harbour of Mutok, the
Tenedos of Liitke, was obtained from the level terrace
above. The island resembled in shape an artist's soft hat
with its broad brim and deep depression in centre. Far
to the westward stretches away the line of mangroves and
salt water brush bordering the fertile lowlands of Kiti.
In the distance are Nalap and Kapara and several smaller
islets, which the natives declare are broken portions of a
once extensive mainland. Further off yet, a long low
blue line on the horizon, lie the Ant Atolls, quaintly styled
in the maps, by an obvious error, " And-ema " or " Ant-over-
There" On the slopes below flourishes a forest world
full of rich promise to the botanist, if any should hereafter
visit these remote regions. Here and there a clearing
devoted to the culture of the coconut, the banana, the
plantain, the taro, the breadfruit and the yam, all of which
bear names cognate with their equivalents in the Polynesian
dialects. Below, the hanging woods sweep lower and
lower, merging into the tract of marshy land overgrown
with mangrove clumps encircling Ponape. In middle
distance the varying green and blue waters of the still
lagoon, the outer edge of the reef crested with the white
heads of the eternal breakers. Beyond, the deep blue
Pacific studded with myriad islets, far, far out of ken
1 The Metalanim folk speak a curious crabbed and antiquated dialect,
much ridiculed by their critical neighbours of Kiti as " Nannamanam " or
jargon.
RETURN FROM METALANIM 119
beyond the sunset, where many a liquid unharvested acre
stretches on and onward to the gates of Gilolo Sunda, and
San Bernardino, whence for ages and ages the swarming
populations of Asia have been pouring out through Indo-
nesia, all too small for their teeming myriads, to spread
themselves further eastward and southward, launching out
their bold keels upon a great waste of unknown waters,
wider than those known to Greek, Phceacian, Viking or
Phoenician.
A pleasant week soon passed. But alas ! I could no
longer remain in this most hospitable corner of an inhospit-
able province. For it was high time to be gone across the
border into the friendly territory of King Rocha of Kiti.
For that most Christian monarch, old King Paul, for
whom one day a halter surely waits, has passed the word
from parish to parish down his coast line, breathing out dire
threats upon all or any of his subjects who should venture
to receive, entertain, or in any way aid me. To my kind
old host he despatched one of his myrmidons with an
insultirg message and a most vengeful letter, to the effect
that his coconut palms were in danger of being chopped
down, his pigs slaughtered, his effects plundered, and his
home birned over his head if he dared any longer harbour
the macr.a puotapuot karialar, the accursed while man, as
the old ra.scal rudely styled me.
Well, tnere was no help for it. Nantamarui, if I stayed,
was plainly under ban. A nice place for an industrious
settler, who may, at a despot's whim, have his live stock
destroyed, and all his improvements swept into instant
ruin. So, ,vith many expressions of regard, I took leave
of Joe and his kindly helpmate, their little girls Aroline
and Adeline, and their stalwart sons Lewis and Warren,
who paddled me across the bay and up to Aleniang, on
the Kiti River, where my Manilla man, in charge of the
curios, was staying with our friend the Tahitian trader.
Here I put up for a few days, rambling about the beautiful
and picturesque district of Mount Wana, and receiving
120 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
much kindness from the people of the valley, their king
Rocha, and the chiefs of Tiati, Roi, and Mutok, across
the bay.
All of these rendered me great assistance in my work
by pointing out places of interest, and calling up many a
tradition from the memories of some of the older natives,
mere whispers of the olden time echoing fainter and
fainter year by year down the long corridor of the ages,
destined all too soon, if they find no speedy chronicler,
to merge into the eternal silence. Whilst I sat conferring
with the chiefs in the Council-Lodge, the Manilla man
was scouring hill and dale with an attendant posse of
small boys busy in collecting seeds and fruits, of which
every evening they brought home good spoil, and the
packets given me to fill for the Port Darwin Gardens
were soon crammed to bursting point. Fearlessly the
Camera-man ranges in the friendly valleys. No longer he
quakes at the thought of sharp-shooters hidden in every
thicket. No longer he pictures grim forms lurking in
ambush behind every boulder, axe and knife in hand, to
split his skull or crop his nose and ears. Nevertheless,
by-and-bye, he would fain be gone, and I let him go.
Longingly he bethinks him of the fascinating follies of
Manilla, the cock-pit, the theatre, the languid gallantries
of the Parian and the Luneta, and the attractive, but not
always winning hazards of Panguingui and Chapdik, dear
to the Tagal and Chinese gambler. Or he is home-sick
for the pleasant woods and lowlands of Pampanga, and
his mal de pays is stronger than his fears of mcl de mer.
And thus Theodoro's term of work drew to an end.
Our host's sailing-boat conveyed us to the colony where
we stowed the curios and made our preparatons — he to
go, and I to stay. A few days later the nail-steamer
came into port ; and, in a brand new suit of clothes and
with a cheerful countenance, laden with corrmissions and
borrowed coin from all sides, the worthy artist went on
board. And here my comrade vanishes out of the
RETURN FROM METALAMM 12 1
story. But not quite out of men's memory. For some
of his creditors in the garrison I left awaiting his return
to Ponape with the most lively interest and anxiety.
But, alas, so unjust is man to his fellow-man ! He cometh
not along. News was brought me a little while ago of
his end. It was in keeping with his life. It seems that
he returned to Manilla, joined the rebellion that had just
then broken out, and was taken prisoner in a skirmish. A
court-martial was held, and one fine morning the Spanish
shot him on the water-front with a batch of his fellow-
rebels. And that was the last of the poor creature.
And here ends the story of my first four months in
Ponape.
PART II
CHAPTER VIII
PONAPE : DRESS, INDUSTRIES, AND MANUFACTURES
THE various excursions in and around Ponape de-
scribed in the First Part had rendered familiar to
me much of the inner life and outward fashions of the
natives both on the east and west coast. Before detail-
ing any further adventures, I will now give a carefully-
considered description of the domestic economy of the
Ponapeans, their weapons and dwellings.
The dress of the men worn at work was a narrow
girdle (Uaiuai-loi, in Yap Guai), about a foot in
breadth and some four feet in length, exactly the same as
formerly worn in Japan, made of the woven fibre or baste
of the banana or of the Nin tree, often dyed yellow from
the juice of the Morinda citrifolia. It goes once round
the waist, down between the thighs, and is tucked in
behind at the back, so as to leave a piece depending like
a tail. (It is the Hume of the Marquesas, the Malo
or Malomalo of Hawaii, Samoa and Fiji, the Maro of
Tahiti, Mangareva and New Zealand, and the Palpal of
the Mortlock Islands.) The dress worn on occasions of
festival or after work was the Kol (that of a chief in the
language of ceremony was called Mot) or native kilt, com-
posed of the split filaments of young coconut leaflets (the
pinnae of the branch) steamed in the oven, steeped a day
in water under heavy stones, scraped with cockle-shells to
remove the green vegetable matter. These also were
often dyed bright yellow with turmeric, or with the juice
of the bark of the Morinda citrifolia or Flame Tree. A
new Kol is a pretty sight, but exposure to the sun quickly
DRESS, INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTURES 123
makes the bright hues fade out. Sometimes with the
cockle-shell each frond would be carefully pinched,
crimped, and creased into wavy lines, the work of the old
women. This was a Kol-Ikoch. The working dress was
called Likau-mal or Likau-en-tuka, and their regular
dress for festivals or leisure Kapuot or Kapot. The chiefs
and men of note in the community used to wear belts of
banana fibre {Tor, Tur), elaborately woven out of banana
fibre on which was strung rows of pink, white and grey
shell beads. Curiously enough, in Hebrew Tur denotes a
row of jewels. These were of two designs and varying
sizes, one resembling in shape the Maori hei-tikis or
rectangular pendants of greenstone called Pake or Puake
— the other round, which they call Pul. For a common
man to put on the belt of a chief was a serious offence in
Ponape as in Hawaii, in which latter country the penalty
was death : cf. the old distich — " Ina hume ke kanakai ko
ke alii malo, e make noia." " If a common man bind on a
chief's girdle, he shall die for it." Carved and plain shell-
bracelets were also the fashion styled Luou-en-Matup from
the place of their manufacture. A wise woman named
Kamai is said to have invented them. The same word is
applied to a ring of turtle-shell as far as Yap, fourteen
hundred miles to the westward. (Possibly the word is
the Lio or Liko of Polynesia, and denotes a hoop or circle.)
Ear-rings of turtle-shell {Kichin-pof) were sometimes worn,
but the Ponapeans of the present generation do not pull
down and distort the lower lobe of the ear as do the
Mortlock Islanders, and as the primitive people on Easter
Island did, who were destroyed by a Polynesian invasion
under Hotu-Matua, and styled by their conquerors the
Taringa-Roroa or Long Ears. A similar custom prevailed
amongst the early Bisayas in the Southern Philippines, and
the Spanish chroniclers of the Conquest of Peru remark
upon it as a fashion of the early Inca nobles.
The dress of the women of Ponape was called Li-kau
or Li-kau-tei (Kau, clothing ; Polynesian Aim or Kahu), a
124 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
wide deep girdle depending as far as the knees, woven from
the bark of the Nin — a common forest tree of the ficoid
order. Native cloth made from the Paper Mulberry bark
(Broussonettia) — the tapa or siapo or Ngatu of Polynesia
does not appear to have been known to the Ponapeans.
Necklaces of shells and flowers were much in use, likewise
garlands of the fragrant Gardenia and Cananga odorata.
Wreaths of polypody fern and various aromatic herbs and
grasses were greatly in favour. Dancers, male and female,
were fond of wearing fillets of banana leaf, dracaena ( Ting)
and coconut leaflets. These last they would wind round
their fingers, so that the tips projected above the knuckles.
These, as they quivered in their hands, produced a rattling,
whirring effect in the choruses, and were styled Anichinich.
Their hats were made of pandanus leaf, helmet-fashion,
with projecting peak — used by fishermen on the reef —
called on Ponape Li-chorrop, on Kusaie Surafraf, on Yap,
(where they assume the umbrella shape as worn by Chinese
coolies and fishermen) Ruatch. Of late years the people
of Pingelap and Kusaie have become famous for their
clever workmanship in plaiting broad low sailors' hats on
the European design.
Materials. The raw material for their textile opera-
tions were (i) the inner fibre of the banana — the Basho-fu
of the Japanese ; (2) the bark of the Nin tree used in
making a coarse sort of native cloth ; (3) the bark of the
Kalau {Kala-hau), the Fau or Hau of the Polynesians. The
Ponapean name means the Au from which Kal or string is
made. It is the Gili-fau of the Mortlock Islanders, whose
dialect has preserved so many South Polynesian forms.
Strips of the bark of this tree whilst fresh are as
tenacious as the green withes with which Samson was
bound. This handy makeshift is called Tip-en-kalau. It
is a valuable substitute for string, and when split fine is
used for making nets. The fourth indispensable material
is the Tipanit or coconut fibre, obtained after sinking the
husks a few days in the sand about high water mark. Each
DRESS, INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTURES 125
tiny strand is laboriously twisted end on end between the
deft fingers and thumbs of the old men, until a surprisingly
strong cord or rope is formed — the thickness varying ac-
cording to the patience of the operator. This is the far-
famed cinnet cord so extensively used in Pacific waters for
lashing cross-beams and posts into place in house-building,
and in canoe-making as a substitute for nails in keeping
the framework and delicate cross-pieces of the outrigger in
place. This material the Ponapeans call variously Puel
and Kichin-mot.
TRAPS and Cages. The natives used to be very
adept in constructing all manner of traps and snares out
of the pliant strips of hibiscus. The nooses they used in
snaring birds and wild pigs. These they called Letip or
Litip, which being interpreted means a woman's deceit.
Other kinds of traps they called Katikatia-mau, a word
which in plain English signifies a good device. Nowadays
this name is admiringly applied to those elegant instru-
ments of torture sold by the traders known as gins or
tooth-traps for the capture of the rat and the mus ridiculus,
with whom the native is at endless feud. The primitive
rat-trap was made of slips of reedgrass or fine cane, and
the central ribs of coconut leaflets formed the Kachik or
spring. The bait consisted of a lump of odorous Mar
or fermented breadfruit, whilst a heavy piece of rock was
laid so as to fall upon and crush the intruder directly the
spring was touched. In Yap they call this trap Bildil.
Now and then, but rarely, there is to be seen a cage
(Packapach or U) made of slips of hibiscus wood cunningly
joined together, in which sits a disconsolate-looking bird.
The modern Ponapean, whatever his ancestors of a remoter
day did, does not trouble his head much about taming
birds — a pretty trait, by the way, in the character of his
southern cousin the Samoan. However, one may see
sometimes in a Ponapean hut a ridiculously tame blue
heron (Kaualik), or a pretty black and white sea-bird
called Chik — children's pets. Their matter-of-fact elders,
126 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
knowing the trouble in times of scarcity of filling hungry
mouths, are hardly likely to let childish sentiment interfere
with the just claims of the larder.
Fish Hooks and Fishing. The name Kdch denotes
the hook of wood or bone, (in Kusaie Kou), the body of it
mother-of-pearl (pat), the glitter of which attracts the fish
like the bright metal spinner used, in trolling for pike in
the English meres and the lakes of Scotland and Switzer-
land. The metal fish-hooks of varying size which the traders
have introduced are greatly in request. The Ponapean is
a most keen fisherman. One skilled in this art is always
assured of a goodly alliance in marriage, to which his
resourcefulness as a food-provider entitles him.1
For bait they use bits of squid or cuttle-fish (Kich\ or
else the bodies of hapless hermit-crabs (Umpa) torn from
their snail-shell homes. They frequently use bundles of
Up root for stupefying fish in the pools. When crushed
up and dabbled in the water these roots exude a milky
juice of a most powerful narcotic property, and the fish
soon are floating about helpless. The larger Muraenas
or sea-eels are the last to succumb, and finally writhe
upwards out of the deeper and remoter holes in a stupid
and comatose condition.
Nets. Uk is the generic term for nets. They are made
as a rule of strips of bark from the Hibiscus tree, or of
the Oramai, a species of Ramie.
Uk-alap. — Large stake-net or seine-net used for catching
turtle and big fish, some twenty fathoms long by five in depth.
Uk-e-tik. — A small seine-net.
Chakichak. — A small casting net used for fishing on the
edge of the reef just above the deep water.
Naik. — A hand-net, with a bow-shaped rim. Used for
scooping up fish driven down a narrow pass or ditch in
the coral reef.
Lukuk,Lukouk. — A hand-net used for catching small fish.
1 The verb Lait or Lalait means "to go a-fishing." Cf. Malay, Laut, the
sea ; Oxxng-latit, a pirate.
NANAUA, NEPHEW OF KING ROCHA OF KITI, SEATED ON HIS PARROR,
OR CARPET OF CEREMONY
DRESS, INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTURES 127
Liem. — A bag-net used at openings of weir or passage
at the beginning of ebb-tides, generally four days after
full moon.
Macha (Polynesian Matd) is the word used for the
Mesh of the net.
A fish-pen or weir of stone is called Mae, one of cane
or reeds Liu.
In Yap TJiagal is a cane- weir ; Aech or Etch, a stone
weir ; Maot, a fish-pond.
Household Implements, &c. Ponapeans style them
all Kapua-kai.
Mats. Loch is the mat of the country. It has a
peculiar Japanese-like design and is sewn together, not
plaited, and made of the leaves of a species of pandanus
{Kipar), which answers to the Raufara of Tahiti, the Rau-
ara of Rarotonga, and the Lauhala of Hawaii. Length
generally about seven feet, breadth about five. The
Paliker district is noted for its manufacture of these mats,
which cost from six to eight Spanish dollars apiece. The
Loch of a great tribal chief is called Parror in the lan-
guage of ceremony.
(2) Li-rrop or Woman's Rrop, is the name applied to
mats of foreign make and pattern, such as those from
Pingelap, Strong's Island, and the Marshall Islands —
many of them very ornamental in design. The name
itself seems to be a foreign word {Cf. Yap Tsop, Trop ;
Gilbert Islands Roba Pingelap ; Rop). Cf Maori Repa
a coarse mat.
(3) Teinai are coarse mats plaited from coconut leaves.
The article and its name alike borrowed from the Gilbert
group, as also the rough baskets of the same material
known as Onoto.
(4) Kie, Kiel. — Sleeping mats made of finely-woven
pandanus. Derived from the Mortlocks. Cf. Polynesian
Kiekie, a species of pandanus used as a textile fabric ;
and Kusaian Kiaki, a mat.
Mosquito Screen. Tei-amu-che. — The tau namu of
128 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Nuku-Oro, and the Tai-namu of the south-west Pacific.
The Ponapean mosquito screen, before the introduction
of gauze and linen, is said to have been composed of a
cloth made out of the bark of the Nin tree. The Paper
Mulberry, from which the tap a, kapa, siapo, or native
cloth of south-west Polynesia is made, is not used for this
purpose in Ponape, although it does occur sparsely.
Pillow. Ulul, Ulunga. — The Alunga of south-west
Polynesia — either made of bamboo, or a log of wood —
a length of the trunk of a tree-fern or pandanus tree, for
the Ponapeans are a hardy vigorous folk, and care not
over much for soft lying and sumptuous fare.
BASKETS. Kiam. — A long flat basket or tray plaited
roughly of coconut fronds split down the middle and in-
terlaced in a diamond fashion. (Upon Kusaie Kuam).
Kopo. — A circular basket of varying depth made of the
same material.
Kop-en-lait. — A fisherman's basket, somewhat larger than
the above.
Onoto. — A large coarsely-plaited fish-basket, a Gilbert
Island word.
Paikini. — Some thirty or forty of the above Kiam or
flat trays fastened together, end on end, so as to form one
long tray. This is heaped with food, and carried in
solemn procession by about twenty men in the festivals
celebrated in honour of a plenteous season. It is
laid down on the grass, and a band of men approach
with shell axes on their shoulders, with which they sever
the strips of Kalau bark which bind the component
kiam together. Then the food is apportioned, the choko
or kava is brewed, the ancestral spirits are invoked, and
the people fall to serious business tooth and nail.
FAN. Ta-n-ir, i.e. Thing for fanning. — A fan made of
pandanus or coconut leaves. Those intended for fanning
up the embers are clumsy in make, but those designed for
personal use are much more neat in finish, and resemble
the Marquesan very closely.
DRESS, INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTURES 129
Et (Maori Kete, Samoan and Tahitian Ete). — A netted
bag of Nin or Kalau fibre.
COMBS. Rotam or Rokom. — Like those of Yap made
out of the wood of the Koto or white mangrove, and of
similar design. Now scarcely ever seen, and the name is
now applied to the gutta-percha, celluloid and tortoise-shell
combs supplied by the ever-active trader.
For BOTTLES they use the hollowed circular fruits of
the Pulel, Pelak, and Ichak plants, which belong to the
Calabash family. The gourds are strung together by
fives and sixes with cinnet. They use the large ones for
storing drinking-water, the smaller for the various scented
oils, in which native fancy so strongly delights.
Cooking Utensils. In Ponapean 7«/(Ngatik Thai),
denotes a wooden dish, platter, and even a coconut cup.
It is the old Indian word Thai, Thaliya, Chaliya, and is
doubtless a survival from some remote era of crockery-
ware in Southern or Central Asia. Chapi is another name
given in Ponape to vessels of wood of a circular shape. The
latter word occurs in the Mortlock Sepei, Marshall Islands
Chebi, Gilbert Islands Tabo, Pelews Theb. In the Mari-
annes Tape denotes an earthen pot, the Yap equivalent
being Thab, Thib or Tib, cf. Hebrew Saph, a bowl. The
occurrence of this common word over so wide an area,
points unmistakably to the gradual substitution of wooden
for earthen vessels in Micronesia, owing to the industry
of pottery-making falling into abeyance in certain spots
where no suitable clay or kaolin was available. It is
rather astonishing to see the art of pottery-making lost in
a good-sized and well-settled island like Ponape, and
retained in a small spot like Yap. A curious fact, illustrat-
ing the same lost industry, was pointed out by the Rev.
Lawes of Port Moresby in British New Guinea, in the
preface to his useful vocabulary of the Motu dialect, in
which the word Tunua, which in south-west and east
Polynesian means to cook by broiling or roasting, is used in
a special sense for the baking of pottery. The white man's
I
130 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
iron-pot is supplanting everywhere the earthen vessels of
Micronesia, where the primitive industry is yet preserved,
The ainpot is to be found in most Ponapean households
and embraces a variety of uses, being alternately used
for making huge brews of black tea, and boiling quanti-
ties of yam and coconut milk, the result being fre-
quently a weird blending of different flavours on the
palate of the European who drops in by chance to
pot-luck.
The Um, or earth-oven, where the raw food is steamed
(cf. Motu Amu, the Umu of south-west Pacific lands), has
too often been described by travellers to need detailed
notice here. Cooking underground is the general mode
in Ponape, although fish are frequently broiled on the
glowing embers of dried coconut shells, their favour-
ite fuel. An important kitchen utensil is known as a
Kachak. It is an oval, flat-bottomed trough of Tong or
Chatak wood, pointed at both ends like the bows of a
boat, used like the Umete or Kumete of South Polynesia
for concocting various toothsome masses of pounded yam,
taro, bananas, plantains, or bread-fruit, mixed with coco-
nut milk and salt water in varying proportions. In Ponape
a whale-boat is actually called Waar-en-kachak, from its
sharp fore and aft build.
Their carving {Chap, Alat), was very ornamental, con-
fined almost wholly to the bows and sides of their
canoes and the blades of their dancing-paddles. I saw
no carved pillars in their houses, as in Yap, neither did
I notice any carven bowls or maces as in Samoa and
the Marquesas. Specimens of the chequer and chevron
designs from Metalanim may be seen from the originals
now in the British Museum.1 The Ponapeans use a needle
of human bone for tattooing the elaborate designs on
arms, thighs, and legs. This they call Kai, the operation
Inting (Sulu Indan).
No well-ordered establishment is complete without a
i Vide photos facing p. 86.
fl>"
A PONAPEAN CANOE
CARVED DANCING-PADDLES PROM METALAN1M DISTRICT
DRESS, INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTURES 13 1
husking-stick (Ak), (called in Samoan O'a, and in Tongan
Oka), used for tearing off the fibrous outer envelope of
the coconuts. It is a stout stake of mangrove-wood,
pointed at both ends, and driven into the ground at an
angle of about 95 degrees.
The same useful wood is used as a digging or planting
stick like the Oka of the Hawaiians, and the Koa of the
Aztecs in Mexico. Cut a little longer they make capital
poles for punting canoes along in the shallower portions
of the lagoon. These the Ponapeans used to call Lata
(Hindu Latha), or Parrak. Where the Ak is found, the
Pelik or scraper is seldom far off.
LOOM. The Ponapeans in olden times had a sort of
loom resembling the Puas of their neighbours of Kusaie,
with which they wove the fibre of the banana and the bark
of the Nin tree into the Uaiuai-lol or narrow girdles, or
iuto the Li-kau, or woman's petticoat. This machine,
now long out of use, they called Tantar (Hindustani Tant :
Tantra id). The verbs describing the process in Ponapean
are Tilpori, Toro and Ka-tantaki).
Native houses often get dusty, so the industrious house-
wife always has two or three brooms in hand for sweeping
out the rubbish and keeping the mats clean and neat.
These brooms are called Kap-en-nok or Bundles of Nok —
the central ribs of coconut leaflets.
In the house of any person of distinction there will
generally be found a huge sea-chest {Kopd) or at all events
a small camphor wood box (Kokon), in which the islanders
love to secrete their possessions.
If a native be given to carpentering pursuits, one may
possibly see a cross-cut saw (Racharacli) hung up carefully
out of harm's way, or a grindstone (U) standing sentinel
in the courtyard amongst the pigs and chickens.
The boat-builder greatly prefers the modern gimlet of
steel (me-n-kapurropur), i.e. " the thing that whirls round "
to the primitive borer of his forefathers made out of a long
sharp-pointed Murex shell. It was formerly used for
132 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
piercing boards and planks in canoe and house-building.
The word for a hammer or mallet is Chuk or Kangar ; a
wedge or nail is Pack. In olden times holes were bored
and cinnet fastenings used, or wooden trenails or bolts, in
the absence of the nails lately introduced by traders.
These they now call Kichin-mata or bits of iron.
Another thing necessary in household industry was the
Tikak — a bone or shell needle used for sewing together
the layers of Och or Ivory palm-leaf for thatch, and joining
the leaves of the pandanus into the form of Loch or sleep-
ing mats. They were also used in making the ancient / or
mat-sails out of the pit or pandanus leaves, which had
undergone a preliminary steaming in the earth-oven. The
roll of pandanus leaf for fashioning the sleeping mats was
called Ckal-en-pitipit, also Tanepit. For making the native
belts of banana fibre with their garnishing of pink and white
shell-beads, the Ponapean housewives used a fine tortoise-
shell hackle (Merd) for combing out the rough material —
the inner portion of the banana suckers. These belts from
their scarcity are much esteemed by the present Ponapean,
and he will not part with them under ten dollars apiece.
The ready wit of the Ponapean is sufficient to supply
his simple needs. Nature has been bountiful, and he has
proved himself of no mean adaptive powers in dealing with
economic plants and the various resources of the lagoon
and reef in providing himself food, shelter and clothing.
This will be apparent as one by one we will examine his
household implements, his tools, his devices for procuring
food by sea and land, his instruments of music, and his
weapons of war.
Axes and Knives. The Ponape words for axe and
knife are doubly interesting historically. They indicate a
reversion through long isolation to the primitive stone or
shell age ; moreover, they inversely show the early influ-
ence of an active Malay element radiating throughout the
extensive Caroline Archipelago. Writing clearly was not
the only art lost by these Ocean tribes during their long
DRESS, INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTURES 133
isolation. And by examining these words we can easily
infer how these two things came about, though the dates
of the early migrations and forays are almost hopeless in
the lack of proper chronological data and the snapping of
traditional links in the process of untold generations.
Now the general term in Ponapean for instruments of
the axe, adze or hatchet type is Chila (in Kiti they are
called Kiy and in the Metalanim district Patkul). From
their polished marble-like appearance some have taken
their material for white jade-stone, but J. S. Kubary has
clearly shown them to be pieces of the central shaft of the
Tridacna Gigas or Giant Clam worn down into that form
by long and careful rubbing. In our excavations in the
central vault of Nan-Tauach, we settled the question be-
yond dispute, for we dug up a number of these implements
both in the rough and the smooth.1 They are now getting
somewhat scarce on the island, ousted from use by the
introduction of steel adzes, American axes and tomahawks,
through the ever increasing competition of traders. (The
new introduction they call Chila-pangapang.)
In early days they used to cut down trees with these
primitive instruments, with the aid of fire. One charred
layer chipped off, fire would be applied again — a some-
what tedious process. At great festivals the grandees
used to sit in state with their adzes crooked over their
shoulders for the same reason that a European wears a
Court sword, — de rigueur.
The Matau was a shell-gouge used for hollowing out
canoes, with its handle spliced along the back. In Samoa
it is called by the very same name. A small adze was
known as Maluak, and resembles the first, only smaller.
The word Chila is the Motu I/a. It is one of the
primitive Asiatic words which any minute observer cannot
help noticing in the wide Pacific area. It appears in the
Sanskrit Shila : Shi/ — a stone, and in the Latin — Silex —
flint. In the language of the Garo tribesmen in India
1 Some of these are now in the British Museum.
134 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Sil means iron. The root Sil, in the sense of piercing or
cutting is, according to Isaac Taylor, of frequent occur-
rence in the Ural-Altaic tongues.
On the other hand the Metalanim word for " knife "
kdpit takes us into times when early Malayan or Sulu
pirate-voyagers landed with creeze and sword (cf. Bismarck
Archipelago Kaput, iron ; Philippines Kampit, short sword ;
Philippine and Sulu Kampilan, a sword) with which they
doubtless made an exceedingly striking impression upon
the ill-armed aborigines. At the beginning of this century,
before the traders brought machetes and 1 8 -inch and
2 -foot knives, the Ponapeans made their kapit of split
bamboo. Those of shell were called Lopuk. These they
used for slicing up fish or bread-fruit, as do the Yap
people to this day, who call these latter Yar-ni-matsif,
or cutting things of shell. (In Central and Western
Carolines a shell-knife is called Char and Yar (cf
Southern Philippines (Pangasinan) Yoro, a knife). The
Metalanim folk use the old name Kapit for the new
article, but the people of Kiti and Not have adopted
the English word. Naip they call them, not cuchillo as
one might expect. Characteristic is this preference for
English words instead of Spanish.
Now there are two other highly significant names of
Malayan derivation running through these 1400 miles in
the Sea of the Little Islands. Iron is called Mata in
Ponape, and Marra in the Marshall Islands. Masra,
Mossa, and Wessa in Kusaie. In the two next groups, the
Mortlocks and Ruk, we find the form Wasai and Wasi,
Asi. A little southward and westward we find it reappear
in Nuku-Oro and Kap-en-Marangi as Wasei. In Yap it
is Wasai. In German New Guinea it occurs as Bassi.
The Malay word is Basi or Besi. Bad/a, Wadja, steel,
of which the above are doubtless slightly differentiated
forms. Finnic Was or As ; Caucasian Asa and Vasa,
iron. Magyar Vas, iron. Sanskrit Asi, iron, bronze,
copper, a sword. Latin s£s.
DRESS, INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTURES 135
N.B. — In the language of the Tinneh group in North
America we find the words Pesh, Pash, Mask, and Bask,
denoting knife.
N.B. — Another very peculiar word for Iron is found
in the Mariannes or Ladrones in the north-west, and in
Uleai and neighbouring islands in the West and Cen-
tral Carolines. Marianne, Lulik, LULUG, Iron. Uleai,
Uluthi, and Satanal, Lulu, id.
Cf. Sanskrit Lohi, Lauh and Lauk, iron, steel, and Ahom
LlK ; Khamtis, Lek ; Lao, Lek ; Siamese, LlK. In
Ponapean we find a root Luk, Lak, or Lek, with the
signification of cutting. Philological experts must give us
a satisfactory reason for the above coincidences, and tell
us plainly how these words came into the Caroline area,
and also, whether Ahom, Khamti, Lao, and Siamese
borrowed the word from the Sanskrit, or whether the
Sanskrit-speaking folk borrowed the word from their
neighbours. And from which of these did the Caroline
Islanders receive it?
It stands to reason, that as the basaltic or coral lands
of the Pacific produce no iron, steel is unobtainable. It
may be presumed that some of the early settlers in the
Carolines brought with them a stock of iron or steel
weapons, or wrested them from stray pirates of a later
day. When these rusted away or got broken, and could
not be replaced, the traditional name would in all prob-
ability remain, and the natives under stress of necessity,
would fall back upon the handiest materials available to
supply their place. Those who live on low coral islets
would find the shaft of the Tridacna (Kima or Pacini)
a shell very abundant on their reefs, a convenient sub-
stitute. Those who inhabited high basaltic lands, as
Tahiti or the Marquesas (on the first of which the
water is always deep over her coral reefs, and the
latter has no reefs at all) would fall back on the
black basalt stone to fashion their cutting instruments.
Samoa and Fiji have done the same. In those islands
136 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
the blackstone axes were common enough before the
advent of the curio hunter. They can still be picked
up sometimes on the mountain-tops or on the sites of
deserted villages. In Ponape I met with no axes of
blackstone, the reason probably being that the shell
was easier to work than the basalt, which does not so
readily shape into flakes with keen cutting edges.
The other Malay word is Parang, which in the Central
Carolines is used both for knife and iron. In Malayan
vocabularies it is given with the meaning of a bill-hook
or short sword, and its survival in these remote lands
appears to indicate a lively and deep-seated apprehension
of " the noble white weapon " wielded by the piratical hands
of these Vikings of the Pacific Seas.
WEAPONS. Paz, a sling (Yap Got) Pai-uet, a sling-
stone, the favourite missile-weapon of the Ponapeans
before the introduction of fire-arms by the New Bedford
and New England whalers. The sling was plaited out of
strips of Hibiscus bark, or else out of the cinnet-fibre
or that of the Nin-tree bark. Amongst the Ponapeans,
there is no more favourite passage in the Old Testament
than the famous duel of David and Goliath, the trans-
lation of which is particularly spirited and happy in the
missionary vernacular. The incidents of the encounter
are peculiarly in accord with native fashion in every way,
and the name David (Tepif) is very common amongst the
Protestant folk on the south-west coast.
The bow is called Kachik-en-katiu, literally, " make-
shoot-of-Katiu-wood " ; the arrow Katiu-en-kachik, a
weapon not much in favour on the Polynesian and
Micronesian area. It is more of a Melanesian weapon.
In the Gilberts it is called Bana, in the Marshall Islands
Li-ban, i.e. the Ban or bow of a woman, regarded as a
woman's or child's weapon. In Polynesia known as Fana,
and in the Melanesian area as Vana, Van, Bana, and
Fan. The Malayan form is Panah (in Sanskrit, Ban
or Van is an arrow, and Panach is a bow-string). It may
P1LUNG ADOLOL, A CHIEF OF RUL
DRESS, INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTURES 137
be worth mentioning that in ancient Hawaii the bow was
used by lads, old men, and women for the noble sport of
shooting at rats — a sad come-down for the weapon which
won Merry England such high renown. The Ponapeans
say the bow was used by the Chokalai or dwarf aborigines.
The bow was made of Katiu or Ixora wood, the bow-
string of the bark of the Hibiscus, the arrows of Hibiscus
wood, or slips of Alek or reed-grass, tipped with the spine
of the sting-ray. Nowadays it is entirely out of use.
The CLUB was occasionally used. It was known as
Lep-en-tuka or Chup-en-tuka ; by the Mortlock Islanders
as Sop-en-ura. Also called in Ponape Chup-en-pok. The
word Chup is evidently the Indian Chob, which denotes
the same weapon amongst the Hindu peasantry. Accord-
ing to Nanchau of Mutok (Tenedos) stone clubs called
Permachapang were used. Of these I found no traces
either at Chapen-takai or Nan-Matal, neither did I see
during my stay on the island any of the elaborately
carved war-clubs or maces noted in the Marquesas, Fiji,
Samoan and Tongan Groups.
Spears were the favourite weapon in hand to hand
conflict. They were called Katiu from a species of Ixora
of that name. Its straight-growing stems were used by
the natives for fashioning their spears and javelins. The
Ak or Mangrove also was much used for making spear-
shafts. They were pointed with the sting of the Ray
(Likant-en-kap). In the Mortlocks the spear is known as
Uak or Silak, in Ruk Anek, Pulawat Lit, in the Central
Carolines as Tillak, Tallak, Dilok and Thilak. In the
Marshalls Mori, Marre or Marri. In the Philippines it
appears in the Tagala Tulag or Tolak — a war-spear (the
Favorlang of Formosa has Roddok and Biloagh, a spear,
Silek, a knife). In Metalanim a wooden dagger is called
Tillako, in Yap Muruguil.
The most formidable of all the Caroline spears were
those of Yap fashioned out of the wood of the Bit or
Areca palm, and manufactured chiefly in the district of
138 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Madolai. They were often nearly twelve feet in length,
pronged and barbed on either side in the cruellest fashion
so as to inflict a most terrible wound. The prowess of
the men of Yap with this redoubtable weapon earned for
them a very extensive dominion in the Central Carolines,
and indeed up to Ponape, which some of their more
distant forays seem actually to have reached.
Musical Instruments and Dances. Like all
islanders they are very fond of music. Any up-to-date
trading skipper with a cargo of banjos and accordions
would sell them off in double-quick time. The Chaui
(Fijian Davui) or shell-trumpet — the Pu of the South
Polynesians, is used as a signal of war or assembly like
the Atabal of the ancient Mexicans. Close by the
pointed end of the shell a circular hole is bored. The
sound travels a long way up hill and down valley, and
I firmly believe that between village and village is a
regular code of signal-calls almost as effective as our
telephone. Some of these, " CHAUI," are of very large
size and are often picked up amongst the foundations
of old houses.
The native flute is called Chup-en-ro or Chup-en-parri.
It is made of a piece of Ro or reed-grass or of parri or
bamboo. It is not quite a foot in length — closed at one
end by a stopper of leaves and pierced with six holes up
to the mouthpiece. It is not a nose-flute like the Tosarri
of Formosa or the Fango-fango of Samoa, or that of the
Sakais of the Malay Peninsula.
The native drum is called Aip — the old name Pen or
Pau (the Pahu of Tahiti). One I saw in Paliker, now in
the British Museum, is about five feet in height and made
of the wood of the Tupuk. It is shaped exactly like a
huge erect dice-box like the drums of the Jekri in West
Africa, Niger territory. It was covered with the skin of
the Sting-Ray and beaten with a stick of Hibiscus wood
on occasions of festival. The Spanish chronicler Pereiro
describes a smaller sort which he saw in Not district which
DRESS, INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTURES 139
he calls Piki-piki, evidently from mistaking the meaning
and application of the word Pikir which is a verb meaning
to beat a drum — not, I think, denoting the drum itself.
This one, he says, was about three feet high and covered
with fish-bladders which they collect fresh on the day of the
festival — he describes it as adorned with square markings
and painted with various colours, especially red and black.
When the feast is over they take away the skins and get
others, for they are easily burst and need constant renewal.
It may be observed that the Ponapeans are very fond of
the accordion and of the modern Jews' harp which they
call Kachangy i.e. make sound. It seems that they had a
sort of Jews' harp of their own like the Samoan Utete, but
the modern ones have ousted the ancient article.
DANCES. There are two kinds — one peculiar to the
men called Kalek, the Purek of the Mortlock Islanders,
the Sorosoro or Talisa of Kusaie, and the Dalisia of
South-East Formosa, on the Favorlang River — danced
standing ; and another of men and women together, like
the Siva of the Samoans performed sitting {Uen or Wen)
with graceful wavings of hand, wrist and arm. The
elaborate dancing-masks of the Solomon Islands and
New Hebrideans are not found here. The dancers are
always in Kapot — holiday dress, anointed with fish or
coconut-oil — the men in bright yellow Kol or kilts, their
heads garlanded with flowers or chaplets of green fern,
their necks and arms copiously hung with festoons of
fresh coconut leaflets and on the fingers of each hand
a sort of ring with bunches of Nok or ribs of coconut
leaflets bristling out. These, in shaking, produce a sort
of harmonious rustling. Some of the choruses have a
fine deep sonorous chime like those of the Marquesan
Islanders. Many of the dances are anything but decorous
in character. It is said that a number of the words used
in the chants both in Yap and Ponape are different
altogether from the spoken language. Certainly some
specimens of Ponapean songs written down by Kaneke
140 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
and Chaulik on Paniau were hopelessly unintelligible
to me although I could both read and converse in
the vernacular Ponapean with considerable ease and
fluency. It would seem that many Sagas of the acts
of legendary heroes would have come in from the Marshall
Islands and from Yap, and thus would be of great his-
torical interest in tracing ancient connections and the
gradual or accidental fusions of different Micronesian
races. It is here that the Phonograph or Graphophone
as well as the Camera comes to the aid of the ethnologist.
Once get the exact sounds recorded on the wax cylinder,
and the task of the philologist becomes tenfold easier.
Melakaka is the word for the song or dramatical com-
position of a priest or chief, and is therefore very happily
adopted by the missionaries to denote the Psalms of
David and the Song of Solomon. {Cf. the Hawaiian
word Mele — a song, and the Pelew word Moloik — dancing
and singing.)
During the burial of any person of note was intoned a
funeral dirge, wake or Threnody called Tarak. It is said
to be very solemn, weird and impressive.
Ponapean houses are, as a rule, well and solidly con-
structed upon platforms four or five feet in height, built
up of broken pieces of basalt and sometimes limestone
blocks. The walls composed of shutters {Tet or Tat)
made of bundles of reed-grass or cane about the thickness
of one's little finger, laid side by side with the greatest
neatness and regularity, and bound together in rows with
the ever-useful cinnet-fibre. The thatch is composed of
tightly packed bundles of leaf of the Oc/i, the vegetable
Ivory or Sago Palm called by the Spanish Palma de
marfil. The doors (Uanini) are often very narrow, and it
is quite a trouble to squeeze oneself in. The floor within
is covered with a planking of boards, or else with numer-
ous flat shutters of reed-grass, which are also called Tat
or Tet. (Compare Hindustani Tatti — a shutter of reed
or cane of a similar design.) The pillars that bear up the
DRESS, INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTURES 141
house are made of Katar or tree-fern, of bread-fruit wood,
or that of one of the useful timber trees with which the
island abound. The rafters are of the sturdy Ak or
mangrove branches (Polynesian Oka). The height of the
central roof-tree varies from fifteen to twenty feet in houses
of moderate size.
The cook-house, called Parra or Par (Polynesian Fare,
Fale, a house ; in Ponapean there is no F, P takes its
place), was an unpretentious building of mangrove stakes
and thatch, situated a little to the rear of the premises.
The Nach or Council Lodge was a lofty, wide, long and
spacious building with a raised platform, at the end of
which there was often a room for the sleeping place of the
Chief and his family, railed off by shutters of cane some-
times called Pel or Ueip ; the partition is called Mech-en-
tet. On this raised platform, about six feet in height
{Lempantam or Leppantani), ascended by a rude ladder
{Kantake), sat the chiefs and distinguished men. Along
both sides within the Lodge ran a wooden terrace or plat-
form, with reed-grass or cane flooring, where the women
and children and those of lower estate sat. In the open
space below were several huge flat slightly concave basalt
stones, upon which the Chakau, Choko, or Kava root was
pounded. From the presence of these flat basalt stones
the lodges are sometimes called Im-en-takai or Houses of
the Takai or Stones. Very often a boathouse on the
edge of a creek or by the seashore is used as a Nach, as
in the case of the Horau-Nanui of Nuku-Oro.
The Nach is open at the lower end. Above the en-
trance some slight protection against the wind and rain is
afforded by the Lolo or cross-thatching that can be easily
increased in case of bad weather. I may add that I saw
no carved posts in these houses, as I afterwards remarked
in Yap. It seems strange the omission here of a custom
so universal in the Polynesian and Melanesian area.
CHAPTER IX
VISIT TO MOKIL, PINGELAP AND KUSAIE *
ON May 2nd, 1896, just after the departure of the
mail steamer for Manilla, there arrived in Ascen-
sion Bay a little trading-schooner, the Tulengkun, belong-
ing to Captain M., an American subject, who offered me
a passage by her to Kusaie, his headquarters. Taking
advantage of the opportunity of her return trip, arrange-
ments were speedily concluded, and on a miserable
Saturday afternoon we ran from the Langar anchorage
in a raw chilly drizzle, which later on increased into a
regular downpour. The wind comes off shore in occasional
puffs, and the vessel rolls considerably on the long heavy
swell, clearing the harbour mouth just before sunset.
However, an hour or two after midnight a steady breeze
comes along, and daybreak finds us plunging through
white-crested seas with the great cliff of Chokach and the
cloud-capped peak of Kupuricha fast sinking astern. A
dull and wearisome Sunday drags along. The first stage
of our journey is only one hundred miles, and we sight
the blurred outline of Mokil on Monday at sunset, just
before a huge inky curtain of cloud closes down, rudely
blotting it out and bringing a hissing white squall. Early
next morning the sky was clear and bright, and we were
lying close up to the island, and by-and-bye we ran in-
shore.
Mokil, otherwise called Duperrey from the French
navigator of that name, is properly a group of three low
islands — Urak, Manton and Kalap — lying close together
1 A portion of the narrative below appeared in the Hong Kong Telegraph
early in the following year.
142
VISIT TO MOKIL, PINGELAP AND KUSAIE 143
in a lagoon of no great extent. Manton is rounded in
outline like a boomerang or horse-shoe ; Urak and Kalap
are longer in stretch, and crescent-shaped. Kalap and
Manton are inhabited, the former containing the main
settlement surrounded with yam and taro patches, and
embowered in palms and hibiscus (Pa), screw-pine and
Barringtonia. Urak is one wild palm-grove, full of pigs
and wild fowl, and is often visited from the main settle-
ment. A pretty feature hereabouts at half-tide are the
numerous primrose, mauve and sulphur-tinted bits of coral
studding the bottom, with bright yellow fishes, six or eight
inches long, darting in and out of these submarine rock-
eries, like flashes of living gold. The natives call them
Tapurapur. Gorgeous star-fish of a bright Prussian blue
{Sukunap) [called On Kusaie, Si-keniaf\ lie around. With
the Ponapeans the creature is connected with the Rain
God, and lifting it out of the water is said to be invariably
followed by heavy showers of rain. Between Manton and
Urak a narrow boat-passage leads up to Kalap beach,
across a strip of flat reef almost dry at low tides, studded
with numerous masses of honeycombed limestone rock.
Close here are two large blocks. Tradition says the Ani
or demi-gods, in the form of a pair of frigate-birds, brought
them from the eastward. These were the mythical ancestors
of the Mokil islanders.
The nearest of the Ralik chain is only about one
hundred and fifty miles from Mokil. The Mokil folk,
who number some two hundred, probably have a strong
Marshall Island admixture like their Pingelap neighbours.
Many of their words are akin to those in Ralik, and some
again are an obsolete form of Ponapean, but nowadays
the modern Ponapean is everywhere spoken, introduced
by the American missionaries and native teachers. The
natives are Christianised ; coconut toddy is tabooed, and
all use of intoxicating liquors and tobacco strictly for-
bidden. They make capital sailors, for which calling a
certain cheery hardihood peculiarly fits them, but on land,
144 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
like all Pacific islanders, their zeal is occasionally dashed
by fits of laziness. A steady aversion to settled labour
ashore has left many a promising contract half completed.
It is so with all the brown races — it is otherwise with the
black or yellow — but this roving nature, impatient of con-
trol, engendered by numberless predatory raids, and long
sea-rovings in the olden days, is the true heritage of the
Malayan. These bold navigators, as any up-to-date
philological chart will show, swept out wave upon wave
through Gilolo Straits, conquering and blending in various
proportions with the agricultural black races which had
preceded them. This is clearly proved by the frequent
occurrence of Malay and Sanskritoid root-words along the
north coast of New Guinea and down to Port Moresby,
where the Motu dialect is spoken. Let the doubting
reader only glance at the long list of Caroline root-words
in the Comparative Table soon to be published by the
Polynesian Society of New Zealand, and then doubt any
more if he can.
It is to the black races therefore that we are to look
for supply of plantation labour, and to the brown people
for sailors. Each will then follow his ancestral bent to
the great saving of time and temper of the long-suffering
trader, and of his colleague, that irascible and leather-
lunged potentate, the trading skipper.
The King, or Icho of Mokil, lives on Kalap, and is a
bland old gentleman, but, like nearly all converted
natives, has a keen eye for business. The chief trader
on the island is John Higgins, a capital boat-builder and
carpenter. He was the son of a Massachusetts man,
afterwards murdered upon Pingelap by a Gilbert islander
from Arorai. He leads as quiet and industrious a life as
any Norfolk or Pitcairn island settler, and bids fair to
end his days as a patriarch of the old Pacific school.
One would fancy that the traders in these parts must
needs put up with a woeful number of bad debts, the
competition in trade moving in the old vicious circle.
VISIT TO MOKIL, PINGELAP AND KUSAIE 145
Still the shiftless credit system goes on, the native now
and again paying a trifle on account, after alternate bully-
ing and cajolery. Very often the native reserves to him-
self the right of repudiating his debts altogether, and when
he does receive a little money, of going straight across to
the rival store, and paying ready cash for goods to the
frenzied excitement of his creditors. On the other hand,
when the trader gets a little ahead of the native, as some-
times happens between seller and buyer in the best
regulated communities, the voice of the Spanish law
thunders forth : " How dare you rob the poor innocent
native ? " ignoring the fact that the noble savage is every
bit as versed in deception and trickery as his white
brother, whom if he fails to strike at the first venture, he
will surely bring down at the second, place, time and
opportunity, and lack of honest interpreters being all in
his favour. Who else could say to his white creditor :
"If you will not lend me money how can I ever pay ? "
There is no lack of fowls and ducks on Kalap, but only
a few little pigs are allowed here, for fear of the ravages the
big ones would surely commit amongst the taro and banana
patches. There is no supply of running water, but there
is a heavy annual rainfall, which the natives make the
most of by digging numerous shallow pits and wells
(Kallip). A species of jack-fruit (Mai-mat) is cultivated.
When mature, the wood develops a firm reddish grain,
and is much prized by local carpenters for housebuilding.
The palm-groves yield an abundant supply of green drink-
ing nuts, and much copra is made from the kernels of the
older ones called Pen (cf. Samoan Penu, Gilbert Islands
Ben). The lagoon teems with fine fish, the most esteemed
of which are a species of mullet, the bonito and the flying
fish. The Mokil canoes are built of seasoned bread-fruit
wood, fitted with a long, solid, and heavy outrigger, curv-
ing boldly upwards bow and stern, recalling somewhat the
Yap canoes, without, however, the curious fish-tail orna-
mentation on the figure-heads. Their Yi or sails, like the
K
146 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
old-fashioned ones of Ponape, are wide and triangular,
formed of parallel rows of pandanus leaves neatly sewn
together. The usual littoral shrubs common on low coral
islands flourish here, amongst them two medicinal in
quality, the Ramak and Sisin (known in Ponape as the
Inot and Titin). Giant screw-pines (P. edulis), with their
quaint leaf whorls, their huge orange-red fruit like ex-
aggerated pine apples, and long sword-shaped, prickly-
edged leaves, fringe the shore, and the air is filled with
the subtle perfume of the delicate white blossoms of the
tree-gardenia {Pur).
After a stroll in the woods, a bathe in one of the water
holes, and a hearty meal of fried flying fish and taro, it is
time to leave. Towards evening, with a good load of
copra, and some of the Urak porkers and seven or eight
native passengers on board, we set sail for Pingelap, which
lies some sixty miles away to the southward. Next day
nothing but dismal and dirty weather and heavy seas. A
powerful odour of copra permeates the ship from stem to
stern, which must be extremely delicious to those who are
accustomed to it. Everything is hot, damp, muggy, and
uncomfortable. Hosts of cockroaches are on the war-path
below, and up above there is a dank drizzle, hardly a
breath of wind stirring, and the great cradle of the deep
is rocking us to and fro in something more than a
motherly fashion. So the long dreary afternoon wears
itself slowly away.
Late in the evening of Thursday, May 7th, after a
steady struggle with a strong north-west current, which
future navigators in these waters should allow for, we
catch a glimpse of the lights of the Pingelap canoe-parties
fishing out on the reef. Next morning early we are
anchored near the beach, and numerous folk have already
boarded us, clamouring for an extended credit system, and
excited like very children at the prospect of fingering and
handling, and perhaps even purchasing, the much-coveted
foreign goods. Voices, a regular Babel, are raised, some
VISIT TO MOKIL, PINGELAP AND KUSAIE 147
in solemn argument and serious questioning, some rippling
into light jests, chaff and repartee, some melting into those
coaxing, pleading and wheedling accents wherewith the
native so often reaches the soft spot in the white trader's
heart. However, business is somehow concluded at last.
Some natives make small payments, some pay liberally in
promises and compliments which sometimes pass current
in Micronesia as elsewhere, whilst some again are refused
credit altogether, and away they troop into their canoes and
go ashore evidently in high feather. After a while I went
ashore in the ship's boat, pencil and note-book in hand, as
beseems a seeker after strange things, arousing the curiosity
of the worthy folk on the beach, who for naive and rustic
stolidity and ludicrous ignorance are the very Boeotians of
the Pacific. The following rough notes were taken. The
group consists, like Mokil, of three low coral islands lying
close together, named respectively Pingelap, Taka, and
Chikuru styled on the charts Tugulu. The population a
little over 1000 ; pretty dense considering the meagre
area, but compare with this the island of Tapitouea in the
Gilbert Group which is one huge village. The natives of
Pingelap form a sort of ethnic link between the Ponape
and Mokil type. Their language is a harsh and antiquated
dialect of Ponapean with a sprinkle of Marshall Island
words. As in Mokil, however, the new missionary Pona-
pean, introduced in the lesson books and New Testament
translations and songs, is fast ousting the old language, and
this is a living instance of the instability of Pacific Island
tongues. So fast one stratum of population overlaps another
— " Velut unda supervenit undam." Most of the inhabitants
here live on the main central island, which is neatly laid
out in shady walks and avenues, skirting trim and well-kept
plantations of bananas and various sorts of taro. Plenty
of arrowroot is found in the bush. The beach is thickly
lined by rows of small boathouses backed by quite an
imposing array of native huts. I saw numbers of canoes
drawn up on the beach, running up very high at bow and
148 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
stern, and still more were scattered in the offing, for the
Pingelap folk are sturdy and energetic fishermen. The
approach was picturesque, the grey coral reef rising up like
a great sea-wall out of the deep blue water. The bottom
is seamed with profound cracks and fissures, the lurking
places of great fishes and giant Crustacea and squid.
Orange and scarlet patches of coral light up the wavy
masses of oarweed, tangle and sea-fan, and many a quaint
and gorgeous zoophyte spreads its delicate tentacles in the
current in odd nooks and corners. Numerous grey and
white sea-birds skim the surface in middle distance, follow-
ing the shoals of fish " Un en mom " in their course, and
now and then a white or blue heron wings his way heavily
overhead. (The former they call Kara, the latter Nan-
kilap.) The coconut groves are very productive, and in
profusion are found two varieties of jack-fruit (" Mai-pa "
and " Mai-si ") one with slightly, the other deeply, serrated
leaves. The sea swarms with fish, and there are plenty of
pigs and fowls. The numbers of bright healthy young
children playing about the landing-place gave a very
pleasant and encouraging testimony of the vigour and
vitality of the race — a quality now, alas ! growing rarer
and rarer amongst South Sea island peoples. Quantities
of fishing nets were seen hanging up on every side. From
the frequent sheds and cooking-houses on the waterside
were rising grateful aromas of baked pigs and roasting
fish. In a trice we were conducted to a cool shady spot,
mats were spread out, green coconuts husked, and a savoury
repast was soon smoking before us. Later on we visit
Tomas, the native teacher, and duly admire the pretty little
native church and schoolhouse with its palm-thatch and
burnt coral walls. Tomas' sleek and contented appearance
irresistibly recalls the merry old Scottish distich : —
" O the monks of Melrose made gude kail
On Fridays when they fasted
And wanted neither beef nor ale
As long as their neighbour's lasted."
VISIT TO MOKIL, PINGELAP AND KUSAIE 149
Heaps of coconuts and baskets of cooked food were
lying on the ground outside — forming the Mairong or
church offering to which every good member of the con-
gregation is expected to contribute. Then I visited the
alleys and neatly paved pathways of Michor, the main
settlement, bordered by gardens and taro patches on every
side. Hereabouts are some groves of bread-fruit carefully
cultivated, not only for the fruit, but for its timber, which,
when it gets old and seasoned, has a fine reddish-brown
tint. They use it for boat building and as posts and
rafters for their houses. They also split it fine to make
their lattice or shutters, as the reed-grass, common enough
in Kusaie, Ponape and the Mortlocks is not found here.
The name they give these shutters in this part of the
Carolines is tat or tet. Compare the Hindustani tat or
tatti, a term widely used, as all Anglo-Indians well know,
for delicately woven shutters of cane which keep out the
mid-day dust and heat.
When we got on board a host of natives followed us,
headed by the Icho or King with his Queen and inter-
preter, and plenty of hats i^Sorap) and mats {Rop) for sale
— both cunningly woven of the leaf of the Pandanus in
which manufacture they are very skilful. His Majesty
after begging in a naive fashion for a Turkey-red shirt,
refused the offer of a cigar as a bad example to the church
members. Quoth his majesty to me : " You my friend.
You see Pikitoria (Victoria sic). He one big chief — Pictoria
he talk. You speak Pingelap man he good." This same
worthy chief and his colleague of Mokil some little while
ago when guests on board the gunboat Quiros, proved a
source of great amusement to their Spanish hosts by their
very free and unconventional table manners, helping them-
selves to double handfuls of food from the nearest dishes,
in utter disregard of knives and forks, to the dismay of the
poor steward who gazed on them with eyes wide open
with horror. When the King of Pingelap saw and smelt
a large dish of curry, his eyes glistened. When it came
ISO THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
within reach he eagerly scooped up a double handful and
without more ado supped it up.
Reluctantly taking leave of our new Arcadian friends,
we hoisted sail the same evening and left our anchorage
on our 140 miles' sail down to Kusaie. Continual calms
and light baffling winds checked our way, and several
heavy rain squalls burst over us. Towards sundown on
Saturday the 9th, after a spell of miserable weather, the
clouds lifted a little and disclosed the sharp and angular
outline of Kusaie standing out clearly defined under a
pall of inky blackness, the tops of the mountains hidden
in bank upon bank of cloud-haze and smoky wreaths
of teeming vapour. Anon the curtain descends anew, a
fresh violent squall comes down, and we fly scudding over
the heaving seas, rolling and pitching, like a Deal or
Sandgate lugger in the chops of the English Channel.
I had nearly forgotten to remark that the Pingelap
men though dull and heavy in temperament, are exceed-
ingly nervous withal — a rare thing amongst Caroline
Islanders. A trifling operation such as the removal of
a splinter will make a strong able-bodied man faint. The
same is related of the people of Nuku-Oro and Kap-in-
Mailang further south. They are said to be easily subject
to hypnotic suggestion, a fact which recalls the peculiar
disorder called Lata mentioned by Swettenham as com-
mon in the Malay Peninsula, and called Malimali in the
Philippines. Pingelap used to be a favourite recruiting
place with whaling captains plying northward, who found
the men docile and hardworking, and better able than
many other islanders to stand the cold of the Arctic
regions.
Late at night we pass the twinkling lights of the
missionary settlement of Mout, high up on the hill-
slopes, flashing out a greeting as it were through the dense
gloom. In the early morning, May 10th, we are off
Coquille, and make a long tack to double the North-East
Point. On rounding the promontory, the island of Lele
VISIT TO MOKIL, PINGELAP AND KUSAIE 151
with its spacious harbour of Chabrol on the far side, comes
in sight. Hereabouts a powerful current runs, setting to
the eastward, which any future navigators will do well
to remember, giving the point a pretty wide berth to
avoid stranding amongst the breakers on a dangerous
coast. The main island reminds one somewhat of Raro-
tonga, with the bizarre features a little softened down.
The altitude of Fulaet, the highest peak, is about the same,
some 2300 feet. In the middle are two needle-shaped
peaks set close together. A belt of rich low land
surrounds verdant hill-slopes thickly clothed with forest
up to the summit. Here and there one spies scattered
native houses lying back amongst groves of pandanus
and palm. We have passed lonely little Star Harbour,
and are skirting the coast-line dotted with the straggling
huts of Puia, the Gilbert Islanders' settlement. And so
we sailed along, each foreland opening up fresh beauties
in the landscape. From off the entrance to Chabrol or
Lele Harbour the main island looks almost divided in
two by the deep inlet. Close at hand stretches a flat-
topped mountain, like that of Vatu Vara in the Fijis,
resembling in shape a fashionable tall silk hat with a
broad low brim running round it. Side on to us on the
right is the outer edge of Lele. Beyond the mainland
looms up, rising into several peaks and ranges, opening
out into rich vistas of valley and emerald woodland, with
snow-white birds circling and wheeling in the far tree-tops.
The swell is heavy, and there falls a spell of light variable
breezes. About two hundred yards off under our lee
beam, heavy rollers are dashing upon the reef, sending
up jets and clouds and sheets of finest spray that fill the
middle distance with a misty haze. Slowly we approach
the land, the passage at its narrowest point being only
about three-quarters of a cable broad, hardly giving fair
room to tack in should a sudden white squall sweep down
from the mountain gorges above. Just as we entered the
passage a chicken flew overboard and was left behind
152 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
rising and falling on the swell astern. By order of the
captain the boat was lowered, however, and the hapless
fowl rescued from one liquid grave, only to appear a little
later in another — to wit, a savoury soup.
This same harbour of Lele in days past was a great
rendezvous for the New Bedford and New England
whaleships. There the famous " Bully " Hayes, the
modern Buccaneer, played fine pranks after losing his
beautiful vessel on the reefs, half frightening the lives
out of the peaceful Kusaians by landing a number of
fierce and warlike Ocean and Gilbert Islanders, who
brewed huge quantities of coconut-toddy, and set the
whole place in a ferment with their carousals and mad
orgies. Night after night they kept it up, alternately
drinking and fighting. Murdered men's bodies were
picked up on the beach every morning, and the poor
natives of Lele fled in terror of their lives. Hayes at
last brought the crazy mutineers back to their senses
and meditated settling on the island, when, greatly to
the American missionaries' relief, a barque came in from
Honolulu with the intelligence that a British man-of-war
was coming up fast in search of that very dreadful sinner
and reprobate, the aforesaid Hayes. But what became of
the redoubtable captain of many resources is matter for
another and a longer yarn. We are now close up to the
settlement with the King's new lumber and shingle house
standing forward prominently amongst many humbler
abodes, under the shade of a noble Callophyllum tree.
Right in front of us lies Captain M.'s dwelling, his store-
house and copra shed flanked by white-walled outhouses.
Seaward extends the wharf built up sturdily of blocks and
lumps of coral and basalt fragments, with a topping of
black and white pebbles and sea-shells. There we anchored
about ten o'clock.
Numbers of natives are passing and repassing on the
road beyond, for it is Sunday and church time is nigh, and
defaulters rnn the risk of censure. Everybody seemed
VISIT TO MOKIL, PINGELAP AND KUSAIE 153
greatly interested in our arrival, and many thronged the
landing-place to welcome us on shore. The men were
neatly dressed in European garb, the women in loose
graceful gowns. Most of them wore flowers in their hair,
and for head-gear broad low hats of Pandanus-leaf trim-
med with tasteful ribbons of banana fibre, in tinting which
delicate fibre they excel. Pink, white and red roses,
crimson hibiscus and the amber and purple tassels of
the Barringtonia flower, form so many bright touches in
a pretty picture of rich and subdued tones of colour
happily blended. Thus we landed on the shore of
Kusaie. How befel the King's hospitality, the visit to
the good missionaries at Mout, and the exploration of
the ruins, must be told in the next chapter.
CHAPTER X
STAY ON LELE
SOON after landing on Lele we went up to see the
King or " Tokosa-Teleusar," who speaks very good
English which he learned from the American whalers he
made many long voyages with in his youth, even visiting
the town of Grimsby.
On July 26th, 1890, Mr J. C. Dewar, in his yacht the
Nyanza, visited Lele, and was favourably impressed with
the island.
The King bade us heartily welcome, and introduced us
to his wife and household, who seemed thoroughly pleasant
people, and made one feel quite at home from the very
first. The afternoon passed rapidly away in conversation,
the King apparently taking a lively interest in the pro-
posed exploration of the ruins on his island, and promising,
without any hesitation, his hearty aid and co-operation —
a different character from the sour old fanatic of Metalanim.
He placed his house immediately at my disposal, and
promptly sent his dependants to search the larder, and
levy hasty contributions amongst the villagers in case any-
thing be lacking. A dismal cackling presently announces
the demise of sundry chickens. Whilst these preparations
were going forward we paid a visit to Li-kiak-sa, the aged
native teacher of the district, a keen, alert, wiry old man,
with an indefinable air of mingled wisdom, shrewdness and
benevolence, of whom we shall hear more anon. He owns
a small islet planted thickly with sweet potatoes, of which
he is a keen cultivator and consumer. He did not appear
to deserve the harsh criticisms passed upon him in Louis
Beck's logbook and in Mr Dewar's account of his cruise —
STAY ON LELE 155
both of whom style him a cheating, canting and self-
righteous rascal. Similar unfavourable first impressions
are common enough in tales of travel, which a more ex-
tended experience of a stay, one likes to fancy, would
dispel in good time, or at least qualify. Then we visited
the other end of the village to call upon Kevas, the in-
telligent school-teacher, named after Caiaphas, the High
Priest, of evil fame. We persuaded him and Li-kiak-sa
to share our evening meal, and ere long roast fowl, fried
fish, eggs, turtle, and taro were disappearing with fearful
rapidity. Our dessert consisted of a mixture of taro, yam,
coconut cream and ripe bananas mashed up together
into a pudding, and steamed in leaves underground. The
two holy men refused wine and beer, contenting themselves
with drinking huge mugs of scalding black tea, sweetened
with table-spoonfuls of brown sugar. Soon after the meal
was ended Li-kiak-sa left, and Kevas remained behind.
Kevas had compiled a small English-Kusaian list of words
which he undertook to go through with me on the morrow,
with some school-books and a native New Testament in
the vernacular. Finally, for a moderate remuneration, he
agreed to give me two long lessons in the language every
day, the evening lesson lasting regularly from seven to
eleven. That night and the whole of the next day we
worked steadily, as an uninterrupted downpour of rain for-
bade any outdoor excursions. The following extract from
my diary shows the occasional thorns in the explorer's path.
" Monday, May 1 1 th. — Touch of low fever contracted
in the Ponape marshes. Symptoms — headache, dizzi-
ness, loss of appetite and bearing down pains in the back,
with general disinclination for exertion Weather miser-
able, no chance of going outdoors."
My instructor turned up punctually to time, and by and
by most of the principal words in use are carefully noted
down; then a little light began to break in upon this
peculiar dialect. The grammatical system and the num-
erals and many of the rootwords I soon saw resembled
156 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
the Ponapean. There were many Marshall Island words
also. The strong original consonant and vowel sounds
alike are curiously twisted in pronunciation by the
Kusaians. But for a detailed treatment I must refer to
my comparative table which the Polynesian Society of
New Zealand are now publishing.
Mr Dewar's description of Kusaie has a humour of its
own. " The island of Kusaie is a great Protestant mis-
sionary stronghold, and the people appear to be painfully
good. They none of them dared to drink or smoke, and
when I offered the local trader a newspaper, he piously
replied that he never read anything but the Bible. Not-
withstanding all these fine professions, the missionaries
have not succeeded in inducing the King to stop his grog
and tobacco, if he can get a chance of enjoying himself in
this manner in secret." It describes Captain M. to a hair,
and the good King Teleusar to the very life.
Curiously enough, there seems a paucity of local tradi-
tions. The name of the island itself seems to be pretty
well known from one end of the Carolines to the other.
The Ponapeans call it Koto, and declare the Ivory Palm
and the Kava plant were introduced on their island by
Kusaian visitors. The Mortlock and Ruk islanders, more
in the centre of the great archipelago, call it Kosiu and
Kotiu respectively, whilst in Yap, the farthest west of all
the Carolines, they denominate it Kuthiu or Kuziu} The
resemblance to the great southern island of Japan, Kiu-siu,
is too remarkable to pass idly over. The name of Kusaie
is generally applied to the mainland across the bay, other-
wise called Ualan. The little island of Lela or Lele (from
a word meaning " permission ") was no doubt settled by a
band of Japanese, either from a wrecked junk, or equally
likely from one of the early trading vessels, which, accord-
ing to a Japanese merchant, used in ancient times to make
long voyages to the south and east, before the Emperor
1 The name probably reappears far to the S.E. as 'Atiu in the Cook or
Harvey group. Cf. also Maori Kotiu the N.W. wind.
STAY ON LELE 157
To-Kogunsama interdicted distant trading expeditions
about the year 1640. Nagasaki, according to these tra-
ditions, used to be the great emporium of trade with the
Marai-jin or Malays a thousand years ago. The Caroline
archipelago and the isles of the Pacific were known under
the name of Nan-Yo. As to the possibility of chance
additions to the population by shipwreck, witness the case
of the drifting ashore of a Japanese junk in 1885 on
Uchai in the north of the Marshall group, resulting in the
massacre of a portion of the crew and the plundering of
the vessel. The natives of Lele themselves attribute
the building of the great Cyclopean walls (in Kusaian
Pot Fa/at), enclosures and canals that thickly stud their
island, to a dominant foreign race who arrived in vessels
(Wak-palang) from the north-west, and who raised these
forts as defences against their neighbours on the mainland,
whom they put to tribute, imposing upon them, when
visiting Lele as vassals of the Tokosa, the humiliation of
doing obeisance by crouching down low and of never rais-
ing their voices above a whisper in addressing him. It
may here be observed that the Ponapeans have a tradition
that Icho-Kalakal, who commanded the great invasion
from the South, called at Kusaie and the Ant Islands on
his way up from Panamai. The stones, massive blocks
and shafts of prismatic basalt, were brought, the natives
say, from South Harbour on rafts and floats. The ruins
on Lele are not so elaborately constructed as those of
Metalanim, but they have a rude and massive grandeur
of their own. Like the Ponapeans, these people for work-
ing wood (not stone) used axes and adzes {tola) of excel-
lent make, laboriously ground and polished down from the
great central piece of the Tridacna-gigas or great Kima-
Cockle shell. The specimens received from Li-kiak-sa
are exceedingly white, and smooth as polished marble, with
fine cutting edges. In length they measure from six to nine
or ten inches, by two or two and a half inches in breadth.
Many of the words in Kusian resemble Malay-Polynesian
158 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
words far to the westward, and there is also a slight Mela-
nesian admixture. There are also some Marshall Island
words, Lo the Hibiscus, Iter the Callophyllum, Nukunuk
clothes. They use long delicate tapering paddles of Pana
or Thespesia wood, like those of the Sonsorol islanders.
They make fairly good sailors, and appear to be of a
peaceful, obedient and easy-going nature. Their chief
manufactures are pandanus-leaf hats, which they plait with
as much skill as the Pingelap natives. From the same in-
valuable fabric they make ornamental baskets of pretty
design, and light delicate sleeping mats of fine texture
(Kiaka). But the most interesting industry of all is their
weaving of fine belts and ribbons, called Tol, from that soft
and delicate textile, the banana fibre, recalling the early
national Japanese garb of Yu or Bashofu made of the
same material, imported from the Ryu-Kiu or Lew-Chew
group. In making these, a loom or primitive weaving
machine is used very similar in model, I am told, to that
seen in some of the less advanced villages in the interior
of Japan, where the restive demon of machinery has not
yet wholly ousted hand manufacture. This machine goes
under the name of Puas, cf. Pisa, the loom used in the
Bencoolen district of Sumatra. The patterns are quaint
and graceful, and the grouping of the tints carefully con-
sidered and worked out to the avoidance of harsh, crude,
or conflicting colours. A rich blue tint is obtained from
the juice of the trunks of young banana-suckers, the wild
turmeric root or the Morinda Citrifolia juice supplies the
shades of yellow, black tints are obtained from burnt
candle-nuts (Aleurites), and a rich reddish brown is pre-
pared from the scraped and pounded bark of the mangrove
roots. Other gradations of hue they get by carefully
boiling in small quantities of water pieces of gaudy cotton
fabrics, which their innate good taste rejects as an eyesore.
No doubt their aesthetic taste is due to a remote Japanese
ancestry or some admixture of a high Malayan type. For a
more particular description of these fabrics vide Appendix.
5 u
- -4
> 3
si
<
STAY ON LELE 159
Products : — Coconut oil (Kaki-fusas), Copra (Kaki),
Pearlshell (Fat), and Beche-de-mer {Moet or Penipen).
A fine clear morning at last. The King suggested
an excursion along the coast to see something of the
country, and visit the settlement and schoolhouse of the
Boston Mission, offering to accompany me part of the
way, but when pressed to introduce me to the missionaries
he excused himself, saying that he was not very well
pleased with them, and considered that they were unfairly
usurping the power which properly belonged to him alone,
but declining at the same time to more expressly state
the grounds of his grievance. " However," said he, " I
will tell a boy to sail along the coast in my canoe and
catch us up early in the afternoon at the Gilbert islanders'
settlement, so that you will easily get to Mout by night-
fall." Accordingly we started on our walk, cautiously
wading the narrow channel between Lele and the main-
land. We hailed in passing the venerable Li-kiak-sa
hard at work on his little island of Yenei weeding and
digging amongst his sweet potato beds. He is devising
traps and snares for the rats which have evidently been
very busy amongst his cherished tubers. " The Kosso
Kisrik {i.e. rats) won't leave me a potato soon," ruefully
grumbles the poor old gentleman, as he turns with a sigh
to his interrupted labours. " I wish I had a good big
Kosso Kuchik to catch them." {Kosso Kuchik is the
Kusaian name for Grimalkin, called by the Malays Pusang
or Kuckzng.) The King promised him a fine yellow Tom
on the first opportunity, and we left the holy man some-
what comforted, delving and grubbing away with an
energy astonishing for a man of his years. We trudged
along some three miles of glittering white sandy beach
backed by the usual thickets of Barringtonia and Pan-
danus and coco palms, halting every now and then to
admire the black and white sea-snakes {Kafeldld) basking
on the warm sand at the bottom of the shallow waters.
We managed to secure one of them by hooking him sud-
160 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
denly out of the bay with a crooked stick, and stowed him
away in a bottle to join the scorpions, centipedes, lizards
and kindred horrors in their alcohol bath. By-and-bye
the boy Mok-Lal was seen coming along with the canoe.
He took us on board, and we skimmed before the wind along
the shallow lagoon which is now gradually rilling, for the
tide is on the turn. We soon reached the village * of Puia
and its shady palm-groves. A venerable old guide directed
me inland through the salt marshes to a picturesque
waterfall, the scene of the ending of one of those romantic
friendships common in island history. Two young chiefs
defeated in battle, too proud to seek safety in flight, ended
their lives together by casting themselves from the preci-
pice to be crushed upon the rocks that surround the
boiling pool below.
Sixty feet sheer the clear current purls down a black
runnel of shiny water-worn basaltic rock, edged by tufts
of mosses and fern, lichen and weed sprouting greenly out
of myriad cracks and crannies. A peculiar black-shelled
mollusc (Neritina) is found adhering to the stones,
resembling those found in the mountain streams of the
Marquesas. Below, the stream irrigates a native hazel-
copse, and abruptly burrowing loses itself in a sandy
subsoil of marshland, the haunt of the Op, a fierce and
monstrous red and blue crab with stout claws a cubit long,
the Birgus latro or Robber crab of the naturalists. It
climbs the trunks of the coco palms, bites off the clusters
of ripe nuts, tears off the tough and fibrous outer husks with
its powerful nippers, and devours the kernel, to the conse-
quent shortage of copra and the indignation of the planter.
Wending our tortuous way through the swamps, we
come out on firmer ground. By-and-bye, pushing out of
a thick spinney, we emerged upon a piece of abruptly
rising ground. This surmounted, we saw before us a deep
yawning chasm in the hillside towering above us. As we
neared the entrance to the cavern, a doleful gibbering
1 In Kusaie a village is Tili, in Ponape Tel.
STAY ON LELE 161
assaulted our ears, like the twittering of uneasy spirits in
torment. Stumbling over heaps of pebbles and detritus,
we gained the gloomy portal. Our eyes, gradually accus-
tomed to the dim light, made out swarms of fluttering
small bats, Kalekaf '(the Peapea of Samoa, Emballonura Sp.),
like swallows on wing, darting hither and thither around
the arched dome overhead, and ever and anon brushing
in headlong panic against the intruders. Untold genera-
tions of these creatures have piled up strata upon strata
of the finest guano on the cavern floor — a grand business
coup for the next trading-skipper who may find himself
disappointed in the Chincha or Maiden Island deposits,
which bid fair to pan out one of these days. Right at
our feet stretches an inky pool of Cimmerian blackness,
doubtless stretching far back into the shadowy recesses of
the mountain. A few pistol shots fired at random amidst
the gloom awoke sharp reverberating echoes and set the
winged vermin circling and shrilly screeching overhead.
On returning, we found that the king had gone as far
as he intended. A piece of tobacco and a sea-biscuit
amply satisfied my guide, and leaving the king to his
walk overland, I embarked with the faithful Mok-Lal
rather late in the afternoon. The tide was fast running
out, and before long it became clear that we should have
hard work to make Mout before midnight, if at all. To
crown all, Mok-Lal, after much vigorous pantomime with
an accompanying symphony of wonderful double vowels
and treble consonants, took us flying into a tiny cove
where ten or twelve crazy huts, and say a dozen starveling
folk and a few lean yellow dogs represent a native settle-
ment. Certain of a kindly welcome, but sorely suspecting
fleas in these squalid habitations, I besought Mok-Lal not
to rashly pledge us to stay overnight. Whilst in dire
suspense, lo ! a welcome sight. The Tulengkun, which I
know is bound for Mout, as her captain had told me the
day before, appears round the next promontory. The
opportunity was too good to be lost. A word to Mok-Lal,
L
162 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
and two sturdy paddlers volunteered ; the frail canoe was
launched and over the reef we went into the tumbling surf.
Fortunately it was not much after half-tide, and there was
just a chance to clear the outer line of breakers. After
some very exciting moments and hairbreadth escapes,
dodging the heavier rollers by a miracle, we are out in
the open sea and presently, sound in limb but with
dripping garments, I clambered on board the barque. The
ancient cricket-bag, sorely the worse for wear with stress
of rain, sun and salt water, was passed up over the
side ; Mok-Lal and the boys taking a long compass round
to the harbour mouth. They will not risk the breakers
again — not they. The Enuts (ancestral spirits) won't
work miracles twice running. We duly recognised their
pluck and skill, and once more the Tulengkun is put
before the wind. The sun goes down on the reddening
waters, and the shadows of evening darken upon peak and
cape, shore and valley. We barely strike the narrow reef-
passage of desolate Star Harbour in the fast-failing light.
Once within, however, we speedily glide up the inlet, moor-
ing, after various tackings and fillings, close to a steep
bank where a full-flowing river joins the salt water. The
cause of these breaks in the barrier reef in the line of
valleys where a river flows into the sea, is familiar to all
those who chart out coral-formations in Pacific waters. A
current of fresh or even brackish water means death to the
myriads of busy little cellular zoophytes who pile up
their rocky barriers against the inroads of ocean. Only
in the noble rich salt water can these wonderful builders
pursue their labours.
We found the place almost bare of inhabitants, for it is
only visited from time to time by fishing or copra-cutting
parties. An old man directed us to a tumble-down build-
ing with a crazy verandah, formerly'a trader's store, where,
surrounded by tame cats and dogs, we hunted up some
tinned food, biscuit and breadfruit, and made ourselves
comfortable for the night. Next morning bright and early
STAY ON LELE 163
the ship's boat was speeding me over the drowsy lagoon,
its still deep waters barely yet a-sparkle. The pearl-grey
of the eastern sky is melting into a shimmer of pink and
gold and bronze. To our left wave the feathery plumes
of the graceful palms, softly stirring into life at the breath
of the morning breeze — acre upon acre of woodland —
flecked with broad irregular patches of shadow shrinking in
the amber light of early dawn. Light and delicate airs laden
with subtle fragrance float down from ferny dells above
steeped in the glistening dewlight of the young day. Up
comes the sun chasing the truant shadows one by one out
of their hiding places on slope and valley, and everything
is quickening into life. The forest is all astir with a
rumour of birds. The sus, a tiny redbreasted honey-eater,
flits cheeping amongst the creamy clusters of palm-bloom,
and the coo of the wood-pigeon echoes through glade
and thicket where, with no tell-tale plumage, she perches
hidden though close at hand. All too soon our journey
is over, and entering a little sandy cove we run alongside
the wharf built of coral fragments, and, climbing the
winding stairway hewn in the hillside, find ourselves in the
little settlement which forms quite a township — the head-
quarters of the mission after its expulsion from Ponape.
Like Caesar's Gaul it lies in three parts. Each of these
centres round its schoolhouse. The first establishment is
allotted to the education of youths and boys from the
Marshall Islands, in which archipelago the Germans, under
certain restrictions, have granted the missionaries leave to
establish stations for their propaganda. Dr Rife is in
charge. The second, under Dr Channon, is for the instruc-
tion of Gilbert Island boys ; and the third, highest up on
the mountain side, is occupied by the girls' school, where
a mixed bevy of Gilbert and Marshall Island lasses live
under the aegis of the ladies of the mission, one of whom,
Miss Palmer, was in charge of the establishment on the
east coast of Ponape at Oa, the scene of the massacre of
Lieut. Porras and his working party in 1 890. Drs Rife
164 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
and Channon, with true American hospitality, soon have
refreshment at hand which the heat of the day imperatively
calls for. By and by the Tulengkun turns up in the
bay, having waited for the turn of the tide. Captain
M. and the two doctors are soon deep in business talk.
I left them and sought a comfortable cane lounge, prying
deep amongst Marshall and Gilbert Island root-words,
with a sufficiency of green drinking-nuts at my side to
counteract the dryness of my labours. A little after noon
we were expected to dinner with Miss Palmer and her
colleague at the girls' school. Captain M. was too busy to
turn up and a little grumpy into the bargain, so Dr Channon
took me up the hill instead, and introduced me in due
form to the ladies. After doing justice to an excellent
meal, the rights and wrongs of the 1890 business in Ponape
were once more raked up from oblivion. Native merits
and demerits were freely touched upon. Miss Palmer is
a bright and sensible little woman with a deep interest in
her work, which she declares is fairly successful, though
now and then rather trying to the patience. However
willing and docile, the savage convert will hark back
at times to the crude notions of his forefathers, and
deceit appears ingrained in them. Hence a strange
moral obliquity leads them into the most needlessly
crooked paths. Horace, when he speaks of driving out
Nature with a pitchfork only to see her return in greater
force than ever, doubtless had tried the experiment on
some surly barbarian, and found him all unimproved by
his gentle admonitions. The outward change for the
better, however, to give the missionaries their due, amongst
the Gilbert Islanders has been remarkable. They have
always been the vindictive and ferocious of all South Sea
Islanders, and under the careful instruction of sundry white
miscreants had taken high honours in the school of
piracy, cutting off unfortunate trading craft by diabolical
treachery, plundering, and scuttling or burning the craft
and cutting the throats of every soul on board. These
STAY ON LELE 165
playful pursuits would sometimes give way to a game at
civil war. This kindly folk would vary the programme
of murder, rapine, infanticide, and the wiping out of some
unpopular village or other at stated intervals, by consum-
ing huge quantities of coconut-toddy (Karuoruo) at their
village festivals. These merry meetings invariably termin-
ated in a fierce free-fight, where men and women joined in
the melee with ironwood clubs and wooden swords, thickly
studded with sharks' teeth, with which they inflicted ghastly
lacerations.
Nowadays these noble savages are altered in some ways
greatly for the better. They don't kill helpless infants
any more. They don't cut off trading vessels — though
possibly a vision of English Kaipukes or men-of-war has
tended somewhat to this laudable change of purpose.
They go to church, in European garb ; the men wear
shirts and blue trousers, some wear black coats, and the
women tawdry Manchester goods, and for fear of breaking
the Sabbath by mistake, they abstain accurately and im-
partially from every sort and condition of work week in
week out — except under stress of actual hunger. They
like money very well, but liquor and tobacco still better.
They are told they mustn't smoke and musn't drink, so of
course they do it on the quiet the first chance they get.
There is a certain bluntness amounting almost to churlish-
ness in the Gilbert Islander that distinguishes him from
his politer brethren, the Tahitian and Samoan. This and
the complacency and self-righteousness of the native con-
vert does not particularly endear him at first sight to the
European visitor. The Pacific Islander in a word is pass-
ing through a transition period. He has left behind him
many of the vices of his forefathers, but at the same
time the savage virtues — bravery, hardihood, self-help,
and honesty in his dealings with his neighbour — are
also flickering out of him. His individuality is lost and
he has become a Christian of the colourless humdrum
order, full of goody-goody texts and Scriptural references
166 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
— a harmless fellow enough, but scarcely as interesting
to the student of human nature as his barbarian ancestors.
The duplicity and sly reticence of the savage is unchanged
in him, and ever and anon the old natural man peeps out
to gambol in most unorthodox cantrips. Unstable as
water and at first sight without any real depth of charac-
ter, he is as shrewd a hand at a bargain as any chapel-
going grocer who sands his sugar. Anecdotes to the
above effect whiled away the afternoon as we strolled about
the little settlement. The students, some one hundred
and forty in all, appeared on their very best behaviour,
perfect models of that meek deportment which the supple
natives, like schoolboys and monkeys, know well how to
put on and off like a glove. Altogether the community
wore an air of quiet prosperity and contentment. The
boys are taught various useful trades, such as carpentry
and joinery, and the girls are instructed in the use of the
needle and all manner of housewifely duties. It is a
miniature copy of the Kamehameha School for native
boys and girls at Kalihi, a suburb of Honolulu, and
doubtless the native in time will be the gainer for the
gradual formation of settled habits of industry.
Of the kindly and hospitable people in charge of
the Mission Station of course there can be but one
opinion. They believe genuinely in their work, and
devote themselves with single-hearted zeal to what seems
an unpromising and thankless task. With those who
frankly differ from them in their ways or methods they
can argue without bitterness or lack of charity, as all
seekers after truth should surely do.
At sunset we went down to Dr Channon's pretty little
house to a spread of native and imported dainties, and a
most interesting evening's talk ensued. My host proves an
exceedingly well informed and liberal-minded specimen
of the professional man of brain and action that Yale,
Harvard, Princeton, and their sister universities are turning
out year after year to enrich Young America. By and by
STAY ON LELE 167
we pay a visit to the class-rooms and converse a while
with the boys, most of whom understand English — of the
parrot order, one must confess. Then the talk runs on
musty antiquities and certain singular native customs with
which the reader shall not be bored at present. The lads
gave a sample of their powers as choristers, singing vari-
ous hymns pitched in a doleful key — keeping capital time
the while. The reader will perhaps be surprised to learn
that part-singing has been a popular institution amongst
Pacific island races from time immemorial. Then home
and to bed, and up with the calling of the fowls — " Lan
mon kakla " — as the islanders phrase it.
A pleasant breeze was ruffling the waters of the
bay, and the Tulengkun straining at her moorings.
With a hearty farewell to our friends on shore, we
pushed off and boarded her, and in some twenty
minutes were slipping merrily through the water on
our twelve miles' run to Lele. The hill-slopes of
Mout are soon left astern. Range after range of
mountain and valley glide past us and the sun is high
in heaven, looking straight down on the reef, when we
round our last headland and work our way slowly into
the home wharf through the rollers washing into the
narrow harbour, all shimmering in the soft and golden
haze. The mid-day meal at Capt. M.'s despatched, the
Tokosa and I take a long woodland walk, sauntering
slowly through the palm-groves and fairy glades in the
waning afternoon which ushers in my last night in Lele.
The sun sinks — a wheel of ruby flame — amidst a
wonder of flaky cloud-wrack, lit up with tenderest hues
of pearl, emerald and amethyst, undreamt of by artists
of sober northern climes, who reck not of Nature's prodi-
gality in sounds and sights to these her favoured children
of the tropics. From the domain of the on-creeping host
of shadows, from the dim and cool recesses of darkening
woodland, trills the chirp of myriad cicalas. The placid
waters of the harbour here and there dimple in the grow-
168 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
ing twilight with swirling rings to the splashing of leaping
fish. One by one in the gathering dusk cooking-fires
gleam out like lamplight all around the bay from the
scattered native huts lying back in the fringing belt of
palm and pandanus. Side by side brushing through a
tangle of trailing creeper, we make for the Tokosa's house,
where I am to pass the night. The king has agreed to
show me the ruins next morning without fail. Li-kiak-Sa
has parted with three beautiful shell-axes {tola), some
baskets and mats, and a quantity of the dainty native
sashes of woven and dyed banana-fibre. In the king's
household, for the last two or three days, the fair maidens
Kenie, Kusue and Notue, have been hard at work produc-
ing specimens of their delicate fabric — gifts for their guest
to take away to his bleak northern home. The worthy old
deacon Kevas turned up, and we put in four hours' solid
work up to midnight mastering the intricacies of the
Kusaian tongue ; and the good old man handed me over
several crude Kusaian translations from the New Testa-
ment as a parting gift. He had worked very conscienti-
ously, never shirking a difficulty, but explaining everything
within his power. The king, also, who speaks English
correctly and even elegantly, has proved a valuable assist-
ant. Since the visit of the Coquille nobody has apparently
taken trouble to collect any facts about these interesting
islanders, and now it is indeed high time, and only
just not too late. It is a sad pity that the language
of Kusaie, with all its elaborate grammatical inflection,
and quaint post-positions so suggestive of Japanese in-
fluence, seems likely ere long to be classed with the dead
languages of the earth. For the population is not over four
hundred, all told, and the island is one vast garden capable
of supporting with ease twenty times that number. But the
health and vigour of the folk have been sapped by terrible
diseases introduced by the brutal and lawless crews of
visiting whalers whom Dr Rife, from some heart-rending
medical experience, with perfect justice denounces as the
STAY ON LELE 169
vilest miscreants, the enemies of God and man. Any un-
prejudiced reader of history — of the voyages of Cook and
Roggenwein and other early navigators — must needs admit
the truth of these awful facts. Little cause indeed have
Pacific Islanders to bless the greater part of their white
brethren. There was true historical foresight in the pre-
diction of the Tahitian sage 'Avira.
" Ua haere te fau
E mou te fa'arero,
E nao te ta'ata."
" The leaves are falling on the sand,
The sea shall swallow coral strand,
Our folk shall vanish from the land."
On the following day (May 15th) we were early astir,
for Capt. M., who was rather in an irritable mood, had
solemnly vowed to wait for neither of us after four o'clock.
The king, to my great delight, is coming up to Ponape to
pay his respects to the Spanish governor, Sr. Pidal — a
precise but not unkindly old gentleman of Spain, who,
after a successful and popular administration, is returning
home to Madrid. We borrowed the Tulengkuri s compass,
and the Tokosa and I, with pencil, note-book, and bush-
knife in hand, set out on our exploration. A boy came
with us, carrying a knife and a six-foot pole, carefully
graduated from a carpenter's foot-rule.
To reach it we had to skirt the remains of some Cyclo-
pean walls built of enormous rough basalt blocks rudely
fitted together, immensely old, but now falling into ruins, in
the neighbourhood of the king's house, and Captain M.'s,
which we have already viewed. The latter, yielding to a
Vandal instinct, has dismantled those nearest to his
house, using the huge blocks as a groundwork for his neat
new wharf, caring little what became of the ancient struc-
ture. Leaving these behind us our way lies some three
hundred yards inland, along a narrow muddy lane shut in
by fern-fringed walls some five feet high, where we catch our
first glimpse of the great outer wall of the principal enclosure
170 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
" Pot Falat." The masonry is composed of basalt blocks
and prisms of varying shape, many enormous in bulk but
clumsy in disposal. In careful and minute adjustment
they are inferior to the structures of Metalanim or Java,
but doubtless the work of a kindred race of builders
labouring under less favourable conditions. Looking at
their solid outlines, seamed and furrowed with the rain
and sun of untold generations, one cannot help marvelling
at the ingenuity and skill of these primitive engineers in
moving, lifting and poising such huge and unwieldy
masses of rock into their present position, where these
mighty structures, shadowed by great forest trees, stand
defying Time's changing seasons and the fury of tropic
elements. Why in distant little spots of the Pacific do
we find the like engineering marvels ? — sites held as
sacred, guarded by shadowy traditions of mighty kings,
magic builders and giant folk of old. Ponape has her
Tikitik-en-ani or Teraphim of stone, has her sanctuaries
of Nan-Tauach and Pankatara, and her Lil-charaui or
sacred precincts ; Tobi, her massive platforms topped by
stone images of her Yari, or ancient heroes, gazing out
upon the deep ; Hawaii, her demon - temples {Heiau).
The Marquesan has his holy places {Meae) and his Tiki,
giant images hewn out of black basalt ; the Tahitian his
Marae and Ahu-rai, sepulchral monuments of ancient kings.
The Easter Islander his giant long-eared statues of black
stone with crowns of red-brown Tufa on their heads, his
lofty platforms, stone houses, and wooden tablets inscribed
with mysterious hieroglyphics.
The key, doubtless, is to be found in human ambition,
which reveals itself even amongst the fragments of a
forgotten folk occupying these little spots in a waste of
waters. These remains, insignificant as they appear
beside the works of Mycerinus, Cheops, Apda-martu,
Sargon, and Nebuchadnezzar, may yet serve to show
what eloquent sermons dumb stones may preach ; what
stories they tell us of the generations of man vanishing
Pot Falat Ruins
Low stont* wall.
if „
f IJL./B
Gateway Gat'-wny-
3 » •*
NT.E.
End aC Canal
Stone barrier
S.E.
STAY ON LELE 171
one by one into dim immensity, ephemeral as the leaves
of the forest fluttering down year after year to their dust.
But time is passing, and the tide will not tarry for us
either, and briskly we set to work on our measurements,
hewing our way through the jungle, splashing into muddy
puddles, and tearing a path through the tough ground
creepers which conceal many a slippery stone.
The enclosure forms a parallelogram, the side between
the western and northern angles measuring 194 feet, and
that between the eastern and northern 1 1 o feet. Cutting
a path on the south-west side, where the masonry lies piled
up in vast ruinous heaps overgrown with a maze of hibiscus,
we started operations at the western angle, moving along
the north-west side.
The following are some of the measurements : —
The height of the wall, at the west angle, is 25 feet.
At the foot of the wall, facing north-west, runs a shallow
canal. At a distance of 72 feet along the canal-side is a
modern barrier of small stones built to keep out high tides
— the height of the channel above sea-level being very
trifling. Doubtless this canal, like the others, of which
there are abundant remains on Lele, was constructed for
the purpose of rafting up these huge blocks of stone from
the beach whither they were brought from South Harbour,
where Nature, as in Ponape, has further indulged her
spoilt children by providing natural pillars ready cast in
her furnaces underground, crystallised out into hexagonal
prisms ready for the workman's hand. The geologist will
recall the Giant's Causeway, the rocks of the southern
promontory of Tasmania, and the organ-pipe formation on
Staffa and Iona, as illustrative of this phenomenon else-
where. Just beyond the aforesaid barrier is a gateway
7 feet in breadth. The height of the wall here is 1 6 feet.
Great fragments of shivered basalt that have toppled
down from time to time strew the rocky floor below.
From this cause the wall varies considerably in height.
About 40 feet along from the gateway a massive slab of
172 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
basalt stands out among its smaller brethren, length, 9
feet 6 inches ; depth, 2 feet 4 inches ; breadth, 3 feet
6 inches.
The breadth of the canal is 9 feet. Here the wall
is 1 5 feet thick. 5 o feet beyond this point we reach a
second portal 1 5 feet wide. 1 o feet beyond this is the
northern angle occupied by a huge banyan-tree, which
seems obstinately bent on the destruction of the masonry,
with its myriads of clinging roots digging into every
crevice and hollow of the stonework in the exasperating
manner known to every botanist familiar with the tricks
of ficoid plants. These root-fibres develop into high aerial
buttresses. Whenever a strong wind comes, as for instance
during the N.E. trades, there is a tremendous strain on
the masonry. This is not the only destructive factor, for
the continual expansion of the roots tends more and more
to throw these gigantic masses of stone out of position —
an accident which these primitive engineers could hardly
have anticipated. Fire and water these structures could
resist for untold ages — sub-aerial denudation for them
would have no terrors, but the capillary forces of nature
are stronger than even these old foes. Thus the irony of
Nature loves to set at nought human endeavour. How
simple a method of disruption is the swelling of milky sap
in clinging root-tendrils that would once have yielded to a
penknife. But from the days of Aristotle downwards, v\rj
was ever a disturbing element.
The height of the wall at the northern angle is 26 feet
{vide frontispiece). The face is thickly overgrown with
masses of hartstongue and Asplenium fern (called Fwa
and Malaklak). Dense weeds and trailing creepers occupy
every available crevice, and forest trees in every stage of
development are springing up above and behind.
At the northern angle there is a massive pentagonal
corner-stone measuring 9 feet in length, 3 feet 6 inches in
breadth, and 3 feet in depth.
The branch canal running along this (the north-east)
STAY ON LELE 173
side is 4 feet in breadth, bordered by a wall built up of
rubble 5 feet high.
25 feet along from the north angle is a gateway (No.
3) about 5 feet wide. The thickness of the main wall is
here 1 5 feet. 20 feet further on is a fourth gateway, and
50 feet beyond we reach the eastern angle, where there
is a remarkable octagonal corner-stone 3 feet 6 inches
across, 3 feet 10 inches in depth, and 6 feet 2 inches in
length.
The height of the wall at the east angle is 20 feet.
Progress along the south-east side we found very difficult,
and we had to form a passage through a dense labyrinth
of hibiscus. The walls are much dilapidated on this side,
varying in height from 8 to 1 5 feet. In many cases they
have collapsed into mere heaps.
There is little of interest in the interior at first sight.
A ruined wall divides the interior into two courtyards,
both considerably overgrown with straggling coco-palms,
banyans, Ixoras and jackfruit trees. There is also a bushy
undergrowth of scrub and a network of running vines.
At last we reach the south angle, where the wall is seen
at its greatest height (30 feet).
Here some massive pieces of rock are let into the
masonry.
The dimensions of one six-faced corner-stone let into
the wall about 20 feet from the ground were found to be :
length, 1 o feet ; depth, 4 feet ; breadth across face, 2 feet
6 inches.
The foundations of the wall at the south angle are three
roundish masses of basalt piled together. The lowest
measures 6 feet in length, 4 feet in depth, and 3 feet in
thickness.
Here our survey concluded, much to my regret. There
was no time to make any excavations which might have
brought to light, as in the ruins of Metalanim, some
interesting specimens of native weapons, beads and shell-
bracelets. Any future visitor, however/who is ambitious of
174 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
making excavations around or within the Pot Falat need
have no anxiety that King Teleusar will behave as badly
as his brother monarch of Ponape. Doubtless a thorough
exploration of the little island lasting several weeks would
reveal many other curious relics of the past. The interior
is somewhat hilly and very thickly overgrown with brush-
wood and forest. Most of the south-east and south-west
portion of Lele, like the south coast of Tongatabu, is a
tract of lowland patiently and laboriously reclaimed in
olden time from the sea. A network of canals — very
much out of repair — intersects this portion, many of these
partially filled or banked up by the natives in modern
times to keep the tides from turning their taro-patches
and cleared lands into a salt swamp. The remains of
immensely solid walls in the neighbourhood of Captain
M.'s store and the king's house along the beach, are no
doubt like the Pot Falat, relics of an elaborate system of
fortification, the product of large numbers of native work-
men toiling under the orders of an intelligent minority of
a superior race who had a practical knowledge of engineer-
ing. A mixed expedition of intrusive and conquering
Malays and Japanese would probably account for the
phenomena ; and, as said before, the natives have a dim
tradition of foreigners coming in strange vessels out of the
north, settling on Lele and putting the chiefs of Ualan,
the main island, across the bay to tribute.
The natives seem to attach no special sanctity to these
structures. Though possibly the work of a kindred race,
the ruins of Lele are far rougher and ruder in design than
those of the east coast of Ponape. It may be, however,
that on Ponape, a much larger island, there were more
workmen and better material for the work.
And thus we took leave of these labours of Titans.
We sailed that evening, touching at Pingelap and Mokil
on our return journey, and anchoring in Ascension Bay
after a tedious and uneventful voyage of ten days, a suc-
cession of calms alternating with heavy rain-squalls.
PART III
CHAPTER XI
RETURN TO COLONY ; TO MUTOK AND PANIAU
THE day after the Tulengkun came in I visited the
Spanish Governor, who listened with much interest
to the account of my doings. I then went over to Lan-
gar, and spent three days with Captain Weilbacher, where
I had some interesting talks with the Lap or Headman
of Langar, and with some of our old friends from Paliker,
who are loyal customers of the German firm. I also met
some natives from Ngatik or Raven's Island, some thirty
miles away to the south-west, who had come up on one
of their rare visits. They are the descendants of an
American negro castaway, who, with his native wife and
children and a few relations and servants from Kiti, landed
on the islet about forty years ago. Strange to say, dur-
ing that short period of isolation they have actually de-
veloped a new and peculiar dialect of their own, broadening
the softer vowels and substituting TH or F for the original
T sound in the parent Ponapean.
I spent a day botanising amongst the hill-slopes of Not
and in the ferny dells of Kamar, and another on a visit to
Kubary at Mpompo, and collected many seeds of economic
trees and plants from the densely-wooded district around
the big waterfall.
A day or two afterwards I met Nanapei again in the
Colony. He seemed rather distrait, and told me that
things were going badly on the East coast ; that influenza
had broken out and carried off many of the people, for
which King Paul, who was in a very bad humour, held
me and the Manilla man to blame. I was advised not to
175
176 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
visit Metalanim until Nanapei had smoothed matters over,
and to content myself for the present amongst the tribes
on the south and south-west coast, who would welcome
me gladly. With Nanapei was a young relation named
Chaulik, an amiable lad with the manners of an Eton boy
and the kindliness of a Tahitian chief. We were soon
firm friends. At Nanapei's suggestion Chaulik invited
me down to his uncle Nanchau's island of Mutok on the
south coast, to which I paid a couple of flying visits, the
latter lasting from June 8th to 23rd.
I visited King Rocha, and explored the beautiful valley
below Mount Wana, through which the Kiti river flows.
I found Nanchau a fine old host. The King of Kiti
and his people were most friendly, and the good Catholic
padre of the Aleniang mission station showed me great
kindness. One day I had a glorious little climb to the
top of one of the two round masses of wooded hill which,
separated by a deep chine, stand out upon Mutok like
humps upon a camel. I was accompanied by a bright
young lady named Eta, who made a capital guide, and
showed a remarkable knowledge of plant and tree-names.
She took considerable interest, somewhat tempered with
awe, in my grammar and dictionary-making, and in a
spirit of true camaraderie tendered me valuable and very
unselfish assistance afterwards amongst her kinsfolk by
stirring up the most intelligent of them to tell me what
they knew of the gods and heroes of the olden time.
Accordingly one fine morning succeeding a stormy
night we wait till the sun is high over the coconuts, and
start climbing up the runnel of a watercourse, working our
way through a maze of roots and branches which overhang
the steep and stony trail. We wrestle with treacherous
creepers, and scale fallen trunks of trees lying scattered
over the hillside. A brief but violent shower of rain sud-
denly patters down and as suddenly ceases, leaving the
bush all a-drip and steaming in the noonday heat. At
length we struggle up to the dividing ridge, where a
TO MUTOK AND PANIAU 177
clump of sago-palms in varying stages of growth looks
down through hanging woods upon the calm bay below.
At their roots a little spring bubbles up fresh and clear
from the basalt, amongst masses of greenest leafage and
the erect rose-tinted flower-spikes of the Aulong or wild
ginger.
Pursuing a track along the western hill-slope we plunge
into thickets of prickly wild pandanus. With many a
scratch we emerge, hot with much hewing, into an open
space with a platform of stones in the centre, the founda-
tion of some old native house. This hill is called Tol-o-
Puel (Anglice Mud or Clay Hill). The landward one,
where sundry wild goats do roam, is called Tol-en-Takai
or Stony Hill, and fully deserves its name. A few wild
pigs and some jungle-fowl inhabit the recesses of the bush,
and all the day long the covert is alive with the notes
of green and grey doves. The usual forest-trees of the
basaltic uplands are found here. The banyan Aw, the
ficoid Nin, the Elceocarpus Chatak, the wild nutmeg
Karara, the graceful ash-leaved Marachau, and many
another tree that never grew in European woods. Un-
seen cicalas fill the tree-tops with their shrill chorus, and
up from the mangrove-belt below floats the harsh croak
of the Kaualik or blue heron, fishing in the reef-pools and
paddling around the logs and tree trunks rotting in the
ooze and mud. Around us the rustle of thickets and a
rumour of small life. To seaward the shining waters of
the lagoon, its blue tints merging into green, and the thin
grey line of the outer reef fringed with creaming breakers.
Over all, rising and falling in deep and changeless cadence,
floats their echo. Like Stevenson in Apemama, " I heard
the pulse of the besieging sea," sound sweet to the ears
of those who dwell in the little sea-girt lands.
These and other excursions I made, and day by day
felt myself more in the people's confidence. And so before
long, the beche-de-mer season being nigh, Nanchau and
his kinsfolk of Mutok, some fifteen souls in all, determined
M
178 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
to establish a fishing-station upon the little island of
Paniau, out upon the barrier-reef, near the harbour
mouth. I was to go up to the Colony in their boat
to get my mails due by the steamer on the 25 th, and
take in a store of European provisions, medicines, and
all things needful for a lengthy stay ; then to return
and spend several months with them, collecting shells,
and viewing the strange fishes and forms of marine life,
for which study they declared the spot unequalled. And
so indeed it proved, and most loyal was the help they
gave me. Accordingly I went up to Ascension Bay and
received my long-looked-for letters from home and else-
where, some thirty in all, and came back again with all
arrangements made, and the boat well loaded up with
stores of biscuit and beef, tea and sugar, tobacco and
kerosene, matches, and knives, and an axe or two.
And in two or three days we all crossed the bay in an
odd little fleet consisting of five canoes, a flat-bottomed
punt, and a sailing-boat ; the latter rather the worse for
wear after frequent collisions with the coral-rocks in the
shallows. The following somewhat minute description
of a stroll round my new island-home will give some
idea of the scenery of the islets lying in the lagoon
off the Ponapean coast, and indeed of the character of a
Pacific atoll -island in general. And maybe the reader
will follow me in thought to a spot, which I would
gladly have him visit in body, far, far out of the
track of tourist and artist, and likely to remain so for
many a long day.
Starting from the end pointing shorewards where our huts
and drying-houses are established, one comes upon a fine
crescent bend of silver- white sand stretching along some two
hundred yards, the high water mark of the tides indicated
by little ridges of driftwood, sea-weed, and floating seeds
washed up by the ocean currents. Immediately above
tide-mark is a belt of coarse, creeping grass, mingled
with a tangle of yellow veitchling (Keiwalu), and a
TO MUTOK AND PANIAU 179
large purplish-flowered creeper {Ipo)nea sp.) (the fuefue of
Samoa), which bind the sandy soil together with their
matted roots. The Nkau, a medicinal weed of rapid
growth, with yellow flowers resembling a single Michael-
mas daisy, occupies much space in the interior. At the
edge of our settlement are some fine pandanus trees, but-
tressed with high and solid aerial roots, laden with huge
orange-red fruit, looking like glorified pine-apples.
And now, strolling onwards, we come to the prettiest
thing in the island, a magnificent nursery of young
coconut palms, leaf and stem just passing from their
early light-red tint into harmonies of light and dark
green, as Nature, the great chemist, is quickening into
action the chlorophyll within them. In the young
fronds the pinnae or leaflets are set firmly and evenly
together, and do not present the ragged and wind-worn
outline of their elder brethren, which flutter crisping in
the trade-wind overhead. Turning a little way into the
bush, piles of husk and fallen nuts in all their stages
lie around. The sprouting nut, called Par by the Pona-
peans, is filled with a soft spongy mass, which has taken
the place of the solid kernel, and is highly valued when
roasted. In the previous stage, i.e. when the nut is
below par and the kernel has reached its maximum
hardness and thickness, it is called Mangach, and then
is ready to be cut out and dried for copra.
Upon Paniau there is, or rather was, a thriving colony
of Ump or robber crabs (JBirgus latro), levying contribu-
tions on the coconuts. Upon these the native proprietors
look with an evil eye on account of the nuts they destroy.
Once, at King Rocha's entreaty, we organised a regular
battue. The boys in camp lived on dressed crab for
a whole week after. This, however, by the way.
Coming out on to the beach again, it is rather inter-
esting to turn over and examine the drifts of weed and
jetsam. Stems of reed-grass and bamboo, bits of dry
hibiscus wood, the long-seeded rhizomes of the mangrove,
180 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
the round, black, scaly nuts of the sago or ivory palm,
and the fluted fruits of the Nipa or swamp-palm, the
seeds of Pulok, Waingal, Marrap-en-chet, and Kamau ;
the first named polygonal, the second round and flattish,
the third long, slender and keeled, and the last of just the
size and wrinkled shape of a walnut taken out of its shell.
Specimens of seeds of the common littoral shrubs are
washed up in great numbers. Guppy, in his book on
the Solomon Islands, has some very interesting passages
on the flotation and drifting of seeds on the ocean cur-
rents, and the consequent wide distribution of certain
littoral trees in the Pacific area.
The drifts of deadwood, sea-weed, and decayed fruits
and nuts, show how ingeniously Nature contrives to build
up a suitable soil for the seeds surviving their ocean journey.
Numbers of hermit crabs (Umpd) and some small brown
lizards {Lamuar) are very busy amongst the rubbish.
Many of the hermit-crabs are crawling around ensconced in
the prettily-mottled green and brown shells of a sea-snail.
The tenant adopts a house according to his colour — for
the occupiers of these first- mentioned dwellings have a
dull green body with red markings, others again have
sky-blue antennae, and their claws speckled with rich
blue and gold. One very large blue and red Csenobita
of allied species we found had wedged his body into an
ancient coconut, the top of which had been broken in.
Looking out into the lagoon from the crescent sand-
beach as the tide ebbs, one remarks some curiously shaped
limestone rocks, about forty in number, studding the flats,
most of them much worn away at the base, and locking
like flowers on a stalk. Captain Wilson, of the ill-fated
Antelope, noticed many of these formations in the Pelews
in 1783. He calls them "Flower-pot islets," from their
narrow bases and bulging tops. These are often crowned
with a bristle of small littoral shrubs, which flourish in the
scanty soil, the resort of the sea birds Parrat and Kake,
the latter of which deposits its eggs here in the tufiets of
TO MUTOK AND PANIAU 181
grass, sea-pink and parsley fern, being too lazy to build a
proper nest.
At low tide the flats are dotted with shallow pools and
thin sheets of salt water, where the Chila, Pachu, and Pacho,
species of Tridacna or Clam, open up their valves to bask
all pink and purple in the sunlight. Here are also found
several sorts of oysters, oblong, circular and hammer-
shaped, and a great abundance of other mollusca and
small Crustacea. Portions of the reef lie bare, seamed
with long cracks, in which lurk fishes innumerable of the
Leather-Jacket or of the Chcetodon type. The coral floor
of the pools is thickly pitted with little circular holes, the
abode of the Muraenas or grey sea-eels, which at the rising
of the tide are seen darting about actively, gorging them-
selves with the small fry who issue from their hiding
places in endless shoals at the first stirring of the waters.
Leaving the beach, we pass inland once more along a
shady pathway running through the coconut groves which
lead past the two water-holes supplying our little colony
with water for bathing and washing. Our drinking water,
by the way, comes from a spring on Mutok, which we
fetch over twice a week in calabashes, bottles and a couple
of big earthen vessels, designed for storing biscuit, but
which make capital water-pots.
This path is a dividing line marking off the land of my
hosts, Nalik and Nanchau, from that of the King of Kiti
to whom belongs all the seaward end. The water holes
are just in the centre of the island, and here there is some
rich soil. King Rocha has planted a number of jackfruit
and breadfruit trees which are doing well. There is also
plenty of Giant Taro, and the Tacca or native arrowroot
grows abundantly. Beyond this the seaward end of the
island is occupied by a dense grove of Wi or Barringtonia,
where the Parrat, a brownish-grey sea-bird, has estab-
lished a regular rookery, which in the night season when
the moon is bright is continually astir, or was, before
squab-pie became a standing dish amongst us. The
182 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Barringtonia is a very handsome tree, with creamy white
and pink tassels of deciduous blossom and long broad
leaves, with an elegant sheaf of ruby-hued leaflets shoot-
ing out in their midst. The yellow-wooded Morinda
Citrifolia, which the Ponapeans call Weipul or Flame-
Tree, is abundantly in evidence, also the Kiti or Cerbera.
Struggling through the undergrowth we make our way
toward the end facing the outer reef, which the tides
have left high and dry. The Konuk or Betel-pepper
climbs like ivy over the trunks of the coconut palms,
where spirals of Polypody and great tufts of Talik or
Birds'-nest Fern are also found growing — the long broad
leaves of the latter being much in use for plates. Large
bundles of them are also collected to serve as a dry
foundation for the sleeping mats at night.
On the coconut trunks also are seen growing tufts of
Parsley Fern, the Ulunga-n-Kieil or Black Lizard's Pillow
of the Ponapeans. The seaward end of Paniau reached,
about half way between high water mark and the edge of
the great outer barrier reef, runs a remarkably deep natural
ditch, trench, or crevasse, in the coral limestone, which they
call the Warrawar, where on certain dark nights at high
tide we used to fish by torch-light. All the back of the
reef is thickly strewn with coral fragments, ruinous alike
to shoes and feet. The little narrow strip of beach on
which we stand is overshadowed with a fringe of Pena and
Ikoik trees. Here the palms stop short, for the dense
masses of Barringtonia have ousted them. From this
point on, our way lies over beds of honeycombed lime-
stone rock, studded with rough knobs and bristling with
points and edges of a razor-like keenness. The inland
path on this side is narrow, dark and tortuous. At the foot
of the thick-growing Barringtonias, the ground is covered
with chunks and slabs of broken coral of all shapes and
sizes, liable to turn underfoot when stepped on, and to
inflict unmerciful raps on shin and ankle. Under the
tree-roots lurks the ever-watchful Birgus in his burrow on
TO MUTOK AND PANIAU 183
a couch of coconut husk, gloating over his unholy spoils.
To seaward one at all events has the satisfaction of seeing
one's way. These cruelly sharp coral ridges are appropri-
ately called by the natives Rackarack, a word which also
denotes the teeth of a saw. Close to the end of the War-
rawar are two pools about four to five feet in depth, into
which a number of fish used to find their way at high
tides. At low water a judicious use of the narcotic Up
root on several occasions stocked our larder well. About
this point the Barringtonia gives place to the Inot and
Titin, two medicinal trees common on all the island
beaches. A little further on stretches our chief fish-
pond, closed in with a stout stone dam to seaward, and
often yielding us good sport with net and spear. All
this rugged side of the island is strewn with driftwood,
from whence we draw a welcome and never-failing supply
of fuel to keep our beche-de-mer-curing operations vigor-
ously going. The fish-pond passed, we find ourselves at
the back of the settlement from which we started, with
the camel-backed outline of Mutok and the distant peak
of Mount Wana showing up to our left, and in the
fore-ground the little sandbank of Tekera separated from
us by a narrow channel, a mere ridge of broken coral,
crowned with the graceful and feathery foliage of the
Ngi or Ironwood. The reader will gather some notion
of the beauties of lagoon and reef lying around us, from
the subjoined description of one of our frequent trips to
this charmed region of lovely and ever-varying scenes.
As the canoe shoots over the edge of the great coral
barrier that looms up through the water like a mighty
sea-wall sloping down into the deeps, the voyager for
a moment feels a novel sensation, like that of looking
over a giddy precipice. The landward reef edging bristles
with a thousand graceful forms of branching coral and
a marvel of submarine algae ; a true garden of the Nereides
laid out in gay parterres of oarweed and sea-fan, picked
out with scintillating patches of sea-moss of intense
1 84 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
electric blue. Nature here deals in odd and whimsical
contradictions. Sponges like corals flourish beside corals
like sponges. On the sandy bottom inshore bask herds of
sea-cucumbers (Holothuria), black, brown, red, green, and
speckled, stretching out their wavy tassels of tentacle
to engulf the tiny sea-eels or other small fry. Great
bright ultramarine five-fingered starfishes lie spread out
below, fearless of snatching fingers, for the Ponapeans
firmly believe that the lifting of one of these creatures
out of water will be followed by a heavy downpour of
rain. All around, on the shelves below the reef edge, out
of crevices in the living rock, sponges are growing in vivid
rows and clusters. Sponges grey, sponges green, sponges
scarlet as geranium flower, sponges yellow as marigolds,
parti-coloured sponges chequered dark blue and black,
sponges soft and sponges horny — a goodly sight for any
but a Turkey merchant. For the traders say the homeliest-
looking alone are of commercial value, and these are only
found in any number on the Paliker coast some fifteen
miles up. Solemn blue herons stalk round the flats. The
distant cry of the Kdke or white gull and the screech of
his grey cousin the Parrat, hawking hither and thither
out to sea, shrills fitfully on the ear — whilst ever and
anon comes the rhythmical boom of ocean's ceaseless
thunder rolling on the outer reef and reverberating
through the hollow caverns in the honeycombed lime-
stone below ; dens where grim and giant poulps and
Crustacea lurk in the pale green light glimmering deep
down below the combing line of surf; where priceless
orange-cowries stud the debris of the ocean floor like
crocuses, living out their little lives, far from the reach
of conchologist, and shadowed under the aegis of Nature's
mightiest forces.
Light airs are stirring. The bracing scent of the reef
comes off in frequent whiffs, brisk, eager odours of fucus,
sea-tangle, and things marine, rich in ozone and iodine,
with a sickly phosphoric aftertang from heaps of dead
TO MUTOK AND PANIAU 185
and decaying coral. To seaward the air is thick with
motes of spray, and over Ant Atoll in the west ominous
banks of cloud are forming up. Mid-heaven as yet is
clear, and the sun shines out serenely. But the camel-
backed outline of Mutok over the bay seems close at
hand, and a languor of damp heat hangs heavy over
all. Nature is awaiting her Titanic shower-bath that
the coming squall will surely bring. At each dip of
the paddle, forms of beauty, unlimned, undreamt of by
artist, flash under our keel below the shimmering ripples.
Forms of liquid ruby and topaz, strange living shapes,
fiery, crystalline, translucent, amethystine, opalescent,
iridescent. Landward we turn, and straightway the
tender dissolving hues of the coral and its accompanying
dream of colour-miracle are fading out into soberer tints,
as the water runs shallower. Memories of good (/anon
Kingsley's " Westward Ho ! " float back, the yearning
dreamy fancies of Frank Leigh's gentle spirit ripe for its
passing. " Qualis Natura formatrix si talis formata." " How
fair must be Nature the Former if her forms are so fair."
We pass over large round table-topped corals of
greenish or yellowish brown — each a miniature coral
atoll in itself, depressed like a plate in the centre, with
raised edges crested by the lip-lipping of the light ripples
brimming around their furrowed rims. Brownish masses
of disintegrating coral and dull fragments of limestone
rock strew the sandy bottom, from which the fierce solar
heat which has been storing here all the sultry noontide
is radiating upward. Now is the time for a hot salt-
water bath for those who prize the luxury, but beware !
Bathers with fresh cuts or unhealed scratches^will suffer
a fiery penance.
ASHORE ! is the word. The squall is coming droning
up from the westward. Hastily we haul our craft high
up on the sand and dive into the friendly shelter of
a palm hut, whilst overhead patter thicker and thicker
the rain-drops, heralds of the coming storm.
CHAPTER XII
FEAST IN MUTOK, KAVA-MAKING, NAMING OF BIRDS,
AND MAKING OF FISH OIL
ONE day, Chaulik's birthday I think, Nanchau made
arrangements with some of the Wana chiefs to
hold a feast on his island of Mutok, so as to give me the
opportunity of getting some further historical facts from
the old men. On the appointed day, therefore, we all went
across the bay, leaving a couple of old women behind to
look after the fires in the curing sheds. Our company
was not very numerous, for two of the largest Kiti whale-
boats had gone up the week before to the Colony along
with King Rocha to see the Spanish Governor. However,
some of the oldest and most influential chiefs of Roi and
Tiati had remained, and came over with a great store of
fruits and roots. A fatted hog, a goat, and some fowls
were promptly slain and consigned to the earth-oven.
Chau-Wana, our principal guest, having expressed a wish
to eat dog, poor little Pilot, the house-cur, who insisted
on coming from Paniau with us in the boat, is straight-
way doomed to death, the sentence being ruthlessly
carried out by three strokes of a heavy club in the hands
of young Master Warren Kehoe. Pilot's funeral oration
was of the briefest — " Pilot no good," says Chaulik, " him
no fight, no catch pig, ugly little dog, very cross all time.
Before, him steal meat ; now we eat him, son of a gun."
And eaten he was every bit, sure enough, to the great satis-
faction of Chau-Wana and the old men. I contented myself
with a lump of goat's flesh and a piece of lean pork, in lieu
of a hind leg of the canine victim and a huge mass of the
pig's fat proffered with ceremony in a lordly dish. There
FEAST IN MUTOK 187
were plenty of yams boiled and baked, breadfruits plain
and preserved, plantains and bananas roasted and raw,
cooked tubers of taro, and cakes of arrowroot and coconut
cream, with a dessert of roasted sprouting nuts. There was
also corned beef and ship's biscuit, and a plentiful brew
of tea and preserved milk. But for fear the meal should
take on too much of the appearance of a Sunday-school
picnic, a small demijohn of red wine was broached, and
subsequently plenty of kava-root was brought in and
pounded solemnly. Occupying the post of honour, with
Nalik and Nanchau on my left and Chau-Wana on my
right, I did my best to enliven the company with a
running fire of chaff. A toast to Queen Wikitolia, her
ships at sea and her soldiers on land, produced great
enthusiasm, but I really fear we forgot to remember the
Spaniards. Which was ungrateful. However, things went
merrily enough. Rising to the humour of the situation,
I bestowed the title upon Chau-Wana of the " King of
Hearts " — a monarch with whom the Ponapeans, thanks
to card-playing American skippers, are perfectly familiar.
It was good to see these solemn and sententious folk
unbending into mirth with such good grace, sinking all
private grievances as cleverly as Christians at a public
dinner, or rival politicians at a private one. The lips of
the silent were unsealed, the shy took heart of grace, the
sulky grew affable, and dull men waxed witty. Songs
and lively tales went round, and aged men, the last to
find their tongues, kept me busy scribbling. Offers of
service assaulted my hearing on every hand. " I can show
you all the good fishing spots," cries one. " And I know
the names and virtues (manaman) of every plant and
tree on the hills," says another. " My uncle has a pretty
daughter," cuts in a frivolous third. " I can tell you star
names, and I can bring you stone axe-heads," declares a
fourth putting in his say. In a flash I nail him to his
word. " Listen, boys," said I, " old shell-axes lying under-
ground will neither clothe nor feed you, nor will they
1 88 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
yield you the black tobacco you like so much. Set to
then, I pray you, and dig up these axes, fear not the
spirits of folk dead and gone. Behold, he that brings me
an old axe of shell shall receive a new axe of steel."
A speech that next day brought me five of them. In
the dark night cheerily rang out songs in chorus until
the sober moon swam up over the tree-tops. The King
of Hearts at last rose with tottering legs to take his
leave, and was tenderly escorted down to the wharf, and
put on board his canoe. " It is strange, indeed," quoth
he, " how stiff my old legs get when the dews of night
are falling. Twenty years ago it was not so." The
guests disperse with cordial adieus, and another pleasant
merrymaking has rolled away with the kava that inspired
it far into the Ewig-keit of mortal things.
The effects of kava have been noticed ; now for the
moving cause.
The plant from which this national beverage is made is
pretty well known to the public from the description
given in several South Sea books of travel. It is one of
the Piperacece, with the pendulous flower-catkins of its
kind, broad, deep-green, veined leaves, and spotted stalks
knotted at regular intervals like those of the bamboo.
It is the Chakau or Choko of Ponape, the Seka of Kusaie,
the Namoluk of the New Hebrides, the Yangona of Fiji,
and the Kava or Ava of the south-western Polynesians.
Botanists term it the Piper Methysticum or Intoxica-
ting Pepper. The modes of preparation are various. In
Samoa, by the chewing of the Aualuma or bevy of village
girls. In Tonga, Fiji and Ponape, by pounding between
flat stones. In Samoa, however, nowadays, the ruminating
process so horrifying to English readers and certain over-
squeamish early voyagers has given place in the civilised
districts to grating. It is styled the nasty root and the
accursed liqiwr by certain good and worthy missionaries
whose convictions are sometimes sturdier than their
charity. The symptoms, however, which follow an over-
KAVA-MAKING 189
dose of kava by no means coincide with the accepted
notions of intoxication. The head remains perfectly clear,
but the legs sometimes suffer a sort of temporary par-
alysis. This, however, as with tea, coffee and alcohol, is
only the punishment which, under a wise law of Nature,
the abuse or excessive use of any of her precious elixirs
bears with it. Abusus non tollit usum.
There is a closely allied species widely distributed,
which the Yap people variously call Langil, Thlangil
or Gabui, the Marianne folk Pupul-en-aniti, the Mar-
quesans Kavakava-atua, the Samoans Ava-ava-aitu, and
the Tahitians Avaava-atua. This is the plant whose
leaves supply the wrapper of the fruit of the betel or areca
palm, extensively used as a chew in the Malayan area,
of which Yap and the Mariannes are the outposts.
Strangely enough Yap, where kava drinking is not,
has kept the old Polynesian word in a recognisable
form ; whereas in Ponape and Kusaie, where there are
two varieties of areca palm {Katai and Kotop) growing
in great plenty in the highlands, betel-nut chewing is
not in vogue, and kava drinking is. Yet the Ponapeans
and Kusaians have lost or tabued the old Polynesian word,
and adopted one which, to say the least of it, offers a
curious resemblance to the Japanese Saka or Sake, which
in that tongue denotes strong liquor in general, and a
weak rice-spirit in particular. Unfortunately I had not
the chance of visiting the basaltic islands in the great
lagoon of Hogolu or Ruk, where I am told both the
kava and the areca palm grow. I might thus have deter-
mined once and for all whether these Caroline natives are
kava drinkers or betel-nut chewers.
It seems highly probable that kava drinking was a
logical development of betel-nut chewing ; the betel-nut
kernel itself, even when mixed with the chunam or lime,
being a somewhat inert substance. Doubtless the natives,
who are great botanists, and, up to a certain point, most
logical and analytic observers, very early saw that it was
190 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
in the kava plant leaf that the pleasing qualities of the
national quid lay embosomed. If the leaf was good,
doubtless the root was better. Perhaps some scientific
Curtius flung himself into the gulf or rather gulp, with a
thirst for knowledge and the reward of knowledge ; or
else some slave was called in and set to work upon por-
tions of the root or a decoction of the same, probably not
without some protest from within. The slave would pre-
sently fall into a blessed swound, and wake up next day
bright and refreshed, with a dim remembrance of blissful
dreams, coloured of course by his own personality, and
interpreted in accordance with his peculiar capacity
for decorative lying. On all-fours with this are their
curious traditions about the origin of the kava, one
of which declares that Cherri-chou-lang, or the Little
Angel from Heaven, in pity for mankind and their woes,
dropped a piece down to earth from the Celestial board ;
and the other telling us how a mighty magician of old
raked up the wondrous root with his Irar or magic staff,
and made his memory blessed.
The ceremony of kava making, already referred to
twice or thrice, is as follows. The Nach or Council-
Lodge is the scene of operations. On the raised platform
above, the king or principal district-chief used to sit with
the Chaumaro or high priests on his left hand, their
long hair all ashine with uchor or scented oil, dressed in
their mol or kilts of split coconut-filaments dyed orange
with the juice of the Morinda, ceremonially styled the
Kiri-kei. The lesser chiefs and commons sat around at a
respectful distance. On the ground below were ranged
several roundish pieces of basaltic stone resembling
broad shallow plates. Around these squatted the kava
makers, their stone pestles swaying and ringing in
sonorous rhythm as they pounded up the pieces of
tough root into mere masses of trash. The root, be
it observed, is neither dried in the sun as in south-
western Polynesia, nor carefully washed with water. The
KAVA-MAKING 191
latter ceremony, they say, spoils the flavour and weakens
the strength.
By and by the Ant or ancestral spirits are supposed
to be present, with Icho-Lumpoi and Nan-ul-lap, the
demon lords of the festive hall. Water is poured in,
and the first cupful is squeezed out from the strainer of
Kalau fibres. Taking the cup in his hand, the chief of
the Chaumaro, not without blinking and shivering and
other signs of demoniac possession, mutters a charm for
the spirits to take their place, sips a little from the cup,
and pours out a drink-offering to the invisible guests.
Then the bowl is offered to the king. It is customary
for the recipient to stand off and keep declining the
draught for a minute or two, a peculiar ceremony never
omitted. At one of our dinner-parties it would certainly
sorely mortify a good old British butler, and probably
lead him to take the unfortunate guest at his word.
To seize the proffered cup and forthwith drain it to
the dregs would be considered by Ponapeans the act
of a hopeless churl. Again, the drinker never swallows
more than about half the contents, unlike the Samoans,
who finish the bowl in one long pull. One night I sprang
a Samoan custom on the people of Chau-Icho in Kiti
which rather tickled the assembly. In Atua on Eastern
Upolu, where they often drink the kava made from green
and immature roots, the Samoans put two or three small
red chili-peppers into the strainer along with the pounded
root. The Ponapeans thought it a strange innovation,
but as usual curiosity carried the day, and no less than
six of the pungent fruits were slipped into the strainer,
and a venerable patriarch, ugly as traditional sin, eagerly
stretched out his hand for the first taste. The effect was
instantaneous. The little red pepper-pods had indeed
made their presence felt.
" Too muchee hot — makum feel down here all same
fire," gasped out the poor old gentleman, beating the air
around him, arms flapping hard to catch his breath, tears
192 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
streaming from his eyes, and his face screwed all on one
side like a turbot's at the first taste of that potent brew.
The paroxysm once past, he soon forgot his woes in a
stick of black tobacco. Every man then took a little of
the stuff, but with more caution, amongst them the Teacher
of New Things, who with unmoved countenance supped
up a good half- pint. Then there ran around the
lodge a low murmuring hum of " Akai ! Akari ! See what
it is, brethren, to cross the great sea." " Lo, the white
man is even as one of us," quoth another ancient. And
then the world went right merrily.
Now, with regard to the kava, which has found such
an army of detractors, one mistaken impression shall here
be dispelled. Travellers in Pacific waters have declared
that the kava resembles soap-suds in taste ; but that must
be only the dulness of their spiritual perceptions. Now
this is a base libel on a noble root. The aroma is that of
mingled ginger and nutmeg, with a soupcon of black pep-
per, and an undefinable waft of the fragrance of green tea
running through it. If people will drink more than three
large cupfuls, as even Ponapeans sometimes do, they have
only themselves to thank if, as the classic Glabrio says,
one leg struggles south while the other is marching due
north. If, again, the white trader insists on mixing good
kava and bad gin, he has simply to face the consequences.
But this gives the Prohibitionists no right to rail against a
valuable medicine, of whose best and innermost qualities
they are presumably ignorant. The members of Catholic
orders do not often make so silly a mistake. Beer, whisky
and wine, or other alcoholic compounds, are strictly to be
avoided on these occasions as incompatible with what
Lloyd Osbourne defines as the true kava frame of mind.
If these simple and useful instructions are disregarded,
as the writer has no doubt they will be, the innocent
kava root cannot be held answerable. Into the hands
of the doctors I commend it. They may blend it as they
will, but let it not fall into the clutches of Exeter Hall.
NAMING OF BIRDS 193
To the thoughtless reveller, the kava-bowl is in itself
an end, to the philosopher a means of catching at some
floating thread of tradition to weave into the fabric of his
theme, be it folk-lore, history, or ethnology. To the ex-
pansive influence of those social gatherings I am indebted
for many curious legends, and this is one of therm
Laponga was a High Priest of old in Metalanim. It
was he who sat at the left hand of the first Chau-te-Leur
king ; it was he who first tasted the kava, and he who
uttered the first uinani or magic spell invoking the pre-
sence of Nan-Ul-Lap, chief of the Ani or local genii, who
love to be honoured when the feast and the dances are
the order of the day in the Great Lodge. The second
man in the land, the keeper of the king's conscience, as it
were his father-confessor, he sat in the Place of Council ;
his unshorn locks streaming below his girdle after the
manner of his ancient caste, crowned with the yellowing
leaves of the Dracaena, his Patkul or shell-axe crooked
obliquely over his shoulder, and his carved Irar or magic
staff laid close at hand ; in his fingers a bundle of leaves
of Alek, the native reed-grass traditionally used in casting
lots. Such was the wizard, and such his estate. And he
was wise beyond the wisdom of all men, but his love for
his fellows tallied not therewith. For his heart was cold,
and he ever delighted in mischief and ill pleasantries, and
would wander at times over the land in all manner of
strange animal shapes working his evil will. In one of
his freaks in the form of a Lukot or native owl, he took to
wife one of the Likat-en-ual or nymphs of the forest.
Numerous was their progeny, and the hanging woods of
the lofty island were filled with beings endowed with
human utterance, who could change from bird into human
form at will. In process of time, as mortal men are wont,
Laponga grew weary of his fairy queen, and would have
taken to wife a high-born lady of the Court. The children
of the forest knew of it, and it came to pass that whenever
the great magician took his walks abroad the woods re-
N
194 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
sounded with the cry " Ipay Ipa" which being translated
signifieth " Papa, Papa? In great wrath at this interrup-
tion of his meditations the great man turned, like the
bald-headed prophet of another tale, and with a solemn
imprecation took away from them human utterance and
shape for ever, and left them birds.
Then in a twinkling a strange Babel broke out in the
forest glades. The injured children ceased not calling
out upon their unnatural parent, each as his peculiar vocal
organs gave him utterance. The Kaualik or blue heron
croaked out " Ko" " Kau" " Kau" the doves, after their
kind, murmured " Murrorroi" " Kin-uet-uet" and " King-
king" and the brown parrakeet broke out into inarticulate
chirpings " Cherrerretret" ; the small sea-bird with black and
white tail feathers could only scream out hoarsely " Che-
a-a-ok." The other birds could utter nothing but doleful
and woeful screeches. Some went away into the deep
bush and let themselves out in very spite as tenements
{ta-n-waar) to the wood-demons there, and still delight at
times to afflict human settlements with their ill-omened
voices pouring forth songs of impending death and doom
in the stillness of the night. The blue heron went out on
the salt marshes and the edges of the reef, where he stalks
about to-day in mournful dignity picking up little fish and
crabs. All day long the Murroi or grey dove wails for her
lost voice in the woods, like Philomel of Grecian legend ;
the Cherret twitters round the coco-blossoms, whilst the
Kulu or sandpiper, with his elder brother the Chakir, wail
dismally over the sandy flats, the shingle, and the coral
limestone. But one small bird, more persistent than its
fellows, pursued Laponga on his way and so deafened
him with its angry twittering that growing weary he
turned about and loosed a fresh curse upon the head of
his hapless offspring. Thus ran Laponga's imprecation : —
" May your head turn round and round when man
casts a stone at you, that you may fall at their feet from
very dizziness, and men shall bake you in the oven for
MAKING OF FISH OIL 195
their meat. This, I say, whenever the hungry wanderer
does as I do now ." With these words he chased
away the wretched fowl with showers of pebbles.
And so it happens to this day with the generations of
little brown birds in the inland bush, that whenever one
throws a stone in their direction, whether he hit or miss,
down they come fluttering to the ground, helpless and
paralysed. And the name of the bird is Li-ma' aliel-en-
takai or Miss-giddy-at-stones.
And Laponga's miracles held men's minds in awe, for
he did many notable deeds. The record of his sorceries
and of the manifold knaveries he wrought, is it not set
down in the lost book of the annals of the Kings of
Metalanim ? After Laponga's death, from which his arts
could not protect him, his head was changed into stone, and
lies unto this day right in the middle of the water-way be-
tween the islets of Pan-ilel and Tapau. The tale must be
true, for there is the very stone. And well we know it, for
we collided sharply with it one low tide, and all but caved
in the bows of our canoe ; keeping the Manilla man busy
enough for some minutes alternately bailing, and praying
to the saints, until we beached her and fixed up the leak.
Nanchau and I paddle, a day or two after the kava
party, over to Mutok from Paniau to view the labours of
three old ladies left in charge of the house on the beach,
who were engaged in making fish-oil. With this strong-
scented product of native industry the Ponapean islander
loves to smear himself on state occasions. The process
begins by breaking up a quantity of full-grown coconuts
and scraping down their kernels.
The instrument used is a billet of wood, over which the
native throws his leg to keep it steady. It is fitted with
a wedge-shaped piece of metal, toothed like a hackle at
the broad end. A segment of nut is pressed against these
teeth, and a rapid twirling motion in the hands brings off
shavings fine as feathers.
It is in this way that the Ungitete is produced. It
196 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
is then put into a Kachak or low oblong vessel of reddish-
brown wood like a whale-boat pointed at both ends.
Next a number of strings of dried fish-heads are lowered
from the ceiling, where they have been mouldering for
weeks amongst clouds of flies and mosquitoes in order to
ripen into prime condition. The names of the kinds of
fishes most in request for this use are Pakach, Toik,
Tomarak, Mak, and Wakap — names as sweet in sound as
in savour. Without any sign of disrelish, these ghastly relics
are one by one carefully chewed up by these venerable
dames, and then ejected into the vessel of coconut
scrapings. They sit solemnly ruminating, placid as cows
chewing the cud in meadow, and the gruesome mass of
disintegrated fish-heads steadily grows and grows.
When the arduous task of mastication is over, the whole
nasty mess is submitted to a squeezing and kneading pro-
cess, in order that the scraped nut and broken fish may
unite their fullest virtues, and the stuff is taken outside
to be put in the sun for a few days before the resulting
oil is pressed out into small calabashes or glass bottles,
where it is stored ready for use. It goes without saying
that numerous hungry dogs, fowls, and cats watch all
these proceedings with the deep interest of a starving
man viewing a Lord Mayor's banquet. But not one
fragment of savoury stock-fish, not one silvery flake of
coconut ever reaches those watering mouths. The workers
keep watch like witches round their gruesome brew. For
the fish-oil of Kiti, like the mats of Chokach and the
sponges of Paliker, and the yams of Metalanim, is far too
precious a local product to be lightly lost.
CHAPTER XIII
PANIAU TO COLONY
JUST about this time, I remember, King Rocha came
over to see us, and formally took off a tabu that
had been laid on the coconuts on the island. On this
occasion we organised an attack on the coconut-crabs,
digging them out of their burrows and slaying numbers.
A few days after we went down coast to a great feast
given by Nanchau-Rerren at Annepein-Paliet.
Towards the middle of September the stock of biscuit
and canned food began to run short in camp. The marine
creatures preserved in spirits, after a prolonged spell of hot
and damp weather, called earnestly for a fresh supply of
alcohol. Therefore, Chaulik, Kaneke, his cousin Nanchom
and I, on a beautiful starlit evening (September 20), de-
termined to run up to the Colony for a few days' change
of scene to obtain the sorely-needed supplies, and pay
our respects to the Governor. We launched a canoe, and
soon found ourselves across close inshore to Nantamarui.
Cautiously poling over the flats and through the narrow
channels in the salt-water brush, we reached Nantiati just
as the moon rose over a wild and picturesque scene, light-
ing up league upon league of hill and valley, and a filagree
network of twining creeper, the forest-line trending down-
wards till lost in the dark and eerie zone of mangroves
which rustle around us, dipping their long forked root-
sprays into the muddy water like the claws of famished
spectres groping for their prey. A wild half-light is stir-
ring amidst a world of flickering shadows.
We land at the little cluster of huts by the waterway
where an old ex- whaler dwells, a native of Tahiti, whom
197
198 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
destiny has wafted into these remote northern waters.
We had an hour to wait for the rising of the tide, so
telling the boys to snatch what brief repose they might,
I took a stroll outside with the old fellow to examine a
pile of enormous basalt slabs like a heap of colossal
ninepins shadowing the still canal in the silvery moon-
light. The most striking prism of all measures twelve
feet in length. It has six sides or faces each measuring
three feet. One end seems to have been rudely chipped
into the semblance of a human head. I thought at first
I should actually make out the features, but alas, my fancy
was not lively enough. Another ponderous mass almost
as long is resting by the water-side on top of two rugged
blocks, for all the world like a giant club. It recalls the
huge fragment topping the pile of half-submerged blocks
near the Nan-Moluchai breakwater.
I could find no local tradition to explain who laid these
great masses of stone in place. Less fortunate than Sarung
Sakti and Lidah Pait, the magic artificers of the Passumah
monoliths in Sumatra, these early engineers have passed
away and their very names are lost.
At sea again, about midnight, we found ourselves off
Mai Island, the abode of an old Metalanim chief called
Nanapei, no relation of the chief of Ronkiti. The chief of
Mai has some years past vowed a deadly vengeance on
the head of a Captain N., the trader in Ascension Bay,
of which that astute gentleman is perfectly well aware.
Indeed he told me on board the Venus how mortally he
had offended the Metalanim insurgents by piloting the
Spanish cruisers of a punitive expedition into Oa Harbour
in 1886.
The reader will remember that some months previously
old King Absolute had strictly forbidden me to explore
or even visit these parts again. Therefore we were re-
visiting these spots at some degree of personal risk.
We are once more in the heart of Nan-Matal, thread-
ing the labyrinth of narrow canals intersecting the rows
PANIAU TO COLONY 199
of walled islets of the water-town. We pass Peikap,
Chaok, Tapau, and Nan-Pulok, catching stray glimpses
of massive masonry looming up dark and imposing
behind the waving screen of jungle, a vivid contrast of
shifting lights and shadows. All is as fair as a dream,
all as unreal. Even the cicalas are still. A deep hush,
broken only by the bark of some distant watch-dog,
the sough of the night-wind amongst the sedges, and
the lapping of the bubbling waters under our keel plough-
ing on through the gloomy solitudes, the theatre of a
vanished civilisation. We have passed the mouth of the
great harbour ; the islet of Mutakaloch, with its cellular
basalt formation is left behind. Under full sail we
double the headland of Aru, and are slipping merrily
across a broad bight with the unsurveyed wilderness of
the U highlands and the peak of Kupuricha looking
down upon us. Just as the dawn breaks we find our-
selves amongst wide stretching beds of Olot or sea-grass
in very shoal water, close to our journey's end, off the
dominions of Lap-en-Not, with the tide running rapidly
out. Whilst wading in the shallows, pushing our boat
ahead over the flats, we caught sight of several black
and white sea-snakes coiled up in the weeds. After
several unsuccessful attempts one was hooked on board,
and after a stout resistance slipped into the alcohol bottle.
As soon as we managed to struggle clear of the shoals
we put across to Langar, a favourite port of call on these
expeditions. Our kind and hospitable friend Captain
Weilbacher receives us with the usual cordiality of
Germans trading in these waters. Ahmed, the Malay
cook, is sent out to dig " Inchang" a species of blue
and white crayfish, of a flavour yet unknown to London
epicures, and found on the mud-flats at low tide. Poor
Ahmed is in the wars. He has taken to himself a Not
wife ; she is not very beautiful and she is not by any
means an agreeable spouse, but forcibly asserts her inde-
pendence and treats her meek and all but uncomplaining
200 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
lord and master as a nonentity. A true Ponapean virago,
when angry she would vigorously pull at his straight and
bristly crop of hair. The single native women were
hugely tickled to find so determined a champion of
Woman's Rights amongst them, and rare sport they
promised themselves when their turn came.
The mid-day meal ended, we launched out and were
soon over in Santiago. We first visited the principal
store, our base of supplies. Having duly collogued with
Captain N. and various priests and officers there assembled,
we marched up hill to pay our respects to the Governor,
who seemed glad to see us again. The new medical officer
of the station appeared, and proceeded to ask some ques-
tions upon the botany of the various districts. Without
delay I reported numerous cases of influenza and low fever
in the Kiti and Metalanim districts. As I expected, the
kind-hearted medico promptly offered to put up useful
medicines which I was to distribute on my return, which
of course I readily agreed to do. He also promised me as
much alcohol as he could afford, and agreeing to meet him
at lunch next day, I went across that evening to Kubary's
house at Mpompo, near the waterfall. Three days soon
pass by, the boys working wonderfully well in packing up
and securely stowing away the curios ready for my long
sea voyage back to civilisation via Yap. For my stay is
drawing to a close. Yet my Ponapean friends, in true
native fashion — careful to put any untoward idea or
thought aside — seem hardly to realise it.
On the morning of the 26th, Chaulik, dreading the
wrath of his uncle Nanchau, and bethinking him of the
short rations in Paniau, strongly urges our return.
Therefore, after several short delays, we set sail from
the Colony. The canoe was already fairly well laden,
but some fateful fancy seized Kaneke that he would
like to get a cross-cut saw out of the earnings which he,
like a prudent lad, had been carefully saving up for the
last two months. Nothing would serve us but to visit
PANIAU TO COLONY 201
the German branch store at Chau-inting, close by the
headland of Not. So the little craft, what with this and
that article declared indispensable, is loaded down to the
very gunwale. Meanwhile the sun is westering more and
more. Loosing thence we pass Langar, Parram, and the
two Mants. Tapak is well behind us, and we are skim-
ming along under full sail, the canoe running very deep
in the water, with a man on the outrigger to keep her
steady. Suddenly, without a note of warning, a gust of
wind sweeps down from the distant mountain gorges.
Mast and sail collapse, the canoe turns turtle, and we
find ourselves soused in some fifty feet of water in the
Nalam-en-Pokoloch pool, the deepest hole along the
coast, and reputed to be the lurking-place of sharks and
sea-monsters innumerable. We discover ourselves in a
tight position, two miles off a scantily-inhabited fore-
shore, with no fishing canoes anywhere to lend us aid,
and the short twilight fast fading away. When we right
the canoe she is hopelessly waterlogged, and all but sink-
ing. Pushing her before us we swim on, and on, and on in
the gathering gloom, each man expecting every moment
to find the sharks nuzzling at his toes, or the icy grip
of some monster cuttle-fish's tentacles closing round his
ankles. Here and there the darkling waters around and
below us flash with the luminous body of some swiftly-
circling denizen of the deep, but if sharks they be, they
pass us by unnoticed. Kaneke unselfishly begs me to
climb on to the outrigger and leave to him and his two
comrades all the hard work and hidden dangers from
below, and is quite vexed when his offer is rejected.
And such is the patience and perseverance of my brave
boys that at last we reach one of those isolated stacks of
coral, reaching up to three or four feet of the surface in
certain places in the wide lagoon. Here, after a brief
rest, we make shift to bail our craft empty of water, and
find that our losses are not so great after all as far as
provisions are concerned. Some of the tinned meats are
t
202 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
gone, an umbrella has floated off into the darkness, and
alas ! saddest loss of all, Kaneke's long-desired cross-cut
saw has gone down into the depths beyond reach or ken of
diver. " Never mind," says the cheery Chaulik, who has
a mangled text of scripture for every emergency, " cast
your lead upon the waters and you shall find it after
many days." A little later on, when Nanchom is bewail-
ing the soaking of our store of biscuit by the salt water,
Chaulik is not wanting to the occasion, and again proffers
consolation. " It's all right. Man shall not live by bread
alone." Laying in the paddles with a will, the draggled
party with undamped spirits ploughs along steadily, mast
and sail safely stowed for fear of going faster and faring
worse. Late at night we draw in towards the north side of
Aru Island, which lies just on the borders of U and Metal-
anim. Opetaia {Obadiah) lives here in the bosom of his
family, the same comical old native teacher who, it will
be remembered, paid me a visit in my dearly-hired house
at Lot, some four months before. We were received
with all the attention usually extended to unfortunate
mariners ; dry clothes were supplied us, and after a
good supper and some hot grog, which Obadiah and his
son eagerly shared with us, we made ourselves extremely
comfortable. After looking at some Mortlock curios, which
our host pressed upon us in unwonted exhilaration, we fell
asleep.
The next morning is Sunday, no Obadiah visible.
He has gone ashore early to attend his devotions. As
the day wears on a boy comes off shore in a canoe with
his face all one broad grin, with the news that the Machikau
church-folk on the mainland are scrimmaging together like
demons, and breaking each other's heads in the liveliest
fashion. We do not put into Machikau, having had our
fill of excitement for the present, and bidding farewell to
our hosts, pursue our way, heartily devoting the contend-
ing parties to the fate of the Kilkenny cats. By and by,
when we find a couple of bottles of spirits missing — laid
PANIAU TO COLONY 203
in strictly for medical purposes — grievous suspicions fall
on Obadiah and his fellow-deacons. With the hopes of
clearing up this question we put in at Matup, a little
further down the coast, the residence of the Nock, the next
Metalanim chieftain in rank to King Paul, or heir-presump-
tive to that monarch's slippery throne, for this religious
maniac has no children and no prospect of any.
It had been told me that the Noch held Europeans in
disfavour, and myself in particular ill-will from the recent
outbreak of influenza in the tribe, which many of the folk
took for the outpouring of the wrath of Icho-Kalakal and
the " Ani" at the letting in of the light of day on their
time-honoured sanctuary. Therefore I thought it would
be as well to pay a visit frankly, interview him, and gain
his confidence.
We go straight up to the Council Lodge, and are kept
waiting some while for the chief. His eldest son, how-
ever, a bright little boy of about seven or eight, climbs on
my knee in most friendly fashion. By and by in comes
the Noch with a beaming countenance. Some trick of
Fortune has evidently turned in our favour.
Cordially shaking hands he unburdens his mind after
the following manner in a dialect abounding in double
and treble consonants. For the benefit of those unversed
in primitive and analytic languages I will give the naive
literal translation sentence by sentence, together with the
conventional English expressions.
Well, white man. Hail ! O white-face.
You've surprised King Paul Their honourable intellects
and his folk this time with and the little minds of their
a vengeance. flock will now soon be
tangled up like a ball of
string.
They've just sent me word Swift the words have come
along shore to me shouted from mouth
to mouth along villages on
the coast,
204
THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
That you have been making
Obadiah the deacon and
other church members very
vilely drunk.
Moreover, there has been
a free fight in church.
All the teachers and the
congregation vow that the
King shall know it.
The King will be pretty
wild about it.
But the cream of the joke
is
Obadiah entered the church
tipsy.
Service was nearly over, an-
other man was in the pulpit.
Obadiah interrupted him
repeatedly with insulting
questions.
And kept continually grum-
bling that he could preach
a better sermon himself.
Says the preacher in pos-
session : " Turn him out."
And to weary the reader no
That you have made strong
drink to trickle down the
throat of the peoples' shep-
herd Obadiah, and the
throats of the men of heaven,
and their minds are changed
to those of swine.
And the Pel-charaui {i.e.
sacred precinct) has been
even as a field of battle.
The shepherds and the
heaven-destined flock say,
They shall be told.
Their wrath will smoke like
an oven when it is opened.
One thing make laugh, make
laugh very much :
Obadiah he come in, he walk
this way, that way, see-saw.
Obadiah come very late ; one
man go upstairs — talk, talk,
talk — preach, preach, preach
— teach, teach, teach.
Obadiah he break him talk
— all time ask him what his
father, what his mother —
all same fool.
All time he go " Ngar,
Ngar, Ngar" all same
woman, and he say " He
no preach good. Me preach
very good."
Words floated down from
the lips of the eloquent
man above : " Help that
rude fellow to go forth."
more with pidgin English,
PANIAU TO COLONY 205
the congregation was in an uproar, each party manfully
upholding their favourite. Knives were brought into play,
and blood flowed freely from some ugly gashes, as each
man pitched into his neighbour. It was the counterpart
of the famous fray in the loft described in the " Pickwick
Papers," in which the Rev. Mr Stiggins took such a
vehement and unexpected part. Obadiah suffered the
fate of Stiggins after a most obstinate resistance, and
was consigned to a cool and dark apartment to meditate
in seclusion on his sins and his bruises.
The NSch is much amused when we detail our ex-
periences at Aru, but advises us in future not to rely too
much on the saintly professions of church members.
" I'm one myself," says he, " but I think the Old Man at
Tomun goes too far in his notions. For instance," he
continues, " when a man wishes to marry a wife he has to
work three weeks for the King before he gets permission,
and has to pay the teacher who marries him a good stiff
sum. There are more churches than plantations in the
tribe, and there are no end of worrisome little laws and
restrictions. You mustn't go out for a sail on Sunday, you
mustn't drink wine, even in moderation, you mustn't smoke,
you mustn't do a good many other things you would like
to do, and all for the sake of an old man who grumbles
all day long and never gives a civil word to anybody.
" The King doesn't like white men at all, and he
and David Lumpoi are trying to set the tribe against
you, and, of course, his people have to do what he
tells them. The white men haven't always used us
well, and, not knowing you, we thought you were like
the rest of them. Lately, however, some of my men who
have met you at different times told me of the interest
you take in collecting our old stories, and in bottling
lizards, spiders, and such like. Such work does us no
harm, and gives the boys and girls a chance of earning
money honestly. Therefore, my people and I in thinking
ill of you were in the wrong. Now you and I understand
206 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
each other, and I shall treat you as a friend and guest. I
am very pleased to see the young chiefs who are with
you, and have no doubt they are helping you well in your
work. When you go home you will tell the Chaumaro
Akan, or wise men of Britain, that Ponape people are not
all cannibals and pirates or wild men of the woods, but
have white hearts though their skins are dark."
Whilst this somewhat lengthy conversation is going on
dinner is being got ready. In good time the ovens are
opened, and we are soon deep amongst the yams and
taro of Matup. The Noch drinks Spanish wine with
great zest but strict moderation, as becomes a gentle-
man and a chief. With oriental hospitality he pressed
us to stay a day or two, but bethinking us of our people
on Paniau eking out their scanty commons and impatiently
looking for our return, we determined to push on, and
dropped down coast with the tide that very afternoon. We
are running merrily across the roughish waters of Middle
Harbour, with the quaint sugar-loaf peak of Takai-U shoot-
ing up before us, and are slipping past the island of Tomun
where the king has his Tanipatch or regal dwelling. Not
without anxiety we view the rapid approach of a boat
manned by five of Paul Ichipau's myrmidons, pulling
their very hardest in chase. We lower sail and let them
come alongside. It turns out that they have orders to
carry us bound into the presence of King Paul for the
appalling crime of sailing on a Sunday. But we are four
to their five, and three of us are Kiti men, a tribe which
has given Metalanim some very hard knocks in time past.
So their summons to surrender being greeted with derision,
and seeing us resolute on self-defence paddle in hand,
they turned peacefully back, receiving meekly some highly
uncomplimentary messages to their worshipful ruler. We
do not loiter about here for fear of the rascals swarming
out on us in superior force, but holding on our way, once
more enter the labyrinth of Nan-Matal with lively antici-
pations of possible rifle-shots singing out of the dense
PANIAU TO COLONY 207
masses of greenery on every side. We pass Uchentau
and leave a message for Alek, my cunning carver in
native woods, and on past the walled islets of Peikap,
Pan-Katara, and Nikonok, and last of all Pon-Kaim,
which lies on the extreme end of the Kaim or inner
angle of the great enclosure. Here the bottom of the
waterway is strewn with basalt blocks, some of great size,
and some caution is needful in picking our way past and
over these rocky barriers. Finally emerging from this
wonderful system of walled islets we pass over the shallow
flats below the little hill settlement of Leak, and work our
way down to the sand-spit of Pikanekit where twenty or
thirty friendly natives are domiciled under a worthy old
chief named Echekaia (Hezekiah). At this place we are to
pick up Kaneke's wife Lilian and her baby boy who are
down here on a visit. A very stormy night comes on,
and we are glad to break our voyage. Next morning
dawns raw and dismal. The temperature has fallen, the
sky is black with tempest, the palm trees are bending and
swaying in the stream of a lively gale, and sending down
their nuts rolling and rebounding like balls on the sward.
A thick grey veil blurs the distant hill-slopes, the brook
at the door is in freshet, and a streaming downpour of
rain is pattering on a drenched and draggled creation.
A huge iron pot, the relic of some calling whaler, is on
the fire, wherein a mixture of fowl and rice and floury
yam is seething away merrily. After breakfast the weather
shows no sign of clearing up, and the gale, if anything,
blows a thought harder. So we determine to push on —
dividing our party into two canoes for fear of a second
accident — for the sea is rough and the cases heavy. The
good old chief supplies us with a second canoe, on which
Nanaua, with Hezekiah's little boy and myself embark.
The larger craft, with most of the cargo, carries Kaneke,
Chaulik, Nanchom, Lilian and baby. The result proves
the wisdom of our plans. Both canoes, after some narrow
escapes of upsetting, after much rude buffeting from wind
208 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
and wave, ultimately reach their destination. A pig pur-
chased from Hezekiah shows a wild and untamed nature
in repeated attacks on Nanaua's legs in canoe No. 2, until
quieted with an axe-handle.
Our friends on the little green island, with its row of
curing-houses and huts, are anxiously looking for us, and
help us to haul the canoes high on the sandy beach.
Plenty reigns once more in camp. Our small woes and
discomforts are all forgotten, a tot of grog is served out
to all hands, dry clothes are put on, and we sit down to
a much-needed supper of clam soup, baked fish, Irish
stew, yams, biscuits and preserved fruits, washed down at
stated intervals from a goodly demijohn of rough Vino
Tinto. Amidst clouds of tobacco, Nature's boon to weary
voyagers, plans are discussed and projects put in order.
Next morning, September 29th, as we rise up refreshed
from our mats, the sun is shining from a clear blue sky ;
the tide is out and there is glorious sport with Up, with
spear and basket amongst the reef pools, and the stock of
bottled fishes grows larger and larger, to say nothing of
untold basketfuls of live shells, mostly Cyprceas, buried in
tins under the sand at high-water mark for the tide to do
the work of washing them clean and free from all traces
of their former occupants. Besides gathering shells, I had
plenty to do on the mainland, to which I paid several
further visits, and took care to distribute the medicines
with which the good Spanish doctor had so kindly fur-
nished me, and so two more busy weeks soon rolled by.
CHAPTER XIV
FROM PANIAU TO MARAU
THE time of my departure now drawing near Nanchau
suggests that we go down the coast for a day or two
to visit the settlement of Marau, where an old chief lives,
the Au or headman of the sub-district, who will tell us
something about the old traditions, and will besides take
us into the interior to show us some remarkable ruins of
an old fort called Chap-en-Takai, which is situated on a
tableland among the mountain-slopes behind the settle-
ment. So taking a couple of natives with us we launch
our canoe one fine forenoon, and with a lively breeze are
soon slipping past Roch Island, the station of Nanchau-
Rerren of Annepein, who had lately entertained us at a
solemn feast. Between Roch and Laiap we pass a bed of
bright yellow sponges (Fata) showing up on a shelf about
four feet down on the edge of a detached reef. We hold
on our way, keeping out of the shallows as much as we
can. The rapid growth of the coralline formations bids
fair to speedily fill up the whole lagoon between the outer
reef and the shore. It requires considerable local know-
ledge to pick out the tau or deepwater passages in this
labyrinth of shoals. A little below Laiap we meet Chaulik
and his wife coming up from Ronkiti bringing news from
Nanapei that the mail steamer is expected on the 19th
instead of the 24th, and advising us not to make our
departure too late. The breeze holds, and by and by we
are off the mouth of the Ronkiti River close to the islet
of Tolotik (Little Hill). Of course, as usual, we find our-
selves stranded amongst the shallows, and have to get out
the four of us and shoulder her across, gingerly picking
O ,09
210 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
our way over numerous beds of prickly corals, with which
the detached reefs in the lagoon are thickly studded. To
the south-west Ant Atoll stands out in a long blue line.
Before us is a wide stretch of lagoon, down which we glide,
every now and then fending her off the stacks of coral which
rise within a foot or two of the surface of these variable
depths. We catch stray glimpses of brilliant sponges and
corals, quaint medusae and zoophytes, and of gorgeous
fish playing in and out of these submarine forests. We
pass three little islands to seaward, lying close to the
barrier reef — the central one, distinguished by a few palm-
trees springing out of it, is tenanted by one old fisherman.
Close to Kapara is seen a rather unusual sight — a spring
of fresh water bubbling up through the reef — a boon to
thirsty fishing parties. A similar phenomenon occurs near
Nei-Afu on Vavau in the Tonga group. In front of us the
hazy blue rounded outline of Tomara is backed by the
long wooded promontory into which the Paliker country
runs. With the slowly-rising tide we find ourselves off
the flats of Marau, amongst beds of seagrass, with a
curious round bald mountain showing up in the back-
ground. Wading along with our craft in tow we pick up
on our leisurely way a number of cockles and a spider-
crab of surpassing ugliness. We have to traverse a con-
siderable stretch of thick black mud, taking us up to the
knees at every step — by no means an uncommon thing
in the approach to a Ponapean settlement. At last we
reach firm ground, and are glad to take a bath in a clear,
shallow pool, into which the rivulet watering the settle-
ment is dammed as it pours into the salt marshes. About
two hundred yards climb inland stands the house of the
An, built on a high terrace of basalt blocks, some of con-
siderable bulk, resembling greatly the dwellings of the
Marquesan islanders standing out upon their solid paepaes
or platforms of stone.
A little higher, and the inland wilderness with its thick
tangle of forest, scrub, weeds and climbing vines, shuts in
FROM PANIAU TO MARAU 211
the little village. The clearing below is occupied by
banana and breadfruit trees and clumps of giant taro, a
tiny portion wrested from the all-prevailing jungle by the
patient labour of man. Around the house, Kava plants
are flourishing with their speckled stems, broad, dark-green
leaves, dangling catkins and spreading branches, the stalks
bulging out every four or five inches into knotty joints.
Masses of black rock lie scattered around carpeted with
the little veined leaves of betel-pepper vines, climbing and
clinging like ivy at home. A profusion of fern and plants
of the wild ginger kind add a fresh setting of verdure and
freshness to the woodland picture.
The good old man receives us with great cordiality,
for he has always been interested in the ancient history
and folk-lore of his people. Future voyagers in Pacific
waters should clearly understand that it is the old
generation not the new who give their minds to these
things. The new for the most part are in a transition
state. They are neither good heathens nor earnest
Christians. In this connection, and upon such a quest,
one fine old heathen who really knows something that
the white man hasn't taught him is worth a dozen
paltering mediocrities who have forgotten their own
history and swamped their identity ; whose only ideas
are to ape their white teachers in snuffling Bible texts
and grabbing dollars to buy cheap Manchester goods and
white men's luxuries, which they really do not need at
all.
The afternoon is far advanced. In the growing dusk,
under the influence of coffee and tobacco, the Au, whom
we have not hurried, but left to take his own time, starts
in first with personal reminiscences, harking back by and
by to things of ancient date. He tells us how, many
years ago, the supreme power over the four tribes of the
island was held by Chokach, until a Palang chief, appro-
priately named Chou-pei-achach (Man-fight-know-how),
roused the people from their apathy. Kiti then began
212 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
to be an independent power and the obstinate rival of her
neighbour Metalanim. Some while after, on the north
side, a portion of the Chokach folk broke away, forming
the independent fifth tribe of Not, which seems to occupy
in Ponapean politics the same place as the little republic
of San Marino in those of Italy.
Passing on to more ancient history and folk-lore, he
told us of the arrival of a large castaway canoe from the
south on the Paliker coast, with eight chiefs on board, who
settled in the country. Their sounding titles were :
Man-chai, Chiri-n-rok, Man-in-nok, Chinchich, Pairer,
Roki, Machan and Chei-aki.
A brief account of an ancient voyage of discovery I
give here, in which some may see evidence of a real
historical fact.
" Two brethren went northward from Ponape to seek
new lands, sailing many days in a big canoe. At length
they saw the midnight sky red with a great blaze of fire
as if of a million torches. In terror they turned and got
them back to their own land again." Another account
says that the elder brother perished, and that the Kotar
or kingfisher bird saved the younger, and carried him on
his back home again. Have we here a reference to the
great volcano of Kilauca of Hawaii in eruption ? An
ancient Raiatean tradition records a very similar pheno-
menon which scared away a party of Tahitian navigators.
The Marquesan islanders, whose ancestors were certainly
mingled with the Ponapeans, have a legend agreeing
thereto : —
" Great mountain ranges, mountains of Havaii,
Havaii, where the red flaming fire springs up."
" Aue mouna, mouna o Havaii,
Havaii tupu ai te ahi veavea."
Or, again, is the scene of the midnight sky on fire in one of
the northern Ladrone islands, where many active volcanoes
are always in play ? Some again may contend that the
FROM PANIAU TO MARAU 213
explorers penetrated into the zone, where the fiery lances
of the Aurora Borealis or Northern lights are visible
darting across the heavens. In any case the story illus-
trates the energy of early Caroline island navigators in
this great waste of waters.
We seek our rest early that night, for time presses, and
we must be stirring at dawn if the proposed exploration
of the ruins on the hill-top is to be a success. The morn-
ing turns out fine, and after hastily partaking of coffee
and biscuit we set forth on our winding path up the
mountain slopes, picking our way over stocks and stones,
hewing down all branches and boughs obstructing the
trail, burrowing through dense thickets of hibiscus, ever
and anon stooping down to collect some of the curious
flat spiral land-shells with which the ground is strewn,
called Chepei-en-kamotal or " the washing bowl of the
earth-worm." On we splash through shallow mountain
streams, scaring up half-wild hogs wallowing in the rich
black mud of the wayside pools — threading still shady
glens, but ever going upward and upward. At last we
pause awhile amongst a grove of sago-palms and moun-
tain plantains in a swampy little dell, watered by a briskly
flowing stream. By the side of the water lies a long
tapering slab of basalt rudely worked into the form of a
shark. It is some fifteen feet in length. A sharp three-
cornered ridge runs along the centre of the back ; the
dorsal fins are decidedly in evidence, and the tail dis-
tinctly indicated. The head is left pretty well to the
imagination. This is one of the rude Tikitik-en-ani or
images found here and there in Ponape, and dedi-
cated to presiding genii or guardian spirits of a com-
munity or family. (Compare Maori and Marquesan
Tiki and Tikitiki, an image.) This and Laponga's head
were the only ones I saw, but I have no doubt that there
are many more of them; and that the unconverted folk, as
well as many of the church members, have hidden them
away in odd nooks and corners, where they can secretly
214 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
have recourse to them at will in time of need. Such a
thing is quite in accordance with Ponapean character, and
really very natural. For the cult of old gods dies very
hard indeed all the world over. But the night of ignorance
is passing, as the gathering sunlight of science chases one
by one lingering superstitions like shadows from their
lurking-places. It may be observed that the sharks Pako
and Tanipa are held in great awe by the Ponapeans.
The cult of the shark is, or was, strong on the Ant Islands,
where there is a special holy place dedicated to that
divinity.
An hour's more climbing brings us to the edge of the
tableland close under the old fort, the scene of a great
battle a century ago between the King of Kiti and Chau-
Kicha, the chief of Wana, who besieged the king in his
stronghold and captured it, slaying him and many of his
chiefs and warriors. The enclosure forms a nearly com-
plete square, bulging out at the north-western angle.
The northern end along the Takiririn road was de-
fended by a row of palisades, for which system of forti-
fication the Ak or mangrove supplies excellent materials.
These estacadas de mangle gave the Spanish considerable
trouble to carry during the eventful two days' fighting
on the 22nd and 23rd of November, 1890, before the
strongly fortified post of Ketam. At Ketam these were
eleven feet high, in length six hundred and eighty yards,
and a foot in thickness. The positions of Chap-en-Takai
and Ketam are laid out pretty much on the same
pattern, the Ponapeans in ancient and modern times
being no mean proficients in fortification and the art
of war.
Proceeding along the south - east line of wall about
thirty paces, we came to a wide breach, through which,
tradition declares, the troops of Chau-Kicha, repulsed on
other sides, finally broke their way in. Doubtless some
excavations made hereabouts would bring to light many
interesting relics such as permachapang, or stone clubs,
FROM PANIAU TO MARAU 215
like the " mere " of the Maori, war-axes made out of
the centre shaft of the great Kima-cockle, and head
ornaments and necklaces of shell resembling the North
American Indian " wampum" with which these warriors
profusely adorned themselves on going into battle. The
name of the architect who built these walls is given as
Lumpoi-en-Chapal.
Passing along the Takiririn road we visited the site
of the old village at the north-western end. Close by
the site of the ill-fated King of Kiti's house we saw a
high raised platform called Mol-en-Nanamareki, where,
during the siege, the king with his councillor and war-
chief Kaeka used to sit in solemn council. Some of the
blocks of basalt composing the platform were near four
feet thick. The site of the king's house was occupied
by modern cook-houses newly thatched with sago-palm
leaves. Everywhere round were marks of recent cultiva-
tion, showing a practical and thrifty proprietor. There
were groves of breadfruit-trees and well-weeded rows of
plantains. Kava cuttings had been planted and were
thriving vigorously. Yam-vines were trained everywhere
along the tree-trunks, many of their leafy festoons turning
yellow and brown, a sign that the coveted tuber is ready
for digging. From the north-west corner at C, there
is a fine view of the broad pronged outline of the Ants,
and the three long islets of Pakin a little to the right.
Here we took our frugal noonday meal of cold cooked
breadfruit washed down with a few drinking-nuts. This
concluded, the Au and Nanchau suddenly find their
memories, and blossom out into a wealth of fairy tales
as fast as one can write them down.
Just where we were sitting, the King of Kiti and his
choicest warriors made their last stand. But the name
of this Ponapean Priam has gone down unchronicled into
the dust and shadow. On the north-west and south-east
sides of the fort the walls were either built much higher
or have been left in much better preservation. Some of
216 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
the blocks let into the masonry measure a yard across
the face, a yard in depth and four feet in length. The
height of the walls varies from six feet to twelve or
fourteen. Yet even here destruction has been busy, the
ground in front being strewn with fragments which have
from time to time toppled down. To judge from the
size of some of these fallen masses, the walls must once
have stood considerably higher. The greatest height is
found on the south-east side which faces a thickly
wooded slope of a hill-spur running down steeply towards
the sea. Here we remarked a high watch-tower (Im-ruk-
en-chilepa), so this side appears to have been particularly
well guarded against the approach of stealthy foemen
through the dense jungle stretching below.
The interior of the fort is thickly occupied by a be-
wildering growth of tall grasses, ferns, creepers, weeds,
and flowering shrubs, amongst which the handsome red
and yellow spikes of the Katiu (Ixora), the broad white
bells of the morning glory, and the brilliant blue petals of
a rough-leaved shrub called Mateu, are most conspicuous.
Our survey done we strike inland from the north-east
corner, where our guide promises to show us some further
remains. Presently we come upon an old stone platform
(Lempantam) embowered amongst a mass of wild ginger
plants. On it lies a broad and fiattish piece of basalt,
shaped like a long dish, deeply hollowed out in the
centre, wherein in olden times the Kava or Chakau root
was pounded up to make the national beverage for the
king and his court. This one bears the ceremonial name
of Pel-en-Mau (which either means Sacred to Good Pur-
pose, or The Pleasant House). The everyday name of
such implements is Pat-alap or Big Stone. (Cf. Sanskrit
Path, Pattar, Pattal — a stone ; Malay and Melanesian
Batu, and Philippine Bato — a stone ; Polynesian Hatu,
Whatu, Fatu, Atu — a stone.
Close here, about the year 1882, a small bronze cannon
was discovered and taken away by a party of explorers
FROM PANIAU TO MARAU 217
from the Lame, which circumstance may give some colour
to the ipse dixit of the Spanish, who insist that the ruins
on Ponape were the work of buccaneers or early naviga-
tors of their nation. The people of this very district of
Kiti have a tradition of a body of iron men who landed
on the island, and though assailed in superior force, long
defended themselves, and proved invulnerable against the
axes, clubs, darts, and slingstones. At last the natives
destroyed them by stabbing them through eye to brain
with their long lances. This reminds one of the tale told
in Herodotus of the brazen men whom an oracle pre-
dicted should come out of the sea to help Psammitichus to
his promised kingdom of Egypt. Doubtless some of the
light armed Egyptians tried the same experiment with
success against Psammitichus' mail-clad Carians. From
the Kiti tradition we may safely infer the destruction of a
landing party of men in mail from a vessel or vessels of
some early navigator in these seas.
A little further on and we come upon five round stones
(Pai-n-uet, lucky pebbles) shaped like cannon balls, lying
side by side in a hollow. " I see the eggs and the nest,"
said I to the Au, in the figurative way natives like, " but
where are the birds that laid them ? Do you think they
would miss one if I took it ? " The old man cackles
feebly, but assuming a serious tone : " The birds," says
he, " are nearer than you think." He declares that the
air is full of viewless eyes of spirits viewing us, and that
serious results would follow meddling with the stones,
which, it appears, are used now and then for some sort of
divination. This place is called Itet, and the precinct
Pan-Katara, and a pile or stack of masonry close at hand
Nan-Tauach, three names borrowed from the holy places
of Nan-Matal over the Metalanim border. Do we not
see here history repeating itself as usual ? Kiti is jealous
of the shrines of her hated rival Metalanim, and founds
for herself a hallowed place of pilgrimage and worship
under the sanctifying denominations of old traditional
218 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
landmarks, the very names of which carry with them
some degree of indefinable prestige. The rival shrines of
Bethel and Jerusalem, and the divided papacy of Rome
and Avignon, are distinct cases in point in parallel
history.
The precinct called Pan-Katara, unlike its weird and
desolate prototype of Metalanim, is bordered with patches
of the Kava plant, and shadowed by some fine Kangit
trees. Nan-Tauac/i is a pile of masonry built up of the
usual basalt blocks. It measures ten feet in height, thirty
feet in length, and thirty in breadth, densely overgrown
with brushwood. Formerly it was a very sacred spot.
In the middle on top are two holes eight feet in depth,
the graves of the ill-fated King of Kiti and his marshal
Kaeka, who were interred here after the great battle in
which they fell. The masonry is built up after the style
of its Metalanim namesake ; but as often happens with
imitations, the work is on a smaller scale and the work-
manship lacks finish. Upon the island of Ngatik (Ravens
Isle), some thirty miles away down to the west, is another
Pankatara— a rude stack of stones — partly thrown down
of late by the vandal hands of native converts.
Some years ago the fiat stones covering these pits were
removed by searchers for the mom uaitata or red money,
i.e. gold. Some lunatic or other, presumably as a practical
joke, had been putting in circulation all manner of cock-
and-bull stories about hidden treasure. Nothing, however,
but a few mouldering bones rewarded their search. Pro-
bably if they had found money they would not have paid
their debts. Nan-Tauach proves to be our guide's trump
card, and we wend our weary way homeward. Going
down is worse than coming up, but we fight our way on
through trackless mazes of Kalau, over fallen trunks of
trees, and through mud-puddles and stone-paved torrent
beds, till patience well nigh wears herself out. Late in
the afternoon we limp into a little clearing, weary,
bedraggled and mud-daubed — a sorry spectacle for saints
FROM PANIAU TO MARAU 219
and sinners. Not so, however, to a mirthful company of
some forty persons there collected. An important cere-
mony— the building of a council-lodge — has just been
concluded for the day, and another equally important —
the feeding of the hungry clan who have toiled fasting
during all the fiery tropical sunshine — is just going to
begin. The sewers of palm-leaf thatch, the plaiters of
house-mats, the hewers of wood, the stone-workers, and
the carpenters and joiners, are knocking off work. The
deft fingers of the shutter-weavers are ceasing, gathering
the stalks of slender cane and reed-grass into neat bundles
for the morrow's task.
A vast pile of native food lies hard by ; plenty for all
and to spare, for native hospitality does not do things by
halves. To be styled niggard, or one who grudges meat
to his neighbour, is to suffer nearly the uttermost taunt in
the Ponapean vocabulary, and, indeed, in the Pacific
lands in general.
Pending the distribution of the food we converse with
the young chief for whom the house is being built, whose
pleasant open countenance prepossesses one directly in
his favour.
The folk here rarely stir abroad, and view with the
deepest interest the advent of a white visitor from the
wondrous island, rich in ships and sailors, far across the
seas, dim rumours of whose teeming cities and their
wealth have reached even this little spot. The greatest
respect is shown us. The feelings of a courteous host
overcome the inborn curiosity of our new friend, who is
really anxious to be asking questions, but refrains for fear
of being troublesome from pure natural politeness. How-
ever, we are soon chatting away as if we had known each
other for years, discussing all manner of social and
political questions, and, as it were, making an exchange
of our experiences. Tales of the wars in Europe, and
deadly modern engines of war, particularly rivet his
attention. In return he deals with the history of his own
220 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
people, not with authority as the Au, but modestly as an
inquiring student (what south-western Polynesians call
" a child of the Red House "). He shows great surprise
at the close resemblance of Samoan, Tahitian and
Marquesan numerals, and other key words to those in his
native tongue ; and is fairly amazed when shown over
what enormous stretches of ocean these families of a
kindred race lie scattered. When told of that great
statesman Sir George Grey's magnificent dream of the
federation of all the Isles of the Pacific under the
British flag, he was greatly moved, and declared his
opinion in no doubtful fashion. " It is indeed well," says
he, " one family, one flag. The sea-girt lands will hold
together like one household, the people will plant the
ground and gather the fruits in security, and war will
vanish as the night at sunrise."
I have dwelt somewhat at length on this conversation,
because it is an excellent sample of many others held
with friendly chiefs throughout the five tribes. It re-
dounds greatly to the honour of our nation, the confidence
and goodwill so widely established in the Carolines and
elsewhere by the whisper of that open sesame name of
" English." As I heard an old Cornish friend say of the
Samoan, " They know who's kind to them."
It is now time for the portioning out of the food.
Saturday here, as in Samoa and other islands, is the day
for cooking quantities of food to last over till Monday.
It is no working-man's half holiday, but often a day of
hard, honest work. A very active old man, and two or
three young fellows with him, pounce upon the heap, and
in a trice fish out four large baskets filled with baked
yams, fermented breadfruit {mar), and cooked plantains.
These, together with a baked sucking pig, he and his
acolytes lay before the chief as his share. The merry
old gentleman then hastens, or rather dances, back,
skipping about vigorously, showering around him plen-
teous jokes and japes. It seems to be expected of him,
FROM PANIAU TO MARAU 221
and every jest is honoured with hearty laughter. Without
delay, up comes the English visitor's portion. A haunch
and shoulder of roast pork, a large baked breadfruit,
a remarkably fine green drinking coconut, a cooked
sprouting nut — a dainty much relished by the Ponapeans
— and a package of Itiit for dessert, a sweetmeat made
of scraped yam and coconut-cream, twisted up into a
dracaena leaf, and baked together into a cake in the
earth-oven. Looking round, one is struck with the
colour-note of red and yellow running through the
buzzing assembly. Most of the young bucks (Pon-
macku) are dressed in bright orange-yellow kilts with
scarlet woollen borders. The same hues appear here"and
there amongst the gowns of the women folk, who look
like a bed of tulips in full bloom. Altogether the scene
recalls the brightly-coloured Sunday-school illustrations
of patriarchal times, to which illusion the noble Semitic
profiles of many of the company lend some emphasis.
Many of the workmen have by their side long, slightly
curved knives, which give quite a warlike touch to the
picture. By and by two young men come down the
hill bearing a large newly uprooted Kava-plant between
them. The ever-ready knives are brought into play, and
the top branches quickly lopped off. The stems are
pruned of leaves, cut into yard - lengths, and tied in
bundles for planting. The sharp edge of a cockle
is used in the pruning. Numbers of the shells lie
strewn about, showing a large annual consumption
of this leathery bivalve. The assembly now breaks
up, streaming downhill to the Lodge by the water
side, where the Kava root is being prepared with
pestle and mortar ; and the modulated ringing of the
stones, like hammer on anvil, is pealing up cheerfully
through the greenwood. The chief, who is dead lame
from a fearful abscess in the ankle, is carried down on the
shoulders of the merry old gentleman. Amidst polite
greetings we enter the Lodge, where ten or twelve
222 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
men, whose faces are new to me, are sitting. Four
are busily engaged pounding Kava on the ground
below. We ascend the platform, and are warmly wel-
comed by one of the strangers, who turns out to be the
brother of our excellent old friend, Chau-Wana of Mount
Roi, with whom we have spent sundry merry meetings.
Here again it is borne in upon us how well it is for a
traveller in these parts to be backed by a substantial
introduction from a chief of recognised status — the older
the better. The visitors will be sure of a cordial reception,
the cloak of suspicion and reserve with which every native
wraps himself in self-defence will be thrown off, and a
little geniality will do all the rest. In due time the
aromatic national beverage is ceremoniously handed
round, pipes are lit, and our hosts wax communicative
on the subject of seasons, constellations, guiding stars,
and early navigation, cheerfully adding their quota to
the notes already in hand. The entertainment winds
up with some fine war-songs roaring out in a deep,
sonorous chime, resembling in cadence and intonation
the songs of my old friends the Marquesan islanders, who
in many another striking way show a decided relationship
with the Ponapeans. At length we take our departure,
and soon arrive home, pushing through dripping woods in
a heavy rainstorm, which has come down on us out of the
stormy north.
Supper awaits us, and with sharpened appetites we are
sitting down to despatch it, when two young men arrive
in a small canoe from the island of Mang, up by the
Paliker coast, to announce to the Au that a chief lady,
a near relation of his, is lying at the point of death, and
earnestly begging him to come to her side. Our poor
old host, evidently in great distress, with many apologies
for having to leave us, hastily takes his departure, refusing
all refreshment, and leaving us in charge of his wife,
whose kindly solicitude for our comfort seems to outweigh
her own private griefs. Immediately after his leaving,
FROM PANIAU TO MARAU 223
a thick, black squall comes humming over the waters,
with a fresh tremendous downpour of rain. With sym-
pathy we picture the old man toiling on in a little canoe
through the mirk of the night in that howling welter of
winds and waters, to obey the sacred duty of kinship and
family affection which calls him, aged, infirm, and fasting,
to face the bitter elements. Indeed, some of our people
at home who talk of virtue and duty as if they had in-
vented them, might well be instructed by the example of
the unselfish Au.
Under the circumstances, unwilling to intrude upon
their griefs, and to burden their hospitality further, we
decide to leave. The heart of our kind entertainer's wife
is gladdened with the present of a bundle of strong
tobacco, a black silk handkerchief, and a fine Sheffield
blade, stamped with the magic words " Made in Germany?
The sky is heavily overcast, threatening rain, and
faithfully it keeps its promise. We arrive at Paniau
after an unpleasant morning's voyage, and forthwith
engage in busy preparations for getting the shells and
other curios ready packed for the mail. Two trying
days follow. We pursue our outdoor work under the
discomfort of a ceaseless downpour and a chilling wind,
disinterring frail upon frail of evil-smelling shells from
their sandy burrows, and carefully cleaning and packing
them in wisps of grass to prevent breakage. All join
cheerfully in the work, and at last the monotonous task is
ended by the ready co-operation of deft and willing hands.
The last day but one of my stay on Paniau, we made
up a little party to go ashore at Tiati and say goodbye to
our friend Chau-Wana and his household, who had treated
us so kindly. In the afternoon Nanchau, Eta and I,
climbed Chila-U, the " Adze-head Rock," from which we
had a fine view of Mutok Harbour and the richly-forested
lowlands. In the evening the Tiati folk gave a feast, and
many people from the outer districts came in with little
presents and with kindly expressions of goodwill to their
224 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
honoured guest and comrade about to cross the great
water.
Cheerless and grey broke the day of my departure,
the bay ruffled with gusts and squalls of wind and sheets
of driving rain. If ever I saw unfeigned sorrow and
regret upon human face I saw it in those of my panainai,
companions and friends of many a pleasant expedition.
Our leave - taking was affecting. Poor old Nanchau
and his wife quite broke down, and some of the others
were very little better. I had hardly looked for such
strong sympathy and feeling in the stern, rugged, and
seemingly apathetic Caroline island character. But it
was even so, and I shall think of them all my life the
better for it. It was hard to go, and getting ready was
sad work, but it was over at last.
As I clambered on board the heavily - laden sailing
boat which had done such good service, and as I turned
and looked back, the western sun broke through the clouds
and threw a feeble watery ray upon the pensive and sad-
faced knot of men and women clustered on the little white
beach, backed by a waving belt of wind-swept palms.
CHAPTER XV
PANIAU TO COLONY, THENCE TO GUAM AND YAP
THE little green island sinks astern, and we run down
the Kiti coast in the early afternoon, putting in at
night-fall at Ronkiti to say goodbye to Nanapei, who just
then was in great trouble owing to the illness of Nalio,
his mother, who died a few days after. About mid-
night came a high tide, upon which we passed out over
the sand and mud-banks, and the morning found us rock-
ing in a dead calm in the lagoon off Tauak Island. Later
on a breeze sprang up and brought us up towards the
Paip-Alap or Great Cliff of Chokach.
We sighted a large vessel ahead. By the smoky trail
behind her on the sea-line we made her out to be the
Correo, or Mail, steaming out of the north down upon
Ascension Bay, whereupon we row along with a will, for
we know she only stays a night in port, and we have still
much work to do. We pass the islet of Tolotik or " Little
Hill," steering carefully clear of numerous blocks of honey-
combed limestone that stud the boat passage. To the
right of us towers the Paip-Alap, a sheer bluff nearly a
thousand feet in height above dense hanging woods on a
little promontory where, shaded by a huge Tupap or
Umbrella Tree, lives the Nallaim or High Priest of
Chokach, an aged patriarch and very wise, who knows
the names of kings and heroes of old and the ceremonies
due to the ancient gods of the land- — himself one of the
last of the old generation, whom alas ! I have left un-
interviewed, and now perhaps shall never meet at all. A
little further on lies the Tanipach or abode of the Wachai,
P
226 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
and the modest little Catholic chapel nestling under wav-
ing woods. Yet further, and we sight the Nach and the
dwelling of the Nanekin, scene of the massacre of Ensign
Martinez and his party in 1887. Above us are opening
out the peaks and ridges at the back of Chokach's great
seaward scarp, but the north-west horn of the island which
shuts out the Colony from our view is not yet passed.
This day the sides of the great precipice show out
wondrously in the rays of the rising sun. The cliff-
face shows a strongly-marked formation of columnar
basalt, like that of the Giant's Causeway and the South
Cape of Tasmania. Right under the great pile, one
views in the solid rock stripes and veinings of umber
and slaty-grey with vivid velvety black splashes of rich
volcanic soil, washed and filtered down from the highlands
above. The effect is further diversified by ledges of
shimmering herbage where flying seeds of grass or weed
or fern have lodged. On the summit, far, far above
our heads, wave clumps of pandanus and the native
gardenia, flinging out their feathery outline against the
sky, firm-rooted on the verge of the dizzy gulf of air.
As the north-west side of the island opens up to us
broadside on, we catch sight of another rocky and
precipitous mass, similar in shape but smaller, and
topped by a peak like an obelisk ; and on the further
side overlooking the Tau-Mokata boat-passage which
divides Chokach from the mainland, a third wall of
basalt looks down on the swamps and their shadowing
maze of mangroves. In the middle of the island is a
great break or cleft, a regular chine, through which a
narrow path, leading across the island, runs over the
dividing saddle of mountain amidst dense groves
chequered with tiny native dwellings lying back in
their clearings and sending up faint blue wreaths of
smoke in the early morning air. This side of the island
has the most population, and one views the rude cabins
of the settlers perched high amongst hanging woods
PANIAU TO COLONY, GUAM AND YAP 227
like the peasants' chalets fringing the wooded heights
round Altdorf or some Unterwalden hamlet in Switzer-
land's forest cantons. On this side of Chokach the
groves of breadfruit are magnificent, the greater and
lesser banyan, the towering Chatak or Elceocarpus, the
Tree-Gardenia, and the Mango, lending their peculiar
nuance to a rich panorama of glancing tints of green.
Before us stretches the low mangrove-covered islet of
Taka-tik or Little Island, and the basaltic round of
Langar is emerging in the background with a couple of
the German firm's trading vessels lying at anchor in
the bay off the long low wharf, and right ahead shows
up clear and clearer the long hill-ridge of Not Point
and the hulk at her moorings below the little settlement
of Villa Madrid, whilst in the centre of the harbour the
Uranus has just dropped anchor with a host of boats
and canoes swarming round her.
Taka-tik once passed, it did not take us long to reach
the Santiago wharf, and a busy day of packing we had
of it, the boys turning to with a will, as Ponapeans are
wont to do for their friends when really wanted.
By sunset all was in order for the departure of the
Uranus on the morrow at noon. A farewell visit had
been paid to the Spanish Governor, and to my kindly
hosts, the captain and officers of the Quiros, as well
as the priests and the courteous local medico. I deter-
mined to spend my last night ashore with my good
old friend Dr Kubary at Mpompo. So taking with
me Kaneki, whom, for his fidelity to me the Spaniards
dubbed El secretario, I passed through the sentries on
watch by virtue of the password for the night given
us by the polite captain of Infantry. Kubary, hale and
hearty as ever, had just returned from a long tramp
over the hills collecting landshells, his latest hobby. The
reader can guess how two enthusiasts sat far into the
night in earnest discussion upon the mystery of the
strange lands around them, whilst the faithful Kaneki,
228 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
worn out with his exertions, curled up in his cloak on the
mats and slept peacefully at his master's feet.
In my mind's eye I see my bluff host sitting in his great
cane chair, spectacles on nose, with his specimen-cases,
instruments, books and pamphlets around him, peering
keenly into the hieroglyphs of some huge German tome
of science to wrest therefrom some happy illustration of
his theme. And this was the last I saw of Kubary,
ablest and sturdiest of Germany's pioneers of science in
Pacific waters.
The 22nd of October dawns, the last day of my stay
in Ponape. The scent of the pandanus flowers hangs
heavy on the air as a wreath of incense, and the birds
are singing blithe in bush as we walk down through the
glades on that fair and golden early morning. I take
my final plunge in a cool deep fern-fringed basin where
a brawling torrent purls down from its rain-swept home
in the cloud-capped hills.
Many and cordial are the leave-takings with native
and European in the Colony, but I get away at last with
my trusty crew bending sturdily to their oars under the
stimulus of the last glass of the good padre's Benedictine.
It is now broad noon. The Uranus, good old sea grey-
hound, is already straining at her leash, black smoke
pouring thick from her funnels as she vibrates with the
churning of her suddenly-awakened screw. In a trice my
boxes are hoisted and handed on board, the word to start
is given, and we are off and sweeping out of the bay with
the parting cheers of my crew ringing out gallantly in our
wake. Little by little the great scarp of Chokach and
the cloud-capped peak of Kupuricha sink into grey
distance behind, and the lofty island is left ere long a
mere blur on the great waters as we tear on into the dark
north-west. We are making for Guam (Guahan), southern-
most of that strange chain of volcanic islands running
down into the Micronesian area from out the maze of
shimas or islets which so thickly sprinkle the ocean south
PANIAU TO COLONY, GUAM AND YAP 229
of Japan and the sister chain of the Lew-Chews (Ryu-
Kyu).
Our voyage to Guam was fair and uneventful. We
sighted no land, the captain as usual holding her course well
to the north of the reefs and low-lying atolls of the Central
Carolines. The Uranus people had much to tell of the pro-
gress of the Revolution in the Philippines up to the 8th of
October, the day on which she left Manilla. There had been
a brisk skirmish at Santa Misa at the north-west suburb of
the city, close to the country house of the English Club,
on which occasion fifty Spanish artillerymen and about
seven hundred loyal natives met and defeated a mob of
two thousand rebels. The new rifles employed by the
victors inflicted severe punishment. A hundred and four
rebels were killed outright, and many more wounded and
taken prisoners. A number of the latter were sentenced
to be shot, amongst them my poor photographer, who,
tired of honest employment, had elected to take part in
this his last piece of mischief.
If all reports are true, tortures were freely lavished
upon many of the wretched Filipino captives worthy of
the most palmy days of the Inquisition — as they lay in
the dungeons of the Old town. If so, it must not be for-
gotten that the rebels had committed horrible atrocities
in the rising. One padre at the capture of Imus was
impaled, dying in frightful and lingering torments, another
was crucified under a blazing sun, and a third chained to
a stake, his robes saturated with petroleum and set in a
blaze. Unarmed Spaniards were murdered and their
corpses chopped in pieces, their wives and daughters
reserved for a worse fate at the hands of a dastardly
rabble, who at the sight of a dozen English blue-jackets
would have run for their lives — aye, and be running still.
At the time of the Uranus leaving, thirteen of these
gentle rebels had been shot in Cavite, and eight on the
Luneta esplanade in Manilla. Twenty-one were in safe,
but uncomfortable, keeping, waiting to be shot on the
230 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
day following — a most laudable clearance of worthless
ruffians.
The days passed pleasantly enough. The officers were
courteous, and all arrangements on board of a distinctly
comfortable order. Our hours for meal-times were some-
what curious. Breakfast a la fourchette at ten, and dinner
at five. Coffee is served in the early morning, supple-
mented if required by an omelette or rich pancake — eggs
being as plentiful on board as they were scarce on
Ponape. Reading the Manilla journals and diarios was
entertaining work. The style in places was comically
bombastic and full of startling drops into pathos and
sentimentality. The chief engineer, coming from the
Basque country, gave me a number of remarkable words
in that tongue, which I shall certainly hand over one
day, along with a choice assortment of Pelew and other
harsh-sounding dialect forms, to some skilled philologist
for dissection. Only I must find one with lips as elastic
as caoutchouc, and lungs of brass and leather ; and, above
all, a sound dental apparatus, or I should have my fears
of his talking-tackle going to pieces in the process.
On the seventh day out the limestone cliffs of Guam
were seen emerging on the sky-line, and late at night we
lay at the Port Luis anchorage. In the morning I went
ashore in the ship's boat, and without waiting for one of
the primitive carriages, marched the five miles to Agana
on foot. I proceeded to the house of Henry M., an
American resident, to whom I had an introduction, an
excellent fellow, who received me most hospitably, and
took me round to see the parish priest, Padre Jose
Palomo, who gave me some interesting information
about the Ladrone group. To him also I owe a long
list of words in the old language of the Chamorros, which
now is greatly mixed with Spanish, and rapidly becoming
one of the vanished tongues. I also obtained a complete
list of the ancient numerals, and all tallied wonderfully
with the vocabulary collected by Chamisso in 1814, a
PANIAU TO COLONY, GUAM AND YAP 231
fact of which I was then ignorant. The Chamorro dialect
in grammar is akin to the Tagala and Pampang of the
Philippines, and to the Favorlang of Formosa. In
vocabulary and phonesis it has something peculiar to
itself. Some of the words much resemble those in the
Sulu Archipelago. There are a few Aino traces, and
rather a large number of words akin to those current in
the Polynesian dialects. There are several clearly-defined
cognates with Sanskrit, such as Fa/ma, mast ; Skt, Falan ;
Pagua, areca palm ; Skt, Pug ; Pupul, pepper, Kava ;
Skt., Pipal, pepper ; Paka, white ; Skt, Pak, bright ; Lada,
an orange-red dye-wood (Morinda) ; Skt, Rata, (1) red,
(2) dyed, coloured ; Luluk, Lulik, iron ; Skt., Lauh, Lauk.
Padre Jose made much of the ruins upon the neighbouring
islands of Saipan, Rota, and Tinian, which I much re-
gretted being unable to visit this time, and firmly re-
solved to thoroughly explore on my return. He told me
also of a cave upon Guam, near the village of Ina-rahan,
near Agana, the walls of which are covered with hierogly-
phical characters inscribed by one of the ancient queens
of the island. There seems no reason why the Chamorros
should not have had an ancient written character like
their neighbours the Tagals of the Philippines and the
allied Malays of Java, Sumatra, Celebes, and Macassar.
It does not seem unnatural that owing to long oceanic
isolation of the Chamorros, and, a fortiori, the Micro-
nesians, who dwell still further away from the civilised
Indonesian area, the art of writing during process of long
generations, should have more and more fallen into the
hands of an intelligent minority who alone could interpret
and explain the import of the signs. Finally it would be
lost, with the exception of just such traces as the above.
Or, again, as in Ponape, the word for writing would be
merged in that for tattooing or commemoration. {Cf.
Ponape Intin, Inting, to write, tattoo ; Intant, name,
fame, renown ; the Lampong of Sumatra has Untang-
untang, written law ; Sulu Archipelago, Indan, to write
232 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
or engrave.) It would thus be very interesting to find
out whether the old Chamorros did have an alphabet of
their own, and perhaps even to discover tablets inscribed
with the annals of the olden time and the deeds of native
kings long prior to the Spanish conquest.
Until sunset the good padre sat and conversed, for the
most part in excellent English. I found to my surprise
that upon the island of Saipan there is a colony of Caro-
line islanders, mostly drawn from the central groups, and
grievously tantalised I felt at having to return with such
precious ethnographical material almost within my grasp.
But I steeled my heart and took my leave, more deter-
mined than ever to revisit the group in a year or two, of
which notion my worthy host M., with whom I spent the
evening, approved, and promised me all the assistance in
his power on my return.
Next morning we drove down to Port Luis together.
The road passes over several small bridges spanning
narrow rivulets (saddug) which drain the rich lowlands
stretching back to the line of limestone cliffs through
which the moisture filters down from the moors. Pictur-
esque native houses, like those in the Manilla suburbs,
peep out on either side of the road amongst taro and
banana plantations. Coconut palms (Nidjok) fringe the
wayside which runs along the sea, separated from the
beach by a narrow belt of palms, hibiscus and pandamis,
with an occasional yam-patch or pineapple clearing. The
reef only lies some two hundred yards off shore. Here
very fine specimens of uncommon shells can be picked up
at low tide, but hardly anybody takes notice of them.
We arrived at the village of Asan around which are
beds of a white lily with yellow calix, variously called in
Micronesia Kiop, Gieb, Kiuf, and Kief. To our left lies a
stretch of swampy land, which the local peasantry are
getting ready for the planting of rice {Fat). This was a
well-defined branch of industry of the natives prior to the
conquest of 1570, which the Spanish chronicler remarks
PANIAU TO COLONY, GUAM AND YAP 233
upon as a fact of peculiar interest — as indeed it is. It is
doubtless due to the occasional visits in early times of
Chinese or Japanese trading vessels. {Fun-Tan, the
Marianne God of fishermen and sailors, probably is the
Japanese Fune-Dama, the god of ships and navigation.)
A glance at any good chart of this part of the Pacific will
show the great probability of such occasional visits, even
if they were not regularly kept up. The word Fat, rice,
like the corresponding word Mai, Komai, in Yap, where
however the grain is not regularly under cultivation,
answers to the Chinese and Japanese word Mai.
In the background the hill of Nagas looks down upon
marsh and meadow. The rounded limestone formation
here resembles nothing so much in outline as one of the
ancient robber-castles perched on a hillside by the Rhine.
We reach the village of Tipungan embowered in groves
of orange-trees (Kahit), and load up the trap with a plenti-
ful supply of the fruit thereof, with the aid and entire
concurrence of the polite village headman. Hereabouts
we met C. on horseback, a lively young American trader,
who had been with R. L. Stevenson in the Gilberts, and
who now, to his vast content, finds himself located in this
pleasant little spot, where, he informs us, the climate is
first rate, one's neighbours decent folk, and the lasses
wonderfully agreeable, and pretty as a peep-show. Soon
after leaving our Bohemian acquaintance we reached Port
Luis, and just looking in to see Joe Wilson, the harbour-
master, we got a boat and rowed on board the Uranus,
where we had a very jovial breakfast-party together.
We left about noon, reaching Yap the next day but one,
where I disembarked bag and baggage, boxes, books and
bottles upon Gerard's islet of Ngingich, pending the arrival
of Captain O'Keefe, my agent and banker, in whose hands
I am to place myself.
PART IV
CHAPTER XVI
DESCRIPTION OF YAP ; TOMIL TO LAI
THE following is based on that given by the Spanish
historian Dr Cabeza Pereiro, now supplemented by-
observations of my own made on the spot. The Yap
group consists of one main island situated 1440 17' east
longitude and 900 28' north latitude, with the islands of
Map and Ramung to the north, which appear to have
been torn away by volcanic forces, being only separated
from each other by a narrow channel easily fordable at
low tide. The other islets are called Tapelau, Engnoch,
Tarrang, Obi, and Impakel. Yap is surrounded by a
coral reef some thirty-five miles long and some five broad.
The main island seems to owe its origin to an elevation
of the sea bottom. Towards the north it is nearly cut in
two at the isthmus of Girrigir. In the north and central
part of the island there is a range of hills of slight eleva-
tion which does not exceed 1000 feet, and whose slopes
distribute the rain-water to the low-lying districts.
Rivulets (Lul) are very scarce, and when any considerable
time passes without rain the water runs short. The
population amounts to some 8000. The folk apparently
belong to the Malay race, with a Dra vidian substratum,
and a slight mixture of Polynesian. Our Spaniard refers
them to the Battak type, and declares that they are in-
clined to be hospitable, but revengeful in character when
they conceive that their honour is insulted. Which
may very well be so. They are not particularly
234
DESCRIPTION OF YAP 235
cordial to strangers, and they often fail to keep their
word. Their character is peaceable and apathetic. They
are fond of fishing, and their robustness of body and
docile nature make them well adapted for all sorts of
labour, though in general they are lazy Socially they
are divided into four classes — magicians, nobles, rich men,
and slaves. Their houses are solidly built of breadfruit
and callophyllum wood, artistic in form, thatched with
nipa palm and pandanus leaf. The walls are of light
canes bound in rows with a cording of cinet or coconut
fibre.
Yap does not produce many timber-trees. The island
is surrounded by a belt of coconut palms about half a
mile in thickness. No cereal is under cultivation, and
rice cannot be acclimatized. Maize would apparently yield
well, but the Spanish have not tried it. The country
produces in great abundance sweet potatoes, various kinds
of yam, giant taro, mammee apples, pineapples, plantains,
sugar-cane, breadfruit (" Thau ") and the tropical almond
(Terminalia Catappa).
Captain Butron of the Velasco, sunk in the late action
in Manilla Bay, gives the following information on the
prevailing winds: —
The north-east monsoon comes on from September to
October, veering occasionally to the east, from which
quarter its force is increased. The south-west begins in
June and July.
We are indebted to poor Captain Holcombe for a more
detailed account of the winds and their seasons.
January
and
Calms and variable winds. Towards
February I enc* °^ montn co°l breezes.
March Occasional hard squalls. Monsoon loses
somewhat of its force.
April Calm and variable winds. Latter half
of month fresh breezes.
May Calm. Breezes less frequent.
236 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
These 3 [June and "} Calm, occasionally showers of rain. Light
months j-and pleasant breezes.
form the-\ July J Calm. Variable towards end. Showery.
rainy Season of typhoon ( Yeko) begins. Yap
season. I August lies in the very centre of these disturbances
which pile up terrible seas, much dreaded
by native voyagers.
September"! are like the three preceding months. With
and \ October ends the probable season of the
October J typhoons, though they have been known
to occur as late as December.
November Light and variable winds and calms, and
towards end of month north-east, veering
to east. The winds hold strong and full,
with but little rainfall.
During the south-west monsoon, which begins in June,
the days are calm and there are heavy dews and much
moisture, and from the middle of July to the beginning
of August there are heavy rains. During the north-east
monsoon the weather is dry and there is little dew.
Typhoons are not uncommon between August and
December.
The temperature varies from about 740 to 8o°
Fahrenheit.
Before describing the architecture of the club houses
and the ancient tombs, I must call attention to the
peculiar coinage or medium of exchange in Yap. First
and foremost comes the stone money, which consists of
limestone or arragonite wheels, varying from six or eight
inches to twelve feet in diameter. These from their bulk
form a most unwieldy medium of exchange. A man who
had extensive business debts to meet would need a
whole fleet of canoes or some ten yoke of buffaloes or
bullocks and a waggon to transport his specie. Gener-
ally speaking, however, these stones are more for show
and ornament than for use. The village club houses are
called Fe-bai or stone money-houses, from the wheels of
-k)
DESCRIPTION OF YAP 237
stone which rest against their walls. In any of the
settlements these great discs or wheels may be seen
outside the houses of the Madangadang or plutocrat class,
which here as well as elsewhere enjoy considerable dis-
tinction in national councils.
A perfect pair of large shells, the valves of the pearl
oyster, are also highly valued, and used as money. The
natives call them Yar-ni-Balao, i.e. Pelew island shells, for
the early Yap navigators, with the usual recklessness of
folk of Malayan extraction, used to make extensive forays
on the pearl-shell beds of their long-suffering neighbours
of the Pelew group, and were forced at last to make their
title good by many obstinate battles by land and sea.
The smaller specimens of pearl-shell they used to thread
upon strings of hibiscus fibre or cinnet, about twenty on a
line, to be employed as small change. In these days,
however, bags of copra or dried coconut kernel {Tutu-ni-
fatuis-a-marau) are employed as a medium of exchange.
This is produced in great abundance despite occasional
typhoons from the north, which make great havoc in the
palm-groves, and occasions no small rivalry amongst the
trading fraternity. It may be observed that in the
northern islands of Yap and Ramung and the wilder
parts of the main island the money of the white man,
whether English, Spanish, or American, is hardly ever
accepted as legal tender, and it is only in the settlements
around the Spanish colony in Tomil Bay that the natives
have learned to recognise its value.
There is yet another treasure highly prized in Yap,
but which from its comparative rarity is seldom bartered.
It is a coarse shaggy white mat, resembling nothing so
much as goat or dogskin ; it is made from the beaten-
out bark of the Kal or lemon hibiscus tree. It is not for
use, but merely for show, and is always kept religiously
rolled up in a safe corner. It is exactly the counterpart
of the Ie-sina of Samoa, a white shaggy mat made out of
the fibres of the bark of a forest-tree, a species of Ramie.
238 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
After setting things in order on Ngingich I visited F.
at Rul over the bay and met there his local trader
Evan Lewis from Lai on the south coast, a worthy
old Welshman who has married a Marianne wife and
is blessed with a numerous family. Lewis had been
in Lamotrek and Uleai, and readily agreed to put me
up for a few days and assist me to gain information
both from the Lai natives and from his own stock of
knowledge. Next day Lewis brought up his vessel,
and after taking in all needful supplies we dropped
down the coast with a fine south-west breeze. Our vessel
was China-rigged, i.e. her mainsail has six or seven
supplementary bamboo yards running all the way across
it ; this makes the boat sail closer up into the wind,
and answer the helm more speedily. This method was
introduced into Yap about eighteen years ago by a
trading-skipper named Captain Holcombe — murdered
a little while ago in a mutiny which arose among his
crew off the Gilolo passage. It was not long before
Lewis started with reminiscences of the ways of the
Lamotrek islanders. " These people," said he, " have
a regular grace before meat like Christians. When the
fish is taken cooked out of the oven, before they taste
a solitary fragment, one of them takes a bit from the
head and solemnly mutters, ' Ka Toulop ami ' — ' Do thou
bless me, oh Toutop.' This Toutop is a Deity greatly
honoured in the Lamotrek Pantheon. Then he throws
away the bit, and the people immediately begin their
meal. But if anyone were to partake of the food before
the blessing was asked, the fishermen would have no
luck any more, but storms and heavy gales. For Toutop,
like the rest of the Caroline gods, is very jealous of
any slight put upon him."
We sweep along, tacking every now and then to
avoid the numerous weirs of stone and canework (Thagal
and Aech) with which Yap fishermen have industriously
filled the shallow lagoon that girdles their coasts. Look-
TOMIL TO LAI 239
ing to landward every now and then, one after another
of the great Bachelor Halls or Club-houses with its
peculiar high-pointed gables and projecting eaves shows
up inshore and is swallowed up in the succeeding scenes
of ever-shifting woods and waters. On either hand
light native craft every now and then pass, hail us,
and shoot away with a flirt of the dripping paddle.
And Lewis, having got fairly upon his hobby, continues
his parable thusly : —
" For four days before a fishing expedition the Lamo-
trek natives sleep apart from their wives. They go
out fasting in order to ensure success. When they
make their first haul they drink one green coco-nut
apiece, and put in shore for the ceremony of Yaf-ilok
— The Coming in of the Fire. A fire is made, each
takes a fish, broils it, and eats it. Each fisherman then
goes down to the sea, washes mouth and hands in the
salt water, and invokes the blessing of Aliu-set and
Sau-lal, gods of the sea. This ceremony over, the dis-
tribution of the heap of fish commences. If any women
or children come near and break the taboo by helping
themselves, the same will receive swelled ankles or
elephantiasis as a punishment and visible token of the
anger of the spirits." x
Just as we are approaching Lai, we run in close to
the seven waterworn islets of Gerem — an aggregation
of odd little pinnacles of limestone rock running up
some twenty feet in height, the resting place of several
species of sea-birds. We notice two kinds of curlew,
one with curved bill (Kaku, Ponape Chakor), the other
with straight bill {Ruling, Ponape Kulu). There is
also a sort of plover (Gabachai). The islets are covered
1 The same evening he told me of a belief prevalent on Lamotrek in the
existence of a squid that leaves the sea by night, ascends the coconut palms,
and drinks the Kaji or toddy from the calabashes hung to collect it. The
natives of the Hervey Group have a similar story. — Was Aristotle right after
all in telling us 2000 years ago of an amphibious poulp or squid ?
240 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
with rushes {Pipi), patches of parsley fern and clumps
of the silvery-leafed Heritiera or saltwater chestnut.
After a brief survey of Gerem we push off inshore
towards the vielil or mangrove clumps which embosom
Lai and her palm-groves. The sun goes down, and
an intermittent gleam of torches shows up the depths
of the dark woods mingled with the coruscations of
the fire-flies floating in and out like fairy lamps in
some Aladdin's cave. A view-holloa greets us from
the beach as we slide into shallow water, and a Fofod
or bamboo raft manned by scantily-attired and wild-
looking figures puts off to us, finally landing us on
terra firma under a clump of Ruai or white mangroves
close by the copra houses where the cut-up coconut
kernels are stored previously to being put up in sacks
and taken up to the main station at Riil.
We soon found our way to Lewis' house, which only
lies back some 150 yards, in its neat little compound
surrounded by a fence of fine bamboo, and overshaded
by a magnificent grove of areca and coco-palms. After
dinner some of the principal folk of the district called
in. Each carried under his arm a leaf-woven bag con-
taining all the accessories for smoking and betel-nut
chewing, without which a native rarely stirs on a visit.
It would have been an interesting study for a painter,
the group of silent attentive Semitic faces, ebon in their
blackness, alternately rivetted upon my worthy old
interpreter and their new white visitor whom they scan
as if to read his innermost thoughts. Solemn counten-
ances light up bit by bit, and the ice of reserve is
broken up. By and by the House went into a Com-
mittee of ways and means and a rather interesting
session was held. Guides were assigned to the stranger,
likewise tellers of old tales and teachers of that strange
hodge-podge of vowels and consonants which the Yap
folk fondly conceive to represent articulate speech. The
village patriach Gili-megak was told off for duty on
TOMIL TO LAI 241
the reef, and undertook to provide at need a trustworthy-
native to help in specimen-collecting. He received the
designation of Minister of the Sea and Reef, and
chuckling, hugged the title to himself. His nephew
Fatu-mak-ini-chik was appointed Minister of the Woods
and Forests, his duty being to teach botany and
point out ancient tombs and places of interest in the
interior. By this division of labour we gained the
goodwill of two powerful district chiefs. It may be
remarked here that these very logical arrangements were
carried out to the smallest detail at a very reasonable
cost without any grumbling or shirking whatsoever, which
speaks volumes in favour of certain phases of Caroline
Island character when these people are properly directed
and treated with ordinary courtesy.
Our plans thus being set in train, we fell to lighter
business, and I was soon busily engaged in writing down
all manner of miscellaneous and rapidly-volunteered
information. Amongst other things, I learn that in a
population of some 12,000 there are at least eleven
dialects, and the number of different ways of saying No
would delight a European diplomatist. In order to lose
no opportunity for instruction, frequent reference was made
to curious native customs, recalling certain restrictions or-
dained in Leviticus, and shadowed forth in the confessions
of Lady Asenath of Fiji, to the natives of which place the
Yap folk bear a strong resemblance in many ways. In
touching on ancient history, it turns out that the people
of Yap were both astronomers and intrepid navigators,
extending their voyages far and wide over the great
Caroline Archipelago, as far east as Fanupei (Ponape),
and Kuthiu (Kusaie), a distance of some 1300 miles.
They appear to have put wholesome fear into the wild
folk of Anangai (Uleai), and Pulawat (Enderby I.), which
latter lies about 160 miles west of Ruk, and is ap-
parently a regular nest of Malay pirates. There seems
really no reason to doubt the truth of this tradition of
Q
242 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
former maritime activity in these seas in which the old
men of Yap are unanimous. The Ponapeans for their
part have a legend about a being named Chau- Yap,
i.e. King of Yap, who brought them the Kava plant.
There is a place at the mouth of the Ronkiti River
on the south coast named Chakar-en- Yap, or the place
where Yap men landed. Also the Ponapeans have a
small plantain with pink flesh and delicate flavour which
they call Ut-en-Yap, or the Banana that came from Yap.
A species of Eugenia they call Kamp-en- Yap. The
word Yap seems to be used to mean anything foreign,
just as the Pelew folk use Barath and Malays Barat.
{Cf. Sanskrit Barata = India.) These facts appear to
greatly strengthen the probability of the early com-
mercial enterprise of the people of Yap.
Next morning we rose about eight. An hour later
Lewis departed overland with a retinue of basket-bearing
natives, to meet his employer on the other side, and
discuss the best means of securing the greatest quantity
of coconuts in the shortest time. Now this is the great
local industry of Yap, though the natives are apt to work
it rather spasmodically. Like the Northampton cobbler
who declared there was nothing like leather, even so
island traders pin their faith on copra, and appear never
tired of discussing this apparently inexhaustible subject.
The other day there was quite a row up the coast, so
keen is the competition of the rival firms, because one
trader boldly and adroitly secured for his employer five or
six sacks of particularly fine tabu nuts which had been
expressly set aside for his rival. This, allowing for
shrinking of the copra, would represent no very great
gain to the supplanter, but the incident caused a deal
of talk notwithstanding. " There's no sound so sweet
to me," said one of these keen drivers of bargains, " as
the falling of a big ripe coconut, and there's nothing
on earth like dollars." And I believe the practical man
meant what he said, every word.
TOMIL TO LAI 243
Punctually to his appointment the Minister of the Reef
bade one of the Pilung or district chiefs to have a fofod
or raft of bamboos ready that very morning. So about
mid-day we started at the ebbing of the tide, my attendant
propelling us with vigorous thrusts from a bamboo pole.
We floated over beds of sea-grass, stopping every now and
then to take note of some curious form of marine life, or
to pop some curious crab or fish into the ever ready
alcohol-bottle. Our craft was exactly adapted for expedi-
tions in very shallow water, as she only drew some four
inches. She was composed of twelve or thirteen stout
bamboos, each about fifteen feet in length, lashed rudely
together with cinet fibre, forming a framework some five
feet in breadth, crossed by four or five transverse pieces of
hibiscus wood. A packing-case in the centre served for
a seat, and it goes without saying that shoes and stockings
were dispensed with, and the oldest and rudest garments
donned, for salt water is a grievous enemy to white ducks
and broadcloth.
Between Lai and Gerem is a large patch of intensely
yellow sand. We punted along in a diagonal direction,
keeping always under the tail of the bank. By and by
we came to a bed of corals, some foliaform, and some like
a forest of minute antlers, with small blue and orange
fishes playing in and out of the branches. It was ex-
hilarating in such glorious weather gliding over strange
waters, splashed by the sea-spray, played on by the cool
breezes that start the ripples glittering under the glow of
a tropical sun. The guide points out an old Ponapean
friend, which he calls a Rimich, a curious form of marine
life occupying one of the cracks in the coral — a gelatinous
reddish brown creature, stretching out a forest of greedy
suckers looking just like a clump of water-weeds. There
is also a yellow variety called ThilthiL One touch and it
shrinks down into its hole like a jack-in-the-box, and
there abides safely bottled up until the danger is past.
We are now approaching one of the stone fish-dams or
244 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
weirs used for entrapping the unwary finny tribes. Neatly
and solidly built of coral blocks, they are generally covered
about a foot deep at high tide, and prove the bane of
those in charge of trading craft, who are for ever running
on them unexpectedly. Some are of considerable an-
tiquity. Tradition assigns their origin to a pupil of the
fairy goddess, Le-gerem. They resemble the Sai of
Murray Island and the elaborate structures built by
early Australian Blackfellows at Brewarrina.
The first one we came to was rather more roughly put
together than those we saw later on. Its height was
about 3^ feet, breadth of wall about same, length some
i 5 yards.
My attendant has thoughtfully brought with him some
pieces of Yub root in order to stupefy the small brilliant-
coloured fishes that lurk amongst the branching coral.
Catching them with a fine net is hopeless, and with the
fingers all but impossible. But the effect of the Malayan
root is magical ; the little victims one by one float up on
their backs and soon find their way into the alcohol
bottle that gapes for them, and is carefully wrapped in
damp rags to prevent evaporation of the precious fluid
within. But alas, alcohol will not preserve their wondrous
hues. In but too many cases the cobalt turns to dull
brown, the rose-pink to a brick-dust, and the bright
yellow to a dismal gamboge or muddy amber. Special-
ists now tell me that formyle would have preserved the
colours better — a hint that may be useful to future ex-
plorers. But the specimen hunter must be guided by
successive defeats to ultimate victory, and must often be
content to do his best with the materials which lie ready
to his hand. We gathered in plenty of shells, for the
most part resembling those of the Indian Ocean, and one
violet and brown sea-urchin, a hideous sea-spider, a sea-
centipede, and various quaint-looking crabs, amongst them
a fine specimen of the Cancrejo pintado or painted crab of
the Mariannes, colours light blue, red, yellowish-brown, and
TOMIL TO LAI 245
white. We caught sight of a yellow and black-ringed
sea-snake (Lilibots), but he was too quick for us Our
last find was a large sea-urchin, called O/a'a, with spines
spotted brown and white, for all the world like the quills
of a porcupine. We then pushed for shore, and after strol-
ling along the beach a while returned to the house where
Juan, Lewis' brother-in-law, a bright sensible lad, had got
dinner ready and waiting. The afternoon was spent
amongst the books and the animals of Lewis' household,
which included a curious specimen of the vampire per-
suasion, known to the English as fruit-bcU, and to the
Yap people as Magelao, a very tame monkey (Chiek), a
nice little beast, and a great playmate of the native chil-
dren, a saffron Thomas cat of a saturnine and morose
disposition, and a faithful house-dog — hero of a hundred
fights, and possessed with the doggy instinct of continu-
ally jumping up with muddy paws and soiling spotless
white duck suits. Tommy is a famous mouser, and holds
his own in the household. Jealous in the extreme of my
caresses bestowed on the monkey and the house-dog, he
falls tooth and nail upon the old warrior-hound, and
spitefully boxes his ears. But the grinning, gibbering
and chattering Jacko beats him out of the field in no time ;
and, minus some tufts of fur, Tommy disappears to the
copra shed to hunt mice, where you can hear the old
fellow growling and grumbling to himself for hours
amongst the nuts.
Towards evening Lewis returned, and after dipping
deeply into Lamotrek and Satawal words, he warned me
of the unreliable character of the natives of central Caro-
lines in general. " There's something queer about those
Pulawat (Enderby I.) folk. 'Tisn't safe to go in their
lagoon. They've cut off several vessels, and about six
years ago they did for a trader called Shortman, as well
as a Portuguese and a Japanese. The Hall Islanders
aren't what you might call safe either, and the people of
Losap aren't easy to get on with. In 1882, at a place
246 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
called Onon, some way north of Ruk, the natives killed a
native of Dublin called Edward Vowell, with the object
of getting his native wife and going through his store.
The Spanish always promised reparation, but it never
came. The fact is, they won't punish the beggars, and
the natives think they can do as they like. Why, it was
only the other day that a Spanish cruiser went down to
Tol to punish a chief who had murdered a Japanese
trader, with never a reason but robbery. Do you think
they punished him ? Not much. He climbs on board
and looks round him as bold as brass, and the commander
gives him a glass of wine and a good dinner, and plenty
to smoke, and some dollars as well. If they'd just hang
a few of the chiefs it would all come right soon enough.
Now the Japs wanted the other day to buy the group, and
offered the Spanish six millions of dollars for it, but the
Dons wouldn't deal at any price. You may be sure that
if the Japs had the group there would be trouble coming
pretty quick for some of those chiefs. One day the
Spanish will be sorry they didn't fix the bargain when
they had the chance. The way they spoil the natives is
clean against all reason. A white man's life is worth as
much as a native's, or I should say it ought to be. But
if he isn't a Spaniard they don't seem to think so." And
my host subsides grumbling under his mosquito-bar, and
slumbers undismayed by the fierce roarings of the insect
host trumpeting without the veil.
CHAPTER XVII
VISIT TO ONOTH AND GOROR
THE day after the trip on the bamboo raft Lewis went
across the island again to hunt up more coconuts for
the copra-shed, and Fatumak the Minister of the Woods and
Interior turned up to take me down towards Goror in the
southern promontory, where he said I should find some
interesting relics of the olden time. We started out on a
well-paved road bordered by areca palms and crotons
(Gotruk) and by neat bamboo fences, behind which lie
picturesque native houses. Passing through the settle-
ment we plunged into a maze of narrow lanes running
between high embankments crowned thickly with mor or
dwarf bamboo, which gives quite a Japanese aspect to the
landscape. The whole of the south side of the main
island is seamed with a network of these little roads
frequently paved with blocks of stone. The path was so
narrow that the feathery stalks of the bamboos interlaced
overhead in places, but the way was quite clear underfoot.
Looking at the abundant ferns and mosses mantling the
banks on either side of the path one fancies one's self
wandering in one of the deep green lanes of Devon or
Somerset. The climbing fern winds her graceful spirals
round the stems of healthy young saplings of the forest
sprung from the seeds of towering parents which at short
intervals droop their shadows athwart our way. We pass
bright green clusters of dracaena, with their delicate spikes
of lilac bloom, which the Yap folk call Rit or Rich. (Cf.
Maori Rito, a bud : anything green and fresh.) The path-
way leads uphill behind a wide valley decidedly marshy
in character, abounding in jungle and dotted with clumps of
248 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Butral or wild ginger, with its purplish-mauve spikes of
bloom, and of Tifif, a species of Canna or Indian-shot,
which bears brilliant orange - yellow seeds. The path
trends downwards over a little bridge until we reach a
paved causeway with a thriving plantation of Lak or
water-taro (Colocasia) with its broad arrow-headed leaves,
reddish stems and pale yellow blossoms on our left, which
recalls upon a small scale the magnificent lotus-pond in
Tokio, the marvel of tourists, and the pride of Japanese
landscape gardeners. Here and there a lofty banyan,
with its shimmer of small-pointed leaves, looks down upon
the rich tropical undergrowth of twining creeper and dense
masses of fern, amongst which I discern my old acquaint-
ance the Nase or Nahe of Southern Polynesia. {Cf. Pelews
Ngas — a tree fern). We pass another Lak plantation made
by the women of a slave village in the neighbourhood.
Deep down it lies in a green hollow extending up the
side of the hill in trim and regular beds planted out upon
neat little terraces, banked up along the slope in true
Japanese fashion. Those who question this may visit the
Inland Sea, view the hill-slopes there, and set their doubts
at rest. Scattered in the pathway underfoot lie the starry
blossoms of the Tenga-uai or Cerbera lactaria, exhaling
a sweet but heavy and sickly scent. Leaf, bark, and fruit
alike contain a deadly poison, with the qualities of which
both Micronesian and Polynesian are perfectly well
acquainted. In fact, disappointed lovers on suicide intent
frequently use the seeds, which, when swallowed, cause
deadly spasms, speedily followed, however, by a merciful
stupor.
A densely-wooded belt runs along the road some way.
I made out the native chestnut ( Voi), and the Maluek, a
species of Morinda, closely akin to the plant from which
the Malays and Polynesians alike obtain a rich yellow dye
— under the shade of which the Amaral, a species of
heavily-seeded nettle with a fiery sting, springs up
amongst the stones. We came into a broad avenue
VISIT TO ONOTH AND GOROR 249
flanked by tall forest trees, conspicuous amongst which is
the Bioutch or Callophyllum, and the Abit, a curious tree
bearing large dull-green fruit covered with yellowish
patches, and shaped like a mango. The pulp of it is
very sweet, but turns bitter on the palate. Natives relish
it, but it has an offensive sickly odour that nauseates the
European.
Strolling down the broad way in the welcome shade, we
enter the long straggling village of Onoth, and come upon
an ancient burying-place. By the side of the road
stretches a low square pavement faced on each side with
erect stone blocks or slabs of various shapes and sizes,
generally about two feet in height, most of them slanting
forward a little and tapering at the end. According to
Fatumak there are two words used in Yap to denote a
pavement. The platforms or paved floorings of houses or
courtyards are Paepae — the very word used in a slightly
extended sense by Southern Polynesians. Those over
graves or marking the limits of burial grounds are called
" Una-pae."
We rested awhile, and Fatumak brought out betel-nut,
leaf and lime from his ever-ready pouch, without which no
native would think of travelling, any more than a Scandi-
navian peasant on his errands to fjord or sceter would for-
get his flask of corn-brandy. By and by Fatumak waxes
unexpectedly eloquent in broken English, and turns out
to have been a proteg6 of ill-fated Captain Holcombe.
Pursuing our way we passed one of the Big Houses,
named Fe-Bai or Money- Houses, from the massive stone
or quartz wheels, the Fe or native currency, piled up
against their sides. The sun was very hot, so we turned
aside from the road, and sat down on the foundation of
an old house over-shadowed by a great Raual tree (the
Kangit of Ponape). Around us thrives a grove of areca
palms in all stages of growth, and hard by are some
thorny brakes of wild orange (Gurgur-nu-Uap) and limes
(Gurgur-morrech or morrets), with globes of golden fruit
250 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
lying scattered at their roots thick as apples in a Devon-
shire orchard at cider time. A boy, who met us on the
way, and came along for curiosity, climbed a coconut
tree, and fetched down some fine green nuts, the cool
sweet water of which, with the addition of a few drops
from a squeezed lime, made a most refreshing beverage
after our hot walk. I complimented Fatumak on the
neat roads leading through his parish and the surrounding
districts, remarking that we were fortunate not to have
made our journey on a rainy day. After heavy showers
one would think each of these narrow lanes running
between steep embankments must become a flooded
ravine. It seems that every now and then in the rainy
season a regular washaway occurs, upon which account
the sides of the road are sometimes built or shored up
with stone blocks. The neatness of the numerous roads
intersecting this part of the island is a welcome contrast
to the miserable forest trails of Ponape, where axe and
knife are called for almost every minute to pass any way
into the interior. The thick clumps of bamboo planted
along the tops of the Yap embankments doubtless serve
the double purpose of binding together the soil with their
clinging root-fibres, and at the same time by their steady
and vigorous growth of holding in check the everspread-
ing multitudes of weed and creeper. The Hebrew pro-
phet's figure of desolation, " a lodge in a garden of cucum-
bers," is expressive indeed to one who has viewed and
fought with the hosts of the tropical forest. Rudyard
Kipling knows and tells us what the Rukh of India can
do. No vain words were those of Mowgli, Child of the
Jungle, to Hathi, the Wild Elephant, when he bids him
" let in the biish " upon the settlement of the unjust
villagers, and blot out gardens, rice-fields, houses and all.
The Hindu, fight as he may, but too often fights in vain,
but the sturdy man of Yap says to Nature, " Thus
far," and rolls back the invading forest from his little
domain.
VISIT TO ONOTH AND GOROR 251
It is really pretty to see some of the paved causeways
which are exactly similar to those which so struck Captain
Wilson of the Antelope in the neighbouring group of the
Pelews. When the path takes a steep gradient uphill,
little flights of steps ascend it in true Japanese style, and
one looks around instinctively to see a stone lantern, a
Buddhist image, or the double cruciform outline of a
graceful Torii confronting one, arching the wayside gate-
way of some woodland shrine. But here our fancy cheats
us, and one wanders on with a sense of something lacking
to make up a perfect scene.
Quitting our grove of palms we wend our way through
Onoth until we reach the settlement of Goror, where we
encounter a curious old mound on the left side of the
roadway — the site of the ancient house of a chief of fame
called Tol-Riak. Below this is a terrace, studded with
upright and pointed slabs of basalt standing upon a low
platform some three feet above the path with pieces of Fe
or stone wheels leaning against the side. The largest of
these is seven feet high and over six feet across, the
smallest from a foot to two feet in diameter. Facing
this is a low flat Paepae or platform, length some fifty
feet and some forty in breadth, faced by eight erect slabs
of black stone, each between five and six feet apart.
Whilst we are examining these odd-looking structures
a tall, well set-up young man passed by and paused to
wish us good-day. He wore on his neck a strikingly
beautiful necklace of oblong scarlet shell-beads, fine at
the ends and thick in the centre — a family heirloom
which he refused to sell on any terms, probably looking
upon it as a talisman. The natives call these TJiauai,
and they are brought up from the Pelew Islands along
with the precious stone and shell money. After making
a rough sketch of Tol-Riak's house and the platforms, we
departed, scrambling over a stone wall of aged and moss-
grown appearance, which forms the boundary of the
village, and return to Lai in time for the mid-day meal.
252 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
That evening about eight o'clock Fatumak appeared
to take me to see a native dance, so leaving Lewis
busy at his accounts, we started off. About a quarter
of an hour's walking brought us to a big house on
the outskirts of the settlement of Ngiri, where little
groups of folk were sitting on a raised stone platform
chatting in the beautiful moonlight. Stopping a few
moments to gossip, we leisurely strolled on through
the waving shadows to the dance-house at the further end
of the village, crossing several gitrikitral or little bridges
of stone and Thith, or single felled palm-trunks spanning
ravines or muddy pools which lie in our path. These
latter required some effort of balance to negotiate safely.
We found some forty persons assembled, and more kept
dropping in by twos and threes until behold, a goodly
company seated on their mats spread out on the sandy
soil. Numbers of dried coconut shells with abundance
of dry husk were being piled up into three heaps ready
to be set on fire to illuminate the proceedings at the
proper moment. A band of intending performers are
busy stripping the leaflets from palm-fronds and twisting
them up into odd shapes like horns for head ornaments
to stick into their bushy periwigs, producing a wild and
weird effect in the firelight which now began to flicker.
They also bind them like ribands or fillets round their
legs, ankles and wrists. At last a row of some twenty
figures, all men, forms up with their backs to the stone
platform, and a cluster of small boys at the end to the
left. After one or two false starts the orchestra gets
under weigh. The line of dancers is swaying in rhythm
to a wild chant pitched in the dolefullest of minor keys,
clapping their hands in time, and slapping their chests
and thighs at regular intervals with a report like pistol-
shots. Some are garlanded green with fern, others wear
bead-necklaces. Some wear bunches of flowers stuck
behind their ears ; all of them unclothed save for the
usual cincture of grass or leaf-filaments. Some wear Roai
VISIT TO ONOTH AND GOROR 253
or carven wooden combs — the emblem of the Pilung
or upper classes, stuck in front of their fuzzy chevelure
— a motely assemblage. Many of the contortionists
wear a slight beard — a thing rarely seen in Ponape,
as it is generally eradicated by shell tweezers. The
chants, doubtless full of poetic fancy and topical, not
to say tropical, allusion, sound like a dismal long-drawn
caterwaul to a stranger's ear. Oh for a phonograph
or graphophone to bottle up these quaint cacophonies,
and photograph the sound of each and every syllable
on its unerring cylinders. It would surely create a
lively impression and would turn out the most sensa-
tional miracle yet performed by a white visitor to these
out-of-the-way regions. Imagine the horror of some
good old heathen at the uncanny machine all ears and
voice, giving back the very words and tone of some
wild, rollicking chorus. I'm afraid at first it would
prove too much for his nerves, though after a while
perhaps the mysterious engine might lose some of its
terrors.
The bonfire is now blazing away merrily. Three
large piles of the oily shells are crackling, sputtering
and pouring out on every side, pungent whiffs and
spurts of eddying smoke and trains of hissing sparks,
for the wind sweeps freshly through the groves to-night.
A simultaneous war-whoop echoes down the line of
straining bodies, and the first part of the performance
is over.
The antic contingent of small boys who have been
chiming in shrilly throughout, disperses, melting off
into the dark groves beyond like a troop of chattering
little monkeys.
There is a brief interval devoted to betel-nut chewing
and smoking Ligich or native cigarettes, and shells of
Atchif, sweet coco-toddy (the Ati of the Mortlock
islanders), are handed round.
The second performance starts with a prodigious
254 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
rhythmic clapping of hands. The chant rises higher and
shriller, running up the scales, and missing or jumping
several notes of the natural sequence in a manner which
to a European ear leaves the strangest sense of something
incomplete. Are these folk tone-deaf?
The central figure in the row is a tall burly native
dressed in the scantiest of girdles, bristling with dozens of
split and twisted coconut leaflets disposed like streamers
shimmering and waving about his person. The chant
ends as before in another deep-throated war-cry.
Here a brisk shower of rain drives us indoors for
awhile, but the unconquered bonfire burns bravely on.
The third and last scene resembles a Maori Haka or
war-dance. All stand up in line striking up a livelier
chant with a trampling accompaniment which goes faster
and faster as the dancers warm to their work. The
artists alternately face front and flank, swaying bodies in
unison, marking off the cadence with a measured stamp-
ing. This dance is named after that rascally hen-roost
robber, the Galuf or Iguana, a personage much in evidence
in local legend — the sinuous turns and twists and violent
convulsions of limb interpreting the stealthy and serpentine
movements of the creature prowling on its marauding
errands. When the chanting and trampling are at their
highest, a long-drawn triple yell marks the climax, and
the figure abruptly ends.
Fatumak, sitting close by on his mat, puts in his word.
" Galuf he one big thief — all same dog he eat egg (' hen-
fruit,' sic), he steal meat." To the question, " Are the
Galuf and the dogs the only thieves in Yap ? " my truth-
ful mentor replies, " Plenty Yap man go steal. First he
make pray one god, Luk ; he help him — other man no can
catch. All same me think that god plenty busy all the
time. Sometimes man he pray — what for Luk no hear ?
Thief get punish."
Can the wise and benevolent-looking Fatumak be
thinking of some youthful escapade that brought him a
VISIT TO ONOTH AND GOROR 255
smarting skin, or maybe a broken head ? He looks
away, and promptly turns the subject, and falls to praising
the skill of Yap natives in dancing. The performance
which we had just witnessed was very much the same as
those in vogue in Ponape and the Marquesas. All over
the Pacific the pastime has been strongly discountenanced
by zealous missionaries as savouring too much of heathenish
superstition and laxity. It is true that some of them have
objectionable features, yet many of them are graceful and
refined, and would prove a decided novelty and attraction
in a London drawing-room.
The night's entertainment is over, and the party is
breaking up and parting salutations are passing. " Quefel
a nep — mol." " Good is the night — sleep ! " Followed
by a shower of farewell greetings we made for home,
gliding over the slippery wooden bridges, striding low
walls and trunks of fallen trees, and "padding" through
mud and over stones — the cicalas shrilling in the moon-
light, and the palmfronds fluttering in the trade overhead,
and flinging a thousand waving shadows athwart our
path.
A few days later Fatumak and I determined to go
across the island to Milai, examine the shrubs, trees and
plants, and collect some of the seeds of the more interesting
of them. Ngiri lay first on our way with its trim court-
yards enclosed by fences of bamboo and thorny acacia,
and the inevitable limestone, calcite or arragonite money-
wheels propped up against the foundations of the more
pretentious dwellings. Our party consisted of five boys
carrying baskets, besides Fatumak and myself. We
crossed numerous little stone bridges, each composed of a
single large flat slab like those of China and Japan, and
before long arrived at the structure known as Fana-Mouk,
the great house of Tanis, a chief of old, whose burial-
place lies below. The lower platform is about three feet
above the ground, with five Fe or limestone wheels leaning
against its front, two of them supported behind between
256 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
a couple of upright slabs to keep them in place. The
upper tier — four feet in height — is ornamented by a
line of twelve upright pointed slabs of basalt. Above
are still standing the rudely carved pillars — about twenty
feet in height — that once supported the edifice, of which
a portion of the skeleton only is left. Across the road to
the left is a low flat evenly paved platform facing the
larger one. Behind this is a flat table of coral called
Rorou, supported evenly upon four pieces of rock, doubt-
less for some superstitious observance of olden time. (A
similar contrivance is seen upon the site of the Devil-
Temple upon Bau in Fiji, and at Gaua upon St Maria in
the Banks group.)
Our survey over we climbed the little hill at the back
of the settlement, following a narrow pathway neatly
paved with level blocks of stone, then after going down
a line of cane-fences bordered by palms, crotons and tall
dracaenas, we passed a little cluster of houses, one of the
numerous bush settlements rarely trodden by the foot of
a white man. By the roadside growing out by a fence is
a species of wild fig, Ote or Wote, bearing small reddish
rough fruits on its trunk after the manner of the Malay
apple or Eugenia. Yet another of these Unapei or queer
stone platforms lies on our left. This the folk call Koyam.
Our way winds in and out some lovely fresh green lanes,
and again I am struck with the luxuriance and beauty of
the ferns, the Lobat, a delicate species of Adiantum or
maiden-hair, being specially prominent. Then our road
turns into a high causeway running through a series of
swamps with clumps of taro planted thick amongst the
plashy hollows. The fertility of the soil must be very
great, almost equalling in richness the valleys of Tahiti.
Abundant signs of cultivation are seen on every hand in
the numerous yam-vines carefully trained and festooned
around the protecting trunks and boughs of the trees that
overshadow their hidden tubers. We saw on our way
three sorts of butterflies, the marsh fritillary, the small
rtrM
VISIT TO ONOTH AND GOROR 257
sulphur, and small blue ; of other winged life, two or
three little dark coloured bush-birds, possibly a species
of Myagra or Fly-catcher. Tahiti fully parallels Yap
in the scarcity of land-birds, which is rather strange,
considering the far superior area of the first-mentioned
island. We passed on through Petalan, where there is
a small Fe-Bai or Club House, and after climbing another
short hill stairway we came to an ancient cemetery where
we saw four or five low burial platforms occupying the
centre of an open square. Around them were growing
various shrubs and saplings, amongst them a sturdy
custard-apple tree, which the Yap natives call Sausau,
and the Ponapeans Chai or prickly (to which latter root
the Yap word " Choi" for the pandanus or screw pine is
also referable). Along our route we noticed a variety
of wild ginger with a dark red spike of flowers, the
Ramilu with its huge long clubbed leaves (the Tong of
Ponape), a sort of thornless acacia (Gumar), a species of
paper mulberry ( Wapof), a Callophyllum, with pear-shaped
fruits, plenty of wild pandanus and arrowroot, and several
other shrubs and forest trees well known to me in Ponape,
amongst which I recognised the tree bearing the valuable
varnish-nut, the Adidh or Adid of Yap, the Ais of Ponape,
the A set of the Mortlock Group {P armarium laurinuni).
We pass through numerous plantations of swamp-taro,
the causeway on either side bordered by a deep cutting.
We are drawing near to Milai — Anglice, " The Plantation
or Garden" (Cf. Samoan Malae, a clearing, village green).
It is well-named. To our right and left is a perfect nursery
of yam-vines, holding fast with clinging tendril, and spiral
winding stem to the breadfruit trees that shade them. As
we marched down the central avenue of the village amidst
the yapping of half an hundred Pillis or yellow dogs, and
the audible comments of a dozen or two idlers, we fancied
at first there are two or three sailing vessels in harbour.
From a nearer view, however, we sighted a big pile of
stones, bristling with tottering poles, the " disjecta
R
258 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
membra " of an ancient lodge or club house, built on
foundations solid as Brighton pier, looking down upon
the tides that for many a year have been lapping idly at
its base. The natives give the pile the name of Masisin.
As we halted on the beach a bevy of the local " Bad Boys "
pushed forward and displayed a vast interest in the Obachai
or foreigner. Patiently I sat taking notes, with a crowd of
little ebon rogues chattering and gibbering around me.
Presently Fatumak dashed in and administered several
sounding slaps, which induced the juvenile Hooligans to
withdraw to a distance, where they stood hushed in re-
spectful silence, turning up the whites of their eyes in
deprecation, like a fox-terrier at the harsh and severe voice
of her chiding master. Fragments of subdued chatter pre-
sently reach us, Felagany felagan, babier, " Scratch away,
scratch away at paper" ; Machamach tarreb-arragon, "Magic
all same " ; Dakori i tamadag, " I'm not scared a bit " ;
Kan, kan, tarreb-arragon a kan, " Devil, devil, all same
devil."
In Milai the Capuchin Padres have a station whence
no doubt they exercise much influence for good amongst
this simple and primitive folk, whose nature is the
strangest medley of conflicting qualities. A truly
wonderful indolence alternates with equally wonderful
spells of industry. A very remarkable and unique scheme
of national morality balances the licensed debauchery of
the Big House. Yap men are middling honest, yet they
count in their Pantheon a patron saint of Thieves. Once
they were great navigators, warriors, and astronomers.
Now, instead of taking the trouble of going up to Uleai
and Mokomok and Pulawat, they let their tributaries or
vassals have the trouble of the journey down. Now and
then they indulge in a mild skirmish amongst themselves,
generally over the abduction of some local Lady Asenath,
or, as the Japanese would term it, Geisha girl. The young
men only remember astronomy enough to plant yams by
and look out for wet weather, but the old men know the
VISIT TO ONOTH AND GOROR 259
ancient names of the stars from north to south and east
to west {Cf. list of Yap star names and days of the
moon's age in Appendix). Altogether the people of
Yap are a new type, full of interest for the anthropologist.
Their very virtues are as illogical as their vices.
Whilst we were sitting thus moralising on the strand of
Milai in the blazing noontide, one of the village chiefs
appeared on the scene. I gave him a strong cigar, which,
after puffing some little while, he passed over to one of
the small boys, who fitted the stump into a long bamboo
tube, and thus equipped strutted up and down the beach,
thrusting out his little stomach before him like a pouter-
pigeon.
Fatumak handed some betel-nut to one curious
youngster, who attempted to chew his first quid with
doleful results to himself and to the huge delight of the
mirthful imps, his comrades.
After taking a few more notes on Yap methods of
canoe-building we started to return, passing along a
smooth stone causeway which runs about two miles
parallel with the sea, under an avenue of palms which
leads us up to the settlement of Gal or Kdl. Soon after
leaving Gal we come to a road cut between two steep
embankments of rich red soil. This path, solidly and
evenly paved with fiat blocks of basalt, leads over the
little hill-rise down to the fertile lowlands of Nimiguil.
A little further on we came to a steep bluff where a Pal
or house, tabu to the women, overhangs the road, built
out upon a substantial pile of stones. As we struck
inland two of the Big Houses came in view with plenty
of stone money as usual piled against their foundations.
Some of these must be very old, as they are all over
cracks, with ferns and weeds actually growing out of
them. Propped up against a platform on our left we
passed a huge specimen twelve feet in diameter, a foot
and a half in thickness, and the hole in the centre two
and a half feet across. A little further on we saw a
260 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
second platform on the right side of the road. Leaning
against it was another piece of these cumbrous tokens of
wealth with an inner circle cut lightly round the hole
in the centre. These mark the settlement of Ginifai. A
brisk shower of rain drove us into the shelter of the
nearest house. When the sun shone out again we re-
sumed our journey, crossing a creek by a bridge of felled
coconut palm trunks. Another of the Big Houses was
passed, the platform below it faced with erect basalt
slabs, some inclining to a conical form, with the inevitable
wheels of limestone propped up below against its base.
Our path lies over another rising bit of ground, bordered
with Crotons and Dracaenas and bamboo fences. The
morning glory runs riot in the brushwood, and here and
there in the jungle wave the feathery tassels of the Rei, a
sort of reedgrass. There we noticed an orange-fruited
Canna or Indian shot, and a great quantity of wild
pandanus (N'er).
We reached the bush town of Tabinif on the top of
the ridge. Thence the path trends downhill past a
large pond of Lak or Aquatic-taro which is blossoming
out into large yellowish spathes, the very image of one
of our hothouse arum lilies. We caught sight of more
ancient stone platforms considerably overgrown with
weeds, and found our way down to a primitive sort of
village called Balakong after a long tramp along a
causeway running through the salt-marshes parallel with
the sea. The mudflats on either hand were pitted thickly
with the holes of a little black and white speckled
crab, each armed with one scarlet claw of a ridiculously
disproportionate size. By the wayside we found growing
a burr-bearing plant called Kurrukur and a curious
marsh-weed, bearing on its stem instead of flowers soft
red spongy caps like little fungi.
After crossing a shallow creek bridged with coconut
trunks we reached the outskirts of Ngiri and so on to
Lai, where we found Lewis still busy amongst the
VISIT TO ONOTH AND GOROR 261
coconuts and trading accounts. A venerable old man
was with him, whose long black beard streaked with
grey gave him a most patriarchal appearance. He was
one of the hundred Yap men to whom the King of
Korror in the Pelews gave permission in 1882 to
quarry out the wheel-money from the limestone rocks
of Kokial in the neighbourhood. His name was Takabau,
somewhat recalling the name of Thakombau, a former
monarch of Fiji. From him I took some lessons in
Pelew that very afternoon, and learned some very strange
and harsh sounds which would be a wonderful addition
to the stock-in-trade of a travelling conjurer-man at a
country fair. I subjoin a few of the dulcet sounds
taken at random to give an idea of Pelew phonesis.
Parakarakuih means to adhere ; Thillakuthuk is cement ;
Umbebakokle to go afloat ; Friendship is Klubbakul ;
Ancient is Arakwothal\ To sleep, Mokoivivi ; To bake,
Gnulsekkle ; Bright, Mongulthoyok ; Cold, Kullakult ;
Dark, Milkulk ; Dish, Koknal ; Ebb-tide, Krakus ;
Story, Kulthakathuk ; Foolish, Dengarengal\ Hard,
Tharakarak ; Hot, Klald, Kald, Keald ; Lobster, Karab-
rukkle ; Frog, Thagathuk.
Between Pelew lessons and Lewis' Lamotrek yarns
and Juan's tales of the Mariannes time passes quickly,
and the pencil scampers merrily over paper.
CHAPTER XVIII
TO TOMIL, LAI, ELIK, BY BOAT TO NORTH YAP
IN the morning Gilemegak brought two bits of orange-
red rock ,from Elik, and a peculiar black and white
banded species of cray-fish called Tumal (Palinurus).
About two o'clock in the afternoon we embarked on
Lewis' China-rigged sailing-boat — two men, two boys,
one Marianne man, Lewis and self. Fatumak we picked
up at Ngiri. The occasion of our visit to the colony
was the marriage of Lewis' employer F., of the German
firm at Rul. to a Marianne girl. Now this calls for
some little explanation. Traders in Yap seem to find
a life of single blessedness tedious, and as white women
in these parts are about as rare as snowflakes in summer,
it follows that an alliance more or less permanent must
follow with the daughters of the soil. But Yap ladies
are very, very dark, and by no means remarkable as
a rule for personal charms, so it is only rarely that
one of these is chosen. Moreover, the Yap papas, with
more wisdom than one would have expected from them,
entertain a decided objection to a white son-in-law.
They use a proverb — Roro fan roro, wetsewets fan
wetsewets, rongadu fan rongadu. " Black to black, white
to white, red to red." All the rest is balebalean or folly.
Now note a beautiful provision of Nature. In the
Marianne or Ladrone Group some 450 miles up north,
the female native population considerably exceeds the
male. There are in consequence many marriageable
young girls of the Chamorro or aboriginal race of the
groUp — a handsome debonnair Malayan people of light-
brown complexion who do not share the prejudices of
262
TO TOMIL, LAI, ELIK, AND NORTH YAP 263
the Yap folk against the white man. These Marianne
ladies are supposed to make excellent housewives, and
in consequence are much sought after by the traders
of Yap. But remark here the absence of those irregular
alliances so frequent in the Pelew Islands and the
Eastern Carolines. The Catholic priests set themselves
most strongly against such practices, insisting on an
ecclesiastical marriage of the contracting parties. This
marriage, moreover, they will not solemnise without
first making strict inquiry into the antecedents of the
parties, and before the husband, whether Jew or Pro-
testant, becomes formally reconciled to the Catholic
Church. I fear, however, that many hollow conversions
follow in consequence. I certainly don't think the
worthy F. had any very deep convictions.
But to continue. The apparel of our crew was of
the very scantiest description and would put a London
County Council to headlong rout. The man at the
helm, the best dressed of the crew, wore a shabby old
brown hat, an equally disreputable jacket of blue
dungaree almost dropping to pieces with age, and the
narrowest of native girdles of cloth. The crew were
dressed in meagre cinctures of coconut leaf filaments
or beaten-out fibres of hibiscus bark. Shirts from their
rarity are much prized in Yap, and trousers, when worn
at all, are used as a sort of shawl, the legs tightly
knotted in front and falling over the chest. Every
native on board carries with him a basket filled with
the threefold apparatus for chewing betel. (1) A stock
of betel-nuts which look something like big acorns, the
fruit of the Areca palm (called Pilg in India, Pagua
in the Mariannes, Buok in the Pelews, Bu in Yap, and
Bonga in the Philippines, the Malay Archipelago and
even in the Micronesian area). (2) A bundle of leaves
from a species of Piper Methysticum (variously called
in Yap Langgil, Thlanggil, or Gabui). These are used
as an envelope for the quid, to which their pungency
264 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
lends an agreeable zest. (3) The third constituent is
the lime, the chunam of the Malays, carried in a bamboo
tube sometimes covered with quaint tracery of carved
ornamentation.
(The parallel and connection between betel-nut chewing
and kava-drinking has been noticed at some length in
the description of kava-making in Ponape, and may be
of interest to those who study the foodstuffs of native
races.)
The betel-nut chewing grievously blackens the teeth,
reddens the saliva, and imparts an extra tinge of carmine
to the lips, which does not enhance the attraction of these
homely ebon countenances.
We reached Gerard's island of Ngingich about midday,
and in the afternoon went ashore to attend F.'s marriage,
and the feast that followed it. The wedding went off as
such matters usually do, the bride painfully shy, the bride-
groom nervous and fidgety, the priest stern and austere.
No slippers, no showers of rice, and no wedding cake.
The folk who seemed the merriest were the Marianne
relatives and the native servants and workmen, who
scented goodly pickings to come from bakehouse, oven,
and store-room. Our host indeed gave us a very good
dinner, and towards evening things went merrily. Next
morning I found the indefatigable F. had risen early, and
was counting over a large number of empty bottles with
a thoughtful countenance. This done he proceeded to
stock-taking, entering copious notes in a great ledger —
the beau-ideal of a business man — patient, thorough, and
minutely exact in all his dealings ; a bit of a slow-coach,
perhaps, and lacking his neighbour Gerard's brilliant
capacity for native languages, but for all that a fair type
of the material from which Germany, if her methods were
a little more up-to-date, could build up many a successful
colony in the Pacific. This the Godeffroys of Hamburg
in the past sixty years have proved beyond question by
the well-educated and industrious type of traders whom
TO TOMIL, LAI, ELIK, AND NORTH YAP 265
they selected to represent their interests in these out-of-
the-way regions. And this gives Germany a considerable
advantage over her trading rivals in Pacific waters. A
glance at any of R. L. Stevenson's or L. Becke's South
Sea sketches and short tales will give the reverse of the
picture, showing the ungenerous animus felt and shown by
but too many English-speaking rivals of these Germans in
the wide trading competition in Pacific lands.
Nov. 16th. — Meeting Mr E., O'Keefe's manager on
Tarrang Island, I made an agreement to finish my work
at Lai with Lewis, and to return in a few days to spend
the rest of my time in Yap, under O'Keefe's hospitable
roof. Then if I wished to see the northern part of Yap,
where many interesting ancient remains were to be found, a
boat and crew would be placed at my disposal to take me
up to Pilau, where O'Keefe had a station looked after by an
intelligent Sonsorol boy who would help me in all matters
needful. So on this understanding Lewis and I returned
by sea to Lai, putting in for an hour at the wharf at
Iloech in order to set down Lewis' son and daughter, who
had to walk over to the Catholic school of Santa Cruz,
lying about two miles up country from the landing-place.
The wharf lay amongst a belt of white mangroves. It
was about two hundred yards long, compactly and neatly
built of coral blocks. In Yap, as in the Pelews, these
structures are called Kades or Kachers. A Big House
was looking down upon the creek, faced as usual with some
limestone wheels. The height of the upper and lower
platforms on which it stands was ten feet. The high
pointed gable, bisected in the middle by a ridge projecting
outwards at an angle at the end, gave it a curious and
striking appearance.
We arrived at Lai in the evening, and next day I got
Fatumak to fix up another fofod or bamboo raft in order
to go down to the islet of Elik, near Goror Point, Yap's
Land's End, and get some more pieces of the orange-
coloured rock. On our way down we examined some
266 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
stone fish-weirs near the Catholic mission station, as well
as a mighty terrace built of basalt and coral blocks
running a little way out into the shallow water, the
remains of one of the club houses, which, to judge
from the loftiness of the ridge-poles with which it
bristles, must have been a very conspicuous object out
at sea. When the tide ebbed we picked up a good many
pink and white spiral shells on the reef, and added some
sea-spiders and crabs to the collection of marine creatures,
turning over the blocks of coral and disturbing a good
many Goloth or sea-eels (muraena) from their hiding
places. Fatumak, trying to catch a small crab, in-
cautiously put his hand into a deep crack and was
instantly seized by the finger with a set of needle-like
fangs. With frenzied cries of " Wei- Wei- Wei," he danced
wildly around in the shallow water with an enraged
Goloth hanging on tight as a bull-dog, and his rage was
not assuaged until he had chopped his foe into little bits
with a long knife. The pantomime of his sufferings was
noticed by a party of native workmen who were busy
near the fishpen loading up a canoe with sea-weed to use
as a fertiliser for the local Padre's kitchen garden. In
place of sympathy, they greeted my companion's mis-
hap with an unfeeling cackle of laughter, upon which he
angrily rebuked the gatherers of vegetable refuse for the
menial nature of their employment and their beggarly
appearance. They certainly looked a remarkable crew
with their Ruatch or wide hats of pandanus leaf, shaped
exactly like those of Chinese coolies, whilst their ragged
attire, lean bodies, and hollow, staring eyes, gave them a
distinctly doleful and starveling air.
After this little adventure we made our way down to
Elik and chipped off the required geological specimens.
I wanted to double Goror Point, but Fatumak advised
me not to make the attempt unless in a stout canoe, for
the water was deep under the tail of the island, and there
were strong currents which might sweep us out to sea.
TO TOMIL, LAI, ELIK AND NORTH YAP 267
Moreover, the deeper pools in the lagoon at South Point
swarmed with sharks (Aiong),hy no means an encouraging
reflection to two navigators in so frail a craft as our
bamboo raft.
On my return to Lai, Juan, Lewis' Marianne brother-in-
law, told me a tragic tale from Guam of the suicide of two
lovers who threw themselves from a cliff overlooking the
Diamond Bridge near Agafia. He also gave us an eerie story
of the apparition of a spectral white deer to his grandfather
hunting in the dusk in the woods above Port Luis. The
dog refused to follow, but the hunter went on, and, in his
eagerness on the trail, fell over a precipice and got
severely shaken and bruised. For my part, I tell Juan
that the best method of raising spirits is to pour them
down pretty often. According to Juan's account, this is
no uncommon trick of the woodland spirits to play on
mortal men who rashly invade the mountain wilderness.
This superstition answers to the Bake-mono of Japan, and
to that of the Puka of Irish legend, the keynote of many
of the fables of the land of Nippon. It seems very
deeply fixed in human nature, for we find the idea
universal. What first gave rise to so singular a notion
is a problem that few would care to solve offhand.
The next two days Lewis, who for a wonder was not
chasing after copra, as if the trees would the next minute
stop bearing for ever, told me a great deal about
Lamotrek star names, which agree very well (1) with
some of their equivalents I got in Ponape ; (2) with the
list collected by Kubary in the Mortlock Islands ; (3)
with those I afterwards obtained in Yap from Lirou, the
chief of Tomil ; (4) with the Uleai star names obtained
by Chamisso as early as 18 15. They illustrate the
intelligence, enterprise, and great astronomical knowledge
of the early Caroline Island navigators, and agree in a
marvellous manner from west to east of the group, which,
as aforesaid, embraces over six hundred islands and a
total sea and land surface of some 1,800,000 square
268 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
miles, all along which area the star names are practically
the same. The curious reader will see the Ponape, Mort-
lock, Lamotrek, Yap, and Uleai star-names and days of
the moon's age classified together in the Appendix.
On making inquiries about the interesting subject of
tattooing, which natives call Eloi or Iloi, it was found that
the ceremony was universally practised and free to all.
Compare the Samoan verb Elei, to mark or stamp the
native cloth with designs from the Upeti or printing-
frame, or again the root may be the Maori Iro (Whaka-
iro, to write or carve). The Japanese word Iro, colour,
may be a remote derivative. Taking Taman, a stalwart
native from Goror district for an example, I noticed that
on his chest were marked two large representations of the
Roai or Ruai, the native comb of the wood of the white
mangrove, the shape of which greatly resembles those
from North New Guinea and the Solomon Islands seen
in the British Museum. Around the thighs ran a dense
fish-tail ornamentation, which, with the chevron, is a fre-
quent feature of Yap designs. On asking whether there
are any very aged men upon Yap, my informant re-
plied that there was one in Goror over a hundred years
old, by name Giltuk. On arriving at the marriageable age
the young Yap native wears a cord dyed a dull red, of the
baste of the Kal or Hibiscus tiliaceus bark, twisted round
his loins or worn around his neck. Like the Ponapeans,
they use the bark of the mangrove as a colouring agent,
and from it extract a yellow or reddish brown dye.
On the 1 9th of November I returned laden with curios,
and took up my quarters on Tarrang with Mr E. Cap-
tain O'Keefe was still an absentee. Mrs O'Keefe, a Nauru
lady who speaks excellent English, received me most
graciously, and set apart a Sonsorol boy named Matsis to
wait on me. Naturally his name soon became corrupted
into " Matches," a designation which sorted well with his
occasional flashes of ill-humour whenever Mr E., who is a
somewhat choleric individual, threatened to lay him out
TO TOMIL, LAI, ELIK AND NORTH YAP 269
with a " stuffed club " for carelessness or slurring over his
duties, which in the busiest times were not very onerous.
On Sunday I was staying over at Gerard's island of
Ningich, so on Monday, November 22nd, the sailing boat
Eugenie turned up at the wharf in charge of Xavier, a half-
caste Portuguese, to take me and my belongings up to
Pilau. We started about eight o'clock on a lovely morn-
ing with a pleasant breeze, and leaving Tarrang's picturesque
island astern we ran along inshore of Tomil and its border-
ing of mangrove clumps. After many tacks we got past
Tomil Point, and cracked on all sail, calling to mind E.'s
missive, " Get away quick from Ningich and up coast with
the half-tide, for there is a place up north which the
vessel can only get through at high tide. Whatever
other stores you want, you can get from Gerard's trader,
C. Brugmann, over at Map. If O'Keefe returns whilst
you are away we will send up a boy overland, or the
Eugenie shall come to fetch you back."
Sweeping along towards Gatchepa, one notices the tall
terra-cotta hued gables of the club houses shooting up
between the clustering masses of coconut palm clothing
the lowlands in a waving robe of tenderest green. Behind
them the slopes, clear of bush, lead up to the crowning
plateau some five hundred feet above sea level. The wind
presently fell, leaving us drifting slowly on in the fierce
rays of the noonday sun. On looking over the cargo
I was amazed at the quantity of canned goods, beer,
kerosene and tobacco piled up in the trim little craft. I
felt quite like one of the novelist's traders starting a new
station, and indeed that mode of life was really to be
mine for a week or so, except that curios and not copra
were the objects of my search. Naturally I asked some
questions of the Macao man to guide me in my barter-
ing operations. I found that the natives did not at all
understand the value of foreign money. They seem to
have no sense of proportion whatever. When visiting the
European settlement at Tomil, they have been known to
270 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
pay down three or four dollars for a few sticks of tobacco
at twenty-seven to the pound. On the other hand, in
their simplicity they will tender a meagre half-dollar for a
musket or cross-cut saw. Nearly all business there goes
by barter. Shells of the pearl-oyster, of which there is a
large yearly output from the Pamotus or Low Archipelago,
are imported from Tahiti at a moderate rate, and ex-
changed for copra with the Yap people at a very profit-
able rate, the natives preferring them to the Yar-ni-Balao
or Pelew Island shell, which next to the stone money is
their most favoured currency. Waist-cloths or Lablab
(Samoan Lavalavd) of Turkey red for the young men,
and blue or deep yellow for the old men, are held in high
estimation ; medium sized fish hooks are also in demand.
Tobacco appears to be eagerly sought for, to judge from
the following equations : — 2 sticks of tobacco = I large
fowl ; i stick of tobacco = I small fowl ; I box matches
+ i stick of tobacco = 8 fish of moderate size ; I pair of
coarse blue trousers and I Turkey red shirt = 3 weeks'
wages ; but this last is looked on as rather extravagant
pay, the recipient being greatly envied for his stately
trappings, of which one of the district chiefs speedily
relieves him.
All this discussion served to kill time, the Eugenie
continually tacking and tacking, losing two feet to
advance three. E. had thoughtfully put in the boat a
copy of Thackeray's " Virginians " from O'Keefe's well-
stocked library. It seemed very incongruous with the
surroundings, and vividly recalled to mind a certain
Christmas-tide spent on Washington Island in the
North Marquesas, when in my cottage at Vaipae Bay,
in the intervals of dictionary - making and fishing, I
used to read " David Copperfield " and " Great Expecta-
tions," ancient volumes left there by certain dead and
gone American settlers. It is wonderful how literature
penetrates into this distant corner of the world. In a
boatshed on the sands of Hana-mate or Deadman's Bay
TO TOMIL, LAI, ELIK AND NORTH YAP 271
on Hiva-Oa I actually found a tattered copy of the
Sporting Times.
" Whence fluttered down this tale of Town, by land or
sea or air ? How it came — well, I cannot tell, but it
was surely there." Thinking of that little bit of pink
paper brought back in a moment Ole Brer Rabbit, the
Shifter, the Talepitcher, and " pore old Romano in the
garb of old gall innercently exhibited " ; thence by a
natural transition the mind turns to thoughts of restaur-
ants and lunch. It is high time, for the sun overhead is
looking straight down into the wells or pits in the reef
where the octopus lurketh, to borrow a picturesque
Samoan metaphor for high noon. " Ua nofo le Fee i le
malua, ua nofo-i-fee foi le la." " The squid he sitteth in
his cell, the sun he sits on top." All this while we have
been slowly getting up to the south end of Map Island
(so called, says E., because it wants mapping out again so
badly after the incomplete Spanish survey). Close here
is a village variously known as Amon, Umin or Amin,
where there is a big stockade which the local natives have
erected. They have a standing dispute with the people
of Rekin, one of the neighbouring settlements, over the
carrying off of some Mespil or slave-woman. Every now
and then an angry band of neighbours come up and try to
beat the children of Amon out of their lines. First, so my
informant tells me, there is a vast deal of jabbering between
the besiegers and besieged, like the noise of a monkey-
house in full chatter, as a sort of prelude to serious busi-
ness, each man vying with his opponent in the choicest
native Billingsgate. Bit by bit their feelings are wrought
up, and finally a more than usually brilliant flower of
speech is the signal for a howling fracas. Spears and
stones are thrown, and rusty muskets of ancient model
are heard exploding in the din, the latter far more
dangerous to friend than to foe. At last a man or two
on either side is laid out with a spear through his body,
or felled with a rap on the temple from a piece of rock
272 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
meant for somebody else, and carried home for the
Machamach men to doctor. The victorious defenders
stand up mopping and mowing, and with all manner of
ridiculous gestures mocking at their baffled foes. On the
last occasion the insulting antics of one of the Amon
chiefs, thinking himself well out of range, so irritated a
white trader who had joined in the assault out of pure
deviltry, that he took careful aim with his Winchester
and made the chiefs comb leap in pieces out of his fuzzy
periwig. The savage still capered away, a glorious mark
against the sky, and a second shot stung him painfully on
the fleshy part of the thigh, and the poor fellow, roaring
like a bull, straightway leaped down on the heads of his
fellows below, who like the monks when the Devil lets the
squealing lay-brother fall from his red-hot talons amongst
them
"As they up-gazed in sore confusion
Were all knocked down by the concussion."
This same trader, who was a splendid marksman, of
course had not fired to kill. I had met him already
myself. He had a touch of grim humour, if the follow-
ing tale he told me of himself be true. It ran thus, and
thus in turn I told it to my comrade in the boat. Whilst
this practical joker was on a trading expedition up north,
one of the district chiefs, an overbearing sort of man, tried
to obtain a large credit with him, and at the same time
beat down his prices to nearly zero. Failing in this, he
threatened him in a very insolent manner.
" Thing belong you all same belong me. S'pose I kill
you I takum quick." " So that's your little game, is it ? "
coolly observed the trader, drawing his revolver, " I'll teach
a darned black nigger like you to know what's what."
Now overhead there was a bunch of coconuts dangling
from the mother tree. Bang went the first barrel, and
out squirted a jet of milk from the nut ; a second and
a third shot tapping two others of the cluster, which shed
TO TOMIL, LAI, ELIK AND NORTH YAP 273
their milky blessings on the head of the chief below.
" ' How d'ye like that,' said the marksman, turning his
weapon full on the terrified chief. ' Your head's bigger
and uglier than a coconut, eh ? and not so far off
neither.' I thought that nigger would have dropped for
sheer funk," ended this most unpeaceful man of com-
merce, " and that was the last of any tall talk I got from
him or his people, and a good job for them too."
All this while we were making our way through a maze
of wooden and stone fish-weirs which lie in the straits
abreast of the isthmus of Girrigir. Between Walai and
Maki the canal passage runs through clumps of man-
groves and other salt water brush nearly dry at low tide
— which E. had specially warned us to reach at high
water. We passed a fine yam plantation on a hillside on
our left, grown by a Walai chief who is said to be a
friendly old fellow, and a perfect storehouse of ancient
traditions. It soon became certain that we must wait off
Walai until late in the afternoon, as the tide was falling
fast and the channel rapidly shallowing down. The crew
were continually jumping down and shouldering the
Eugenie over the shoals — but all in vain, for at last we
were stranded hopelessly amongst the mud-banks. As
the monkish chroniclers of Danish invasions say, " It is
tedious to tell how these matters went." At last the
tide rose, and cautiously poling up some mysterious back-
water or other we got into open water and sailed down,
reaching the landing place at Pilau in the early dusk.
We found " Konias " the Sonsorol boy at his post, who,
directly he saw us coming, seized an unhappy fowl by the
legs and slashed off its head. " S'pose no kill and eat
Yap man he steal," serenely remarks the executioner.
" One moon ago Missa Capen he send ten fowl. Him
make plenty sakaigligyaia (Sonsorol for eggs). Rat he
eatem. Three fowl he stop now — me no eat. Yap man
he come dark — stelem. You speak Missa Capen he no
angry too much." And I believe that the boy, who had
S
274 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
a great awe of the redoubtable captain, in his odd fashion
was telling the simple truth.
The Eugenie sailed away and left me alone with my man
Friday, who turned out an amiable, honest and intelligent
lad, with a smattering of English. His peculiar Sonsorol
accentuation transforming N's to R's, and L to Gl, and
Gy was a new philological study in itself. (It is seen in
Italian, cf. Egli for Latin lilt.)
Early next morning I was awakened by a prodigious chat-
tering. Six or seven natives were seated on the floor of the
house with their backs to the wall, as if the place belonged
to them ; others were squatted on the verandah, and others
peeping in through the windows. Betel-nut chewing was
going on, and the air was thick with the fumes of trade-
tobacco. My visitors were evidently making themselves at
home. Their cool assurance rather amused me, and I
determined to take them in the same vein. " Boys," said
I, in my newly acquired Yap — which I have no doubt
sounded as queer to them as their pigeon-English to
us — " the morning is good and so is our meeting. The
verandah outside is also good, and this room is not an
oven for baking meat, or a smoke-house where fish are
cured. Dead matches and rubbish are not meant to be
thrown on the floor, and I pray you mark my words."
In reply to my exhortation — not a word. The smokers
smoked on placidly, and the chewers chewed and ex-
pectorated by turns in perfect silence — not a word, not a
smile or change of countenance. " Friends," said I, " I
will make my meaning clearer." Across the room I
marched, laid hands on the bag that held the stock of a
busy ruminator of betel-nut, walked to the door and
tossed it far out into the yard. Returning to the man in
the corner with an agreeable smile, " Mr Man — outside"
said I, extending a hand to assist him to his feet, and
pointing to the verandah. Somewhat sheepishly he
shambled to the door to pick up his property, and
presently the people indoors, all on the broad grin, picked
up their belongings and went forth one by one cuddling
TO TOMIL, LAI, ELIK AND NORTH YAP 275
their beloved bags under arm. " And now let us talk,"
said I, as I followed them out. " Does anyone here speak
English ? " A handsome, well-built fellow called Gameu
was pushed forward, and the wellspring of his knowledge
once tapped, he launched out into very passable English.
Now in the Pacific the fluent speaking of English by
natives is regarded generally as a danger-signal, a some-
what ominous reflection on the character of the white men
who have taught them. But in this case, at all events, the
rule did not hold. Gameu, though incorrigibly lazy at
manual work, proved neither a thief nor an assassin, and
made a model interpreter to help out the meagre English
vocabulary of Konias. After we had sent away the rest
in peace I set the two of them down to some solid work,
painfully digging out the Sonsorol and Yap equivalents of
English words.
On his departure, Gameu, the teacher of dreadful
jargon, assured me solemnly several times he and two or
three others would be round early next morning with a
canoe to take me to visit Captain Brugmann at Ramung
over the water. The more stress he laid on his certainty
to turn up in good time, the more certain I felt that he
would turn up late. " Now, be off with you, make a
move," cried I at last, " or I shall know that you don't
mean to come at all."
Away went Gameu, and I lay down, but not, alas, to
sleep, haunted by legions of words of the direst cacophony
which have been assaulting my ears for the last two
hours. I lay down, only to rise by and by and wrestle
anew with several Spanish vocabularies of the various
Philippine Island dialects, in which important native key-
words are conspicuous by their absence, and in their
stead any number of Spanish words masquerading in
very odd native guise — and, shade of Sancho Panza ! —
what a motley assemblage of proverbs dragged in head
and shoulders ! Part of these precious philological
documents consist of dialogues in Spanish and native,
written in a vein of owl-like solemnity, occasionally
276 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
relieved by touches of unconscious humour. " Why
haven't you taken part in preparation for the Church
festival ? " sternly demands the village priest of some poor
ignorant Filipino peasant. " Because, your reverence, I
had my own work and lots of household affairs to look
after," says the villager. " Don't dare to tell me such a
thing," replies the austere pastor. "If you had been a
good Christian you could have found time for it all. You
are an idle rogue, hardly better than a thief."
Under the heading "Justice " may also be seen some-
thing startling to those unused to the summary fashion of
Spanish provincial rule. " What did you hit the man
for ? " says judge to prisoner in an assault case. " I
never hit him at all, your worship," says the prisoner,
" and I protest before all the saints in heaven that I am
telling the truth." " Captain," says the judge to his
subordinate, without troubling to inquire any further,
" give the prisoner twenty lashes, and to jail with him."
And the Spaniards feel deeply hurt at the ingratitude of
these rebellious Filipinos, who presume to be discon-
tented under such a just and liberal rule. However, the
Filipinos nowadays don't even seem contented with
American rule. I wonder why.
A stanza from a late Manilla Diario flits across my
memory as I struggle through these curious monuments
of priestly industry, which may be freely translated
El salvaje del bosque inculto, The savage of the uncultured
wood
Odio el progreso, la Luz, Our just rule hath not un-
derstood,
V6 indifferente la Cruz He looks indifferent on the
Cross,
Deja-lo en la bosque Es- And darkling counts the
pafia. Light no loss ;
The uncultured, culture
deems no gain,
To his wild woods leave
him then, O Spain.
TO TOMIL, LAI, ELIK AND NORTH YAP 277
Another gem in Spanish and Bicol.
A tete-a-tete Dinner.
Scene : A VILLAGE INN. Enter Padre and boy.
Boy. — I am hungry.
Padre. — We shall presently dine, but there must be no
extravagance. What here ! ho ! [Enter servant.
Servant. — Will it please you to eat, sirs ? Will you
have meat or fish ?
Padre. — Whichever you have handy. {Fish is brought
in.)
{At dinner.) The Padre speaks a la Mr Barlow. " I
knew a boy called Juan. He thought he could swim ;
he went to bathe in the big river, but the current carried
him away, and the fishes ate his body. Boy starts up,
flings his portion out of the window, then with intense
pathos, " Henceforth I taste no fish."
[Exit boy tragically, Padre left feeding alone. ,]
And then, thank goodness, my dinner comes. Unlike
the trusting pupil, I do not allow his master's shocking
tale to come between me and my dish of baked leather-
jacket fish, flanked with a regiment of eggs, which Konias
has ranged on the table like shot in a pile, and nearly as
hard too, for he has industriously boiled them for the
last three quarters of an hour in his anxiety to please.
After dinner, more proverbs, more tedious dialogue,
more ineffectual search for plain, honest, sensible keywords
in these odd little pamphlets, for which the lay author
in Spain receives a medal or decoration. In practical
England, dreadful to reflect on, the poor fellow might
be taken seriously by some fierce critic, who would fall
upon him tooth and nail, and in return for his precious
pearls of knowledge rend him piecemeal.
CHAPTER XIX
STAY IN PILAU, FOLK-LORE, LEGEND OF FLOOD,
AND THE TABU SYSTEM
NEXT morning no Gameu, no canoe, as I expected.
The rogue turned up at last about one o'clock, in
the full blaze of one of the hottest suns I ever faced, with
the excuse that there was a great feast overnight at the
club house, and that being much sought after for his
elegance and skill in dancing he had been kept up late.
Coconut toddy, he said, had flowed freely, also a Manilla
man had sold them many bottles of red wine, of which
not one was left. So invoking anything but a blessing
on native shiftlessness and unpunctuality I gave the word
to start, and under the propulsion of five stout bamboo
poles the canoe was soon urged up to the wharf of Maneu,
with a banana patch in the background shading off into
dense forest, whilst here and there the little clearing is
dotted with clumps of the Mor, a small species of bamboo,
and the Utel, a tall graceful species of reed-grass bearing
feathery tufts of blossom like the flowers of the sugar
cane. Here we take on board a sack or two of coconuts,
fully ripe for copra making. For as Gameu says very
truly, " It is not good to call on a white man empty-
handed."
We passed a double fish-weir, the inner one of stone,
the other one of cane. Such structures, as before men-
tioned, are very common around the shores of Yap.
Many a boat has come to grief over these on dark nights,
when the man at the helm has been indulging in forty
winks or forty drinks, as the case may be. Many of the
weirs are in a very dilapidated condition, and long past
378
STAY IN PILAU 279
use, but still they lie round blocking up the water-ways —
a standing menace to traffic. Whilst we were painfully
feeling our way along through the labyrinth, I remembered
a tale Lewis told me down at Lai of an accident he had
over one of these structures. He was in charge of a boat
heavily laden with copra and a trifle late for his rendez-
vous, and, weary of perpetual tacking and tacking, had
vowed to charge the very next cane weir that came in his
path, cracking on all canvas and flying straight before the
wind to Rul with half a gale behind him. Somewhere off
Iloech a stoutly-built cane weir showed up clearly in the
moonlight right ahead. A fine breeze was blowing, and
the boat was slipping through the water as fast as two
broad China-rigged sails could take her. " Straight
ahead ! Let her go for all she's worth," yelled the excit-
able skipper. " I'll learn the niggers here to be filling up
all the bay with their blamed fish-traps." And the boys
on board, who were not Iloech men, grinned with delight
at the coming smash. They hadn't long to wait. The
boat held on at full speed, and with a mighty impetus
crashed clean through the light cane-work of the hated
enclosure, but, alas, the stout coconut strengthening-piece
or cross-bar on the top proved of sterner stuff. A smash-
ing sound, a snapping of guy ropes, a rustle of falling
canvas, and bang came a stunning crack over the head of
the captain, causing dozens of bright fitful stars to dance
before his vision. The rude shock had snapped off the
mast like a carrot, and brought yard, sail and all thunder-
ing down in one disastrous topplement. The poor old
skipper fairly surpassed himself on this occasion, and there
ensued one of the most brilliant displays of verbal pyro-
technics ever shown on salt water. The native crew
grinned from ear to ear, as black fellows generally do
when there is damage done or somebody badly hurt, and
chortled away merrily at the excellent joke, until the
injured man felt sufficiently recovered to stumble forward
and take a hand in the game with a belaying pin.
280 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
In future the valiant Cambrian will doubtless leave
his neighbour's landmark severely alone, and will think
twice before he will test the resisting power of mast
and tackle against stout logs on the top of light cane
fences.
Proceeding leisurely onward we came to the landing
place of Talangeth, at the back of which there is a
piscina or fish-pond (Maot, cf. Samoan Maota — a
building) where young fish are put in to await develop-
ment— a sensible piece of native foresight. Here we
picked up a few more nuts, and we started off once
more. A little further on lay Tabok, where we laid
in a supply of green drinking nuts. Yet another stone
weir passed and we reached Malaf, which lies on the end
of Map Island over against Captain B.'s place across the
straits at Tan-ne-Erouach — the land of Departed Heroes.
Here was a great heap of stones surmounted by tall poles,
the relics of an ancient Big House. In the middle of
the channel, between the two islands, stretches a zigzag
series of stone weirs,1 and very solidly constructed, built
so that the tops emerge two or three feet at low tides ;
at high tides the water covers them about three feet
deep. Under the lee of these we cautiously waded
over, getting pretty well drenched on our way from
slipping into holes, but under a tropical sun nobody
minds these little mishaps. The straits here would be
some 300 yards across, and the fish-pens are said
to be of great antiquity. Reaching the wharf we as-
cended a steep flight of steps cut out of the hillside,
on top of which stands the little trading station. The
slope was planted with young coconut trees, and the
plateau above dotted with wild pandanus trees {Choi),
some of them in flower to judge from the sweet scent
floating down on the light breezes like the smell of a
field of beans in blossom.
Two or three native huts and a boatshed adjoined
1 Vide illustration in The Geographical Journal, February number, 1899.
FOLK-LORE 281
the wharf, the only living being around being a melan-
choly old greybeard, superintending with languid in-
terest the boiling of some sweet potatoes in an iron
pot over a fire of driftwood. We found B. at home,
one of the sober, thrifty and industrious traders of the
new school, and a hospitable welcome he gave us,
readily undertaking to point out all places of note.
That afternoon and evening it was interesting to hear
his pithy descriptions of native customs and modes of
life, for ascertaining which his knowledge of the language
qualified him so well. I ■ obtained from him some
account of the inner life of the Yap people, and from
an old chief, Toluk of Omin, the Yap version of the flood.
" Long, long ago, the island of Ramung, now separated
by the channel we see before us, was one with the
mainland. The land was filled with inhabitants, plenti-
ful as ants. Alok, near Akau on the west side, and
Tomil district overlooking the eastern harbour on the
other side, were the principal settlements. Now the
great God Yalafath abode in the sky looking peacefully
down on the labours and pleasures of his people. One
of his wives bore him two children, a son and a daughter.
(The name of the wife is given variously as Mui-Bab
or Mui-Wap.) The heavenly children used to come
down to see the village festivals holden at Alok, and
other fairy folk from the skies would come down too
to view the scene of dancing and revelry. For Yap
men — complacently murmurs the old man — were and
are the best fighters and dancers in the Sea of Islands,
and the people of Alok were the best in Yap. More-
over, the young men were of gallant and stalwart
bearing, graceful of form and goodly to look upon
when garlanded green, dressed out in yellow leaf-girdles,
wearing shell earrings, necklaces strung with red stones,
or with the scarlet seeds of the pandan tree, their smooth
skins shining with turmeric and scented oil. Now it
came to pass that one of these fairies took a fancy to
282 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
a handsome young man called Maralok, and after the
briefest of courtships, agreed to cast in her lot with
his for a while, as long as the two parties were agreeable.
Accordingly the fond pair eloped. The other visiting
bevy of fays went back to the skies and said all manner
of unkind things. When Loth, the fairy mother, heard
that her daughter had condescended to the love of a
mortal man, she was very wroth, and appeared to the
newly-wedded wife in a vision. The offended mamma
said she would descend to Bulual in Ramung in seven
days, and bade her erring daughter meet her there and
give some account of her doings and pay penance.
After this she would receive miraculous powers and
her mother's forgiveness. But the old fairy mother
dealt subtly, for well she knew what she would do.
The son of earth and daughter of the skies were going
along on the appointed day, when behold ! the sea rose
suddenly and swamped the lowlands. In fear, mortal
husband and fairy wife turned back to flee to the hills of
Tomil. Ere they could reach this refuge the angry waters
swept away Maralok to death. The woman reached Tomil
in safety, and satisfied with their prey, the waves were
stayed. In the form of an old woman, Loth the Fairy
Mother appeared to her daughter, and the two dwelt
awhile together in a cavern underground, shunning the
sights and sounds of mortal man. They made them-
selves wings to escape to the shining regions above, but
even as they sat in the sunlight pluming themselves for
flight, people from Damachui saw them and snared them
in a great net (Chau), like butterflies. They were assigned
to Igereng, one of the Pilung or aristocracy of Tomil, who
determined to marry the two, mother and daughter. A
feast was held, and the people brought plenty of coco-
nuts and all manner of food, which the land produced
abundantly. The two fairies fell to and polished off the
heap of food in quick time, devouring coconut after coco-
nut, husk, shell, and all, continually calling for more and
FOLK-LORE 283
more. All stood aghast at the marvellous sight. At
length Igereng, fearing a famine in the land from such
voracious appetites, was fain to cry hold ! enough ! After
a while, the fairies, finding the pangs of hunger insup-
portable, turned themselves into rats, and went up
stealthily night after night to the hill-terraces, and helped
themselves liberally to sweet potatoes, sugar-cane and
yams, causing sad devastation in each plantation. One
night a man on watch surprised the trespassers, hurled a
heavy stone with deadly aim, and there lay quivering the
body of an enormous rat — far, far bigger than any dog
or cat — says the veracious narrator. The gluttony of
Loth the Fairy Mother had brought her thither once too
often. The daughter returned in anger and told her
husband that in seven days the vengeance of Loth would
bring a high flood-tide to overwhelm the land. Meanwhile
she counselled him to build a house on top of the highest
hill to which they could withdraw, and bring with him
some magic herbs with which certain rites or incantations
were to be performed, which might avail against the
inundation. He obeyed, and the two fell to practising
spells and exorcisms. The wife looking out to sea at
dawn of the fatal day exclaimed, " Behold the wrath of
Loth." A typhoon was coming, sweeping down out of
the north, bringing with it a terrible tidal-wave. It burst
over the land. Nearly all Yap was covered under the
raging flood, and all the people perished save one, a slave
man in Unean, and the prudent couple. When the waters
fell the Unean man looking southward saw the lowlands
of Nimiguil emerging from the waste of waters. He went
down upon the newly-risen flats, stuck a bamboo-pole fast
into a crevice of the reef in token of possession, and went
his way to see if any others were alive. Presently he met
Igereng and his wife, and though a slave himself, claimed
from them the lands of Nimiguil, showing the bamboo
landmark in token of his right. And this is the reason
why Nimiguil folk hold their lands by tenure of labour
284 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
and military service to the chiefs of Tomil. As the
narrator puts it crisply, " Tomil chief want work he speak.
Nimiguil man he go quick. Tomil man make feast.
Nimiguil man he fetch food."
After this two children were born to Igereng. The
mother one day fell ill and desired to be buried — whether
alive or dead, the narrative did not say. She strictly
charged the children to dig her up again after three days,
promising great and wonderful advantages if they were
obedient. But the boy and girl behaved just like all other
thoughtless children left to themselves with nobody to look
after them. They ran wild all over the country-side,
getting into all manner of mischief, tweaking the tails of
the Iguanas, and teasing the animals and birds. At last
when they did remember to dig up the old lady she was
stiff and dead, and the house of Igereng had lost its
promised blessings. The story doesn't say what Papa
Igereng did to the truants or why he didn't dig her up
himself instead. Probably, as savage as well as some
civilised papas do, he took the matter coolly, and con-
soled himself in due time with a less exacting mortal wife,
and here Igereng passes out of the story.
Now the great spirit Yalafath, who sits musing in the
sky, and takes a fatherly interest in the land of Yap,
spake one day to his wife Mui-Bab, and said, " I would
know if the flood has destroyed the land as they tell me,
and if any of the people has escaped death. Go down and
see. Return and tell me." And the goddess shot from the
skies in the form of an albatross or, as some say, a frigate-
bird, lighting on Tomil. And she saw how few were left
to till the land now barren of food-bearing plants. Swiftly
returning, she told Yalafath, the Giver of Good, of the
hapless state of the people. And he sent down to nourish
them the areca palm (Bti), the betel pepper (Gabui or
Kavui), the banana {Pau), the plantains (Irinim and
Tengera), the yams (Do/, Dok, Dal), and the water-taro
(Lak).
FOLK-LORE 285
Therefore to this day, when they see the frigate-bird in
the land of Tomil, they say, " Lo, the sacred messenger
of the mercy of Yalafath, Lord of the skies."
Now the compassionate goddess, seeing the land
again fruitful and fit for habitation, called eight Kan or
Genii into existence — one female and seven male. The
female {Ngut) went to Maki in the north, one of the
males ( Yangalap) to Gochepa on the north-east, another
(Toma) to Omin, another to Gilifith, another (Ath) to
Goror in Nimiguil, the extreme south point of the island.
The fifth went to Akau and the sixth to Obogol. The
seventh abode with Mui-Bab in Tomil, who created wives
for them by the exercise of her magic will. And these
are the generations of the children of Yap.
There appear several familiar threads woven into the
fabric of this crude, savage legend. The rather childish
version of the origin of the flood is nevertheless a new
and naive contribution to the huge masses of tradition on
this point, rescued from oblivion in different parts of the
world.
1. The coming down of the fairy beings to earth is the
reflex version of the account in Genesis (c. vi. v. 2).
2. The period of seven days is a common Semitic cycle.
3. The device of the fairies changing themselves into
rats reads like a Japanese Bake-mono tale, to say nothing
of the use of the word Machamach to signify magic, which
answers exactly to Japanese Maji or Machi, enchantment,
witchcraft, and more strangely still to the Araucanian
Machi, a medicine man or diviner.
4. Not less striking is the part taken by the celestial
messenger, the albatross. Similar, but not quite the same,
is the duty assigned to the humming-bird in the Mexican
legend, and to the raven and the dove in the ancient
Chaldean and Hebrew traditions.
5. The burying and digging up of the mother to obtain
certain prospective blessings by her children calls to mind
a legend of Rarotonga concerning the origin of Pigs told
286 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
by the Rev. Wyatt-Gill, and the Ponapean story of the
burying of Kaneki the Leper, from whose poor corpse
grew up the Coconut Palm.
Lirou of Tomil subsequently gave me a Southern Yap
version, slightly different, but in most particulars harmon-
ising very well. He gives the name of the fairy who
came down to see the dances at Alok as Legerem, and
that of her husband as Mar-alau. The name of the Fairy
Mother is variously given as Mithigom or Michigam. His
account of the flight and pursuit is interesting in its
minuteness of detail. " The goddess, chasing them on
the wings of the storm, tried to seize them in her talons,
but only tore away the island of Ramung. At the second
attempt she grasped the tract of land occupied by Map
Island. This too she rent away. The third time she
succeeded, but in her eagerness nearly tore away another
island, the western and eastern portions of the main island
being only left hanging together by the narrow isthmus
or neck of land at Girigir. Mar-alau is drowned in the
welter of winds and waters ; Fairy Mother and daughter
hide in a cave ; Legerem is captured by Igereng of Tomil
(whom Lirou, with the varying southern tribal phonesis,
styles Eriguk or Egeruk) ; but the Fairy Mother is too
wily for her pursuers and escapes, promising, however, to
visit her daughter in seven days and bring blessings and
not curses upon her new marriage. True to her word she
appears, levels and builds the stone wharf called Ochongol
running from Dagut to Tomil, and plants all the roads
around with avenues of the Kel or native almond. The
voracity of Michigam, her raids on the plantations in the
form of a rat, her ignominious death in a trap, and the
flood that follows in seven days, agree closely with the
northern version given by Toluk. The name of the sur-
vivor from Unean, who had escaped by climbing a tall
palm, is given as Angafau. This ancient worthy's name
appears oddly enough in early Samoan legend as Ongafau,
coupled with another mysterious personage Tafitofau, with-
FOLK-LORE 287
out whose names no orthodox fairy tale can start — a sort
of traditional introduction.
Legerem creates by magic art five boys and a girl.
To Yangalab, who settled Gochepa, she assigns the
conquest of the eastern islands up to Ruk, and Kuthiu
(Kusaie), and Fanupei (Ponape). Therefore, ever since,
the islanders from the eastward have come down at stated
intervals from Mokomok (Uluthi), and Anangai (Uleai),
and other places even further, to pay tribute to the Pilung
or chiefs of Gochepa. (The name Yangalab is probably
eponymous. It means Trade-wind or Great-gale.)
Yangalab may be taken to represent the restless,
piratical Malay element in Western and Central Caroline
history, his stay-at-home brethren as types of the peaceful,
agricultural instinct of the Dravidian forefathers left
behind them in Southern India.
Now, of course it was necessary somehow for Legerem
to provide wives for these early patriarchs, and Lirou
tells an extraordinary tale of the Machamach or magic
arts of Legerem, reminding one very much of the Mayan
story in the Popol Vuh of the gradual evolution of the
first man and woman.
Seven days wrought Legerem over a tangle of coconut
husk, and the result was (1) the Ataligak or black shore-
lizard (Scincus). Yet another seven days' incantation,
and (2) the Athalau or blue-tailed lizard. Seven days'
more, and, lo ! (3) the Galuf or Iguana, a large yellow and
green tree-lizard. The next wonder-working period pro-
duced a (4) Thagith (in Pelew Galith, in Irish Thivisk),
the spectral or phantom frame of a woman, lacking sub-
stance. One last stage of evolution, and there stood (5)
Le-pulei, a perfect woman nobly planned.
By Legerem's unfailing magic Le-pulei bears the
following daughters — Tilik, Le-ngeru, Matenai, Tininga-
mat, Miting, and Rutineg. From these and certain
fairy visitors from the sky, whom Legerem's sons took to
wife, are the people of Yap descended.
288 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Another tale of Legerem was told me by Lirou.
The same powerful fairy, to feed her fast-increasing
people, went down to the reef, caught a Goloth or sea-eel,
and cut it in two, carefully planting the pieces. From
one half there grew a coconut palm, from the other half a
banana tree. By similar means the Mai and the Lak, two
species of Taro, were produced in the land of Yap. Not
contented with this, Legerem sent an old man called
Galuai, who ascended in a column of smoke to the sky,
and there besought the Great Spirit Yalafath to give the
Yap people a further supply of food. To him were given
yams packed in an enormous hollow bamboo-cane, upon
which astride he mounted, with fowls harnessed alongside
to bring him in his chariot safe to earth. This is a crude
barbarian counterpart indeed to the classical tales of Lady
Venus, with her trains of doves and teams of sparrows.
And this is how those three useful things, the yam, the
bamboo, and the domestic fowl came into the land of Yap.
According to B., after the priestly caste " Ulu- Uleg "
or " Machamach" the two principal classes on the island
are Pilung or chieftains, and Pimlingai or slaves. The
latter for the most part dwell in bush villages, such as
Damachui and Gatlangal. They are darker in colour than
the Pilung, their hair is more curly, and in speaking they
have a slightly different pronunciation. It looks as if they
belonged to an earlier race, subsequently enslaved by an
invasion of fresh settlers. One tradition makes them
descended from the crews of certain visiting canoes from
one of the neighbouring groups. After Yap had been
ravaged with a great and fatal epidemic, the local people
determined to seize upon the persons of their visitors in
order to restock their land. So they set upon them and
killed most of the men, keeping the remainder and the
women and children as slaves, and settling them in
various inland villages, for fear they should steal canoes and
make their escape. These serfs belong to certain district
chiefs, and in some cases to chief women. They have to
THE TABU SYSTEM 289
do all the menial work for their masters. They live on
poor food, such as the Kai and the Luat, the greater and
lesser squid, which the chiefs do not care to eat. The
great distinction between the Pilung and Pimlingai is that
the former wear a Roai or ornamental comb of white
mangrove wood in their hair, the latter none. The slave
class are very shy and diffident before their native masters,
but in the presence of white men are apt to give them-
selves airs. " It's because they feel sure of being treated
well," says B. " It's just the way niggers have got."
Between all the Pilungs there is political equality, there
being little or no individual supremacy. The voice of the
majority settles the question. The old men act as um-
pires and spokesmen, their position answering to that of
the Gerousia of ancient Hellas. With them lies the option
of declaring war or peace. These old men form a perpetual
court of session, and from their decision or sentence there
is no appeal. Murder is generally punished by a heavy fine,
by which death by private vengeance is averted. Breaches
of the far-spreading Machamach or Tabu were punished by
the death of the offender by poisoning or assassination.
" In Yap," says B., " bad men never die, but disappear
somehow."
In Yap are two great wizards, the head of all the
magicians (" Ulu-uleg" or "Machamach ") in the island, both
well on in years, who support their dignity under very
strict conditions indeed. With them truly it is a case of
" Sagesse," if not " noblesse oblige." They are only allowed
to eat fruits from plants or trees specially grown for
them. They may not smoke tobacco, but, subject to the
condition above mentioned, may enjoy a quid of betel-
nut, the chewed-up remains being reverently collected
after them, borne away, and burnt in a special manner, for
fear of any ill-disposed person getting possession of the
rubbish and doing mischief by uttering a curse over it,
a superstition like that of the Nahak in the Melanesian
area. When one of them goes abroad the other stops at
T
290 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
home, for were the two to meet one another on the road,
the natives hold that some direful calamity would surely
follow. There are plenty of lesser degree Machamach
men, who go about always with divers errands in hand,
such as recovering missing property, divination, and the
like, but all grave and important questions come up before
the Mighty Two. To them belongs the power of the
Tabu, which applies to places and objects as well as
persons. If a village is tabued, no trader or anyone else
can take or give anything away from there. It is a very
strict rule indeed, and has been known to extend up to
six months. It is a very neat savage rendering of the
papal interdicts and excommunications of the Middle
Ages, to say nothing of the boycott of the Emerald Isle
and the -picketing of labour unions. When a canoe is
going on a long sea voyage, such as to Ngoli, Uluthi, or
the Pelews, they put on a tabu to propitiate the Yap
Neptune and the Shark-God. The same before a fishing
excursion, during time of drought, famine, or sickness, or
at the death of a chief or famous man. In short, any
great public event is thus celebrated, and, in fact, there is
always a tabu in full swing somewhere or other, to the
great disgust of the traders, who only see in those enforced
holidays an excuse for idling, drunkenness and debauchery,
and I verily believe that they are little better. It is then
that the copra-sheds lie empty, and the trader goes about
with a surly frown, and the native with a smile you could
measure with a foot-rule.
My informant then went on to describe a singular
custom similar to that in the worship of Mylitta at
Babylon, described by Herodotus. In each of the great
club houses, previously mentioned for their remarkable
architecture, are kept three or four unmarried girls or
Mespil, whose business it is to minister to the pleasures
of the men of the particular clan or brotherhood to which
the building belongs. As with the Kroomen on the Gold
Coast, each man, married or unmarried, takes his turn by
THE TABU SYSTEM 291
rotation in the rites through which each girl must pass
before she is deemed ripe for marriage. The natives say
it is an ordeal or preliminary trial to fit them for the
cares and burden of maternity. She is rarely a girl of the
same village, and, of course, must be sprung from a
different sept. Whenever she wishes to become a Langin
or respectable married woman, she may, and is thought
none the less of for her frailties as a Mespil. The sign of
a Langin is a string or cord worn round the neck, hanging
down fore and aft, dyed black and knotted. • This is
called Mara-fau (a Mara or necklace of Fau, the archaic
Yap name for the Kal or Lemon Hibiscus). But I
believe this self-immolation before marriage is confined to
the daughters of the inferior chiefs and commons. The
supply of Mespil is generally kept up by the purchase
of slave girls from the neighbouring districts, on which
occasion the Fe or stone money-wheels are used. The
reason that the stone wheels are piled at the foot of
these structures is that the Mespil may in looking upon
them remember that they themselves were bought with
great price, and must prove themselves worthy of the
honour conferred on them. Therefore these houses are
called Fe-Bai or Money-Houses. Very often a band
of Ufuf or village mohawks elect to carry off for a
freak a Mespil from some other village to grace their
own. Though an adventure much relished by the local
braves, it is considered a most blamable, unclubbable
act by their elders, and probably is the most fruitful
source of discord on the island. The institution of
the Mespil is certainly a surprising coincidence with
the Yoshiwara of Japan.
It is hardly necessary to state that the good Catholic
priests most sternly set their faces against the Mespil
system, but all in vain. " It is the custom of the land,"
says the obstinate heathen, and goes his own way — to
wake up only too surely to the fact that the young men
turn out worthless idle loafers and die early, and many of
292 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
the young women after marriage will not bear children.
Padres and traders alike say, and they are probably right,
that this, together with other co-operating influences, has
been the cause of the steady decadence and dwindling
of so many of the Ocean races. When a Mespil
is stolen the aggrieved village declares war, which has
to be staved off by the offending parties sending stone
and shell money in propitiation and by way of a fine.
Sometimes the woman is taken back to her home —
oftener, without doubt, she elects to stay in her new
quarters.
" In Yap," continues B., " men and women cannot
eat out of the same pot. The women and children
eat together." Now the women of Yap have rather
a hard time of it. They have to keep the yam and
taro patches and coconut plantations in order, and do
all the housework into the bargain ; whilst the men's
work consists in building houses and canoes, fishing
and trading. " Conjugal fidelity," says B., " is not re-
garded as a virtue " — a rather astonishing statement
which at first sight appears to conflict with the class-
divisions of Langin and Mespil. Needless to say, with
excesses in youth and early toil of field-work, the women-
kind age very quickly. To the Western mind the custom
of young girls about the age of sixteen passing through
such an ordeal as described, is well-nigh incredible.
But the thing is certainly so, and no resident or
missionary will venture to contradict its existence. It
is one of those startling facts flashing in our face out
of the weird mysterious East, where all things to us
seem turned topsy-turvy, and the fancy reels with the
oppression of a monstrous nightmare. A similar deep and
chilling sense of the gulf which separates Eastern from
Western thought characterises the solemn imagery in
which De Quincy limns his strange and fitful fancies —
crossed by the still-haunting shadow of China, Rome,
or Egypt.
THE TABU SYSTEM 293
Have none of my readers felt some vague thrill of
horror lurking behind the jewelled and glorious luxury
of the East — some jarring chord amongst her golden
melodies — a sense of something incomplete where all
seems solid and magnificent, such a union of beauty
and cruelty as seen in the fabled shrub of Java, deep
down in whose gorgeous and fragrant blossoms a little
coral snake lurks coiled whose touch is death. It is
at such times as these that the Western mind turns
thankfully back to those strong, simple, earnest men
— the Germans of Tacitus and the Scandinavians of
the Eddas. These men were our forefathers and theirs
was the better part. It is very well. They are our
fixed stars and shine mildly in heaven. But the others
are ominous lights, these blazing meteors, these comets
that come roaring and raging across our way out of
the chilly gulfs of Time and the black darkness of the
ages. We know our own — these we know not. We
view the Eastern mind as yet in a glass darkly. Our
methods, our planes of thought lie far apart, our notions
of justice, and honour, and all that makes a man, differ
from the very root. Who, after Kipling and Sir Edwin
Arnold, will throw himself into the gulf and bridge it
over ?
CHAPTER XX
NORTH YAP RETURN TO TARRANG
THAT evening we visited the shed where B. is setting
up the framework of a trading boat of tamanu
timber (Yap Bioutdi). The wood has a handsome
reddish longitudinal grain, is very durable, and is said
to harden in salt water.
We examined some clumps of a peculiar shrub
called Avetch. The foliage is like that of the jamboo
or Malay apple-tree, each spray terminating in a white
petal-like leaf. The seeds are minute like those of
the tobacco plant. The flowers are of small size, star-
shaped and of a bright golden-yellow hue. From the
top of the hill we viewed one of the magnificent sunset
effects that are so common here that nobody specially
notes them. But in England, I believe, cloud-pictures of
green, scarlet and amber are not so common. B. told me
of a magnificent club house at Umin on Map Island, also
of one at a place called Atelu, which artists, if any should
ever come here, would do well to bear in mind.
Next morning B. and I went out early to survey the
Tan-ne-Erouatch, the land of the Dead Heroes, the
district facing down on the straits of Malaf where
are the burial places of the mighty men of old.
Tan is the Malay Tana soil, or else is cognate with
the Polynesian root Tanu, to bury ; with Erouatch cf.
the Marshall Island dialect-words for chief or king —
Iroith, Uroit, Iroich, and the Marianne Uritoi. The whole
face of the land is covered with tufts and clumps of coarse
grasses, wild sorrel, and the South Sea arrowroot (Tacca),
diversified by patches of a peculiar pitcher-plant, At.
NORTH YAP 295
The parcel of land presents the appearance like an
old fashioned English orchard, save that instead of apple
and pear trees are found growing whole battalions of
that quaint and antediluvian looking tree — the wild
pandanus. Here and there a graceful climbing fern
(Lygodium), somewhat resembling the Venus' Hair or
Adiantum, curls its delicate green tresses over old
and unsightly tree-stumps.
For a long while our search after ancient graves was
unavailing, so well had the wild woods kept their secret,
and we wandered uphill, through copse, and down dell,
until we reached the dense belt of hibiscus running down
to the beach, and knew that we had overshot our mark.
We found a small rivulet which, in its course to the sea,
forms two or three shallow pools ; here we gathered some
freshwater shells, exactly like the ones found in the basin
of the waterfall at Puia on the Kusaie coast. Retracing
our steps, suddenly we came upon a gentle slope covered
with little flat platforms built of small blocks of basalt, in
many cases thickly overgrown by a dense tangle of climb-
ing fern. These graves are two or three feet in height, in
length six feet by four. They belong to the common
folk. Those of the chiefs and wealthy men are much
higher, and are faced with upright slabs of stone — one in
each corner and one in the middle of each side being de
rigueur. On our way back we fell in with a similar grave
near the slave village of Fal. In the afternoon we went
out again with a small boy and a whale-spade in search
of ferns and orchis plants.
Our little guide told us that it was the Yap custom to
throw quantities of chewed pandanus fruit upon the top
of these graves, apparently as a propitiation to the spirits
of the dead. In his quaint and barbarous dialect he tells
us of a former island existing to the north of Ramung
called Sepin, whose people were savage warriors and came
across in canoes to fight with the men of Yap. B. says
he means a submerged stack of coral, called Hunter's
296 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
reef, which lies up some thirty miles northwards, about
fifteen fathoms deep. But the name to me appears to
recall the island of Saipan in the Marianne or Ladrone
Group. It would only be one more addition to the
number of native geographical names repeating them-
selves with very slight variations over the Micronesian
and Melanesian areas. Possibly Favorlana, (Formosa
South coast) Tsipan, " the Western quarter" is cognate.
In former times the barren grounds must have been
inhabited pretty thickly. Traces of ancient cultivation
and the foundations of old houses are numerous on
the promontory facing Map. Probably the population
perished off in some epidemic, or in some great battle on
which history is silent. Now the place is waste and
desolate, and the natives fear to come around at night.
Only in daytime will they come hither, and then only in
company by twos and threes.
That afternoon we stumbled upon another grave, said
to be that of Rek, the chief of Umin, the capital of Map
across the water. It is surrounded by a narrow trench,
and consists of four tiers. Three are of stone and the fourth
is of earth. The lowest tier is twenty-five feet in length,
breadth twenty-two feet ; second tier twenty feet in length,
breadth twelve feet ; upper tier sixteen feet in length,
breadth eight feet. Each of these three tiers is about a
foot and a half in height, and the lowest, that of earth, is
one foot high. The topmost tier is paved with a layer of
fiattish blocks of stone. Here are no upright stone slabs
as seen in the tomb of Fal, which, though a smaller struc-
ture, has eight of these curious erect stones bordering each
tier.
On exploring further we found the hillside beyond Fal
cut up into a series of terraces and ditches three or four
feet deep, very much overgrown with long grass, into
which one would occasionally disappear with startling
abruptness and a considerable shock. These are the
relics of gardens of the olden time, where they used to
NORTH YAP 297
grow beds of yams and turmeric or wild ginger. Of the
roots of the latter they used to make the cones of Rang,
Reng, or Taik, a widely-used cosmetic from one end of
the Carolines to the other. (Cf. Polynesian Renga, Lenga,
the turmeric ; Javanese Rong, gamboge ; Hindustani
Rang, paint, cosmetic ; and with Taik compare Mar-
quesan Taiki, red, orange-coloured.)
We made our way down the hillside through the long
lush grasses, which took us up to our waists, until we
found ourselves deep down in a green valley, a rich strip
of rare old bottom-lands which would have delighted a
Whitcombe Riley, with a wee silvery brook singing down
with a mellow tinkle seawards amongst the shadowed
silence of deep groves. We struggle along through a
marshy hollow, and one's thoughts go back to the vales
of Thessaly and Lerna fen and the Centaurs or horse-
breeders thereof, and thence to Dirk Hammerhand and
the rich pastures of Walcheren, whence Hereward the
Wake by subtlety stole his mare Swallow. But we meet
neither Centaurs nor Lapithse, and no gainsaying Dirk to
challenge rash intruders to a game of buffets. Not a
sound save the murmur of the troutless brook, and the
gentle sough of the south wind sighing through the ever-
glades. "It was all of it fair as life ; it was all of it
quiet as death " ; but what a grassy meadow for cattle is
lost here, and what a grand retreat for a hermit.
The small boy, bending under a big bag full of plants
and seeds, follows gallantly on our track as we go trip-
ping and stumbling along through the silent hollow vale,
carpeted with matted roots, weeds and creepers. Little
by little we win our way out of the valley by a winding
trail that strikes upward and along the mountain slopes
above. The bright green tints of the grass give way
gradually to a light yellowish-brown, where the scorching
rays have set their mark all the sultry noontide past.
The purple shadows come stealing down from the hollows
in the hills, a wonder of amber-flecked cloud-canopy
298 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
glorifies all the face of the west, and as the sun dips in a
sapphire sea, cool, damp, and fragrant closes in the dusk
of eventide.
On the slopes above us are crackling little fires lit by
the natives to clear the mountain wilderness for the yam-
planting, even as their far-off kindred of the South burn
off the wild fern which year by year clothes the long hill-
sides of New Zealand.
After a longish walk over the hills we returned to B.'s
station, and left that night to return to Pilau, where we
arrived about midnight, agreeing to pay B. a second visit.
We find some natives sitting on the verandah with eggs,
yams, and fish for barter, and everything safe as I left it.
Visitors and crew were soon paid off, and went ashore well
pleased, Gameu agreeing to act as guide for a long walk
on the mainland, and the rest promising to bring in any-
thing remarkable in the way of sea-shells, lizards, spiders,
etc., for the alcohol bottle. One old man and his son
undertook to bring in some fine specimens of iguanas
( Varanus), of which there are plenty in this curious part
of the Carolines. This, together with the appearance of
fire-flies, the rarity of land birds, and the absence of the
horned frog found in the neighbouring area of the
Pelews, may afford food for speculation to the naturalist.
To the lay mind it seems odd. But then pretty well
everything in the Carolines is rather odd, and there is
plenty to find out still for any energetic scientist who
comes along prepared to rough it.
For a wonder Gameu turned up next day in good time
and took me over to Gilifith, from which we started about
midday. The heat was tremendous, and the stone paved
roads with the rain that had fallen overnight, slippery to a
degree. Along the road the scenery reminded me of an
English country lane. Ferns and mosses were growing
everywhere, and the path was frequently intersected by the
gnarled roots of the native chestnut. After a long climb
we found ourselves on the plateau, from which we had a
NORTH YAP 299
fine view. The pitcher - plant with its quaint lidded
flower-cups grows in abundance on the rich red soil, also
another pretty plant, with spotted leaves and violet and
mauve flowers. Next we passed through banked-up beds
of sweet-potato separated by a series of deep ditches
running between them, which gave the place quite the
appearance of a market garden. There were also some
yam patches, the creepers carefully trained over sticks,
like peas or scarlet - runners. Water-melons also were
seen growing in great abundance, probably introduced
from the Pelews, where the regular Malay name is in
vogue (Pelew Samongka, cf. Javanese Samanka). There
were also two small patches of pine-apples (Ngongor).
We came upon a bush-town called Matreu, and found a
party of old men scraping up the Reng or turmeric root
to make the favourite native cosmetic. From here we
followed a causeway on our right running along the side
of a pretty little brook flashing at intervals amongst the
weeds and grasses that border its course. On our left a
stretch of marsh filled with the broad arrow-headed leaves
and yellow blossoms of Water-Taro. We arrived at a
village, apparently of the same name as my temporary
island abode, with its imposing club house and platform
studded with upright basalt slabs, overshadowed by a
marvel of crotons, papyrus, and areca palms. We saw a
fine specimen of the tree called Kangit in Ponape, here
called Raual, with its broad leaves and spherical fruit,
containing numerous seeds like those of a mango
(Pangium edule).
We sat down under the welcome shade of a gigantic
native chestnut, and once more Gameu climbed to bring
down Tob or green drinking coconuts (Hindustani Dab,
Sonsorol Sob, Ponape 'Up). Ere long a number of people
came around us to feast their eyes a while upon the rare
spectacle of a visitor from over sea. They were not in
the least importunate, curiosity brought them ; and that
once satisfied they soon melted away.
300 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Beyond the village the path winds away down seaward,
bordered by luxurious clumps of beautiful ferns, amongst
which I recognised an old South Pacific friend, the giant
fern of Samoa. Here they call it Mong or Mang. But
for the coconut palms around, I could have fancied
myself at the Land's End, when I spied a species of
Osmunda ( Weleni).
After a slippery descent on the irregularly-paved road
we found ourselves at Gilifith, and after resting a while in
the house of Yetaman, the chief, we crossed over to the
little station on Pilau on a raft of bamboos. Yetaman
was a withered old specimen of humanity, who told us
tales of Gaintch (Pelews Gains, Aius) or stray crocodiles,
which had been known to arrive on Yap and the Pelews,
drifted on floating logs. Surely some at least of these
crocodile stories are founded on fact. On the east coast
of Ponape they tell a tale to the same effect, and I have
heard a legend of similar type from Lamotrek, where they
call the caiman or alligator Li-karrach-apom. The name
has a grimly sonorous ring ; my white informant, formerly
a resident in Lamotrek, says it means the Saw-toothed
Woman. The Polynesian horror of lizards and eels may
be perfectly well explained as a traditional recollection of
the alligators and venomous snakes left behind them in
their primitive homes upon the Asiatic sea-board and the
large islands of Indonesia. Their forefathers would have
certainly remarked the alligator in the rivers along the
New Guinea coast, as their successive streams of migra-
tion flowed past. Their intercourse with the islanders of
Melanesia, where such saurians abound, would be always
reinforcing and keeping alive the old tradition.
That evening the Eugenie turned up with Xavier on
board to say that O'Keefe was expected very shortly, and
asking me to come back on the next day but one at
latest. Therefore I determined to pay a last visit to
Ramung over the water, and get a few more facts out of
the old people. The talk that evening turned upon rats
NORTH YAP 301
and lizards and the like small deer, and Konias told a
heart-rending tale how the Sonsorol people dealt with the
rats which were such a plague in the island, and woefully
reduced their stores of food, scanty already as they were.
" Man catch rat — cut off ear, cut off tail — let 'urn go.
Him go down hole — fight other rat till him kill."
An old man in the corner began to tell machamach
stories about the Galuf or Iguana of Yap, which, he de-
clared, was a sacred beast in olden times. A number of
these somewhere in Rul district were kept at the present
time in a fenced enclosure, and served regularly with
baskets of food. One, he said, was very large and fat and
exceedingly tame, which it was only lawful for the priests
to see. He said that he had seen that day a lizard with
wo tails, which he spoke of as an ominous thing. Xavier
said that there were plenty of lizards similarly endowed
in China, and that the superstition in Macao was that any
gambler who carried one of these singular double tails
about his person was sure to have a wonderful run of
luck. To which the old man in the corner replied that
he never gambled ; drinking gin was the only excitement
he permitted himself in his declining years. Would the
kind Englishman oblige him with a glass of the magical
water which made the old feel young and strong again ?
On being told the new ordinance of the Spanish Governor
prohibiting the supply of gin to the natives, he looked
deeply disappointed, but on receiving a tumbler of red
wine, which is not prohibited, he brightened up wonder-
fully and promised me a fine large iguana for my collec-
tion. I did not put implicit faith in his promises, but
sure enough early next morning I beheld the old man
and his son seated on the verandah smoking, and two
very fine iguanas lying on the ground below tied up and
strapped down tightly, paws and tail, to pieces of stick,
and their mouths secured with strips of hibiscus bark to
prevent their biting. The old man's yellow dog, taking a
mean advantage of one of the defenceless saurians, took
302 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
him gently up by the tail to worry. The iguana's muzzle
of bark somehow slipped off, and the assailant found himself
seized by the cheek, the lizard in spite of frenzied yelps
and struggles nipping him in a vicious hold, until his jaws
were forced asunder with a bit of stick. Great was the
amusement of the onlookers, and deeply gratified were
they a little later at the iguana's plunges and struggles in
the uncongenial bath of alcohol. " S'pose Queen Wiktoria
him see Galuf, by-im-by him laugh too much," observed
the old man. " You stop here more long time. I bring
plenty Galuf more. One Galuf, two pieces black tobacco,
very good."
And that day, after rewarding the old man, we pushed
off for Ramung on our last day's exploration in the north.
Soon after our arrival at our friend's hospitable house a
chief called Toluk of Omin or Amon turned up again and
told us some tales of days gone by.
In the afternoon we walked over the hills to the settle-
ment of Bulual on the north side of the island, passing
on our way two interesting graves at a place called
Imangangich. The larger of the two had four terraces or
platforms; the lowest of these measured 32 feet long by
26 feet broad; the second 26 feet long by 18 feet broad;
the third 22 feet long by 14 feet broad ; the fourth 18
feet long by 10 feet broad. From top to bottom the
height was 8 feet. In the centre stood a long thin upright
slab of basalt 4 feet high.
Approaching Bulual on the down slope was very
slippery work over the paved roads, which on reaching
the low level emerge into a substantial causeway with a
deep ditch on either side, overshadowed by fine forest
trees, amongst which the native chestnut, the banyan and
the callophyllum were the most conspicuous. At Bulual
we found B.'s sailing boat waiting at the wharf, which he
sent round to meet us, and to take in a number of sacks
of copra, thus combining business and pleasure in our
overland march. After getting back to B.'s station, he
RETURN TO TARRANG 303
presented me with some pretty good sketches of the
graves which he found time to make.
That evening we got back rather late, and found
things as serene as usual in Pilau. Konias put the
finishing touch on my Sonsorol work, the last of the 450
key- words were carefully gone over, and after supper
notebook and pencil were once more called upon.
Suddenly it was remarked that the east was yellowing
with the coming dawn. So to rest for an hour or two
and away on the incoming tide and down to Tarrang
before the trades. Going down we found a much quicker
business than coming up. Towards sunset E. and I went
over to the Spanish settlement and fraternised with the
doctor of the station and two or three of the officers.
They seemed pleased to see us, and invited us with true
Spanish hospitality to stay and dine that evening, but we
had too much work on hand.
Next day I spent in observing the ways of O'Keefe's
colony of Sonsorol boys on Tarrang, whom he had brought
up from their poor little famine-stricken island, which lies
about half-way between the Pelews and the coast of Dutch
New Guinea. In cast of features they resemble Poly-
nesians much more than the people of Yap or even
Ponape, their quaint dialect in a great measure recalling
that of Uluthi and the Western Mortlocks. They appeared
cheerful and good-humoured, somewhat lazy, but willing
enough to work when called upon. Some while ago,
crazy with pilfered rum, they certainly had pitched into
the man from Macao, chased him into the water, and
beaten him grievously with bamboos. But this was a
very rare exception. The Chinese cook on Tarrang,
according to E., was a strange character, a surly old
devotee of some queer Chinese sect or other, who hated
natives and despised white men. He would gamble all
night with other Chinese from over the water, and would
fleece them of their hard-earned wages. To E.'s sarcastic
rebukes on these goings-on he would give most insolent
304 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
replies, careless of the certain punishment in store when
O'Keefe should return. A little accident happened that
day which intensified the ill-feeling on both sides. E.
had just washed his hands before lunch, and threw out a
large basin of dirty water from the second-floor verandah.
The Chinese cook below, returning axe on shoulder from
splitting firewood, was surprised to receive a sudden
shower-bath, and made a great to-do. When E. looked
down to see what had caused the whirlwind of curses
below, he saw his enemy, and the Chinaman seeing him
raved worse than ever in his shrill pigeon English. E.
smiled placidly on his victim, and the Sonsorol boys
shrieked in chorus, whilst Milton, the yellow house-dog,
and the two foxy-looking " wonks " from Hong-Kong
swelled the racket with their petulant yap-yap-yapping.
Next day I made a visit to Tomil across the bay, the
abode of the powerful chief Lirou. I went in a dingy
with two Sonsorol boys, carrying with me a two-foot
rule, a measuring tape, and a small box of biscuits and
provender. Landing on the Kades or stone jetty just
below the big club house I saw a number of the lime-
stone or calcite money-stones leaning against the platform
of the club house, whilst others lay in front of the wharf,
some wholly, others partially submerged, with here and
there a rim or a little bit showing above water. Some
fish-nets were hanging up to dry in front of a rude but
lofty boat-house carefully thatched above, but below open
on all sides to the winds and weather. We inquired the
chiefs whereabouts, and were directed inland. About a
quarter of a mile up through a narrow stone-paved avenue
shaded on either side by bamboos and crotons, we fell in
with a spacious cane-fenced courtyard paved with stone,
wherein were two or three native houses. There we were
told that the chief was in the house at the end of the
square taking a siesta in the heat of the day. Crossing a
narrow brook spanned by a fallen palm-trunk we went up
to the house which lay embowered in a dense mass of
RETURN TO TARRANG 305
dracaena, crotons, ferns, and giant arum, a pretty little
nook. We found Lirou sitting up, and he received us
graciously, warmly commending my desire to look into
the antiquities, and take notes on the architecture of his
countrymen. He begged, however, for half an hour's nap
to compose himself after yesternight's festivities, and turned
over to sleep, again recommending us to commence with
his house, go on with our measurements, and never mind
him. As in Ponape, the house is closed in at the sides
with shutters of reed-grass cunningly bound up in regular
rows with cinnet fibre, the ends of which are brought down
over the top into a fancy fringe work. Five stout pillars
of Biutch wood (callophyllurri), the favourite native tree in
house-building, each at intervals of five feet, hold up the
house, which in breadth is about sixteen feet. Down the
middle it is divided by a cane or reed partition. The
floor is strewn with Kini or rough mats plaited of coco-
nut leaflets. There was the usual angular verandah in front
supported by five pillars, the central one tall and slender,
bisecting the angle of projection. Each side of the house
had two doorways closed by shutters of cane, which can
be raised or let down at will. There were two more at
each end, front and rear. Some bags and baskets were
hanging up inside, and a sea-chest and one or two small
boxes completed the visible furniture.
Lirou was not by any means the only man in the
village suffering the effects of the orgies of the night
before. All the island just then was given up to a
carnival of dancing and drinking, and business in con-
sequence was nearly at a standstill. A man from Rul
came in with a cushion of banana skin, and a betel-
bag under arm, and offered to show us around the
settlement until the chief had finished his nap. So we
followed him a good way along the side of a creek bordered
with masses of asplenium (Lek) and parasol-fern (Kana),
which I had seen before growing in great quantities on
the plateaus of Hiva Oa in the South Marquesas. (There
U
306 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
the natives used to call it Manamana-Ohina or White-fork.)
Presently we came to a Big House, outside of which lay
a highly ornamental column of breadfruit wood {Thau)
under preparation, before being erected for a central pillar
of the building. The length of it as it lay on the ground
was 35 feet, and its circumference near the base was j\
feet. The base was ornamented by two carved figures of
fishes (Maltath) on top, and one on each side. At an
equal distance from either end were two raised representa-
tions of the Kai or cuttle-fish, separated by a blank space
in the middle. Each had eight legs, four sprawling each
way. The breadth of the ornamental fishes at the base
was 9 inches, their length 4^ feet. A pattern of black
and white crescents was also worked in. The figures of
the Kai were rude, consisting of raised white discs, with
two black spots in the centre to represent the creature's
eyes. The larger one was j\ feet in length, the smaller
6*.
The blank space in the middle was 7 feet long, just one-
fifth of the total length of the pillar. The smaller Kai
had its tentacles painted white, the larger one black.
The fishes were black, with the fins and backbone
indicated by lines and dots of white.
Inside the house were several raised platforms of
Bioutch wood, borne up on pillars of the same. The
edges and ends of these platforms were elegantly carved
in chevrons {wathat) and crescents. One was graven with
life-like representations of Mui-Bab, the Albatross, the
messenger of the great god Yalafath after the Flood to
his creatures below. The carved figures, of the uniform
size of a foot in height, run alternately up and down, and
are ranged wing overlapping wing, with an upper one in
between two lower ones.
There was another odd design called Meleol, of two
segments, which, base to base, actually form a cross of a
rather unusual type.
It goes without saying that a goodly number of
RETURN TO TARRANG 307
village urchins, and a few curious idlers of maturer age,
gathered around with their comments, and more than
once our old guide in indignation drove the former
back with prods of his staff as they pressed too
closely. " Have you anything like that over sea ? " asks
some village Caliban. " We do carve a bit, but nothing
like that," was the answer given with a certain intonation.
" Good carvers are scarce over sea ? " says the village critic.
" Aye, and in Yap too," said I, and my facetious friend
boxed the ears of a boy for laughing. The old man, our
guide, who had been on a trading vessel or two in his
time, here improved the occasion by a homily on the
wondrous foreign engines and manufactures he had met
in his travels. It was the monkey who had seen the
world, and found his way back to the forest again.
Next day news came that two canoes from Mokomok,
in the Uluthi Group to northward, who, according to
ancient custom, had come down to pay their tribute, had
arrived in Gachepa. A boy was sent overland to invite
down one of the Gachepa chiefs and one of the new
arrivals. Pending his return, I resolved to visit the islet
of Obi, across the water, in the dingy, and to increase my
collection of shells and fishes. Two Yap men were allotted
to me, but only one turned up in the morning, his mate
having cleared out on the spree. The little craft, though
neat and gay to outward view as green and white paint
could make her, turned out very crank and lop-sided.
Dipping our long, tapering, Sonsorol blades cautiously
into the calm water, we paddled up to the mangrove belt
which encircled Obi. Unhappily the tide was going out
fast and the boat kept grounding amongst the shallows,
whilst the boy " poddled " around in the mud seeking
some passage, whilst I unwillingly had to keep my seat,
owing to an injury received in my foot the month before
from a splinter of bamboo whilst climbing up Chila-U
above Mutok Harbour. Continual wading in salt water
cruelly irritates all such wounds but when interesting
308 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
work has to be done, and done without delay, one has no
time to worry over these little inconveniences.
At last we thrust our craft ashore through an opening
in the bushes and landed. We found some swamp-shells
(Botangol) of dingy hue, and picked up some curious
hairy crabs and several sorts of starfish (Rur). One of
the specimens was brownish-green, studded thickly with
bluntish dark-blue points or spikes about f inch in length.
Another had red spikes, and a third was brownish-green
all over, spikes and body alike.
On Obi we collected seeds of various littoral shrubs,
and a bunch of round black berries from an unknown
creeper. These, and a large quantity of other seeds,
collected from time to time from the Caroline area, I
handed over on my return to Mr Holtze, curator of the
Botanical Gardens at Port Darwin, who undertook to
properly classify them. Unfortunately I have not yet
heard from him.
The islet was carpeted with wild ginger and coarse
grass, and dotted with clumps of dwarf bamboo (Mor)
and the peculiar " Vech " or Avetck, with its clusters of
small starry, golden yellow blossoms, with a white leaf
petal at the end of the cluster. We also saw a Wote or
wild fig-tree (Sanskrit, Void). A number of dracaenas
were putting out their clusters of delicate lilac bloom,
overshadowed by a tall Iriu tree, the bark and leaves of
which recall the Bischoffia javanica (the O'a and Koka of
Samoa and Tonga), but instead of little bunches of seeds,
it bears long seed-pods. There were plenty of native
chestnut and callophyllum trees, and a large bed of yams
and sweet-potatoes, and a plantation of Lak or water-taro
down in a cool, dark hollow, the work of the slave women
of Lirou of Tomil, to whom the islet belongs. We caught
a large brown and yellow locust or winged grasshopper,
which the Spanish call langosta, and saw two kinds of
dragon-fly — one was small and of brown and yellow
tinting (Osongol), the other (called Galaoleit) larger, had a
RETURN TO TARRANG 309
red body, and the wings prettily variegated dark blue and
white. Returning to our boat we found one of the paddles
gone, picked up doubtless in a moment of abstraction by
some passing fisherman. We made shift with a bottom
board instead of the missing paddle and got leisurely over
to Tarrang, where I spent the rest of the day putting my
notes in order, and, in the absence of that useful little
book Anthropological Notes and Queries, thinking over
innumerable posers to propound next day to the Gochepa
chief and the Mokomok man, who had sent word that
they would surely come. That evening the man from
Macao presented me with some remarkable shells and the
tail of a sting-ray (Paibok), with which the Spanish
non-coms, are reported to quicken up the intellects of
their raw Manilla recruits. Attached to it is the deadly
spine (Ruch), some six inches in length, used formerly
all over the Carolines for tipping arrows, spears, and
javelins. But the Age of Bone and Stone has passed
away, and the Age of Iron and Steel has come in, and
come to stay.
CHAPTER XXI
STAY AT TARRANG AND DEPARTURE FOR HONG KONG
NEXT morning, sure enough, Matuk of Gochepa and
a man from Mokomok came down, and a busy
time they had of it for the next few days (Dec. 3rd to
8th) — the worthy old Lirou of Tomil coming across two
or three times to put in his word about the old traditions.
Most learnedly did they discourse about the stars of
heaven and days of the moon's age, and the names and
attributes of bygone gods and heroes ; how came the gift
of fire and the invention of stone and shell adzes, and of
the introduction of stone and shell money ; who taught the
folk to build fish-pens of cane and stone, of Yalafath the
kindly but indolent Creator, and Luk the spirit of Evil,
ever nimble and active. They waxed eloquent upon the
ancient wars with Anangai and Balao (Uleai and the
Pelews), and told strange tales of the vanished land of
Sepin or Saiping to the north ; the Yap Atlantis, whence
came forth fierce warriors, who fought with the men of
Ramung and Map and put certain of them to tribute, in
the olden days before the great canoes of the white folk
from over sea broke through the sky-line from the worlds
beyond. Many such tales did they utter, and stubbornly
pencil and note-book toiled behind. The man from
Mokomok overcame his bashfulness at the bidding of
Matuk, who conjured him to answer all my questions as
if I was his very father. Over four hundred Uluthi key-
words were added to the table of Caroline Island langu-
ages. They much resembled the Lamotrek, Sonsorol, and
STAY AT TARRANG 311
Uleai equivalents, but had a distinct and peculiar phonesis
of their own, forming a curious and beautiful link in the
long chain.
This Micronesian Viking was earnest with me to remain
in Yap, for from December to May canoes do not go up
from Yap to Mokomok as the wind is contrary. I was then
to return with them to Mokomok and enjoy the hospitality
of their island. It was a sore temptation, but with a
mighty effort I repelled it, for Uluthi is all but a terra
incognita to the white man. And we went on with the
work pleasantly, a trifle slowly, maybe, but surely. For a
good interpreter was by, and no pains were spared to
make sure of every doubtful or obscure point in each tale.
The Mokomok man said that it was like being tried
before the council of old men at home, so minutely was
his evidence sifted and weighed ; but the man, and indeed
all my teachers, had excellent patience, and native curi-
osity effectually put native indolence to the rout. More-
over, there was plenty of strong tobacco to smoke ; they
were not kept at one subject too long, and to relieve the
tension, I told them many tales for my part from Ponape
and Kusaie, fourteen hundred miles to the east, of which
they have perfectly clear record in their traditions as Fanu-
pei or Falu-pei and Kuthiu. In a word, my advice to all
who want to collect folk-lore from primitive races is this :
(1) First put your native friends at their ease completely
and get them to laugh and joke. (2) Tell stories yourself,
leading up to the point or illustration of the question to
be opened up. (3) Never interrupt to break the thread of
a tale. You can always hark back after the tale is done
and clear up any obscurity or apparent irrelevancy. I
say apparent, because the Caroline Islander seems to
consider side issues more than central facts. This makes
his stories a trifle rambling. If taken up and inter-
rupted, he is likely to ask plaintively, like the fuddled
man in the story, " Where was I?" A little patience,
and the native story-teller will make everything fairly
312 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
clear. You can't expect him all at once to have every-
thing cut and dried, bottled up and corked down and
labelled, and laid out neatly into prologue, scene, chapter,
and epilogue like the work of a practised modern essay-
writer. Our inquiry, whilst it lasted, was indeed a stiff
business, and how my method succeeded may be seen in
the Appendix.
On the 8th of December a Fiesta was celebrated in
the Spanish settlement with all solemnity. It was the
date of the Feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary,
the Patroness of the Colony. We made up a party to go
ashore and view the proceedings, and landed at Tapalau
near the house of the Government interpreter, Dona
Barthola, a worthy old Marianne lady. As we walked
along we beheld at the head of the causeway by the
powder magazine, guarded by a Manilla sentry, cigar in
mouth, an arch erected of branches of croton and palm
leaves adorned with streamers of split coconut-leaflets.
E. and I entered the principal hostelry, " La Aurora" and
there played an interminable game of " caroms " with
crooked cues and " elliptical billiard balls." There were no
pockets at all, and the cloth was cut and seamed in twenty
different places, showing where someone had blundered.
Likewise the table was on a slant, as if a baby earth-
quake had shaken it up. When we had got heartily
weary of the performance, mine host gave us our
luncheon. To show that Yap is not quite a bar-
barous place I will even quote the menu. First came
Vermicelli soup, then a dish of beans and turtle, with
the heart and liver taken out, chopped up and made into
little sausages for a side-dish. Then we were served
with a plateful of white radishes each. After that came
fried beefsteak from an animal which had been browsing
on the plateau that very morning. Then an omelette of
eggs (Fak-en-mi'men or Hen-fruit), which somehow have
been preserved from rats, pigs, dogs, and iguanas — a very
rare dish in the Caroline Islands, and from its rarity much
STAY AT TARRANG 313
prized. A custard and some Spanish sweetmeats, coffee
and curacoa, ended our meal, which was moistened by a
bottle of Vino Tinto or rough red wine, and some cider,
yclept champagne, from some Spanish village of the
ominous name of Villa Viciosa.
Arrived at the blessed stage of coffee and cigars, E.
told me of two tragedies of the Pacific — the slaying of a
Micronesian trading-skipper by his mutinous crew outside
the Gilolo passage, and the murder of a like adventurous
spirit, at Tench Island in the Exchequer Group. There
is plenty of this kind of raw material going, which I
suppose some romancist will one of these days work
up into a fascinating boys' book of traders, savages and
pirates.
Numbers of natives are passing and repassing on the
road, all in holiday best, many of them dressed up in
trousers and Turkey-red shirts, looking very self-conscious,
and desperately uncomfortable under all their unwonted
finery. Some appear to have tasted fire-water, and those
who haven't look very much as if they would like to, and
are not at all shy of naming their wants either. Every
house in the settlement has a Cycas palm {Fauteir)
planted before it, specially ordered the week before, and
brought down by the natives from the hill slopes around
the Magal or Lighthouse on top of Mount Buliel over-
looking the harbour. Four o'clock Mass is over, and at
five o'clock the procession is to take place. The whole
colony is gay with bunting, and the red and yellow flag
of Castile is much in evidence. I observe that the Union
Jack is unaccountably absent, and so are the Stars and
Stripes. " One of them may be here sooner than the
Dons think for," grumbles my prophetic vis-a-vis. By
and by the cry arises, " They are coming." Downhill from
the chapel marches the procession headed by priests in
red robes, and choristers in white coats, bearing crucifixes
and pictures and the image of the Virgin. Next marches
a body of native converts. Then a band of small boys
314 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
fitted with tinsel wings to represent cherubs or angels.
" I should take them for black-beetles," murmurs my un-
poetic comrade in the deck chair. Then he livens up for
a moment, for a bevy of Yap and Marianne schoolgirls
follows, some of the latter with undeniable good looks,
prettily dressed in the old Spanish fashion, white lace
veils and dainty mantillas. Next come a medley of
half-castes. A group of the officers of the garrison fol-
lows, and last of all streams along in loose order a wild
looking crew of natives, comb in hair, marching to the
accompaniment of bugle, flute and drum. Observing
narrowly the gentlemen bringing up the rear of the
motley throng, I observe that many of them can hardly
keep their legs. Evidently the red wine has been going
down sweetly. " I'm sorry for anyone who has a
labour contract in hand to-morrow," said I. " That's so,"
says the cynic. " None of the folk ashore will be able to
get a native to work for the next week or more. I wish
I could be out at some of them with a stuffed club.
They're like a lot of spoiled children, and the Manilla men
make them worse every day. But we're all right on
Tarrang. If any of our Sonsorol boys go ashore on the
spree, they know what they'll catch when O'Keefe comes
back."
More natives than ever were now crowding around with
nimble fingers, seeking to pick up any trifles lying about.
Some who had spent their ready money were staggering
about the roads offering combs and ornaments, and some
their wretched wives and female relatives in exchange for
dollars to purchase draughts of red wine to slake their
burning thirst. It is a regular Pandemonium. " Such a
racket that nobody can hear themselves think," is my
comrade's terse remark. A mean-looking Manilla recruit
limps along hand to cheek, blubbering like a great baby.
A fellow-gambler has smitten him forcibly on the mouth
for cheating, and half strangled him into the bargain.
Vomiting strange maledictions, his adversary follows
STAY AT TARRANG 315
with a bitten hand. Things are getting lively, now that
fighting has started, so after doing a little barter we start
for Tarrang, carrying with us three carven combs, a
bamboo betel-box, and a marafau or necklace of black
hibiscus fibre, the insignia of some adult youth, who
doubtless will catch it hot when his grandpapa sees him
without it to-morrow.
The day after the Fiesta the white wings of the long-
looked for Santa Cruz are seen fluttering far out to sea.
About noon she sweeps through the narrow harbour mouth,
E. and I boarding her whilst she is still under way. I
receive a most cordial greeting from the burly and jovial
O'Keefe, whom I now meet face to face for the first time.
A number of Sonsorol and St David's lads are on board,
reinforcements for the band of workmen at Tarrang.
Storms have swept their island homes almost bare of coco-
nuts, and the poor people are only too glad to take service
with the friend and benefactor who had done much for them
in past years.
On board the vessel is a prisoner, a Pelew chieftain
named Tarragon, a noted homicide. He was one of the
prime movers in the cutting-off of the trading schooner
Maria Secunda and the massacre of the crew in 1894, and
had long defied arrest. O'Keefe held him up singly with a
revolver in the middle of a menacing crowd, and invested
him with the order of the bracelet on the spot. We took
him ashore under guard, and what the Spanish did to him
I cannot tell, nor do I greatly care to know. He was a
sullen looking ruffian enough. I daresay he left some others
just as bad behind him. Doubtless the jaws of Justice
opened and devoured him even as Alice's walrus swallowed
the oysters. That very forenoon O'Keefe and E. had a long
interview with the Spanish Governor, who was consider-
ably irritated when he heard that the Dutch flag had been
hoisted on the little barren isle of St David's, and vowed
that they should hear of it at Madrid. O'Keefe was
thanked and complimented by the Governor in the grace-
316 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
ful and cordial manner in which the Spanish acknowledge
a service rendered. There followed a considerable inter-
change of hospitalities between our island and the shore,
in which I unfortunately was debarred from taking a
prominent part, my foot giving me much pain, which I
endeavoured with some success to charm away by
unremitting application to work, the good old Lirou
coming over almost every day with some new tale or
fresh string of curious facts. " Matches," the Sonsorol
boy, was generally at hand to get what I wanted, for I
could hardly set foot to the ground for days. However,
the Spanish medico gave me relief at last — taking out a
deeply-embedded splinter that had escaped notice all this
while. The days were tremendously hot, the evenings
pleasant and cool, and, thank goodness ! — no mosquitoes.
There were plenty of books to read, and I was continually
busy revising old notes and writing new ones. Mrs
O'Keefe also gave me some valuable assistance in getting
proper equivalents of my table of key-words in the dialects
of Sonsorol, St David's, and Nauru. It was then that I
appreciated what hard honest work Konias on Pilau had
done for me. " That is a good boy — that Konias," said
she. " When you come back again, mind you ask my
husband to let you have a Sonsorol boy. They are good
boys and always do what I tell them, and I know they
would work well for you, because you are not always
grumbling at them and finding fault."
And if I ever do get back again to the Carolines I
think I will take her advice.
On the 14th December the bi-monthly mail steamer
Satumus from Manilla came in with a batch of deported
rebels. She was soon coaling at the Tarrang wharf. It
seemed odd and incongruous to see numbers of Sonsorol
and Yap men scrambling along with great baskets of coal
on their heads, like the Egyptians at Port Said, or the
Japanese coolies at Moji at the entrance of the Inland
Sea. It was ludicrous to see a stalwart native stalking
STAY AT TARRANG 317
along the quivering plank, basket on head, mother-naked
under the scorching sun, save for a scanty girdle of red
hibiscus fibre twisted loosely round his loins — his long
hair bound up in a bunch behind, with generally a comb
stuck in it, ornamented by bits of fluttering newspaper
or cock's feathers. Some of the workers were thickly
begrimed with sweat and coal-dust, and presented a very
comical appearance. They did not take any particular
notice of the Manilla men on board. Those of the
garrison ashore they have weighed in their own mental
balance and found wanting, and view the newcomers with
good-humoured indifference and a shade of contempt, as
feeble and unwarlike beings.
The Saturnus had left Manilla on the 7th, and con-
sequently brought some interesting news of the progress
of the rebellion. There has been a battle near Cavite,
and a whole villageful of rebels — some eight hundred in
number — have been cooped up by the Spanish rein-
forcements lately arrived via Singapore, and shot down
to the last man. Considering how the rebels behaved
after capturing Imus and Bacor one cannot well blame
the Spaniards for their retaliation. In Manilla just now
there is considerable feeling against Germans and Ameri-
cans, and by implication of course Englishmen. There
are two German and three English men-of-war lying in
the river, which is just as well in case of accidents.
The morning the Saturnus left, six rebels were brought
out and shot on the Luneta esplanade, whilst upwards of
fifty were reported to be lying in jail ready for platoon
practice. Their deaths will leave humanity none the
poorer. Such, at all events, is the opinion of the new
commander lately arrived from Spain — a man of the
Parma or Alva type, who, like one of Carlyle's heroes,
" does not believe in the rosewater plan of surgery."
So the local governor across the water has plenty to
think of, and forty more idle, worthless, mutinous rogues
to house, victual, and discipline.
318 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Just after the Saturnus left things went a bit askew in
this island of Barataria, and the good governor's noddle
was sorely perplexed. A Chinese trader of O'Keefe's came
down from the neighbourhood of Girigir in the north in
great distress of mind to complain that a party of natives
had come upon him and forcibly taken his boat for a fish-
ing excursion. He was thumped and beaten with sticks,
and spears were thrown at him, but none of them wounded
him. When the report of these doings was laid before
the governor he sent up a sergeant and two privates that
very day to summon two of the principal natives accused
to come down and give an account of themselves. This
they very obediently did, for the Spaniards could never
have forced them to come down against their will. On
examination both accuser and accused managed in the
space of about half an hour to involve themselves in such
a hopeless fog of lying and perjury, that the governor,
losing all patience, settled matters with a vengeance by
jailing them all for two days on short commons as an
inducement for the future to tell a plain tale plainly. If
he had sent the interpreter to join them as well, no great
harm would have been done either.
On December 16th I received another visit from
Matuk of Gochepa, who told some more odd facts about
the Pilungs or aristocracy and the Pimlingai or slave
class. (Pilung, probably = Sanskrit Puling, a male, and
means " The Men.") The Pilungs were the old settlers
— autochthones — and the Pimlingai were castaways from
other islands. The latter used to call themselves Mal-
ailai, which possibly answers to the term Malaiu or
Malay, in Japanese Marai. He gave me to understand,
moreover, that an ancient judge called Magaragoi intro-
duced the distinction between freemen and slaves by the
wearing of the Roai or comb of mangrove wood. Lirou
came in the afternoon, and as a final bonne bouche, served
me up further food for thought in the form of the follow-
ing Yap traditions.
STAY AT TARRANG 319
THE INVENTION OF STONE MONEY
There was a wise old man in Tomil named Anagumdng,
to whom Le-gerem showed all the stars of heaven, and
the seasons of their rising and setting. After three
months' study this apt pupil took seven men with him
(the usual " perfect number" in Yap tradition), manned
a large Gothamite canoe, and sailed into the unknown
southern waters, in quest of the land of Balao (the Pelew
Group), under the guiding of the constellation Mageriger
or Pleiades. Entering the northern reef passage and
passing Bab-el-Thaob, he came down to the island of
Peleleu. A little to the northward of the last-mentioned
island there lie certain conical islets named Kokial scattered
about the wide lagoon. Here he found a new sort of
shining stone (which the men of London call arragonite
or calcite), and conceived the idea of hewing it into
various portable forms to serve as a rude medium of
exchange. There was an abundance of pearl-shell here
as well, to which he helped himself liberally for the same
purpose. The shining rock he found, and with infinite
trouble cut it with his shell-axes into the form of fishes
about a yard long. Some fragments, for the sake of
variety, his men worked into the shape of a crescent
moon. Others again they chipped into wheels of different
sizes, rounded like the orb of the full moon. With these
last, when they had bored a big hole through the middle
of each, Anagumang was satisfied. So they loaded up
their canoe and returned ; the voyage back only taking
five days. When they took the stones ashore Le-gerem
kept the wheels with the hole in the middle, and threw
away the rest as worthless, and put into operation a power-
ful charm to centre all the desire of the people on the
recognised standard coinage.
Before this time, ruefully remarks the narrator, there
was no fighting in Yap. Ever since that, however, there
have been constant civil wars in the land, arising from the
320 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
eagerness of each tribe to acquire a large portion of the
coveted treasure.
After this there were frequent expeditions going to the
Pelews from Tomil, Rul, and Gochepa, and many were
the people who lost their lives from imprudently putting
to sea in the stormy season. Others, moreover, after
reaching the Pelews, perished on their return journey,
their vessels swamping or upsetting from carrying heavy or
carelessly stowed freight of these precious and fatal stones.
Others again were slain in battle by the people of the
country, who were valiant men, and resented these uncalled-
for visits, and the plundering of their beds of pearl-shell.
A NEW VERSION OF THE PROMETHEUS MYTH
The yam and the taro were in Yap, but as yet there
was no fire to cook them. The natives used to dry them
in the sand, and, as it were, sunbake them. And the folk
suffered grievously from internal pains, and besought
Yalafath to help them once more. Immediately there
fell a great red-hot thunderbolt from the sky, and smote a
Choi tree (Pandanus). At the contact of the fiery element
the Choi broke out into a regular eruption of prickles
down the middle and sides of every leaf. Dessra, the
Thunder god, thus found himself fixed fast in the tree-
trunk, and called out in a lamentable voice for somebody
to deliver him from his irksome prison. A woman named
Guaretin, sunbaking taro hard by, heard the voice, and
helped the distressed god. He inquired on what work
she was engaged, and when she told him, bade her fetch
plenty of moist clay. This he kneaded into a goodly
cooking-pot (Thib), to the great delight of the worthy
housewife. He then sent her in search of some sticks
from the Arr tree (called Tupuk by the Ponapeans),
which he put under his armpits and infused into them
the latent sparks of fire, and went his way. This is how
the art of making fire from the friction of wood, and the
moulding of pots out of clay came to the primitive folk of
STAY AT TARRANG 321
Yap. Hence two proverbs suggested to the cautious and
practical Yap mind.
Moral — " Never refuse to do a good turn to those in
need, it may pay you better than you think " ; and
" Beware of hidden fire even when you see no smoke."
THE BUILDING OF THE FIRST CANOE
The indefatigable fairy mother Le-gerem prepared to
astonish her people with a further display of first-class
magical powers. One day a very big canoe was seen
slowly floating down from the clouds, let down by
innumerable ropes or pulleys, just over the village of
Gocham or Gotham in Tomil. The people flocked in
crowds to see the wonderful sight. Some inauspicious
words of the impatient multitude broke the charm.
Before the canoe could be lowered in safety to the
earth, the ropes broke, and the wondrous structure was
smashed up beyond all hopes of repair. Then Le-gerem
hewed a Vol tree, measured it out with care, and with
infinite pains made another of similar model. The
long and somewhat clumsy Yap canoes, running high
in bow and stern fore and aft like Scandinavian vessels,
with their heavy solid outriggers and the curious fish-
tail ornamentation in bow and stern, show how the
industry of the Gothamite ship-builders followed the
directions of their long-suffering patroness.
After the departure of the Saturnus for Guam and
Ponape I made busy preparations for embarking myself
and my belongings in the Santa Cruz, O'Keefe having
kindly offered me a passage in her up to Hong-Kong.
On the 22nd December, having taken a cordial leave of
the Spanish governor, priests, officials, and my native
friends, I went on board the little schooner, heavily laden
with a cargo of beche-de-mer, much in request amongst
the Chinese for their New Year festivities. I took with
me about fifteen boxes of curios in all, which wanted a lot
of storing. We left about noon, running Goror Point out
x
322 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
of sight before sunset. We passed the Pelews on our
right, giving them a wide berth, with a steady north-east
monsoon helping us on our way until we were within 150
miles of the Ballintang Straits, which separate Formosa
from the north coast of Luzon. We spent a very quiet
Christmas at sea, and the day after it a dead calm fell,
lasting forty-eight hours just off Duguay Trouin reef. We
had a motley crew, two Yap men, one boy from Sonsorol,
one from St David's, one half-caste Pelew islander, and
two half- wild natives of Ilocan. The first mate was an
old Tasmanian, and not a soul on board except O'Keefe
had the remotest notion of navigation. So it is hard to
conjecture what would have become of us if anything
had happened to the captain. But in Micronesia no
one bothers his head in discussing what might have
been. The last day of the year 1897 we passed through
the Ballintang Straits between the Batuyan and Batang
Islands. Entering the China Sea we encountered furious
tide-rips and very rough water, also occasional squalls
with heavy rain, and a considerable fall in the thermometer.
Early on the morning of January 3rd the rude rounded
and massive outlines of the dreary China coast were
sighted. Slowly the distant Peak showed up clearer
and clearer out of the banks of cloud-wrack. There
fell a spell of light and variable breezes, when to our
relief a tug-boat came out and towed us in through
the narrow Lyeemoon Pass, past the Quarries and the
Sugar Works ; finally, after we had received pratique,
casting us off to our moorings opposite the weather-
beaten waterfront of Wanchai about three o'clock on
a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon. Thence into the
bustling streets filled with rickshaws and pedestrians,
where one realises that if Europe is still far off the
islands are very far off too.
And thus I made my first step back to the civil-
isation of the West, carrying with me into the busy
streets of great cities and the stirring hum of their marts,
DEPARTURE FOR HONG-KONG 323
thoughts of a strange folk whom my people have not
known ; carrying with me, I say, into our island of cloud
and mist and fog, memories ineffaceable of tropic woods
unscorched by frost, unstripped by rigorous winter, visions
of bluest sky and sea, and of a serene, fragrant and
lustrous air dreamed of by poets, but as yet unchronicled
by artists. And now, weary of our smoky cities, I soon
shall be returning to mountain and coral-strand, to a
land of hanging woods and singing waters. As carols
the settler of Yeat's Lake Isle of Innisfree : —
" And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings
There midnight's all a glimmer and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore ;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey
I hear it in the deep heart's core."
APPENDIX
(a) clan names of ponape
Called Tupu or Tipu, also Chou-tapa
Note. — The names within brackets are those of the
principal chiefs belonging to the several tribes.
i. Tupu-en-Panamai (Noch, in Metalanim).
2. Tupu-en-man tontol (King Rocha of Kiti), patron-
saint Ilako, a name that appears in the Yap Pantheon as
Ilagoth. The Man tontol, or Dark bird, is the Kau-alik
or Blue Heron.
3. Choun-Kaua (The Wachai of Chokach, Lap-en-Not,
the headman of Not, and Chaulik of Tomara).
4. Tupu-lap, a Mount Wana clan, allied to Nos. 2 and 1 3.
5. Lipitan (Nanekin of Kiti).
6. Lachi-alap (King of U).
7. Tupu-en-Papa.
8. Tupu-en-Luk = the children of Luk, the spirit of
guile and mischief.
9. Tip-en-uai, the descendants of Icho-Kalakal's great
invading force from the South. (Nanekin in Metalanim,
also Lap-en-Paliker, Lap-en-Langar, and the influential
chieftain Nan-matau of the Palang valley. The totem of
this tribe is the Likantenkap or Sting-ray.
1 o. Latak.
1 1. Chau-n-P6k.
1 2. Tup-en-man-en-Chatau. The children of the Devil-
Bird or Native Owl. (Chatau = Pueliko, the Ponapean
Inferno.) In Malay the name of the Owl Burong Hantu
has the same meaning.
13. Tip-en-man-potopot. The Man-potopot or White
Bird is the Chik or Boatswain bird. Another Kiti tribe.
CLAN NAMES OF PONAPE 325
14. Choun-pali-en-pil. The people of the waterside.
1 5. Naniak (Nanchau-Rerren of Roch and Annepein).
16. Chou-n-Chamaki. Chamaki is the name of a hill
near Chap-en-Takai on the south-west coast.
1 7. Li-ara-Katau. This tribe is now extinct.
18. Chou-n-mach. Probably representing the ancient
Malay element. Literally. The People of the olden Times.
19. Choun-Kiti.
The old name for a king was Chau or Akata, and
Icho meant a prince. The kings of Metalanim and U
are entitled Ickipau, their queens Likant. The king of
Kiti is variously called Nanamareki or Rocha, his wife
being called Nan-alik. The wife of the Wachai or prince
of Chokach is styled Nanep. The children of a king
were called Cherrichou. Other chiefly titles were Taok,
Nock, Chau-ivana, Nanaua, Nanapei, Nankerou-n-pontake,
Nanit-lapalap, Nalik-lapalap, Nanchau, Chautel, Lumpoi,
A untol-rerren, Mar} A u, A u-en-pon-pei, Ckoumatau, Chaalik?
the smallest title of all. Then came the Maio or Freed-
men, then the Aramach-mal or Common folk ; and, last of
all, Litu or serfs, mostly descended from prisoners of war.
Counted equal to the nobles were the two religious
bodies, the Chaumaro or high priests, and the Laiap or
priests of the second order. These were of great weight
and importance in the land, and united the functions of
doctor, magician, rain-maker, and diviner of the future.
Theirs was the knowledge of medicinal herbs and poisons,
the gift of Kapakap or prophecy, of the Macha-kilang or
second sight, the interpretation of dreams and omens, and
the dreaded power of the Ria or imprecation of curses.
Upon them devolved the ordering of Court ceremonies
and public festivals, and the seasonable invocation of the
gods of rain and harvest, the staving off of famine and all
calamities, public and private, and the maintenance of the
1 Cf. Maori, Mara! Sir, a salutation of a young man to an older.
2 Perhaps akin to S. -W. and S. Polynesian, Tauhkaleka, Taurekareka, and
Taule'ale'a, a youth, beau. (In Maori, a rascal.)
326 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Charaui or Tabu. Theirs were the principal seats upon the
Lempantam or high stone platform in the Nach or Council
Lodge — theirs, next to the king's, the best portion of
cooked food and kava upon the days of solemn festival.
Throughout all the tribes great respect was paid to the
chiefs, who were never addressed as " thou," but always in
the second person plural uye." As in Malaysia there
were many special words used in addressing a chief, and
again there was another set form of words for addressing
the king, who was looked up to with great awe, and only
addressed in the plural of majesty as " They." The
chiefs mingle amongst their tribesmen with great famili-
arity and affability, which, no doubt, forms a fresh bond
of sympathy and union. They all hold together loyally ;
offend one, and all are eager to take up his quarrel. If
the chief be a kindly hospitable man, his people will follow
his example. If he be a rogue and a churl, his people
will act as rogues and churls too. And this I have
observed is a characteristic of Caroline islanders in
general. They seem to have little independence of
judgment, and love to follow the lead of their chiefs in all
things crooked or straight, right or wrong.
(b) names of native diseases
The miasmas arising from the swampy belt of alluvium
surrounding Ponape give rise to various catarrhal and
febrile maladies, very fatal to the old people during the
rainy season, with its light and variable winds. An
important factor in the health of the people is the trade-
wind that blows clear and fresh out of the north-east from
October to May. Their names for fever are : Cho-mau-
pou and Chomau-karrakar, the first denoting the cold, the
second the hot fit of the malady.
They call the smallpox, introduced by a whaling vessel
some forty years ago, and which carried off half the
population of the island, Kilitap or Peeling Skin.
Consumption, for which the natives also have to thank
NATIVE DISEASES 327
the whalers, is called by the grim name Ll-MONGOMONG
or " The Lady who shrivels men up."
The venereal disease, now happily quite of rare occur-
rence, is called KENCH (Jap. Kanso), upon Yap Rabungek.
Scrofula {Pir) is fairly common, the result of a poor diet.
Leprosy (Tukotuk), somewhat rare, and of a compara-
tively mild type ; probably introduced from the East by
the early Asiatic settlers {cf Maori Tukutuku : a curse, to
bewitch).
Rip is the generic term for sores and ulcers (Kusaian
Ruf) {cf. Tahitian ; Ripa, wasting sickness).
Cough is Kopokop (Kusaie Kofkof), a cold or catarrh,
Tot or Punan.
Asthma is Lukoluk. Hiccough, Marrer.
Rheumatism, Matak. Vomiting, Mumuch. Headache,
vertigo, Maaliel.
Home-sickness or nostalgia, Lit-en-chap. Paralysis,
Li-chongapo.
Delirium, Li-aurdra. Insomnia, Ika-n-pong.
Itching, Kili-pitipit or Quick-skin.
Constipation, Tang, Teng. Dysentery, said to have
been introduced from Manilla, Pek-en-inta.
Squint is called Macha-pali, or eye on one side.
Blindness is Mach-kun. Fainting is Machapong.
Lameness is Chikel {cf. Javanese Chongkul).
A swelling of the hands into hard lumps is called
Komut-en-Kiti ; query, chalk-stones.
The disease known as Tanetane in Polynesia, appearing
as an eruption of light-coloured maculae on the brown
native skin, is Chenchen (Kusaie Tantan, spotted).
The curious furfuraceous disease, mentioned by Guppy
as so prevalent in the Solomon and Gilbert Islands
called Tokelau Leprosy or Tokelau ringworm, is very
common in Ponape, where it is called Kili-en- Wai or The
Foreign Skin.
Elephantiasis is also common in this group which the
ethnic mutilation (Lekelek) is supposed to guard against.
328 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
(C) PONAPEAN TREES, PLANTS AND SHRUBS
I here give the native names arranged in alphabetical
order, and where possible with the botanical name side by
side. To each is affixed a description of its economical or
medicinal qualities, use, or special virtues. I have some-
times subjoined the neighbouring Micronesian, the Poly-
nesian, or the Philippine Island name, agreeably to the
recommendation of Guppy in his book upon the Solomon
Islands, pp. 186-190. A more complete dissertation
upon the widespread distribution of similar plant and
tree-names throughout the great Pacific area will be found
in a paper of mine which appeared in the Transactions
of the Polynesian Society of New Zealand in 1897.
A
Adit, Abitk, Abiut. The Yap name for a bush-tree
bearing round edible fruit of a dull green, marked all over
with light yellow raised patches. Flavour sweet and
mawkish. The pulp has an offensive, sour odour.
Aio. The Banyan-tree of Ponape (Ficus Indica). The
Ao of the Mortlocks and the Aoa of Polynesia. (Also
called on the east coast Oio.)
Ais. (Parinarium laurinum.) The Atita of the Solo-
mon Islands, the Adhidh of Yap, the A set of the Mortlocks.
In the Pelews known as LAUG. It grows to a considerable
height and produces large circular rough reddish-brown
fruits about the size of a cricket-ball. A decoction of
the pericarp is used for painting canoes red, and the
kernel produces a good varnish-oil used in conjunction
with clay for caulking seams of leaky boats.
Ak. The generic word for mangroves. (Tagal BakaJi).
The upper branches run into long straight wands or poles
which are used for spear-shafts, rafters, punting-poles
and husking-sticks. N.B. — In Polynesia Oka denotes a
husking-stick or rafter.
Alek. An elegant species of reed-grass, the slender
TREES, PLANTS AND SHRUBS 329
stems of which are extensively used for making shutters
and floorings.
Aput, Apuit. A white-wood riverside tree used for the
Kerek or figure-heads of canoes.
Aulong. A species of wild ginger bearing a reddish or
crimson spike of flowers called Likaitit.
C H
Chat. The Custard-apple (Anona squamosa). In Yap,
Sausau.
Chaiping, Chaping. (Heritiera littoralis.) The Metalanim
name for the Marrap-en-chet, i.e. the Marrap or chestnut
of the salt water, the sea-side species, to distinguish it from
the Marrap of the woods (Inocarpus edulis). The
Chaiping has singular keeled seeds. The under part of the
leaf is of a silvery whiteness. Wood hard and white, used
by boat-builders. The Pipilusu of the Solomon Islands
(Guppy). In Tagal Sapang denotes a hard-wood tree.
Chair-en-uai {i.e. The Foreign Flower). The U and
Metalanim name applied indifferently to a species of
Gardenia, and to the Cananga odorata. (The latter is the
Ylang-ylang of the Philippines and the Moso'oi, Mohoki
and Motoki of Polynesia.) With Chair, Sair, " a flower,"
compare Javanese Sari, " a flower," and Polynesian Tiare,
Siale id.
Chakan. The Candle-nut tree (Aleurites triloba).
Known in the Polynesian area as Rama, Lama and Ama,
also as Tutui. The charred nuts used by the Ponapeans
for making a black paint.
Chakau, Choko. The kava of Polynesia (Piper Methy-
sticum). From its pounded roots the national beverage is
made. It is extensively grown all over the island, except in
the Metalanim tribe, where its raising is vetoed. The word
is connected with the Japanese Sake, Saka, which denotes
(a) rice-spirit, (b) strong drink in general. Compare Kusaie
Seka, (a) the kava-plant, (b) the drink prepared from it.
Chalanga-en-ani. A fungus or toadstool. Literally
"Devil's ear."
330 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Chapachap, Chap-el-lang. A sort of rush growing on
the plateaus and hillsides.
Chapokin. A species of wild arum.
Chatak. The Elaeocarpus, and the Nil-Kanth of India.
A tall forest tree, its trunk supported by wide flanges or
buttresses. The wood is white and firm, much used by
the Ponapeans for canoe-building. The berries are exactly
the size and shape of an olive, but of an intense cobalt
blue. They are eaten by the fruit-pigeons. I have seen
the tree also upon Strong's Island {Kusaie). Habitat the
upper hill-slopes. (Perhaps akin to Malay Jati, teak.)
Chaua. The generic name for the Arum esculentum or
Taro, of which several varieties are cultivated on Ponape.
(Compare Motu, Nuku-Oro, and Marquesan Tao the Taro, of
which word the Ponapean is a harsher Micronesian variant.)
Chenchul (Ipomea sp.). A creeping plant with purple
flowers, like a convolvulus, found on all the island beaches.
Decoction of leaves drunk by child-bearing women.
Cheu. The sugar-cane. (Compare Polynesian To, Fijian
Ndovu, Malayan Tubu, German New Guinea Tab, Tup,
Tep.) Called upon Ngatik Chou. In Paliker district the
name Cheu is tabued, as it occurs in the name of a local
chief, and the name Nan- Tap or Madame Tap is substituted,
the older form of the word coming back into life and use
in this curious way. (Varieties : Cheu-ntd, with dark-red
stems. Cheu-puot, with light-coloured stems. Cheu-en-uai,
with brownish stems. Cheu-en-air, with speckled stems.
Cheu-rei, with banded stems and dark-coloured juice.)
Choio. A waterside tree. Hard white wood. Droop-
ing habit of boughs. Longish leaves. Habitat, the
swampy banks near the mouths of the rivers.
Chong, Chom. A variety of the mangrove {Bruguierd).
(Cf. Polynesian Tongo, the mangrove.) The bark of the
root-stems is used for dyeing a brown or reddish-brown
colour. In some Pacific Islands bits of the bark are
thrown into the calabashes of fresh coconut-toddy so as
to set up a speedier fermentation.
TREES, PLANTS AND SHRUBS 331
Choun-mal, i.e., " Worthless fellow." The Stinging Nettle.
(The Salato of Samoa. Malay Jalatan id.)
Chongut. A bush-tree in Yap with a burning milky
sap, which, falling on the skin, produces obstinate and
terrible ulceration.
/
Ichak. A wild vine of the gourd family {Cucurbitacece).
The natives use its fruit for calabashes. The name is also
used to denote a coconut bottle.
Ichao, Ichau, the Callophyllum Inophyllum. The Fetao,
Hetau and Tamanu of the Polynesian area, and the Bitao
of the Philippines. It is the Iter of Kusaie, the Icher of
the Marshall group. Its wood is firm and durable and of
a rich reddish-brown colour, equally good for boat-build-
ing or for ornamental work. It produces round fruits
with a bitter-sweet kernel, rich in a resinous greenish oil
most valuable for rheumatism. It is the Ndilo oil of
Fiji, which in 1870 commanded such a ready sale in the
European market. In 1890 I sent two bottles of the oil
from Samoa to Dr Tarrant of Sydney for experimental
purposes, but, as frequently happens in these cases, no
reply was ever received.
Ikoik. The Kanava of Nuku-Oro, the Tou of the
Marquesas. A littoral tree producing scarlet trumpet-
shaped flowers. It has a dark brownish-red wood
valuable for boat-building.
Ikol. A small weed with round leaves used for dressing
burns.
Ingking {Compotacea sp.). A littoral shrub found on
the low coral islets in the lagoon bearing crimson fruit,
oblong like that of a sweet-briar. Flowers small ;
greenish yellow. A decoction of the bark and leaf are
used to cure colic and internal pains.
Inot(Sc<zvolaKcenigii). A tall littoral tree with large juicy
obovate leaves of a bitter flavour and small white cruciform
flowers with a violet centre. A decoction of the leaves
332 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
forms a fine tonic, and the natives say an aphrodisiac. A
curious appearance is given to the leaves by the presence
of white, raised markings running into a network recalling
the maculae of the Tokelau ringworm on the human skin.
I have seen the shrub growing on the roadside near the
Quarries and the Sugar-Works in Hong-Kong harbour.
Upon Nuku-Oro it is called Manuka-pasanga. In the
Mariannes it is called NANASO; in Japanese, KUSA-TOBERA.
Ioio. A bush-plant running up to some ten or twelve
feet in height, with leaves like a Canna and juicy stalks
like a ginger plant. It bears white flowers. The fruits are
red in colour and oblong in form, growing together in a long
bunch or raceme. The juice is aromatic and astringent.
A decoction of the pith is used by the natives as an
unfailing specific for diseases of the mucous membrane.
lol, Yol. A species of giant convolvulus growing on
the hill-slopes : flowers large, white, with sulphur-yellow
centre. A decoction of the leaves and seeds possesses
properties akin to those of ergot of rye. Much used
by the native women for procuring abortion.
Ita, Ita-n-wal. The wild Ratan-cane (Samoan Lafo).
K
Ka, Ke. A shrub cultivated for the sweet cinnamon-
scented essential oil extracted from its bruised and
crushed bark. The Ka-en-Mant is a particularly choice
species (Cinnamum Terglanicum ?).
Kalak. A tall bush-tree.
Kalau. The Hibiscus Tiliaceus. (The Gili-fau of
the Mortlocks, the Kal of Yap, the Lo of Kusaie and
the Marshall Islands.) (The Ponapean name Kala-hau
contains two elements, the latter the Polynesian Fau,
Hau, Malay Baru,1 Tagal Bali-bago.) Strips of the bark
form the native cord or string, and was often beaten
out into baste to make women's dresses (" Li-kau ") in
olden times. From the flowers and leaves a decoction
1 The Varu of Aurora and New Hebrides.
TREES, PLANTS AND SHRUBS 333
is made possessing astringent qualities, a great native
remedy for urethritis.
Kamp-en-ial, Kamp-en- Yap. A bush-shrub with long
narrow leaves, bearing tiny inodorous white flowers,
four or five together on a stem. The Seasea of Samoa.
(Eugenia sp.).
Kamuche. A shrub growing some ten feet high,
bearing small bluish-mauve flowers. Habitat, the low
coral islets in the lagoon.
Kanau, Kaman. A tall bush-tree with pinnate leaves
and curious heavy wrinkled seeds like the kernel of a
walnut. Firm white wood. Habitat, the banks of the
Pillap-en-Chakola Creek, Ascension Bay, north coast
(Cynometra sp.).
Kanepap. A tall forest tree bearing minute flowers
in panicles. Wood used in house-building.
Kanepul. Bush - tree. (According to Dr Pereiro, a
Dracontomelum, order Anacardiae.)
Kangit. The name applied indifferently to the true
Mango (Mangifera Indica) ; and to a large tree (Pangium
edule), bearing huge round fruits like those of an alligator
pear, containing ten or twelve seeds exactly like the single
one of a mango, and filled with a custard-like yellowish pulp
of delicious flavour. Upon Yap the tree is called RAUAL.
Decoction of the boiled bark valuable cure for urethral
troubles. The kernel of the seeds contains a narcotico-
irritant poison.
Kap. The generic word for the yam, extensively
cultivated in all the districts.1 {Cf. Japanese Kabu, a
turnip ; Philippines, Gabe ; Polynesian, Rape ; Ape id,
the Arum costatum.
Some of the varieties : —
Kap-e-lai, Kape-e-palai. Sweet variety. (Samoan Ufi-
1 At the planting of the yams at the beginning of the rainy season there was
held a singular ceremony. The chief priest came forward with a digging-stick
in his hand, with which he raked about in the ground, with the solemn
incantation, " Champa kota, airi koti" i.e., " Good soil rise up, poor soil sink
down."
334 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
lei, and Palai yam. sp., compare Mangaian Ui-parai.)
Kap-en-mali : Round, light-coloured skin. Kap-namu ;
Long. Kap-en-Ant : Light-coloured skin. Kap-mpulam-
pul: Dark purple skin and flesh. Choice variety. The
potato is called Kap-en-uai or the Foreign Yam ; and the
Sweet Potato Kap-en-Tomara, or the Yam of Tomara,
from a village near the Palang River on the west coast
where it was first introduced. Similarly the Fijians call
the sweet potato Kawai-ni-vavalangi, or the Foreign
Yam ; the Malays Ubi-Jawa, the Yam of Java. In the
Pelews the potato and the sweet potato are styled Tulngut-
al-Barath, i.e. the Yam from the Westward.
Kara, Kora. A tall forest tree. Hard heavy wood,
white when first cut, but turning red after a few days.
Good for cabinet-making. Habitat, hill-slopes above
Metalanim harbour and around the Kipar and Paliker
district on the west and south-west coast.
Karara. A species of wild nutmeg (Myristica). Fruits
chewed in olden time to make the teeth red. (Query, as a
substitute for betel-nut ?)
Karamat. Species of dead-nettle. Crushed leaves used
for poulticing indolent ulcers.
Karrat. A large plantain with bright orange flesh
(Malay Kalat, Kusaie Kalas, Hindustani Kadli, Keld).
Karrer. The Kiti and Chokach word for trees of the
citrus family, such as the orange, lemon or lime. (The
Kahit of the Mariannes. In Kusaie, Osas. In Yap,
Gurgur and Guerguer^)
Katai, Kotop. Varieties of areca-palm found on the
plateaus and the upland slopes. Children sometimes
chew the nuts, the adults very rarely. The habit of
Betel-nut chewing practised so universally in the Philip-
pines, the Mariannes, the Pelews and in Yap, somehow
has not taken root firmly amongst the Ponapeans, who
appear to find the stimulus of Kava-drinking sufficient
for their needs.
Katar. The tree-fern found in great abundance in
TREES, PLANTS AND SHRUBS 335
ravines and clefts of the hills. The trunks are often used
for posts in house-building.
Katereng. The sweet basil. Used in soups and for
making tea, an excellent fever draught. A decoction of
the leaves in boiling water is a capital application to
fevered, aching and wearied limbs.
Katiu, Katia. The Ixora. A forest tree of upright and
sturdy growth, with long narrow leaves and umbels of
brilliant scarlet blossoms with a yellow centre. Spear-
shafts are made of the stems, also punting-poles and
rafters. This tree also grows in great magnificence upon
Kusaie to the south-east and upon the King's Isle of Lele
where it is called Kasiu. In Yap it is called Katchuy and
in the Uluthi group Kathiu.
Katol. The Paper-Mulberry (Broussonettia papyrifera).
The Puuehu of the Marquesas and the Lau-Ua of Samoa.
It is not common in Ponape, which may account for the
absence of the native cloth called Sz'apo, Ngatu or Tapa
by the Samoan, Tongan and Marquesan islanders. How-
ever, rarity or absence of this fabric in Ponape was
compensated by the bast obtained from the bark of the
Hibiscus and the Nin, a ficoid tree. A curious and
instructive word in this connection is the Gilbert Island
word for clothes, Kun-ne-kai, literally Skin of Trees.
Kawa. A tree growing on the mud-flats and salt-water
marshes just inside the outer girdle of mangroves that
hem in the lowlands. It has narrow, pointed, fleshy
leaves growing two and two on a stalk, and bears tufted
crimson flowers (Kandelia Rhcedii).
Keiwalu. A wild vetchling. There are two sorts, one
resembling an everlasting pea, with pinkish-purplish flowers
and broad leaves ; the other, with smaller leaves and
yellow flowers of like shape, found creeping everywhere
around the beaches just above high water mark.
Ken. A tree found growing on the swampy banks near
the mouths of the rivers. It has dark brown wood, used
for boat-building and for making posts for the houses.
33^ THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
In the Solomon Islands, KENKEN is the Coix lacryma or
Job's tears.
Kerari. In Kiti, a shrub with rough leaves like those of
a sage-bush and bearing bright blue flowers. On the
North Coast, Maikon. Upon Yap, Tenk.
Kiap, Kiep, Kiop. The native lily, with white petals and
yellow stamens and pistils. The Kinf 'of Kusaie, the Gieb
of the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. In the Mariannes
Kafo is the flower of the Pandanus. Cf. Maori, Kopakopa,
the New Zealand Lily. In Japan Gibo denotes one of the
Liliaceae.
Kipar. The Kiti name of the Pandanus or Screw-pine
(P. utilis and odoratisswius). The Fas, Far, and Fat, of
the Mortlocks, the Fala and Fasa of Samoa, the Hala and
Fara of Hawaii and Tahiti, the Hara-hagh and Harassas
of Indonesia. In Japanese Tako-no-Ki, i.e., The Tree of
the Octopus.1
Kirikei. The old name of the Wompul, Weipul or
Morinda Citrifolia.
Kiri-n-chom. The rhizome of the mangrove tree.
Kirrak-en- Wal. Lit. The Kirrak of the Bush. The
jamboo or Malay apple, the Nonu-fiafia of Samoa, known
in other portions of the Pacific area as Kehia, Ehia, Ohia,
Kahika, Kafka and Geviga. In the central Carolines the
name Kirak or Girek denotes the native chestnut (Inocar-
pus edulis) (cf. Maori Karaka, a tree with edible seeds).
Kitau. The Polypody fern — much used for garlands.
The crushed leaves and stalks are mingled with scraped
coconut and a scented oil is expressed therefrom.
Kiti. The Cerbera lactaria and C. Odollam, found on
the island beaches. The Leva, Reva and Eva of Poly-
nesia. Every part of the tree is highly poisonous, and the
crushed nuts are all too frequently employed by the women
of the Marquesas group for suicide.
1 The natives of the Harvey Group (S.-E. Polynesia) have a strange idea
current of a species of octopus that comes ashore at dark, climbs the Ara or
Pandan tree and devours its fragrant blossoms.
TREES, PLANTS AND SHRUBS 337
Kom. Cf. Japanese Kombu, seaweed. A seaweed with
remarkable narcotic properties found growing in little tufts
on the edge of the Mat or detached reefs in the lagoon.
Used by fishermen in capturing the jellyfish Raraiak and
Tentumoi.
Konok. The betel-pepper, a small species of the kava
plant which climbs like ivy around the trunks of trees.
The Kolu of the Solomon Islands. (In Peru Kunuka is a
climbing plant.)
Korront. A burr-bearing weed, found on rubbish-heaps
and in the neighbourhood of the clearings in rear of each
native settlement (Sida retusd).
Koto. A species of mangrove with white flowers and
circular leaves and rounded seeds. Wood white and firm,
good for cabinet-making. It is the Hali-a-paka or White
Mangrove of the Marianne Group.
Kupu-n-Tanapai, i.e. the plant of the Tiger Shark.
The fanciful name of the Osmunda regalis or Royal Fern.
L
Lampa, mould, mildew.
Likaitit. The rose-coloured flower-spike of the wild ginger.
Likam. A climbing plant bearing flowers like a con-
volvulus in shape — of a light mauve-colour — with a deep
purple-mauve eye.
Lim. General term for sponges (Polynesian Limu,
Rimu — seaweed).
Lim-en-kaualik is a scarlet sponge — Paia, a yellow one.
Lim-en-tutu. The sponge of commerce, and Lim-en-
auar a brown and dark-blue species.
Lim-en-Tuka. Lichen or moss growing on trees, which
sometimes is wonderfully like a sponge. (Specimen in
South Kensington Museum.)
Lim-Par. A long-fronded fern growing on trees over-
hanging the riverside.
Luach. A tree exactly resembling Callophyllum ino-
phyllum, save that instead of round fruits it bears pear-
Y
338 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
shaped ones. (Upon Kusaie — Ltms.) The aromatic
rhind used by natives for stringing garlands, and as an
ingredient in preparing their Uchor or scented oil.
M
Mai. The breadfruit, of which I counted forty-five species.
Maikon. A shrub growing five or six feet high ; rough
leaves, blue flowers. Decoction of leaves a blood purifier.
Makiach. A bush-shrub.
Mang. The swamp-taro (Colocasia) with forked roots,
whence its name. It bears yellowish fiower-spathes. {Cf.
Samoan Manga-na'a, Manga-siva,) species of water-taro.
Mangat. A large species of plantain.
Marachau {i.e. the king's garland or necklace).
(Dysoxylum or Averrhea, sp. ?) A tall and handsome
forest tree. The leaves grow by fives together on a stalk,
and somewhat resemble those of an English ash.
Marek. The common fern.
Marrap. The Inocarpus edulis, the Ihi, Ifi and /* of
Tonga, Samoa and Mangaia. In Efatese — Mabe. The
Tahitian name is Mape. In Mortlocks, Marefa. It is a
sacred tree in which Naluk the God of Thunder is sup-
posed to dwell. Its boiled bark yields a valuable
astringent drug. Its firm white wood is much used in
boat-building, the root buttresses supplying good material
for the bends and strengthening pieces. The large
flattish fruits are very much like an English chestnut
in flavour, and form a very welcome addition to the native
fare. A sucking-pig or fowl stuffed with Marrap fruit
and baked in the earth-oven is a dish not to be despised.
Marrap-en-Chet. (In the white man's pidgin Ponapean
" Marry-bunchy " ) is the Kiti name for Heritiera littoralis,
properly not a Marrap at all.
MatakeL The fragrant leaf-like flower of the Pandanus
odoratissimus.
Matai. A medicinal bush-weed, decoction of leaves
drunk by child-bearing women.
TREES, PLANTS AND SHRUBS 339
Matal. Applied both to the bush pandanus and to the
Freycinetia, the Salasala and hie of Samoa, the Kiekie of
eastern Polynesia, the Give of the Banks Group, and the
N'er of Yap.
Matal-in-Iak. A bush-weed. Decoction of leaves
good for headache.
Mateu, Matu. The Sassafras or wild Sarsaparilla.
Matil. A long-fronded fern.
Mekei. The old name for the Kitau or Polypody fern.
Mokomok. The generic name of the Tacca or South
Sea arrowroot all over the Caroline area. (In Polynesian
called Pia.) The Mamago of Mamako or the Solomon
Islands (Guppy). One of the Uluthi or Mackenzie Group
gets its name from the quantity of Tacca grown there.
Momiap. The pawpaw, mammee or mummy apple
(Carica papaya). The Ketela of Malaysia, the Es of Kusaie
and the Est of Samoa. Introduced into Ponape about 1 840
by an old French settler — the recluse of Nan-Moluchai re-
ferred to in the account of our visit to the Metalanim ruins.
Mpai. A species of tree-fern.
Muerk (Psychotria). A bush-tree. Decoction of
bark used for curing aphtha or thrush in children.
AT
Nan-Karu. Name given to plants of the orchid
species, which also is designated by the name Kiki-en-
kaualik or " Blue Heron's claw."
Nan-Tap. The Paliker local name for the Cheu or
sugar-cane.
Ni. The coconut palm, of which there are several
varieties.1 One has an edible husk (Ni-atol, the Niu-
mangalo of Polynesia). N.B. — A curious freak of nature
is sometimes seen in a single nut out of a cluster, the
kernel of which is divided up into two, three, or four
compartments, from each of which a shoot springs.
1 In Polynesian, Niu, Nu ; Malayan, Niyor, Nur ; Philippines, Niyog ;
Skt., Nariyar.
340 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
This is called in Ponape Pat-en-parang. Upon Mokil,
Pat-en-maram.
The nut has several names according to its stages of
development. Small nut just forming, Kurup {Cf. Maly.,
Karapa, Kalapd). Green drinking-nut, soft kernel com-
mencing to line the shell, Up in Kiti, Pen in Chokach and
Metalanim. Next stage, kernel - thickening, Mangach.
Stage when the nut is fully ripe and falls down ready for
copra-making, Arring, Arrin. [Upon Pingelap, Takatak.~\
In the final stage the solid kernel occupying the whole of
the interior takes on change, and becomes a soft spongy
mass, and the shoot of the young palm sprouts out through
one of the eyes. It is then called Par. The contents of
the sprouting nut, when roasted, are a favourite diet for
invalids. The husk is called Tipanit. From this the cinnet
or cord is twisted. Inipal is the name of the natural
cloth clinging around the base of the leaf-stalks or fronds.
The flower-stalk is Tangkal ; the leaf or frond Paini ; the
sheath of the flower-stalk Koual ; the central spine of
leaflets Nok, and the oil Le or Ler (when scented, Uchor.)
Nin. A ficoid tree allied to the Banyan. It grows
abundantly in the valleys and hill-slopes. From the bark
the woman's dress (" Li-kau ") was made. {Cf. Malay Nunu,
the lesser Banyan.) N.B. — Nin in the Mortlock's denotes
the Morinda citrifolia (Samoan Nonu, Gilberts Non, Malay
Nona, Uluthi Lol.)
NG
Ngi (Metrosideros). A littoral shrub, eight to ten
feet in height, with very hard but brittle wood, minute
leaves, and small delicate flowers like those of a myrtle.
It grows in great abundance on the small islands out in
the lagoon, rooting itself firmly in between the blocks of
coral, its roots washed by the salt water. It bears tiny
capsules containing minute dark seeds resembling those of
the tobacco-plant. When empty they resemble the bell of
a lily-of-the-valley. Decoction of bark a native cure for
TREES, PLANTS AND SHRUBS 341
dysentery. {Cf Pelew Islands, Ngis ; Lamotrek, Gaingi ;
Pulavvat and Satawal, Aingi.)
Ngiungiu. The Yap name for a climbing fern {Lygodium
scandens).
Ngkau. A common bush-weed both on mainland and
coral islets in the lagoon. It bears small yellow flowers,
like a marguerite or Michaelmas daisy. Leaves heart-
shaped, serrated at edges, yielding when crushed a rank
and powerful odour. The pounded leaves or a decoction
of them are a valuable application to sores and ulcerated
wounds.
0
Och. A species of sago-palm {Metroxylon amicarmri).
Habitat, the swampy lowlands and the neighbourhood of
rivers ; the Ota of the Banks Group ; the Os or Rapun of
Ruk and the Mortlocks. It produces large black, round
fruits, with a scaly pericarp, which gives them considerable
powers of flotation. The kernels are very hard, and ex-
ported to Germany for button-making. They are an
effective substitute for the ivory-nut or vegetable ivory of
South America. Hence the Spanish call the tree Palma
de Marfil or Ivory-palm. The Ponapeans do not make
sago from it, like their Melanesian neighbours to the
south and south-east.
Oio. The Chokach and Metalanim name for the
Banyan tree.
Oliol. A bush-plant. Decoction of leaves good lotion
for wounds and cuts.
Olot. Species of sea-grass, with patches of which the
mud-flats appear studded at low tide.
Ong. The wild ginger, of which there are several sorts.
{Cf Pampanga, Ango, Curcuma ; Samoan, Ango, Turmeric ;
Javanese, Wong, gamboge. (Perhaps connected are the
Chinese words Hoang, Wong, denoting a red, yellow, or
orange colour.)
Ong-en-Pele. A choice kind.
342 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Ong-en-P ele-en- Uai, i.e. Peles ginger from abroad. The
ginger plant of commerce (introduced).
Or. Bush-weed. Decoction drunk to cure sore throat
and low fever.
Oramai. Species of Ramie or Kleinhovia. Fibres of
bark anciently used in making fish-nets. The Lafai of
the Solomon Islands (Guppy).
Ot, Wot. The Giant Taro (Arum costatum). In
Kusaie, Wos. Called in Central Carolines Pulak or Purak.
(In Solomon Island an Arum is called Kuraka.) (With
Wot, Wos, cf. Samoan Vase, a species of taro.) N.B. — In
the Polynesian area Puraka, Pulaka and Pulda denote
various species of taro.
P
Pat, Pai-Uet. Species of tree-fern.
Par. Two sorts, Para-pein, the female ; and Para-
man, the male. Bark of latter in decoction used by
natives as a tonic. The Erythrina Indica — the Ngatae of
Samoa, the Atae of Tahiti, the Netae of the Marquesas.
In India it is called P ari-bhadra, the Par, or season
coming round of the bhadra or fifth solar month, August,
at which time the tree is covered with scarlet flowers. The
Ponapeans divide their wet and dry seasons, which they
also call Par, from the appearance of these brilliant blossoms.
It is interesting to see the Asiatic name retained in this
remote corner. (In Kusaie Pal also denotes a season.)
Parram. The swamp-palm (Nipa fruticans), the
Ballang of the Sulu Archipelago ; the Betram or Batram of
Java. {Cf. Fijian Balabala, the Cycas Revoluta. Maori,
Para, a fern. Marianne (P. to F.,R. to D.) FADAN,the Cycas
Revoluta. Marquesan Pda-hei (i.q. Para-hei), a tree-fern.
An island on the north coast of Ponape is named Parram,
from the abundant growth of this palm on it. The
strange-looking fluted seeds float for a long time in the
water without injury. Hence one need not be surprised
at the very wide distribution of this palm throughout the
TREES, PLANTS AND SHRUBS 343
Micronesian and Melanesian area, carried by the ocean cur-
rents. I did not notice the Parram either in Tahiti or the
Marquesas. In the latter group however the fan-palm grew
abundantly, especially upon HivaOa and Tahuata, a species
that though found in the Solomon Group, unaccountably
fails to present itself in ths Caroline Archipelago.
Parri, Pearri. The generic name of the Bamboo
(Bambusa). (N.B. — In Efatese, New Hebrides, Borai is
the sugar-cane.) In the Favorlang dialect of Formosa,
Borro is small cane or reed-grass. In Yap, Mor is the
dwarf bamboo. In Kusaie the bamboo is called Alkasem,
a word of doubtful derivation. In Hindustani, Baro is
reed-grass ; and in Malagasy, Fari is the sugar-cane. In
Nuku-Or, the bamboo is called Matira, which word in
Maori denotes a. fishing-rod. The Ponapeans make flutes
out of the smaller canes, using the larger ones to store
up water in as the Marquesan islanders do. They also
employ them as water-conduits (Kerriker). Hence the
Ponapean verb Kerrikereti-pil, to bring down water from
the hills for irrigation purposes by a line of bamboo pipes,
end on end.
Peapa, Peapea, Peepee. Varying dialect words for a forest
tree with fine small leaves like those of a privet shrub.
The wood is white, firm in grain. Used for boat-building.
Peipei, Paipai-Ani, i.e. the Peipei of the Gods.
Peipei, Paipai-Aramach, i.e. the Peipei of Mortals.
Two beautiful ferns, closely resembling the umbrella-
fern of New South Wales. The name is also applied to
a species of Adiantum. Peipei is a poetical word, meaning
long tresses of hair.
Pelak. One of the gourd family, the fruits of which
furnish the natives with their calabashes.
Pena, Pona, Pana. The Thespesia populnea, a common
littoral tree with a reddish-brown wood. The so-called
rosewood of Polynesia. (Samoan, Milo ; Tahitian, Miro
and Amae ; Marquesan, Mio.) In Kusaie, Pangapanga
or Penga ; in Yap, Bonabeng ; in the Gilberts, Bengibeng.
344 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Perran, Paran. The Metalanim name for the orange,
lime, or lemon-tree.
Pinipin. One of the gourd family allied to the Pelak {q.v.).
Poke (Pandanus inermis). Upon Lamotrek, Pogo. Bush
variety — no aerial roots.
Puek. The Puka or Pukatea of Polynesia. A species
of tulip-tree. Wood soft and valueless. (Tongan, Buka,
Hernandia peltata.)
Pulok {Carapa Moluccensis). A tall, hard- wood tree, with
curious curving flanges or buttresses. Habitat : the salt-
marshes, where it occurs mingled with the Ak, Koto, Kawa,
and Waingal. It bears a number of curious polygonal
seeds, closely packed together in the pericarp like pieces
in a puzzle. The seeds float, and, to judge from the wide
distribution of the tree, drift long distances upon the
ocean currents. A similar species is found in Africa, the
kernel of which yields a useful oil. The wood of the Pulok
is much used by native carpenters and boat-builders, especi-
ally the curious ridges of its root-buttresses, which come in
handy for the bends in fashioning the bows of a craft.
Putoput. A shrub common on the low coral islands,
recalling the Tou of Samoa (Sponia timoriensis).
Pur. Flowers in general. In the U and Metalanim dis-
tricts, Chair or Sair. (Javanese, Sari, a flower.) The Tree-
gardenia is also called Pur or Chair ; in Yap, ANGAK.
R
Ramak. The Mokil name of the Inot (Sctzvola Kcenigii).
Rapun. The Mortlock name for the Och or sago-palm
{MetroxyUm).
Rara. A species of Freycinetia. Leaves about a cubit
long, fluted in the middle by a slightly serrated ridge.
Rati/. A long fronded fern, also the giant fern. The
Nase or Nahe of Polynesia {Angioptera erecta and Marattia
fraxinea)}
Re, Rei. The varying tribal and local names for grass.
Reirei (adj.) denotes a green colour.
1 Cf. Pelew Islands, Ngas, a tree-fern.
TREES, PLANTS AND SHRUBS 345
Re-chap, i.e., grass-rush or rush-grass ; a coarse grass.
In decoction a vermifuge.
Ro, Rirro, Rot. A small species of reed-grass, the stems
of which are sometimes used for making the native flute.
T
Taip. The Metalanim name for trees of the genus
Pandanus in general. (Cf. Gilbert Islands, Taba, the
flower of the Pandanus tree.) The bush variety is called
Taip-en-wal, and the seaside species bearing large edible
fruits — introduced from the Marshall Group — is called
Taip-en-wai, i.e. the Pandanus from abroad.
Talik. The Bird's-nest fern, resembling an English
hart's-tongue, found on the sides of the stone-work of
Nan-Tauach, and at the base of the branches of forest
trees. The Talik-en-wal or Talik of the bush is a climbing
species, forming most ornamental festoons amongst the
nurseries of young trees upspringing in the undergrowth.
Tikap. A species of mountain plantain. (In Samoa,
Soa'a ; in Marquesan, Huetu ; in Tahitian, Fei.) Botanical
name, Musa uranospatha, literally, the Musa (Arabic,
Mawz\ with the spathe pointing heavenward. So called
because the leaves of the plantain and its bunches of fruit
point upwards, whilst the true banana, leaves and bunch,
droops earthward ; vide Mr Grant Allen's excellent essay
" De Banana."
Ting. The Draccena terminalis. The TV, Ji or Ki of
Polynesia ; the Ndili of the Banks Group ; the Ndong or
Andong of Java. N.B. — In Samoa Tongotongo also de-
notes a species of Draccena.
Tip. The generic name for weeds, grasses, creepers, and
undergrowth. {Cf. Polynesian Tupu, to grow ; spring up.)
Tip-en-chalang. A minute and pretty species of sea-
fan found amongst the patches of Olot upon the mud-
flats at low tide.
Tipop, Tupap, Tipap. The native almond (Terminalia
catappa). Upon Kusaie, Sufaf. The Talie of Polynesia,
346 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
the Salite of the Banks Group, the Talisai of the Philip-
pines. Called in Solomon Group Saori (Guppy).
Titin. Littoral shrub with soft downy leaves like those
of a fox-glove. It bears small white flowers upon six or
seven stalks, which grow into a cruciform branch, It is the
Sisin of Mokil. (Tournefortia sarmentosa.)
Tong. A tall buttressed forest tree. It has long lobed
leaves and small seeds. The wood is of a dark reddish
brown, hard and excellent for boat-building. The natives
also use it for making their Kachak or food-troughs, which
answers to the Polynesian Umete or Kumete. Dr Pereiro
declares it to be either Dipterocarpus mayapis or Diptero-
carpus polispermus. It is found in the interior of Yap,
where it is called Ramilu.
Tupuk, Tupok. A tree found on the mainland and also
upon the coral islets in the lagoon. It grows from ten to
twenty feet in height and bears umbels of greenish-white
flowers, and clusters of dark berries, very much like those
of our elder tree, which in scent they strongly resemble.
The pounded bark is good as an external application to
obstinate sores and slowly healing wounds. The wood
was anciently used for making fire by friction, and also
was employed in the manufacture of the Aip or native
drum. In the Pelews it is called KOSOM, and is a sacred
tree. Upon Yap Ar. In the Mariannes ARGAU. In
Bisayan a species of Premna is ARGAO, in Tagal AGDAU
and Alagao.
U & W
Waingal, Uaingal. (Lumnitsera sp.). A tall tree with
small oblong leaves, notched at tip, bearing small crimson
flowers and roundish flattened seeds. Wood reddish-brown,
very hard and durable, used in house-building, and for
making keels, masts, and gunwales of boats. Habitat, the
salt marshes at the back of the mangrove-belt where it is
found side by side with the Koto, Kawa, and Pulok.
Want a/, Uantal (Ipomea pes-caprae). A sea - side
TREES, PLANTS AND SHRUBS 347
creeper, bearing round black flattish seeds like broad
beans, and pinkish purple flowers.
Uch, C/ich, Uch-en-ant. Species of rush (Samoan Utu, id).
Weipul, Wompul, Uvipul. The morinda citrifolia (Lit.
Flame tree, so called from the bright yellow dye ex-
tracted from its roots and wood). The Nonu of Polynesia,
the Wong-kudu of Java, and the Tumbung-aso of the
Philippines.
Wet, Wot, Ot. The Giant Taro. In Kusaie Wos.
Cf Samoan Vase, a species of taro.
Ui, Wi. The Barringtonia specioso and racemosa.
Habitat, coastline of mainland and small islands. A
species growing in the bush is called Wi-en-mar, or the
Wi of the bush clearings. N.B. — In Samoan Vi is the
Spondias dulcis.
Ulunga-en-Kieil. " The pillow of the Kieil lizard"
(Scincus). The parsley-fern found growing in tufts upon
the flower-pot-shaped, limestone islets in the lagoon, also
upon the trunks of coconut palms.
Up. A creeper resembling our Wistaria, the pounded
roots of which are used for stupefying fish. Yap Yub.
In Malaysia Tuba. Compare Kusaie Op.
Ut. The name for bananas in general. {Cf. Fijian
Vundi, Samoan Futi, Ellice Group Futi, Nuku-Oro
Huti, etc. etc.)
Varieties : —
Ut-en-wai. The Foreign or China banana with
speckled skin.
Ut-iak. Small, deep yellow flesh.
Ut-en- Yap, or Yap banana, a choice species of plantain,
pink flesh, very delicate in flavour, and the portion of the
priests and high chiefs at a festival.
Other varieties : — Karrat, Mangat, Tikop, q. v.
(d) supplementary yap plant and tree-names
Ari-fath., Uatol. Sp. Barringtonia.
Ir-nim, Aral. Species of plantain.
348 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Raual. The Kangit of Ponape. Huge spherical fruit
filled with delicious creamy pulp, enclosing large roundish
seeds which when grated up and mixed with coconut
shavings have a remarkable narcotic effect on foods.
Gurgur. The native name for Citrus fruits in general.
Gurgur-nu-ap is the orange.
Gurgur-morrets, the lime.
Lur. A weed growing on side of causeways in swampy
districts.
Olomar. The sweet basil (Ponape Katereng).
Langil, Thlangil. A variety of wild kava, the Avaava-
aitu, or Kavakava-atua of south-west Polynesia.
Wote, Ote. Sp. wild fig, bearing small reddish rough
fruits on its trunk like Eugenia.
Rtep. A sort of orchid climbing on trunks of coco-
palms.
Rumig. A Callophyllum with pear-shaped fruits.
The variety with round seeds is known as Bioutch.
In Tagal Bitao. Fetao is the Yap name for the yellowish
waxy flower of the tree.
Adid. Bush-tree. Long-ribbed leaves, smooth reddish
bark, spherical rough-rinded reddish-brown fruit. The
Ais of Ponape called Aset in the Mortlocks.
Topolop, Talaboi. Sp. Tacca. The Mokomok of
Central and East Carolines. The Mamago of Solomon
Islands.
Tenk, a shrub with rough leaves and intense blue
flowers. The Mateu of Ponape.
Ruai, Tugu. Species of mangrove.
Rung, Voi. Sp. Native chestnut (Inocarpus Edulis).
In the Mariannes, Ufa. In Polynesian, Ifi. In the
Philippines, Dungun.
Limuet. Creeping plant, small round leaves, good
for burns.
Yenuk, Pipi. The common rush.
Uelem. The King Fern.
Re : Lem. Two species of Sea-grass.
TREES, PLANTS AND SHRUBS 349
Kana. Parasol fern.
Thengibur. Sp. fern.
Trath. Hart's-tongue fern.
Likelike niu. Var. parsley fern growing on trunks
of coco-palms.
Kopokop. Polypody fern.
Para-lol. Long-fronded fern.
Lek, Gulugulni. Asplenium.
Likilik-a-voi. Parsley fern, sp.
Tulubuk, Tilibuk. Common male fern.
Gumar. Acacia inermis.
Golat. Sp. thorny Acacia.
Maikitibum : Mangamang : Mong. The Giant Fern
of the swampy districts.
Talafat. Sp. grass.
Rangaranga. Parsley fern growing in cracks of old
walls.
Lobat, Talilra. A delicate species of Adiantum.
Tamagateu. Large fern resembling Osmunda Re-
galis.
Orotrol. Thespesia populnea. A littoral tree.
Komai. Rice (introduced).
Yams. Dok, wild yam ; Dok-nu-obachai, variety intro-
duced from Eastern Carolines ; Bia, species brought from
Ladrone Islands ; Dal, short, oval, like sweet potato ;
Dol, wild yam, small round seeds growing at base of
leaves, like Ponape Likam ; Fapy sp. sub-varieties, Gote-lap
and Nanebo.
Thau} The breadfruit. (Artocarpus Incisa.)
Varieties: (1) Yao-lei ; (2) Yae-reb ; (3) Tagafei ;
(4) Fanum ; (5) Pemathau ; (6) Yao-uat ; (7) Dapanapan,
(Jackfruit — A. integrifolia) ; (8) Yeo-tui ; (9) Mai-nior ;
(10) Luathar; ( 1 1 ) Pe-au; (12) Yoa-tathen; (13) Yu-goi ;
(14) Yu-ngalu.
Gotruk. The Croton shrub of which there are many
1 Cf. Ural-Altaic, Tkav, Thavi, a head. N.B. — In Polynesian Ulu means
both head and breadfruit.
350 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
very ornamental varieties with which the village squares
and roadsides are thickly planted.
Irich, Rich, Rit. The Draccena terminalis, the Ki of
Hawaii, the Ti of south-west Polynesia.
Notes on the Coconut. Flower, Achabai. Small nut
forming, Machal (Samoan Aili). Green drinking - nut,
Tod, Tub {cf. Hindustani Dob). Kernel thickening,
Manao. Kernel further developed, Agel. Fully deve-
loped, ready for copra, Marau (Samoan Popd), Sprouting
nut, Bui (Tahitian Uto). Old mouldy nut, Ap. Husk
surrounding nut, Kapat, Ling. Coconut-toddy, Achif.
Stalk of nuts, Uongoi. Copra, Fatuis-a- Marau. Trunk
of a tree, Binal.
Mor. The dwarf bamboo, probably introduced anciently
from Japan. Planted thickly on top of the ancient em-
bankments which overlook the paved roads running
throughout the southern portion of the island.
Tifif. A variety of Canna Indica, with bright orange
berries. Found in the bush in the neighbourhood of the
taro swamps inland.
Waraburub. An ornamental fern (Japanese, Warabi).
Parafai. A large tree fungus, dried and used in
commerce.
Gathemat. Sp. Cordia, sweet-scented white flower.
Tingiting. Species of Taro, yellowish flowers.
Butral. A scitamineous plant, with purplish mauve
spikes of bloom, a sort of wild ginger.
Ao. The banyan tree (Polynesian, Aoa).
Tengauai. Cerbera Lactaria. The deadly Leva, Reva,
or Eva of south-west Polynesia.
Amaral. A heavily-seeded nettle found outside villages
near rubbish heaps.
Maluek. A variety of morinda citrifolia.
Ugina-maluak. Species bearing long white umbels
of flower.
At. A pitcher-plant, found in vicinity of Tan-ne-
Erouach on South Ramung.
TREES, PLANTS AND SHRUBS 351
Giligil-wath. Littoral shrub. Leaves used as medi-
cinal plaster in Samoa.
Tarau. Meadow-grass.
Pui-wol. The Pulok of Ponape ; a large hardwood
tree, with curiously keeled roots and polygonal seeds
(Carapa Moluccensis).
Gogoth. Sp. Betel Pepper. {Cf. Pelew Islands, Kokuth,
aromatic).
Gonek. Prickly shrub, edible, oval fruit, turning red
when ripe.
The Banana grows in great profusion. Fruit, Pan ;
Tree, Denai. Varieties : (1) Yereim, long-fruited plantain ;
(2) Tengere, yellow-fleshed plantain, roundish (Ponape,
Karraf) ; (3) Boul, Voul, small banana; (4) Tafagef,
China banana; (5) Fak-e-uel, small, round; (6) Yugo ;
(7) Ganaeko ; (8) Daver ; (9) Malukier ; (10) Arai ;
(11) Gutnoi ; (12) To-nu-Uap ; (13) Sakas, large yellow
plantain.
Mai. The Taro plant. Tingiting, Lak, big, yellow
flower, grows in swamps ; Gtiiagui, sp.
Faa. The wild Pandanus.
Olowalogu. Bush-shrub.
Uapof. The Paper Mulberry (Broussonettia Papy-
rifera).
Ramilu. Tree with huge long leaves (Ponape, Tong).
Arr. Coarse seagrass.
Tha, Thea. A common weed, with yellowish flowers
and strong-scented, heart-shaped leaves, the juice of which
is very healing to wounds and ulcers. Common on coral
islets off Ponape coast, where it is called Ngkau.
Otrafangal. Large convolvulus.
Utel, Roi. Reed-grass (Samoan, Fiso).
Laingen-en-lip-otol. Curious marsh weed ; soft, red,
spongy caps or buttons on stem for flowers.
Kurmkiir. Burr-bearing weed (Ponape, Koroni).
Thagumut. Bush-shrub, leaf like coffee.
Fauteir. A species of cycas ; same name sometimes
352 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
applied to the Nipa palm occasionally found in the
swamps.
BA. The Areca Palm. In Pelew, Buok ; in Sanskrit,
Piig ; in Ladrones, Pagua.
Chongot. Tall, poison tree ; light bark, long leaves, like
Ramilu. White acrid juice, producing terrible swellings
and sores.
Avetch. Curious shrub, leaf like that of Eugenia or
Malay apple in shape. White leaf on end of each bunch
of seed capsules, which resemble these of tobacco. Small
golden yellow, star-shaped flower.
Choi, Trot. The Pandanus.
Fal. The Pandanus flower. (Ponape, Matakel ;
Mariannes, Kafo ; Samoan, Singano ; Tahitian, Hinano.
(e) ponapean fishes, insects, birds, and
ANIMALS
Fishes. Many of these appear in the splendid illustra-
tions of Godeffroy's album of the South Seas.
Ukair. A bright golden-yellow fish about a foot long.
(The Tapereper of Mokil.)
Kamaik. A species of Parrot-Wrass. The Butter-
Fish of New Zealand.
Kapai, Kipai. Small reddish-brown fish with dark
spots. Head and tail project out of a most comical suit
of defensive armour shaped exactly like the square gin-
bottle of commerce (Ostraceon cubicus).
Palat. Length about one foot. Longish nose. Body,
light red. Head, salmon-pink. Tail and fins, dark red.
Pako. The generic name for sharks (Polynesian Mako,
Mango) called Charaui on the Ant Atoll, where the
name Pako is tabooed. Panayan (south Philippines).
Baguis. Solomon Islands Pagoa ; Marshall Islands
Bako ; Polynesian Mako, id. ; Gilbert Island Bakoa. It
is an Asiatic word, the Sea-Tiger. Indian Bag, Bagha,
a tiger.
FISHES, INSECTS, BIRDS AND ANIMALS 353
Another shark-name is Tanapai. The Tiger-shark,
popularly supposed to be deaf. The dreaded Tanifa of
the Samoans, the Ndaniva of Fiji. Compare with this
the Maori Taniwha, a water monster, or sea-devil. Malay
Danawa a goblin, evil spirit. Sanskrit Danawa id.
N.B. — One of the words borrowed by the Malays from
the Sanskrit, and which has filtered through into Micro-
nesia and Polynesia. Cognate are S. N. Guinea Dirawa,
an evil spirit. Pelews Deleb, Thalib, a devil.
A. The mullet.
Karangat. The bonito. From Ranga — to rise up, so
called from its rising to the surface in great shoals like the
English herring.
Ki. A Dolphin or porpoise.
Rock. A whale. (Sometimes pronounced Rack). It
means the King-Fish. The word also denotes a high
chief {cf Malay and Hindustani Rajah), and perhaps
Fijian Ratu a high chief. {Cf Kusaian Lat, a whale).
Pup. The Leather Jacket. Silvery-white below ; fore-
head bright blue ; tip of nose bright blue ; sides and back
yellowish brown ; body striped blue and yellow. One
long erect spine just behind shoulders. Habitat, holes
in the reef and in floating logs of wood.
Lioli. Large dark-blue species of Leather Jacket. A
deep-water fish.
Paikop. A fish with a remarkably flat face and thick
body picked out in chevrons of white and dark olive-
green. The people of Palang on the Chokach coast
are jocularly styled by their neighbours of Kiti Macha-en-
Paikop, Paikop-faces, from the prevailing type of features
there.
Mengar, Mdngar. The Flying-fish, also known as
Mam-pir.
Mdngar. Large brown and white speckled fish with
spiny dorsal fin. The Spaniards call it Garrofa.
Ikan. Greenish body, brown dorsal fins. Front fins a
fine golden-yellow. {Cf. Malay Ikan, fish in general.)
z
354 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Tak. The Gar-fish, which often leaps on board fishing
canoes, and inflicts mortal wounds with its sharp lance.
Uat. The Bladder-fish, so called from its frequently
puffing itself up like a balloon. The Sue of Samoa,
the Huehue-kava of the Marquesan Islands. Deadly
poisonous.
Pulak. Large, roundish, dark green body. Flesh
firm like a halibut's.
Pulak-tol. A remarkably handsome brown fish with
black and white spiny dorsal fins, two yellow spiny
pectoral fins and a continuous row of orange, black and
white ventral fins.
Chara. A pinkish-red fish, small body, large flat
head. Row of spines along back. Minute teeth sharp
as needles.
Litak. The Climbing-fish, to be seen hopping and
crawling in numbers upon the rocks and stones on the
sea-shore. Colour — light green, speckled dark brown.
Toik. Small red fish.
Potarar. Small black and white handed fish.
Mamo-tik. The beautiful little cobalt and orange fish
seen playing in and out of the forests of coral in the
pools and on the edge of the deep water. Called in
Nuku-Oro Mamo-riki, and in Tahiti Mamo. Also known
in Ponape as Ta-kap-en-taok. All these three are fond of
the pools left in the reef at low tide.
Uakap. Lower part of body steel blue, upper part
dark blue ; black and yellow stripes.
Kir. Bright crimson fish about I \ feet long. Spiny
row of back fins.
Korikor. A beautiful fish about \\ feet long, marked
throughout with white and brown lozenges (<£>), a band
of similar pattern but minute design running round the
body. Fins and tail dark brown.
Chaok, Chauk. Small fish, brown body, speckled
white.
Marrer, Merra. Large, dull, blue fish ; flesh rather
FISHES, INSECTS, BIRDS AND ANIMALS 355
soft and woolly. Excellent pickled raw with salt water,
Chili pepper, and lime-juice.
Li-er - puater (Chcetodon sp.). Length five to six
inches, circular body. Large dark brown anal fin, white
band round back, surmounted by a ridge of seven small
yellowish spines. The far dorsal fin is edged with rich
orange. Tail light, greenish-blue, sparsely tipped with
orange ; thorax deep orange. Slight tinge of orange
along belly. Lower part of face up to the eyes deep
orange. Thin nose, projecting some f inch, orange.
Slightly projecting lower jaw. Rest of body light pale
green, streaked with wavy lines of alternating light blue
and darker green from back of gills to tail. Mean thick-
ness of body four inches. N.B. — Another closely related
fish of the same name has tail, anal, and dorsal fins
banded black and orange. Perpendicular black stripe
down face. Nose and thorax white.
Lipar. A flat fish, reddish-brown above. Meaning of
name, Red Woman. Flesh full of small, crooked bones.
Of little esteem for food.
SEA-BIRDS
Two species of Sand-piper are found on the coasts, the
smaller called Kulu, the larger Chakir. The former is the
Tuli of Nuku-Oro and Samoa, the Dulili or Tulili of the
Mariannes ; cf. the Indian Dulika, a wag-tail. The Kulu
is known in the Pelews as Goto, in Yap as Ruling, in
the Marshalls and Mokil as Rolech, and elsewhere in the
Carolines as Ruling, Rulung, or Rilung. The Malay Chor-
ling may be cognate. In South America we find very
strange coincidences — Ouichuan, Chulla ; Araucanian,
Chili, Thili, id.; whilst in Aymara Rullu means a partridge.
The Ponapean name of the larger variety (Chakir) is
paralleled by the Hindustani Chakor (Tetrad) ; by the
Japanese Shako, a partridge ; and by the Quichuan
Tsakua, a partridge.
356 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
The most exacting philological critic cannot deny that
these far-reaching coincidences are very curious. Many
will probably argue that most bird-names are onomatopoeic,
i.e., imitation sounds, and that the human machinery of
speech being cast in a somewhat limited mould, would
everywhere produce independently the same or similar
results, even amongst remote tribes which have had
absolutely no connection with one another. However,
when we reach the animal, or, at all events, the tree-names,
we shall find ourselves upon somewhat less debatable
ground, and these will afford clearer evidence as to the
separate waves of population rolling outwards from
Indonesia to the farthest isles of the Pacific, up to the
very shores of the great continent on the further side.
Akiak, Kake. Varieties of white gull. The latter
builds no nest, but lays its eggs in the small brush growing
on top of the flower-pot-shaped masses of Takai-Mai or
coral limestone which stud the shallow water off the low
island beaches. From this habit the observant Ponapeans
have deduced a slang word — Pon-Kake, i.e. like the Kake,
to denote any useless, idle, lazy fellow.
There is a large grey gull which they call Karakar.
A brown tern with a white head (Parrat) is found on
the coral islets of the coast. It makes its nests in the
tops of the Barringtonia trees. Its young make very
good food, albeit a trifle fishy in taste.
Another sea-bird, black and white with two long tail-
feathers, is called Chik (Phaethon).
There are three sorts of heron, called by the generic
name of Kau-alik. The first is the Matuku or Matuu, the
common blue heron of Polynesia ; the second is the Otuu
or Kotuku, the white heron, a much less common species ;
the third is the speckled heron, doubtless a cross of the
above two. The Kau-alik is jocularly styled in Tahiti
and the Marquesas as Frenchman's turkey from the skill
with which some of their colonial cooks will disguise his
fishy flavour.
FISHES, INSECTS, BIRDS AND ANIMALS 357
LAND-BIRDS
Cherret. A reddish-brown parrakeet peculiar to the
island (Eos rubiginosa). Cf. Maori, Toreta. The New
Zealand parrakeet. The old name of the Cherret was
Terrep-e-icho or King Terrep. Cf Maori Tarepa, a
species of bush parrakeet.
Li-maaliel-en-takai. A little brown bird inhabiting the
bush. Its name means Woman-giddy-at-stone. The
natives say that when a stone is thrown near it, it falls
down dizzy.
Murroi. Large grey dove. The Lupe or Rupe of
South Polynesia.
Kingking. Small green dove, maroon crest on head,
breast maroon (Ptilnopus Ponapensis). Cf. Mariannes
Kunao, a green dove.
Kinuet. Variety of above, but with cream and maroon
markings (Samoan Manumd).
Paluch. Small dark violet brown pigeon, white breast
— a ground pigeon. Peculiar to Ponape. Scientific name
Phlegcenas Kubaryi from J. S. Kubary of the Godeffroy
Firm in Germany who first made it known to science.
Habitat, high up on the densely wooded mountain slopes ;
shy and wild. The Ponapeans have used an ancient
generic Malay name to denote a single species.
Compare the following curious and interesting cog-
nates which certainly cannot be mere coincidences ; i.e.
German New Guinea coast, an area thickly scattered with
Malay words : Palussia, Balus, Balusi, Barussi, Beli, all
meaning dove or pigeon.
Bismarck Archipelago — Palus, IValus, Balus.
Pelew Islands — Bulohol, Pelokol.
Tagala (Philippines) — Balos, Balod.
Sulu Archipelago — Baud. (Sulu drops medial L.)
Solomon Islatids — Baolo.
Malay — Balam.
Hindustani — Palka, Parewa, Parawat.
358 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Latin — Palumbes (whence Spanish Palomd) and
Columba (P. to K.).
The above show as well the exceedingly wide distribu-
tion of the bird. This is only one of many instances out
of the Micronesian and Polynesian to show how tenaciously
the early Asiatic and Indonesian names of birds and
plants have been preserved in the wanderings of this race
over the great waste of waters.
Cheok. A sort of blackbird ; a sacred bird in Ponape.
Puliet (Myzomela rubrata). A red-breasted honey-
eater, to be seen hovering round the coco-palm spathes,
from which he draws his food.
Kutar, Tirou. Varieties of the king-fisher (Alcedo).
With Kutar compare Maori Kotare, the New Zealand
king-fisher ; Tahitian Otare, a king-fisher. In Futuna the
bird is called Tikotala ; in Samoan, Ti'otala ; in Tongan,
Sikota'a.
Possibly in the last three the T or S represents the
unconscious article, so frequent in the Gilbert group.
Koekoe, Kuikui. Small, blackish-brown bird ; fly-
catcher (Myagra pluto).
Li-kapichir, Li-kaperai. Small cuckoo. Small bird,
long tail ; dark colour (Endynamis Taitiensis).
Li-mati. Small green bird, found in coconut groves.
Resembles the Samoan lao, but smaller.
Li-porok. Night bird ; black and white. Habitat,
mangrove swamps.
Li-kat-e-pupu. The name of several kinds of little bush
birds. Breast red, plumage green, wings and tail dark
green. Speckled black, white and blue, or white, yellow
and blue, or black, red and blue.
Lukot, Likot. The native owl. (The Pueo of Hawaii,
the Utak of the Mariannes.) Dr Gulick in his Ponapean
dictionary gives TEIAP, possibly an older word preserved
in some of the districts as late as 1870, the date of his
visit. For those who love imitative sounds I subjoin the
following equivalents : —
FISHES, INSECTS, BIRDS AND ANIMALS 359
An owl is called Lulu in Samoa ; it is the Kasuk of
the Pelews ; the Zuku or Kizu of Japan ; Timor, Kaku,
Lakuko ; Indian, Ulu, Uluk, Ghughi'i, Kuchkuchua.
The South American names have also a pleasing sound :
Quichuan, Chusek, Chaksa, Pakpaka and Tuku ; Aymara,
Choseka and Huku ; and the Araucanian on the south
border of Chili has Nuku.
INSECTS
Lang, Long. The Rango or Lango of the south Pacific.
The common fly which simply swarms around the huts
and cook-houses.
Em-en-ual is the sand-fly, not half so troublesome as
his relation in the North Marquesas.
Amu-che\ Emu-che, Omu-che. The dialect words for the
ever-present mosquito, the Namukik of the Mortlocks, the
Namu of Polynesia, the Nyamok of Malaysia, the Yamuk
of Pampanga (Luzon).
Kat-el-lang, Kiti-el-lang. Lady of the sky or Dog of
heaven are the quaint native titles of the Looper cater-
pillar.
The general term for grubs, small caterpillars, or
maggots is Mach, Maach, Muach or Much, without doubt
akin to the Japanese word Mushz, generic term for
worms and insects.
Some caterpillars are called Mueti, likewise a small
reddish-brown horse-leech, found in great numbers in the
bush after rain, and actually applied to the eyes by the
natives in cases of ophthalmia.
The common earthworm is called Kamotal, sometimes
Much.
A flat spiral landshell is called Chepei-en-Kamotal, the
dish or wash-bowl of the earthworm. Drs Finsch and
Kubary discovered several curious endemic species. The
dense hanging woods of Ponape, with their very consider-
able height above sea-level, will no doubt yield a fresh
curious harvest to the energetic explorer devoted to this
branch of natural history.
360 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Ants
The large black ant, the bull-dog ant of Australia, is
called Kakalich, a large dark brown one Loi-poro, and the
small red ant Kat.
Fleas
Li-karrak, Li-n-karrak. Woman of Corruption is the
word applied to troublesome insects of the bug and flea
order.
Til (Ngatik Thil). Applied to creatures of similar type
affecting the head. Caucasian dialects, Til, Till, and Thil.
(Indian, Dhil ; Araucanian, Thin?)
Solomon Islands Tel, Sonsorol Tir id.
Beetles
The old word was Kari.
Kul is the term applied to the black-beetle of commerce.
They have a water-beetle, fancifully called in the Central
Carolines " the turtle of the fresh water" and several dull-
hued bush-beetles. The sand-hopper is called Men-en-pik,
i.e., the creature of the sand.
Spiders
I noticed three sorts, one large and black {Likan), the
other two small and speckled, called Chilapani-im and
Naluk, the latter also a chiefs title. The web is called
dialing- likan or Sal-ing-likan (Hindu, fhdl).
A small red and black dragon-fly is common, which
they call Man-en-kalip, the creature of the pools.
There are at least three sorts of butterflies : one red,
white and black, one sulphur-yellow, and one small blue.
There are numerous moths, amongst them the Sphinx.
The generic name for all these is Li-parruru or the
Fluttering Lady.
The cicala or cicada {Tenter) is very much in evidence
in the groves on moonlight nights. Grasshoppers are
found, to which they give the name Man-cheok.
FISHES, INSECTS, BIRDS AND ANIMALS 361
The name Tenter is applied also to any noisy, blustering
person, to chattering busy-bodies, and carriers of tales and
idle gossips.
In a chant on Paniau we find allusion to the habits of
this insect in approved Kalevala metre : —
" Tititik melakaka-n-tenter
Nin chounopong chenchereti."
" Shrills the chirp of the cicala
Thrilling through the silvery moonlight."
Scorpions
A small sandy-hued scorpion is found, but its sting,
unlike those of Java, Sumatra, and Timor, is not very
venomous. The natives term it Iki-mang or Ikimuang,
i.e., Fork-tail or Branch-tail, with their minute insight into
small things. In Samoa upon Manu'a the centipede or
scorpion is called I'UMANGA, word for word the same
name as the Ponapean. The Upolu word is Mongamonga-
iu-manga — the prefix denoting Beetle or Insect.
Centipedes
Two or three kinds of centipedes (Scolopendra) are
not uncommon in the thatch and under the tet or floorings
of reed-grass in the huts, especially those of old standing.
The old Malay name Alipan (Formosan Arripas) has been
dropped — doubtless by some priestly or chiefly taboo, like
the Te-pi custom of Tahiti. There are two ceremonious
names for the creature which go to strengthen the impres-
sion. Throughout the central Carolines the custom holds
also. By day they call it Man-en-ran — the Creature of the
Day. By night they call it Man-en-pong — the Creature of
the Night. If this rule were neglected the careless person
would be in danger of a nip from one of these crawling
horrors. Similarly the earwig is called in Samoan Monga-
monga-iao or The Beetle of the Day. The centipede's bite
is often distressingly painful, though it is not so common
here as in Indonesia, and the natives give it a wide berth.
The people of Ruk call it Kutu-mal or mischievous
362 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
insect, and the Samoans to the south Atua-loa or the long
devil, for which relic of heathenry the missionaries have
substituted Manu-loa or long insect. (It is the Saligo of the
Mariannes, the Lalian of Timor,the Nina-kuru ox fiery worm
of Peru.)
LIZARDS AND SNAKES
Kieil The skink (Scincus) called Kiuen in Ruk and Gual
or Kue I in central Carolines. Cf. Indian Ghariyal, Gavial,
the crocodile of the Ganges ; cf. Motu, Uala, a crocodile.
The Kieil is a large black lizard with red spots, slightly-
yellowish below, and resembles a miniature alligator. The
alligator itself they call Kieil-alap or Kiel-en-pil, of the
arrival of which the natives have some tradition. Kubary
brought a couple of young alligators with him to Mpompo,
near the European colony, and for some reason or other
let them loose in the Pillapenchakola River. One of my
specimens of these " Kieil" as if foreseeing the alcohol
bottle, furiously resisted capture, and when hit with a stick
fastened to it like a bull-dog. The Kieil lives in holes in
the ground, much preferring the sites of old burying
places. The natives say he feeds on the bodies of the
dead, which is very possible. They call him Chaot or
" unclean," and view him with dislike and dread as
Likamichik or " uncanny." A strange fact about this
lizard is that he has established a regular colony on the
low coral island of Paniau in Mutok harbour, right off
the mouth of the Kiti river, a good two miles from shore,
whereas on land he is not so easily seen, generally
preferring the thick bush. On Paniau at first they were
very bold, and would crawl close up to us at our meals
and eat bits of meat thrown to them, to the great horror
of the natives. But the speedy disappearance of some
of the largest and boldest of these intruders soon made
them keep their distance.
There is a brownish-black house-lizard with a flattish nose
which the natives call Lamuar* All night long one might
* [Lipidodactylus lugubris.]
FISHES, INSECTS, BIRDS AND ANIMALS 363
hear them hissing and tchik-tchiking away in the thatch
overhead, but they are perfectly harmless, nobody minds
them. The same name is also incorrectly given to two small
species ornamented with a double row of black and white
circular spots down the sides like the eyes on the wings of a
peacock-butterfly. Both are only three inches in length ;
one dark green, the other light green with faint yellow mark-
ings. (The accurate names are Li-pa-irer or the Speckled
Lady and Li-menimen-en-cherri or the Lady who loves little
children, a pretty and poetical idea.) N.B. — The former is a
curious endemic species (Perocheirus articulatus) and has
only four fingers, and the thumb shrunk down to a tiny knob.
There are two slightly differing green and yellow lizards
found around the trunks of the coco-palms which they
nimbly dart up at the least alarm, called the Li-teitei-paini
or Woman rout about or stir up coconut lea/and Nan-chelang;
the latter much larger and of more brilliant colouring.
The commonest of all however is the little green lizard
with a tail of bright electric blue, so widely distributed
over the Pacific area, occurring in the Philippines, Moluccas,
New Guinea, Solomon Islands and the Pelews, and even
as far south as Samoa and Rarotonga.
Dr Cabeza speaks of a lizard of considerable length
which he declares to be the Varanus, known in Yap and
the Philippines.
The large green and yellow iguana of Yap I did not
meet with here, but the Ponapeans tell of a longish
prickly green lizard which may be akin, found on the Och
or ivory-palm. They call it Man-tau-och or Animal go up
ivory-palm tree, also Man-kalanga or the climbing animal.
Connected with this creature they have an old super-
stition that anyone who meddles with it will presently be
seized with dizziness and fall out of the top — no very
pleasant prospect, as the ivory or Sago-palm runs up from
forty to fifty feet.
Dr Cabeza gives three species of the Lygosoma in scientific
form, L. mivartioc ; L. atrocostatum ; and L. abofasciolatum.
364 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Dr Cabeza goes on to say that during his stay he saw
no frogs or toads, but mentions the interesting fact that a
species of horned toad (Cornufer corrugatus) is found in
the Pelews, 1300 miles distant. He deals in a single
sentence with snakes, almost as badly as the historian
with the snakes of Iceland. " There are no land-snakes,
but some are seen in the sea."
I saw no snakes in Ponape, but I did meet with a
specimen of a large pugnacious green eel. The natives
called it Macho to distinguish it from the common river-
eel. The macho is amphibious and has its habitation in
the salt-water marshes behind the mangrove belts, where
it lives on the purple and brown crabs (machat) crawling
on the tree-trunks, up which it writhes itself and coils in
the branches waiting for its prey. When I was in Paniau a
woman in the Matup district was bitten by one of them and
died in less than two days, probably from the shock ; the
natives said from its venom. The natives fear it greatly,
saying that the fierce creature is the incarnation of the spirit
of a wicked and cruel chief who murdered his wife and
children, and was chased into the swamp by the avengers
and put to death. A specimen was obtained with great diffi-
culty by Kaneke and Nanchom. It was a yard in length,
body about the thickness of one's thumb, dark green in
colour, the two long projecting fangs much in evidence.
With the Ponapean name Macho, compare Japanese
Mushi, a worm ; Marshall Island Moch, a sea-eel ;
Central Carolines Mas, Mat, a worm ; Gilbert Island
Mata, a worm ; Formosa Matkad, a sea-eel.
All the following mean snake or serpent : German New
Guinea Mot, Mat, Matsch ; Bismarck Archipelago Mote ;
Louisade Archipelago Mata ; British New Guinea Mota,
Mata, Ma; New Hebrides Mata, Mwata ; Malo Moata ;
Santo Mata. In Kusaian, Mwat is a worm and Moet,
beche-de-mer.
There are two sorts of sea-snakes (Pelamis bicoler), both
called Na-llupu-loi-loi or Nan-li-puloiloi, i.e., Lady madam
FISHES, INSECTS, BIRDS AND ANIMALS 365
with parti-coloured bands} One is banded black and white,
and one black and yellow. Habitat, the beds of olot or
sea-grass when the tide is out.
Fresh-water Eels
These abound in the creeks and rivers, especially in the
deeper pools, and sometimes attain great length and thick-
ness. The natives hold them in mortal dread, and call
them Kamichik, that is Terrible. Nothing will induce the
Ponapeans to eat their flesh. The old name, now dropped
out of use by the taboo, is said to have been It (Pan-
gasinan Igat). They will sometimes unexpectedly attack
people fording the rivers, inflicting very severe bites. Mr
C. F. Wood who visited the Kiti and Metalanim coast in
his yacht about 1870 speaks feelingly of the horror he
felt of these creatures whilst bathing in the creeks. Far
up in the Kiti highlands on a tableland some 3000 feet
above the sea is reported to be an extensive lake filled
with these creatures, like the Tahitian lake Vaihiria and
the Samoan Lanu-toa. Tuna is the name given to the
eels in the high basaltic islands of Polynesia (Kusaian
Ton), either from their dark colour (Micr. Ton, dark ;
Mangarevan Tunatuna, black, brown ; Skt. Tarn, Tan),
or derived from an old Aryan and Semitic root Tan, to
stretch. (Cf. Hebrew Tannin, a water-snake, sea-monster.)
The Mortlock islanders call the eel Tiki-tol, and use it for
the equivalent of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. To
express the same zoomorphic notion of the Devil the
Tahitians have the inimitable phrase, " Moo-rahi-avae-ore,
i.e., " The long lizard without paws," or as the French
have it, " Longue le'zard sans pattes."
It is very remarkable the horror in which Micronesians
and Polynesians alike hold lizards and eels, and it certainly
seems to point to a traditional recollection of the croco-
diles and venomous serpents they left behind them in the
great rivers and jungles of Asia and the larger islands of
1 In Samoan Pideilei denotes a necklace of beads strung in alternate colours.
366 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Indonesia. What proves this so strongly is the fact that
crocodile and snake names in New Guinea in many in-
stances coincide with lizard and eel designations current
in the dialects embracing all the isles of the Pacific.
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
First and foremost is that noble animal the pig {Puik),
the Puaka or Puaa of south Polynesia. There are two
varieties, one long and thin flanked with a long snout
like a greyhound, known to the Australian farmers as
Pangoflin ; the other with a short snout and serenely-
swelling barrel, descended either from the sort introduced
by traders and settlers in the last century, or from stray
parents deposited in more remote times by Chinese or
Japanese trading-junks. The names Puik and Puaka are
certainly the Thibetan Phuag or Phak with which the
Latin Porcus is a cognate. Even with the Melanesians
who represent the early Dravidian element in these seas,
the syllable Bu, Bo, or Ba underlies their names for pig ;
the Malay word Babi is one of these primitive forms.
In a few of the central Carolines we find the word Seilo
or Silo (Javanese Chileng, a pig), which certainly points
to the advent of a Javanese prau. In the Paliker district
the pig is called Man-teitei, or the animal that grubs in
the soil ; the name Puik being tabooed in the district on
the death of Lap-en-Paliker's father who bore that name.
This is a living instance showing how under our very
eyes old words are dropping out of use in these isolated
dialects and new ones taking their place, and yet folk
thoughtlessly ask, " Why are not all the words in
Pacific tongues clearly traceable to India ? " To this the
above is partly a reply. In the next place we have not
got all or anything like all the Asiatic dialects properly
set down so as to form reliable tables of comparison.
Moreover there are a good many dialects in Indonesia
and in New Guinea, and certainly a few in the central
Carolines yet unchronicled, which if set down would
FISHES, INSECTS, BIRDS AND ANIMALS 367
add their quota to the continually increasing number
already established and brought together. Anyone
who has seriously studied the gradual building up of
the English tongue from Early Saxon, Norse, Danish,
and Latin elements will readily see that tracing the
influence of the rapidly succeeding waves of varying
stocks is an intricate rather than an impossible task, as
some philologists have somewhat supinely been content
to call it. In the last place, most Micronesian and Poly-
nesian words are very clearly traceable from Asia, though
from long isolation they have been greatly planed, chipped,
attenuated, and whittled down. A great deal of the rough
material out of which the Aryan languages were developed
doubtless entered into the composition of the Oceanic
tongues which are classified as Melanesian, Micronesian,
and Polynesian. Many such common words occur in the
languages of the hill-tribes of India, and in the elaborate
and probably much later Sanskrit. A more exhaustive
study of Micronesian tongues will yield facts enough to
prove occasional intrusions of Mongol and later Malay,
which latter tongue in vocabulary may well lay claim to
possess many Sanskritic affinities.
The next domestic animal is man's faithful friend the
dog, Kiti {Cf. Indian hill-tribes' dialect — Kiranti Kochu,
Karwa Kuttu, Mundari Kota, Savara Kinchoi id.). Cf. Hin-
dustani Kutta, Sulu Archipelago Kitu, Araucanian Kiltho.
The dog is not only valued as a custodian, but for
supplying a delicate dish in time of need, especially in the
tribe of Metalanim. King Paul, unless report belies him,
is particularly fond of the tongue, liver, and entrails, which
are always set apart for His Majesty at high feasts.
The native dogs are ordinarily of a dull brownish
yellow, the tint of an old copper coin. Their nature is
stealthy, sneaking and thievish. They are kept on very
short commons, which is thought to increase their vigilance.
Many of them — by nature, not art — are entirely lacking
in a caudal appendage, which gives the poor wretches a
368 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
very comical appearance. The unfortunate animal marked
out for the feast is either beaten to death with sticks, or
seized by the hind legs and its brains dashed out against
the nearest stone. Unlike the Japanese the Ponapeans
seem to have no consideration for animals. So that the
Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is likely to
have its hands full for awhile if these islands should ever
fall into the hands of John Bull or Brother Jonathan.
Outside the Colony the sheep has not been introduced,
though Narhun and the German trader at Chauenting
keep a few, and the Ponapeans, like their Polynesian
cousins, as a rule hate the taste of mutton whether fresh
or preserved. Goats are found on Mutok (Tenedos) and
on several places along the coast — introduced by early
traders. The natives rather like their flesh, but view the
animal with great disfavour for the havoc he makes with
their breadfruit trees, ring-barking them as accurately as
an Australian woodman clearing a eucalyptus forest.
There is a singular word running throughout the Caro-
line archipelago which shows that once upon a time their
ancestors had a closer acquaintance with the above
animals either in Malaysia or India. For the word for
feathers or animals' hair all over the group is Un or Ul.
(Compare Sanskrit Un, wool, fur, and Turkish Yun id).
The domestic fowl Malek (cf central Caroline Maluk,
Pelews Malk, Mariannes Manok, Malay Manuk, Peruvian
Mallko, a chicken) is well represented in every settlement.
Their plumage has a peculiar ruffled and bristly appear-
ance. They are rather shy of approach and remarkably
strong on the wing. The cock is called King (Peruvian
Kanka), the hen Lu-tok or Li-tok, i.e. the Clucking female ;
chickens are called Purrok, plural Purrongko, cf. Malay
Burong, a bird. (Cf Peruvian Tokto, Maori Tikao-kao,
Ruk Tukao.) Their eggs (Kutor) are small and not very
easy to gather. Directly the cackle of a hen disturbs
the air, the pigs and dogs are on the move through the
brushwood to secure the precious egg. What they pass
FISHES, INSECTS, BIRDS AND ANIMALS 369
over the rats generally secure. Any chickens raised
run so many risks in their infancy that it really is a
wonder how so many come through with their lives. It
is no uncommon thing in some quiet corner of a native
hut to come across a mother hen sitting upon her eggs
venting her displeasure by a crooning sort of twitter at
the approach of a stranger. Fresh eggs are less esteemed
than those which have been some time under wing. These
the natives consider more savoury. Addled eggs from
their delicious odour are called Puaich-en-uair, the inherit-
ance of the bat ; and by the natives of Yap, Batai.
Jungle fowl {Malik-en-ual) are to be met with on the
mountain slopes. Adventurous young cockerels some-
times descend into the valleys and engage in furious
conflict with the chanticleers of the settlement, and find
their way into the all-embracing ever-ready iron pot, for
the watchful native, unlike the effeminate Manilla man,
seldom throws away a shot, lead, powder and caps, being
so scarce and dear.
Kau (Ang. Cow) is the generic word for cattle. Henry
Nanapei keeps a small herd in the Ronkiti valley. Like
the Japanese, the natives do not particularly relish cow's
milk. They fall eagerly however upon the condensed
milk, whether the much advertised Nestle's or some less
distinguished brand. It is all the same to them. It is
sweet, and they like it. Beef, whether fresh or salt, lean
or fat, tough or tender, I had nearly said cooked or un-
cooked, is devoured with delight, forming a most welcome
addition to their frugal fare of shell-fish, fish, and yams.
There was a carabao or water-buffalo, imported from
Manilla, employed in carting earth and stones in the
colony at Santiago. He was of a vicious and surly dis-
position, greatly admired by the natives for his enormous
horns, with which he would upset any stranger who came
near enough.
The domestic cat is quite a household pet, and often
enjoys a hearty meal of scraped coconut when the house-
2 A
370 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
dog goes hungry. Should he presume to actively remon-
strate at this one-sided arrangement, he is either seized by
the scruff of the neck and dropped out of doors, or kicked
into a corner, where, lying supperless, head between paws,
he views his hated rival feasting to repletion, growling to
himself in a muffled undertone, never once taking his
hungry, wistful eyes off the fast-vanishing provender — so
near and yet so far.
A kitten is called Kat-pul or Pusa-pul, " a green puss."
The Malays for the same kitten would say Kuching-muda,
or for a gosling Angsom-muda, exactly as in the English
phrase, " a green gosling?
CRABS, CRAYFISH, AND MARINE CREATURES
Rokum, Rakum. Generic word for small crabs.
Alimang. Large brown swimming crab, found amongst
the roots on the edge of the mangrove swamps (Tagal,
Alemang ; Samoan, Alimangd).
Paru, Poru. A digging-crab that throws up little
hillocks of sand on the shore.
Karrach. A green rock-crab (Brachyurd).
Omp. The coconut crab {Birgics latro or the Robber
Crab). It is of large size, blue with red markings, and is
furnished with enormous claws, with which it tears off
the husks of coconuts and the tough pericarps of other
oily and juicy fruits, and feasts on the kernels.
Li-matal-en-iak. Small marsh-crab, speckled black
and white or purple and white, with a disproportionately
large red claw.
Umpa. The Maka-ura of the Gilbert Islands. The
hermit-crab, of which there are several varieties.
Land, (i) Light green, found inside shells of sea-
snails.
Sea. (2) Red and white, sometimes with golden
splashes on claws, found in purplish or red
and white shells.
FISHES, INSECTS, BIRDS AND ANIMALS 371
Sea. (3) Black and purple, claws tipped with red or
yellow, found inside old broken shells.
Land. (4) A dark blue sort, with red body and claws,
resembling robber crab, wedges his body
into old coconut shells or large sea-shells.
Machat, Machaut. A purple and brown swamp-crab
seen crawling over the dead timber and on the trunks of
trees in the swamp and up the river.
Chiwan, Kopuk. Marsh-crabs related to Machat.
Cray-Fish
Urana. The lobster. {Cf. Malay Udang, a prawn ;
Mortlock Ur, lobster.)
Inchang (Hindu Inchna). Blue and white banded
cray-fish found in holes on the mud-flats at low tide
especially off Langar Island.
Li-katap-en-chet (Squilla). A small sea - crayfish
marked yellow, purple and white, no larger than a good
sized prawn.
Li-katap-en-pil (The Ulavai of Samoa). The fresh-
water shrimp. The name means Useful Woman of the
fresh water, which it indeed deserves as it is a capital
addition to the Ponapean bill-of-fare, sometimes growing
to a length of four or five inches. The women dip them
out, the boys catch them with minute nooses on the
end of sticks.
Tapcp. Curious black and white or brown and white
banded crayfish. The Tapapa of Futuna, the Tumal of
Yap, the Thabethabe of Fiji.
Tarrich. The timber-worm. Frequently mentioned
by whaling captains in these seas, but never once with
approbation.
Lit. The generic name for sea-anemones.
Ip. A curious slug-like creature of a light blue colour
found adhering to the underside of limestone blocks on
the reefs at low tide. Cf. Samoan Ipo, an edible mud-
worm. On Yap, I nap.
372 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Li-ulul, Lidiil. Lady Pillow. A large blue starfish
found on the sandy or coralline bottom of the shallow
pools in the lagoon. Compare the Japanese term for the
creature Tako-no-niakura, the Octopus' pillow. The
Lamotrek folk call it Laul-a-garao or the Laul of the
skies. The Ponapeans have a curious superstition about
the Li-uhil that if taken out of water a heavy shower of
rain will soon follow. Called on Ngatik Kich-el-lang,
i.e., a little bit of the sky. There seems to be a hazy sort
of connection in the native mind between the colour of the
creature and that of the sky, upon which convenient peg
some designing medicine-man or rain-maker hung his moral.
There is another species of starfish brownish-red and
spiny which they call Rar.
Likant-en-Kap. Queen of the sea-bottom. The modern
name for the sting-ray or skate-fish, of which there are
several species in Pacific waters. The old tabooed
name is given as Pae or Pai (Pingelap and Mokil ab-
breviated form Pa, Pae), the Fai of the Mortlock Islands,
the Hai-manu of Nuko-Oro (compare Polynesian Hai,
Fai and What). In Yap Pai appears only in the com-
pound word Pai-bok, the Bok or tail of the Pai. These
are all abraded forms of an ancient Sanskrit word. The
Tagala of the Philippines gives us Pagui, Pagi, with
its usual change of G for Malayan R. {Cf. Layag for
Layar, a sail; Niyog for Niyor, a coconut; Itlog, Telog for
Telor, an egg.) The original form appears in Malay Ikon-
Part, the Fairy Fish, from the Indian Pari, Peri, our
Fairy. (In Sulu the skate is called Isda-palit). By some
curious chance with us on the Atlantic side, the word has
gone through exactly the same process as with our poor
relations on the Pacific. Our collateral form for Fairy,
Fay, has also lost the medial R.
The names of three varieties were given me by
Nanchau of Mutok. (i) Pae-pai-lik or skate-skale-little, a
small sort, (2) Pata-lik or little-tail, and (3) Pai-wawa, the
spotted variety known in Kusaie as Asasa. The Ray is fond
FISHES, INSECTS, BIRDS AND ANIMALS 373
of basking in the muddy shallows, and when trodden on by
an incautious foot, it inflicts terrible wounds with the barb
of its flexible tail. This the Ponapeans call Och (Poly-
nesian Hoto, Foto, Oto). In the absence of iron the Caro-
line islanders used these barbs as spear or arrow-heads,
for which purpose they are eminently adapted. From the
rest of the tail riding-whips are made of terrific cutting
power. In Samoa the Foto or barb was frequently used
for secret assassination. The old king Tamasese is re-
ported to have met his death from unexpectedly rolling
upon one of these wrapped up in his sleeping mats. A
terse Samoan proverb thus runs : " Ua solo le fai, ua tuu
ai le foto." " The ray runs off, but leaves her barb
behind."
Til-en-Paran, i.e., the orange-coloured louse. A sort
of limpet-like slug found sticking to the under part of
limestone rocks in the shallow pools on the reef at low
tide. Colour, white veined with dark red, with blotches
or splashes of vivid yellow and scarlet. It is a Chiton,
and I have seen a dull-coloured variety sticking to the
sea-washed rocks on the coast of the north and south
Marquesan Islands.
Kick is the term for the octopus or squid, Li-puleio for
the larger kind. With Kick compare Kusaian Koet, Mort-
lock Kis, Mokil Kueit, Pulawat Kush, Lamotrek Kuich
and Ngit, Nuku-oro Kueti, Marshall Islands Kweit, Fijian
Kuita, Tagal Kugita, Malay Gorita, Ilocan Kurita, Mota
Ugita, and Motu (Pt. Moresby) Urita. A line of very
curious cognates, showing how rapidly the early Malay
word gets attenuated as we get further and further east-
ward away from Indonesia into the Pacific area and find
the word at last down in New Zealand worn away down
to Ngu or Ku.
Beche-de-mer is abundant in these waters, variously
styled the Holothuria, sea-slug or sea-cucumber, which
when dried forms one of the staple exports of the great
Archipelago.
374 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
The generic term for these creatures is Men-ika or
Man-ika, i.e., " Animal-fish " or Man-fish {Man = animal or
Man, Ika = fish). Penipen, Pelipel, and Periper is another
Caroline name for them, sometimes denoting a species,
sometimes the genus. (Cf. Polynesian Penupenu — tough,
glutinous, flaccid). There are a great many species, and
the ones most highly esteemed for trade I mention first.
Class No. i. The most highly esteemed of all,
" Li-machamach-ueipul" " The favourite wife of the
Flame-tree," called by trading-skippers the Tiger-fish,
sometimes measuring a foot and a half in length. It is
olive-green, covered with deep yellow spots each surrounded
by a circle of deep olive. The touch of its tentacles or
entrails produces a most violent itching and burning on
the skin like the sting of a nettle, and the water it squirts
out when taken out of the water if a drop gets in the
eyes causes violent inflammation and sometimes loss of
sight.
Habitat, the " mat" or detached reefs in the lagoon.
It mostly lies in the deep water, six to ten feet, on the
rocky shelves or amongst the coral lumps.
In cutting up slugs for the try-pot we found inside
some of the larger ones minute sea-eels, and small fry,
upon which it appears these creatures feed.
Main, the Shoe-fish, so called from its thick-rounded
body, of a dark grey colour.
Limach. Teat-fish. Large, black, covered all over with
whelks and knobs and projections like a horned frog.
Li-kapichino, Li-kapichinana, also called Penipen. Large,
thick red, found on the Paina or outer reef.
Torono. Large, reddish above, orange below ; found
on the outer reefs at low tide.
There are other edible varieties, some of which are put
in with the rest as make-weights, or sorted into separate
sacks. One dark yellow {Li-keniken), one light-coloured,
found by moonlight {Penipen), one yellowish with black
spots called in Kiti by the same name as the foregoing.
FISHES, INSECTS, BIRDS AND ANIMALS 375
There are four varieties sometimes eaten in times of
scarcity, the common small thin black sort {Katup, in the
Pelevvs Kasupl) ; one thick, black, nocturnal in its habits
(Matup), after which a district in Metalanim is called ; one
white, spotted-brown, found at the edge of mangrove
swamps {Longun) ; and another light-brown above, white
beneath (Kamet, Kamaf).
There are other varieties which the natives do not eat.
One large greenish-brown {Manet), one light-brown, spotted
black, with a black line down the middle of the back
(Uarer), one long black found under rocks and stones in
the shallow pools {Chaparang), another long black one
of similar habits known as Keeka or Kdka, and one dull
green mottled dark-brown called Ul-alap-onge.
Method of preparing Beche-de-mer. The slugs are taken
straight ashore, split open with a knife, and the viscera
( Ward) taken out — a most unenviable piece of work — and
they are boiled in a deep iron try-pot. A substantial dry-
ing shed has already been erected, the framework of stakes
of mangrove-wood, thatched and walled in from the winds
on every side with solid layers of young palm-fronds cut
when the leaflets grow thickest together. Only the
narrowest of entrances is left. Within is constructed a
platform of shutters of reed-grass raised some four or five
feet above the floor. On these the slugs, after the boiling
process, are laid out to dry in a dense column of smoke
which a carefully tended fire of driftwood below sends up
night and day. When thoroughly cured, in course of
which process they undergo considerable shrinkage, the fish
according to their class are put up into sacks ready to be
hoisted on board. They are kept carefully dry, as they
spoil very rapidly with the least damp. The Chinese and
Japanese value beche-de-mer very highly as a food, and
pay very good prices, as much as £%o per ton having been
realised with fish of the best quality.
By a somewhat tedious preparation of stripping and
soaking, the beche-de-mer is made into a delicious
376 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
gelatinous soup, which has most invigorating properties,
and when better known should take its place alongside of
beef-tea and chicken-broth in the dietary of invalids, and
as an easy rival of the much-vaunted turtle-soup of civic
banquets. For the turtle, as every native knows, owes
his flavour to the sea-slugs he feeds upon during the
breeding-season. In combination with a peculiar vege-
table styled Chinese parsley, beche-de-mer forms a most
delicate stew, which I tested one evening at Macao and
rendered it ample justice, to the delight of my Chinese
entertainer.
(f) marine creatures of yap
Crabs and Crustacea
Small brown — Tafagif. The Rakumor Rokum of Ponape
and the New Hebrides. Brownish purple, Teiteiguluf.
Large — light blue and red markings (Sp. Cancrejo
pintado). Maloob.
Small, light brown, long arms. Or.
Small, olive-coloured, hairy. Tamalang, Nomit.
Small, spotted black, red and white, large red claw,
found burrowed in sand and mud near in mangrove
swamp. Gaburrogok.
Hermit-crab. Yekayek.
Burrowing crab. Kathiu.
Robber or Coconut crab (Birgus latro) Aiyui. (Lamo-
trek, Yeffi). Dark brown, Kafira.
Swimming crab. Artim-a-dai.
Cray-fish. Arangoi, ]\Iathithin. Black and white
barred. Turned.
LIZARDS
Gaiutch, Aius, Gains. An alligator. A word derived
from the Pelews, where they are occasionally found.
(Malay and Philippine Buaiya, B to G.)
Atelapok. The skink. A black lizard with red spots,
FISHES. INSECTS, BIRDS AND ANIMALS 377
about a foot in length, called Kieil in Ponape, Kiuen in
Ruk, and Gual in the Central Carolines.
Galuf, Guluf. The Iguana (Varanus sp.).
Ataligak, Adaburru, Atarau. Sp. small lizards.
BIRDS
Curlew (a) with curved bill. Kaku (b) with straight
bill. Ruling.
Plover. Sp. Gabachai. Albatross Mui-bab. Sacred
to the god of war.
Fruit-bat. Magelao, Maguilao
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
Iritnen, N'min, the domestic fowl. Pilis, the dog. \Cf.
Hindustani Pilla, a puppy.]
MARINE ANIMALS
Tai-on. Curious circular medusa, with six tentacles,
found amongst the Lem or clumps of sea-grass which
cover the sandy flats in the shallow lagoon, which the
ebbing of the tide leaves with only five or six inches of
water to cover them.
Riir. A brownish-red starfish, studded thickly with
bluntish dark blue points or spikes, about three quarters
of an inch in length.
Inap (Ponape, Ip). A curious bluish annelid adhering
to the under parts of masses of limestone rock on the
reef.
Rimich. The Tentumuoi of Ponape ; a gelatinous red-
dish-brown creature, living in cracks and fissures of coral
reef, stretching out a forest of suckers resembling a clump
of water-weeds.
Thilthil. Yellow or orange variety of Rimich, called in
Mariannes Dodak-man-yagu, i.e. the animal that ducks
down.
Lon. Sp., jellyfish.
Goloth. A sea-eel (murcena).
378 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Mokelikil, Ar, Marabilag. Species of sea-spider.
Lilibots. A species of sea-snake, ringed black and
white or yellow and black.
HOLOTHURIA, OR SEA-CUCUMBERS
Daotan. Grey body, whitish below, found on edge of
mangrove belt ; edible, but scarcely palatable even in
famine time.
Buro. Large, inedible, greenish-brown.
INSECTS
Somening. A large brown and yellow-winged grass-
hopper.
Osongol. The dragon-fly : one sort large, reddish-brown ;
the other small, brown and yellow body.
Galaoleu. Another species of dragon-fly ; body red,
wings dark blue and white.
Girrigir. The fire-fly, seen in great numbers in the
evening darting in and out of the groves of areca and
coco-palms like winged sparks of fire.
Ngal. The white ant ; very destructive to pillars and
flooring and furniture in houses.
Ganau. The house-spider (Aranea).
Riu. The cicala (Malay, Riang-riang).
Elolal, Alolai. Worm.
Gorro-mangamang. Caterpillar.
SEA-URCHINS
Buol. The Cheuak of Ponape.
Olaa. Large-pointed spines, spotted brown and white
like those of porcupine.
FISHES
Along, Olong. The shark, i.e. the Hungry One.
Litak. Small cobalt-blue fish, hovering round the clumps
of branching coral, familiar to visitors in Pacific waters.
PONAPE ONOMATOPCEAS 379
Ngong. Small fish, banded black and white. Same
habitat as Litak.
U. The Leather Jacket.
Rul. Sting-Ray.
Kai. Octopus, or squid. Smaller sort, Luat.
Tsinua. Black and white spiny fish.
SHELLS
Boiangol. A dingy brown swamp-shell, resembling an
elongated whelk.
Dabau. A species of cockle found in mud near man-
grove belt.
Sana/. Black and white speckled shell.
Atam-a-lang. Sp. whelk.
Tinatef. Sp. cockle, speckled red, white and yellow.
Eon. The Tiger cowry.
Furufur. A curiously-shaped shell of the cockle order.
(G) PONAPE ONOMATOPCEAS, OR IMITATIVE SOUNDS
Chakachak. Smashing of glass, rattling, clinking,
chinking sound ; ticking of clock or watch ; tolling of
a bell. Cf. Persian, chakachak, clashing of swords.
Teteng. A slamming or banging sound.
Rarrar : Patapatar. The falling or pattering of rain-
drops.
Ngirringirrichak. The roar of a waterfall.
Ueichip. To splash about whilst bathing.
Tautau. A splashing noise as of oars or paddles.
Monomonoi. Sound of liquid shaken in a cask.
Rarrar. A rattling, scratching, ripping, grating or
tearing sound.
Mpimpering. To flare ; rumble, as a blaze of flame.
Ngorrangorrachak. To jingle ; tinkle ; clink.
Kuku : Kingking. The cooing of doves.
Ketiketikak. To cackle, of fowls.
380 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Tontorrok. To cluck ; twitter, as a hen over eggs.
Kokorrot : Kokkoroti. To crow as a cock.
Chinchich. To skim stones along water ; to play at
" ducks and drakes."
Kumukumu-chak. The croak or grunting of the
leather-jacket when taken out of water. Cf. Maori,
kumukumu, the gurnard.
U errenerre-chak : Uerreuer. To shout ; scream.
Ngirchak. ■ The noise of rushing water ; fall of
cascade.
Terterak. A scraping or grinding noise.
Tontot. Cry of cicala.
Titik. Squeaking of rats.
Ichi. To hiss, as snake or lizard.
Uat. To hoot, as an owl.
Momant. To rustle, as a dress.
Kumuchak : Poch. The detonation of a musket or
cannon.
Pungpungak. The noise of the surf on the reef.
Tui. The cry of a small black bird of the woods.
Uetle. The note of the kinuet, a small green dove
with maroon markings.
Kamakamait ; Lokalokaia. The song of birds.
Tukutukamak. Squeaking of rats.
Li-aurara. Indistinct mutterings during sleep ; de-
lirium.
Nannamanam. To jabber ; speak confusedly.
Kemmemar. To snore.
Ngiringir. To growl ; snarl.
Ngarangar. To quarrel ; scold.
Ngai. To snap (as a savage dog).
Molipe. To call out ; summon.
Tantanir. To lament ; weep.
Melakaka. The song of a chief. Cf. Hawaiian, mele ;
Tahitian, umere.
Kotuk. To break ; smash.
Tenterong. To chatter. {Tenter, the cicala.)
PONAPE GODS 381
Uerreuer .• U erreuerre-chak. To shout ; scream ;
screech.
Morromor. A noise ; tumult.
Ngichingich. To shout (of a crowd).
(H) PONAPE GODS
Kimai. A Metalanim wise woman of old from the
Matup district, where the luou or ornamental bracelets of
shell were first made.
Chau-te-Leur. The name of an ancient king or dynasty
of kings in Metalanim, when Ponape was under one rule,
and the great walls of Nan-Tauach, the breakwater of
Nan-Moluchai, and the sanctuary of Pan-Katara and the
walled islets near Tomun were built by the divine twin
brethren — the architects Olo-sipa and Olo-sopa. The
last of them, defeated in battle by barbarian hordes from
the south, under Icho-Kalakal, perished in the waters of
the Chapalap river, near the great harbour, and was turned
into a blue fish, the kital, which to this day is a tabu
fish.
Chenia and Monia. Two adventurous heroes of old
who explored the northern seas, until they saw the mid-
night sky filled with fire, and returned home with speed.
Kutun. God of the reef and all therein, and the little
islands in the lagoon. His totem is the Li-er-puater or
black and yellow choetodon fish.
Rakim. God of house-building and carpentry. Accord-
ing to Dr Gulick the god of evil, disease, death, and
famine. In Ruk, Rakim = the rainbow ; and Sonsorol,
Glagim ; and on Kusaie, Nelakem or Nlakem has the
same meaning. So Rakim is probably a sky-god, answer-
ing to the classic Iris.
Chou-mach-en-cheu. The god of the sugar-cane.
Li-kant-en-kap. The sting-ray (anciently Pae or Pat)
the totem of the Tip-en-uai tribe, the descendants of Icho-
Kalakal's great invasion.
Changoro. The god of famine (worshipped in Chokach).
382 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Lumpoi-en-chapal. The name of an ancient hero who
built the ancient fortifications at Chap-en-Takai, above
Ronkiti, on the south-west coast.
Nan-chapue. The god of kava and feasting. The
Marrap or Native chestnut, sacred to him.
Le pepe-en-wal. God of the inland wilderness and
jungle.
Nan-kieil-ilil-mau. God of the Kieil — a large black
lizard with red spots, looked upon by the Natives as
" li-kamichik" or " uncanny," from its savage disposition.
Chokalai. The " Kichin-Aramack" or " little people " —
the Trolls, or dwarf goblins, dwelling in the interior of
the island. Doubtless here we have the tradition of
dwarf Negrito hill-tribes, little by little exterminated by
the early Malay settlers.
Kona. The giant race of old. The grave of one of
them is shown — an extensive barrow or tumulus at
Kipar, near Annepein, on the Kiti coast.
Cherri-chou-lang. i.e. The little angel from heaven.
One of the lesser divinities who stole the kava plant
{chakau) from the isle of Koto (Kusaie, or Strong's
Island). A piece of the root dropped down from the
feast of the gods in the clouds, and thus the kava plant
came to Ponape.
Chau-yap. An early navigator from Yap, in the west-
ward, who was directed to Ponape by following the flight
of the kutar, or king-fisher bird. Cf. Maori, kotare, id.
According to one account, with his irar, or magic staff,
he dug up the kava plant, and gave it to the men of
Ponape, amongst whom he settled.
Li-oumere. A fairy with long iron teeth, who visited
Ponape and abode some time ; who was prevailed upon
to show them in a ghastly grin, at the sight of the antics
of a very ugly and comical buffoon. A man close by
in hiding dashed out the coveted iron fangs with a stone,
and great was the scrambling of the clan for their new-
found treasures.
PONAPE GODS 383
Ina maram. The moon-goddess. Cf. Pol., Sina,
Hina, Ina. Cf. Assyrian, Sin, the moon.
Tau-koto. One of the gods of Kiti revered in the
kava-drinking.
Chei-aki. An early navigator who landed on the
Paliker coast, from the East Mortlocks, with seven com-
panions, Manchai, Chiri-n-rok, Man-in-nok, Chinchich, Pai-
rer, Roki, and Machan.
Nan-imu-lap. (lit.) " The lord of the great house or
lodge." — The god of dances.
Nan-ul-lap. The Ponapean Priapus, and god of
festivals. Sacred to Nan-ul-lap, who ruled all the con-
tingencies of death, birth, sickness, and good and bad
luck, were the turtle, the kamaik or parrot wrass, the
marrer, and the tep fishes. They were ckapu, and only
to be eaten by the chiefs of the tribe.
Likant-Inacho. i.e. Queen Inacho. The presiding
goddess of Chokach Island.
Icho Kalakal. The war-god of Metalanim, i.e. Prince
Wonderful.
Icho Chau ; Icho Lumpoi. Tribal gods of Metalanim.
Luka lapalap ; Luk. The prince of evil. Also, the
spirit that flew over the face of the seas, bidding the
lands rise up, and giving the names to trees and plants.
Cf Scandinavian, Lok ; Lokiy the prince of evil and
cheatery.
1 Li-cher. Lady of the torch.
1 Li-char. Lady of the knife or sword.
Olopat. A demigod. The patron saint of Ngatik.
Olo-sipa ; Olo-sopa. Demigods of the olden time who
constructed the great walls, the stone-water frontages
and wharves upon the islets between Tomun and Leak,
on the Metalanim coast. Cf. the two great demigods of
Tahiti, Oro-tetefa and Uru-tetefa.
Nan-chelang. The god of canoe-building and carpentry
incarnate in a green and yellow tree-lizard of the same name.
1 The female guardians of Pueliko, the Ponapean inferno.
384 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Kaneki. God of the coconut palm.
Inacho ; Likant-en-Aram ; Li-ara-katau ; Likant-e-
rairai ; Li-mot-a-lang. Fairies — woodland goddesses or
nymphs. The emblem of Li-ara-Katau was the lukot or
Native owl.
Nan-Ilakinia. God of Nan-Tamarui district, on south-
east coast.
Maile. A spirit who smites men with dizziness and
vertigo.
Li - arongorong - pei. A sea - goddess worshipped on
Ngatik, i.e., the Lady who loves the Holy places.
Tau-Katau. The rain-god ; god of the breadfruit-tree.
Li-Au-en-pon-tau. i.e., Lady-chief of the waterway.
Goddess of the Palikalao river, on the south-west coast.
Ilako. The family-god of King Rocha, of Kiti, on the
south-west coast ; greatly revered in kava-drinking cere-
monies. Cf. Yap, ilagoth, name of a god ; and Tagala,
ilagai, to command, order, direct.
Nanchau-en-chet. The lord of the morasses and salt
marshes, dwelling in the body of the kaualik or blue
heron.
Kili-unan. A hairy and shaggy goblin of the woods
who brings disease and death. (Possibly a faint recollec-
tion of the orang-utan, left behind them in Java, Sumatra,
and other large islands of Indonesia.)
(i) YAP GODS
Yalafath. The Creator ; regarded as a benevolent but
indolent being ; incarnate in the bird mui-bab (albatross
or Frigate Bird).
Neviegai or Nemegui. His wife.
Luk. The god of death and disease ; a mischievous
and ever-active deity ; incarnate in the orra, a black bird
of nocturnal habits.
Luk-e-ling. The god of sea-faring men and navigation.
Kuku-balal. The god of cultivation and planting.
YAP GODS 385
Kanepai. The god of the tsuru or Native dances.
Ilagoth. The god who blesses and defends folk of
good and peaceable life. (Ponape, Ilako.)
Marapou. The sun-god.
Urur. The moon-god.
Mukolkol. The god of thieves and robbers, who
generally leaves his votaries in the lurch in the long
run. The Evil Spirit Luk also is a patron saint of the
light-fingered fraternity.
Mam. The goddess of childbirth.
Uaga damang. The god of war.
Dotra. The god of canoe-building, house-building, and
carpenter's work.
Magaragoi. The god who brings typhoons, gales of
wind, and heavy rains.
Madai; Wareleng. The gods of fishes, fishermen, and sailors.
Pof. The god of women and love-making in general.
Koko-galal. God of the niu or coconut palm.
Lugeleng. The god of rain.1
Tereteth. Goddess of the atchif or coconut-toddy.
Mui-bab. The god of war.
Ilu-mokan. God of dances.
Wol Trabab. God of strangers.
Dessra ; Derra. God of fire and earthquake.
Gora dai leng. The avenging deity who punishes bad
men after death. A river flows by his abode, running
underground. Tortured by fire, the bad spirit falls into
the water, and the current takes him along and plunges
him down into a deep hole or abyss of flames (lu-ni-gd)%
where he disappears for ever.
Karaneman. The god of whales and sharks.
Ligich. The god of the turtle.
Giligei. Ademi-god — theinventorof the^z or shell adzes.
Lusarer. A hero of olden time, who taught the
men of Yap to build fish-weirs of stone and wood.
Bota-Sunumi. A title of Yalafath, the creator.
1 Cf. Lamotrek. Luk-el-lang. The god of carpenters.
2 B
386 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
TRIBAL OR DISTRICT GODS
Yangalav. In Gochepa (central).
Gutherei. In Rul (central).
Ath. In Nimiguil and Goror (south).
Gatamir. In Map and Ramung Islands (north).
Magaragoi. In Tomil (central).
(j) VARIETIES OF BREADFRUIT IN PONAPE
Mai — Generic name. Cf. Tongan, Mei ; Marquesan,
Mei. Cf. Chinese and Japanese Mai, rice.
i En pakot. Long ; rough rind.
Pon-panui. Long ; rough.
Chaniak. Small variety.
Paimach. Small variety.
5 Yong. Small variety.
En-uaoutak. Small variety.
Takai. Round ; very hard.
Impak. Round ; large size.
En- uchar. Long,
io Katiu. Long.
Kumar. Long.
En-machal. Long.
Nine. Long.
Letain. Small ; round,
i 5 Nakont. Small ; round.
En-pol-le. Longish.
Apil. Round ; small.
Chai. Smooth.
En Kaualik. Long ; rough rind.
20 En-chak. Longish.
Nue. Large ; smooth ; round ; the most highly
esteemed of all.
En-charak. The mountain variety ; prickly rind.
Koli. Seeded ; eaten ripe and raw (the jack-fruit).
Pa or Mat. Seeded ; eaten ripe and raw (the jack-fruit).
25 Kalak. Smooth; small.
PONAPE 387
Taik. Smooth ; large fruit.
Pulang. Smooth ; large fruit.
All the following have a Rough and Prickly Rind
Lipet. Large ; prickly rind.
Uaka. Longish ; large.
30 Potopot ; Puetepuet. Light-coloured ; long.
En-pon-chakar. Reddish rind.
Nan-umal. Longish.
En-paipai. Long.
Lukual ; Lokual. Wild bush variety ; very prickly.
3 5 Tol. Small ; round ; dark rind.
En-patak. Reddish ; longish.
En-put. Very small ; round.
En-cherrichang. Reddish rind ; small.
En-patak, Long ; thin.
40 En-par. Long ; darkish.
En-kotokot. Round ; small.
En-monei. Long ; thin.
43 Ti. Long.
PONAPE
(k) days of the moon's age x
First period is called Rot or darkness, i.e., nights when
there is no moon. Rot has 13 days. {Cf. Persian, Rat,
the night.)
1 Ir.
8 Chau-pot-mur.
2 Lel-eti.
9 Chau-pot-moa.
3 Chanok.
10 Arichau.
4 Chenok-en-komoni.
1 1 Chutak-ran.
5 Chanok-en-komdna.
1 2 Eii.
6 Epenok-omur.
1 3 A ralok.
7 Epenok-omoa.
1 Most of these correspond closely to the ancient Tahitian sequence. In this
connection cf. Appendix A to Tregear's Maori Comparative Dictionary.
The Ponapean Ir is certainly the Tahitian Biro ; and the Tahitian Ari is
clearly the Ponapean Arichau with its affixed princely titles.
388
THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Second period — new moon— called Mack ; contains 9
days, following the sequence of the numerals : —
1 At. 6 Aon.
A rre. 7
Echil. 8
Apang. 9
Alim.
Last period, Pul, contains 5 days
1 Takai-en-pai. 4
2 A ro-puki. 5
3 Olo-pua}
Etch.
Aual.
Malatuatu.
Olo-mal}
Mat.
PONAPE STAR NAMES
Choroptiel.
Mai-lap.
Mai-tik.
Tumur.
Pongenai.
Li-katat.
Kien-ua.
Langemur.
Li-kamar-en-ich.
Nach-e-lap.
Pal-an-tumur.
Larele.
Makeriker (Pleiades).
Southern
1 4 U chu-nenek.
15 Mel (The
Cross).
1 6 Langkoroto.
1 7 Le-poniong (seen about
time of variable winds).
1 8 Katipar (the blank space
in heaven known as
the Magellan Cloud).
19 Aron-mechei-rak = a
comet ; also known as
Uchu - pata-iki - mia —
the star with a tail.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1 1
12
13
1
2
3
4
5
6
1 The Ponapean Olo is the Tahitian Oro or its equivalent Roo [cf. Hawaiian
Lono, Maori Rongo) Marquesan Ono ; all varying titles of one of the Polynesian
ideals of the Supreme Being, i.e., Sound.
Cross ; also called
(L) lamotrek star-names
Uiliuil-al-evang. The Pole-star.
Uiliuil-al-eaur. The Southern
Pup, or the Leather- Jacket Fish.
Tumur, Antares.
Meal. Vega and a Lyrae.
Ualego. Ursa Major. Literally, " The Broom."
Ul. Aldebaran. Literally, " The Virile Momber."
LAMOTREK STAR-NAMES 389
7 Evang-el-ul. Capella ; its appearance denotes heavy
gales and bad weather.
8 Magarigar. Pleiades.
9 Oliel. Orion and Rigel.
10 Kolong-al-mal. Sirius ; i.e., literally, "The Body of
the Animal."
1 1 Ping-en-lakh. Arietes ; i.e., literally, " The Centre of
the House."
1 2 Met-a-ryo. Scorpio ; i.e., " The Two Eyes."
1 3 Sor-a-bol. Corvi ; literally, " The Viewer of the Taro-
patches." Shines during Taro season. (Sor, to
look ; bol, a Taro-patch.)
1 4 Tchrou. Corona ; i.e., " The Fowling-net." 1
1 5 Mai-lap. Althcea and (a) Aquiloe.
16 Aramoi. Arcturus. (A ra, to conclude ; wo/, to come.)
So called because the rising of Arcturus marks the
end of the north-east winds which bring visiting
parties to the island.
1 7 Yuk-ol-ik. Cassiopcea ; literally, " The Tail of the Fish."
18 Mongoi-sap. Gemini.
19 Ik. Pisces.
20 Mai ; man. Canis Major.
21 Ililigak. Regulus.
2 2 Gapi-sarabol. Speaker.
23 Ngi-tau. Piscis Australis.
24 Gapi-lah. Pegasi.
MONTHS OF LAMOTREK YEAR
1 Sarabol. 5 Mai-lap. 9 Ul.
2 Aramaus. 6 Seuta. 10 Alltel.
3 Tumur. 7 Lakh. 1 1 Man.
4 Mai-rik. 8 KA. 12 Ich.
(m) mortlock star-names
1 Fusa-makit. A Ursce Minoris. " The Seven Mice,"
Makit. Cf. Ponape, Make; and Murray Island,
1 Cf. Yap Chau, a fowling-net. Ellice group, Shau, Sheau, id. ; and
Mortlock, Sen, id.
390 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
Mokis, a mouse. Or it may mean " The Fus or Star
that moves or changes its position."
2. Ola. Ursa Major.
3 Sen. Corona Borealis.
4 Moel. Lyra.
5 Manga-n-kiti. Gemini.
6 Pou-n-man. Procyon.
7 Vis. Leo. (Lit., The Rat.)
8 Ap-in-Soro-puel. Virginis.
9 Soro-puel. Corvi.
i o Eon-mas. Crateris.
i i Tanup. The Southern Cross. (Perhaps " The Shark"
cf. Polynesian Tanifa : Taniwha, id.)
1 2 Uk-en-ik. (Unidentified.) Literally, " The Fish-net."
i 3 Sepei-ping-en-Sota. Delphini and Cygni. " The Bowl
in the midst of Sota.
1 4 Soto. Equuleus.
15 Man. Sirius. The Dog-Star ; literally, " The Animal?
16 Un-allual ; ellnel. Orion and Aldibaran ; i.e.,
" The Bunch of Three." Cf. Maori, Tau-toru.
1 7 Ku. Aries.
1 8 La. Pegasus.
1 9 Marikir. Pleiades.
20 Tumur. Scorpio.
2 1 Mei-sik. v^o. Herculis.
2 2 Mei-lap. Aquila.
23 Aramoi. Arcturus.
(n) yap star-names
Told by Matuk, of Gochepa, on Tarrang Island
Beginning from East to North.
1 Mai-lap1. 3 Magirigir3.
2 Un2. 4 Moul\
1 Mai- lap. cf. Mortlock, Mei-lap.
2 Un. cf. Lamotrek, Ul (Aldebaran) ; Mortlocks, Ola (Ursa Major).
3 Magirigir. cf. Mortlocks, Mariker (Pleiades) ; Ponape, Makeriker ; and
Lamotrek, Magarigar, id.
* Moid. cf. Mortlocks, Moel (Lyra) ; Lamotrek, Meal (a Lyrce).
LAMOTREK MEASURES 391
5 Yigelik or Yik-el-ik. 7 Mai-le-palafal.
6 Ulagok.
From East to West
8 Yiliyel1. 1 2 Matarei.
9 Sarabul'1. 1 3 Wonowon-le-y6r, the
1 o Thamur*. southernmost.
1 1 Thagalu.
From South to West.
1 4 Tholon-a- Wonoworfi. 1 8 Tholon-a-wun.
1 5 „ matarei. 19 „ yiliyel.
16 „ sarabul. 20 „ mailap, the
1 7 „ thamur. westernmost.
From West to North
21 Tholon-a-magiregir. 24 Tholon-a-ulagok.
22 „ ;;»«/. 25 „ mai-le-palafal,
23 „ vigelik. the northernmost.
LAMOTREK MEASURES
GW ; Si-gat. A finger's length, i.e., 3 inches.
Rua-gat. Two „ 6 inches.
Sili-gat. Three „ 9 inches.
Fa-gat. Four „ 1 2 inches, and so on.
Si-ang ; Aug. One span.
Ru-ang. Two spans.
Sili-ang. Three spans, and so on.
Rolibos. A half-cubit.
Gopa. A cubit.
Si-pap. Distance from tip of finger to centre of chest.
Si-ngaf. One fathom.
Si-gip. One foot ; literally, footprint.
1 Cf. also Mortlock. Elluel: Allual, id.
2 Sarabul. cf. Mortlocks, Soropuel (Corvi) ; Lamotrek, Sor-a-bol ; Ponape,
Choro-pucl.
3 Thamur. cf. Mortlocks, Tumur (Scorpio) ; Lamotrek, Tumur (Antares).
4 Tholon ~ facing ; opposite.
392
THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
(O) LAMOTREK GODS
Aliu-Lap. The Creator or Supreme Being.
Luk-e-lang ; Olevat. His sons — presiding over the
work of carpenters and boat-builders.
Semili-goror. The wife of Aliu-Lap.
Selang. Her brother.
Saulal. The Prince of Evil.
Alis-i-let, also called Toutop. The Lamotrek Neptune
and God of Fishes, called in Satawal Aliu-sat or Pon-
norol.
LAMOTREK
(P) DAYS OF THE MOON'S AGE
Crescent Moon
I
Sigauru.
8
Emital.
2
Elling. (Root,
to shine.)
Ling,
9
Epei. (Whenatsundown
the moon is canted
3
Mes-elling.
over a little to west-
4
Mis-al.
ward.)
5
Mesa-fois.
IO
Rua-bong. (The joining
6
Meso-ual.
together (Rua) of the
7
Messe-tiu.
nights.)
Full Moon
1 1
Yarabuki.
20
Evelak.
12
Olo-boa.
21
Kochalak.
13
Olo-mai.
22
Karotali-evelak.
14
Mares ( = Ripe
; de-
23
Saopas- maimor
veloped.)
24
Kili.
15
Ur. (Sun and
moon
25
Omolo.
together on sea in
26
Ro j milt-fan.
the evening.)
27
A rafoi.
16
Lotiu.
28
Eoi.
17
Kili.
29
Effeng.
18
Kalawalo.
30
Erdf
19
Saopas.
DAYS OF MOON'S AGE IN MORTLOCK ISLANDS 393
MORTLOCK ISLANDS
[From " Die Bewohner der Mortlock Inseln," by J. S.
Kubary ; published in Hamburg by the Geographical
Society in 1878-79.]
(q) days of the moon's age
I
Sikauru.
16
Natiu ; Netiu.
2
A Hang, Elleng
17
Kinnei.
3
Mes-allang.
18
Ummala.
4
Mes-oan.
19
Sdpas.
5
Mes-e-fiu
20
Aanak ; Effanak.
6
Mes-e-ual.
21
Osselang.
7
Mes-e-tou
22
Aanak.
8
Ruapong.
23
Sapas.
9
Apei.
24
Ummala.
10
Emdtal.
25
Ara.
1 1
A ro-puki.
26
Roman-fel.
12
Olo-pue.
27
A ro-fiu.
13
Olo-mau.
28
Eu.
14
Ammas, Emmas.
29
Affen.
15
Aur, Eur.
30
Ese.
(R) MORTLOCK
MONTHS
Named after
certain Stars
1
Vis (Leo).
8
La (Pegasus).
2
Soropuel (Corvi).
9
Ku (Aries).
3
Aramoi (Arcturus).
10
Mariker (Pleiades).
4
Tumur (Scorpion).
1 1 :
* Un-allual ; elluel (Alde-
5
Mei-sik (vgo Herculis).
baran and Orion).
6
Mei-lap (Aquila).
12
Man (Sirius, or the Dog-
7
Sota (Equuleus).
star).
* Unelluel (Orion) = the bunch of three. Cf. Maori,
Tautoru ; Mangarevan, Toutoru. id.
(S) MORTLOCK GODS
Rasau, God of war.
Sapinfa; Sau-piong ; Ulu-puau; Terie-lap; Piol. Tribal
gods.
394 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
YAP
(t) days of the moon's age
The Yap month has 30 days counted in three divisions
(1) Pul= New Moon
I
Bungol.
5
Nga-lal-e-puL
2
Nga-ru-e-pul.
6
Nel-e-pul.
3
Nga-thalib deleb-e-pul.
7
Medelib-e-pul.
4
Nga-aningek-e-pul.
8
Meruk-e-pul.
1 1
Kaiper-e-pul-na-tha-kan- 9
Mereb-e-pul.
adai.
10
A regak-e-pul.
1 2
N ga-logoru-e-pul.
13
O-thalib-e-pul.
(2) Bo trau
= Full Moon
14
Erebeb-a-botrau.
19
Medilib-a-botrau,
15
Thalib-a-botrau.
20
Meruk-a-botrau.
16
A ningek-a-botrau.
21
Mereb-a-botrau
17
Lal-a-botran.
22
A regak-a-botrau.
18
Nel-a-botrau.
(3) Lumor = darkness. Cf. Pampanga, lumlum,
hundum, id. Ponape, lumor, the sickness of a chief.
23
Kaipir-e-lumor-ko-pul. 2 7 Nga-lal.
24
Nga-ru-e-lumor-ko-pul. 2 8 Nga-nel.
25
Nga-dalib. 29 Nga-medelib.
26
Nga-aningek. 3 0 Ka-mai-e-pul.
(U) NAMES OF MONTHS IN YAP YEAR
I
Maragil. 5 Tobil. 9 Ambin,
2
Paga-ath 6 Dunom. 10 Yitch.
3
Lagu. 7 MatJiaek. 1 1 Puloi.
4
Olo. 8 Ya-olang. 1 2 Tchef.
KUSAIAN BELTS
DAYS OF THE MOON S AGE IN ULEAI 395
ULEAI
(V) DAYS OF THE MOON'S AGE
An independent list compiled by Chamisso during
Kotzebue's Voyage in these seas in 1815-1818
I
Lingiling.
2
Sigaur.
3
Mesul.
4
Meseren.
5
Meselim.
6
Mesaul.
7
Mesavel.
8
Mesavol.
9
Mesadu.
10
Chabong.
1 1
Alabugi.
12
Olobao.
13
OlomoaL
14
Alat.
15
Ir.
16
Ladi.
17
Gilei.
18
Kaira.
19
Gopatemir.
20
A rotevalan.
21
Olabugi.
22
Olohue.
23
Olamahe.
24
Tamalaval.
25
Ereve.
26
Eii.
27
Erevi.
28
Euu.
29
Evan.
30
Etav.
Observe the wonderful coincidence with the Mortlock
and Lamotrek equivalents with a mere change from N. to
L. and T. to R. G. to K. and T. to S.
This shows very clearly the minute and accurate astro-
nomical knowledge possessed by the early Caroline Island
navigators, and the very considerable range of their mari-
time activity in generations past.
(\V) SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM NOTES
(a) The following is the result of a preliminary inspection
of some dredgings taken by the Spanish Cruiser Quiros
in the Ant Lagoon to the west of Ponape Island, East
Carolines.
The washings consist chiefly of Foraminifera, in addition
to which may be noted Alcqonarian spicules, spines of
396 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
several genera of echinoderms, numerous pteropods, hetero-
pods, and ostracoda (including Bairdia and Loxoconchd).
The most conspicuous foraminifera are : —
Spiroloculina impressa, Terquem.
grata,
Miliolina agglutinans (d'Orb).
Pelosina variabilis, Brady.
Textularia concava (Karrer).
Globigerina bulloides, d'Orb, var. triloba, Reuss.
Truncatulina rostrata, Brady.
Calcarina spengleri (Linn.).
Amphistegina lessonii, d'Orb.
radiata (Fich. & Moll.).
Operculina complanata (Defrance).
,, „ „ var. granulosa,
Leymerie.
Heterostegina Depressa, d'Orb.
(/3) The stone money of Yap is merely crystallised carbon-
ate of lime (calcite), and is probably from a vein of that
substance filling cracks in limestone or other rock.
(y) A microscopical examination of a thin slice of the
limestone from Gerem Islet, Lai, South Yap district, West
Carolines, shows the rock to have been a calcareous sand
composed of molluscan shell fragments, echinoderm spines
and plates, foraminifera such as Orbitolites complanata Lam.
Textularia barrettii I. and P., and Amphistegina lessonii
d'Orb., also numerous pieces of Lithothamnion and joints of
Halimeda. These organic fragments are firmly compacted
by a dolomitised matrix with some cavities in the rock.
The matrix is probably the result of crystallisation and
subsequent dolomitisation x of a calcareous mud.
(S) The reddish rock from Elik seems to be an impure
limestone stained in bands by iron oxide.
Kindly supplied by F. Chapman, A.L.S., F.R.M.S.
1 Dolomitisation is the partial replacement of the carbonate of lime in a
limestone by carbonate of magnesia.
KUSAIAN BELTS
KUSAIAN TEXTILES 397
(X) KUSAIAN TEXTILES
Four photographs — (a) Two " Tols" or woven belts of
banana fibre crossed, one dark, one light coloured ; (/3)
eight Kusaian " To/s " in line on screen ; (y) two finely-
finished specimens of same ; (S) four ditto from the King's
House.
Notes on Photo (a).
Black " To/," Length, 4ft. 9^ ins.
Width, 7\ ins.
Ends terminating with fringes knotted — stained salmon-
pink. One end has five particoloured bands in various
designs, each about f in. wide.
In line with the length of the " To/" the space is occupied
at regular intervals by three particoloured stripes and
borders of various widths extending into the body of the
" To/" for a distance of ten inches. Colours in stripes red,
dark-blue, purple, yellow, pink and brown.
The central portion is stained a glossy black, the texture
having the appearance of horse-hair cloth.
The upper right-hand end is woven in eighteen bands
similar to those previously described, and of the same
colours, save that the red and the blue are not found. The
design is uniform but not continuous, the colours of each
band running in broken lines.
Light-coloured " To/."
Length, 3 ft. 4$ ins.
Breadth, 5§ ins.
Made from natural coloured banana-fibre — fringed at
each end. At varying intervals across the width, and
almost uniformly disposed, are bands of interwoven orna-
ment in dark red and black, forming diapers, ornamental
chequers and diamonds variously disposed. The outer
edges are bordered by two narrow lines in dark red.
Notes on Photo (/3).
These " To/s " sustain the character of the two described
398 THE CAROLINE ISLANDS
above, but are less elaborate in pattern, and woven in plain
lines or checks. The natives use them for sashes and
sometimes as a hat-ribbon. In Honolulu the curio-shops
used to receive regular small consignments of these from the
Boston mission at Mout on Ualan, and they were quite the
fashion amongst the society belles of that city.
Notes on Photo (y).
Two exquisitely finished belts given me by Likiak-Sa.
The upper one has a lozenge ornamentation in a lovely
electric blue. The delicate designs of the one below are
traced in brown, dark-red and dark-blue upon a sheeny
white background.
Notes on Photo (S).
Four delicately finished Tols of the finest sort. The
top one picked out in graceful patterns in blue, black,
crimson and brown. The second striped light blue and
white. The third striped reddish-brown, yellow and white.
The lowest red-brown, with white perpendicular orna-
mentation with the names of the weavers, Kenie and
Malem, in broken lettering.
Similar woven belts of the same fibre, frequently of very
fine design, are found throughout the Melanesian area.
In Aneityam (N.H.) they are called "N'etu." They are
found in Santa Cruz, where they call them " Neveia-
nikapu" specimens of which, brought by Mr Jennings, may
be seen at the Liverpool and British Museum, and the
Rev. Codrington showed me some very fine specimens
which he said came from the Banks Group.
One is reminded somewhat of the Basho-fu or banana-
fibre fabric of Japan, said to be derived mainly from the
Ryu-Kyu or Lew-Chew Islands.
The same industry is seen in Sumatra, and I believe in
many other islands of the Malay Archipelago.
The loom is a simple hand-loom. In Ponape they
call it Tantar, in Kusaie Puas, in Bencoolen (Sumatra)
Pisa.
SPECIMENS OF SHELL-ADZES FOUND IN THE GREAT CENTRAL VAULT
OF NAN-TAUACH IN THE NAN-MATAL RUINS
PONAPEAN ADZES
399
In the Malayan area the Rainbow is called Bahag-Ari
or Pinang-Rajah, both of which names denote the belt of
a great lord. Possibly some such elaborate and beautiful
fabric as this was worn by the great chiefs of Malaysia in
early days, before the Arab merchants plied, and before
cheap tawdry cotton goods came in from Manchester.
(Y) PONAPEAN ADZES
Notes on Ponapean Shell A dzes.
Seven adzes and gouge ground down into present shape
from central shaft or hinge of the Tridacna Gigas or Giant
Clam. Found in the central vault called the Tomb of
Chau-Te-Leur upon Nan-Tauach Island in the Island City
of Nan-Matal, Metalanim district, Ponape, east coast. The
five first named are now in the British Museum.
Weight.
No.
I., .
i lb.
6\oz.
No.
II.,
i lb.
2 OZ.
No.
III.,
—
II OZ.
No.
IV.,
7 lb.
No.
v.,
—
7\ oz.
No.
VI.,
—
13! OZ.
No.
VII.,
—
6£ oz.
Scale
of measurement in
illustration
calculated in centi-
metres.
F.
W. Christian.
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CHASKOL HAHBOCrlt
TIYo,
KUSAIE.
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CAROLINE ISLANDS
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CS.Itma
INDEX
AgaSa, Metropolis of Mariannes, 53,
55, 250.
Albany Pass, 28.
Alek, carver in native woods, 207.
Aleniang Station, no, 176.
Alligators, 18.
Amaral Nettle, 248.
Amon, Umin or Amin Village, 271.
Amoy, coolie traffic, 42.
Ancestral worship, 75.
Ani, gods, 74, 84, 117.
Present at kava making, 191, 193.
Ant Islands, 22, 1 18, 210.
Account of, 70.
" Arbungelap " feast described, 95.
Areca Palms {Katai and Kotop), 61,
114, 189, 249.
Arnold, Sir Edwin, 293.
Aru Island, 76, 202.
Arum {A.Costatum), 64.
Asan village, rice planting in, 232.
Atua on Eastern Upolu, kava drinking
at, 191.
Au of Marau —
Gives author imormation, 211.
On Palang people, in.
On tradition of Nan-Matal, 81,83.
Augustino, Padre, 57.
Aulong {see ginger, wild).
Author (F. W. Christian) —
Arrives at Yap, 233.
Ast Nalap, 63, seqq.
Collection of seeds, 33, 46, 120,
175. 308.
Curios, 322.
Extract from diary, 155.
Interview with Don Jose Pidal,
57-
Ichipau, 105.
the Noch, 203.
Learns Kusaian dialect, 155.
Leaves Manilla, 48.
Leaves Ponape by Uranus, 228.
On Washington Island, North
Marquesas, 270.
Returns to Colony, 175, 197.
Starts for Manilla, 42.
2 D
Author (contimted) —
Sonsorol work, 303.
Starts from Sydney, 27.
Studies Ponapean language, 67.
Visits Barrow of Kipar, 69.
Visits native markets, 47.
Visits ruins of Nan-Matal, 76,
85, 89.
Visits Shanghai and Japan, 41.
Avetch shrub described, 294, 308.
Avira, Tahitian sage's prediction, 169.
B.
Babelthaob Island, 17, 18.
Balakong village, 260.
Ballintang Straits, 322.
Bamboos, 343.
Bananas, 334, 351.
Banka, native craft, 39, 42.
Banyan trees {Nin and Aio), III, 177,
227.
Barringtonia or Wi, 159, 181.
Described, 182.
Barter, Yap system of, 237, 270.
Bats [Kalekaf), 161.
Beche-de-mer, 374 ; method of pre-
paring, 375.
Beck, Louis, opinion of Likiak-Sa,
154.
Belolach Island, 51.
Betel-Nut chewing and kava drink-
ing, 189, 263.
Bird's nest fern (Talik), 114, 182.
Blanco, General, gives credentials to
author, 47.
Boating accident near Tapak, 201.
Bolinao, 45.
Bows and arrows, 136, 137.
Bracelets, shell, 90.
Bread-fruit groves, 149, 227.
Bread-fruit wood, 306.
Brugmann, Captain, at Ramung, 275,
280.
Bulual, graves at, 302.
Butron, Captain, of the Velasco —
On prevailing winds in Yap, 235.
Opinion of Pelews, 17.
403
404
INDEX
Callophyllum {Bioutch) — Tree,
152.
Fruit, 249.
Wood, 55 ; used in building, 305.
Cananga (Ilangilang), 45.
Canna or Indian shot, 260; seeds, 248.
Canoe, Building of the first, Yap
Legend, 321.
Carabao, native buffalo, 45.
Carolina Island, gives name to group,
23-
Caroline Islands —
Abstract of histoiy of Spanish
occupation, 24.
Character of natives of central,
245.
Early navigators, 267.
Languages, 310.
Local names, meaning of, 93.
Sketch of, 17 seqq.
Carved Pillars of Yap, 306.
Centipedes, 361.
Ceremony, language of, 326.
Chabrol harbour, 150, 151.
Chamisso —
Obtains Uleai star names, 267.
Narrative of ' Kotzubue's Voy-
ages,' 56.
Visits Carolines, 23.
Chamorro dialect, 231.
Chamorros, natives of Mariannes, 20,
53-
Characteristics, 55.
Emigration into Central Carolines,
56.
Channon, Dr, at Mout, 163, 166.
Chapalap River, 116.
Skirmish on, 25.
Chap-en-Takai, ruins of ancient fort
at, 209.
Position of, 214.
Chap-on-Nach, meaning 01, 93.
Chau-Icho, meaning of, 94.
Chaulik, 197, 200, 202.
Invites author to Mutok, 176.
Chau-Tapa, characteristics, 87.
Chau-Te-Leur, King, 80.
Chestnut, native, 338.
Chikuru Island, 147.
Chila-U, "Adze-head Rock," 223.
Chokach Island —
Basalt on, 82.
Described, 226.
Mats, 196.
Precipice, 60, 63, 226.
Chokach —
Nallaim or High Priest of, 225.
Wachai of, 59, 63.
Chokalai cemetery and people, III,
"3-
Christiano, story of, 98.
Cicalas, 177,
Cinnet Cord, 124.
Class-names of Ponape, 324.
Coconut, stages of ripening, 339, 340,
35°-
Coconut- toddy {Karuoruo), 165.
Codrington, Rev. R. H., describes
stone buildings at Gaua, 84.
Coloured fish, 244.
Cooktown, 27.
Copra, annual export of, 21.
Crab [Birgus latro), 160, 179.
Crabs, species of Ponapean, 370, 371.
Craig, Hugh, Captain of s.s. Menmuir,
27. 37-
Cray-fish {Pahnurus) 262, 371.
Crocodile stories, 300.
Cycas circinalis {Fadan), 55.
Cycas palm {Fauteir), 313.
D.
D'Urville, Dumont, visits Carolines,
23-
Dana, opinion of Nan-Matal ruins, 85.
Dance-paddles, 86.
Dances, native, 252, 253, 254.
Darwin, 85.
De Quincy, 292.
Deer, tale of a spectral white, 267.
Dewar, J. C. —
Description of Kusaie, 156.
Nyanza wrecked, 76, 98.
Visits Lele, opinion of King,
154-
Dim, 34.
Doves {Murroi, Kinnet, Kingking),
in.
Draccena, 247, 260.
Drums, native, 138, 139.
Duperry visits Carolines, 23.
Dziamarous (Chaumaro), 95, 96.
Dziautoloa, 108.
E.
Eastern and Western thought, gult
between, 292.
Eels in Ponape, 62, 73, 364, 365.
Elik, orange-red rock from, 262, 265.
INDEX
405
Elceocarpus or Chatak tree, 117, 227.
Berries, HI, 112.
Enderby Islands (Los Martires), 20.
Attempts to introduce Catholic
faith on, 23.
Etal Islands, 21.
Eugenia, Malay apple, 256.
Evolution of Man, Yap tradition of,
287.
Fal, relics of old gardens, 296.
Fatumak, Minister of the Woods, 240,
247, 255.
Favorlang, dialect of Formosa, 231.
Fireflies, 19, 240.
Fire, Yap legend of invention of, 320.
Fish dams or weirs (stone), 243, 266,
278, 280.
Fish-oil, process of making, 195.
Fishes, list of names of Ponapean,
.352, 355-
Fish-hooks, ancient, 90, 126.
Foelsche, Police-Magistrate at Port-
Darwin, 32.
Forbes, H. O., in sacred grove of
Timor, 104.
Formosa, hill tribes of, 42.
Fowls, native, 368, 369.
Freycinet visits Carolines, 23.
Freycinetia leaves, 114.
Fruit-bat, 245.
Fulaet, altitude of, 151.
Fun-Tan, Marianne God of ships and
sailors, 233.
Gal (Kal) settlement, 259.
Gameu, 275, 278, 298.
Gatchepa, 269.
Gaua, Santa Maria, stone buildings
at, 84.
Genii, story of the Eight, 285.
Gerem islets, 239.
Gilbert Islanders' characteristics, 164.
Gilifith Island, vegetaiion, 298.
Gilolo Straits, 119, 144, 238.
Ginger, wild, 114, 177.
Bloom, 248.
Cones of Rang from, 297.
Ginifai settlement, 260.
Goat Island {see Kambing).
Goats, 18.
Goror, 247, 251.
2 D*
Grey, Sir George, dream of South Sea
Islands federation, 220.
Guam (Guahan), volcanic island, 20,
52, 54, 228, 230.
Ancient cones or pyramids upon,
53-
Gulf of Carpentaria, inhabitants round,
28.
Gulick, Dr —
Meteorological observations, 62.
On Nan-Matal ruins, 85.
Guppy, Book on Solomon Islands,
180.
H.
Hale, opinion of Nan-Matal ruins, 85.
Hall Islands, 20.
Harbours, Ponapean, 60, 61.
Hats, native, 124.
Hawaii, daemon temples of, 170.
Hayes, "Bully," at Lele, 152.
Head of Laponga, 94.
Hermit crabs (Umpa), 180.
Herodotus, describes worship of Mylitta
at Babylon, 290.
Heron, blue {Kaualik), 125, 177.
Hibiscus t Mace us, 112.
Fishing nets of, 126.
Traps and snares of, 125.
Higgins, John, trader on Kalap, 144.
Hogolu Lagoon, basaltic islands in,
189.
Hogolu, or Ruk Islands, 20.
Holcombe, Captain —
Murdered at Tench Island, 238,
313-
On winds of Yap, 235.
Holtze, Curator of Botanical Gardens,
Port Darwin, 32.
Promises to classify seeds, 308.
Horned frog (Cerastes) in Pelews, 298.
Hong-Kong to Manilla, 40 seqq.
Horace quoted, 18, 164.
Houses of the Ancients, 53.
Ichipau (Paul) of Metalanim, 75.
Conduct towards author, 76, 104,
119, 175, 198, 206.
Proposes to send women and
children to Lang Takai, 118.
Spies, 101.
Ichipau, King of U., 63 ; account of,
59-
4o6
INDEX
Icho-Kalakal, tradition 01, 157.
Idzikolkol, lands at Nan-Matal, 108.
Idzipaus of Metalanim, 108.
Ie-sina of Samoa (mat), 237.
Iguanas ( Varanus), 298, 301.
Ikoik trees, 182.
Uoech, boating accident at, 279.
Indonesia, 112, 119.
Early Malayan Migrations from,
42.
Inot, medicinal tree, 183.
Ipomeas Yol and Chenchel, 1 10.
Iriu tree, 308.
Iron, native names for, 133-135-
Itet Island, the Monster of, 96.
Ivory- Palm, 341.
Ixora (Katiu) tree, 216.
Blossoms, 91, 114.
J-
Jack-fruit {Mai-mat), 145, 14S.
Judas, native teacher in Nalap Islet,
65-
K.
Ka-n-Mant, yellow wood shrub, 114.
Kake (white-gull), 184 ; Habits of,
180.
Kalap Island, 142 ; Productions, 145.
Kalau or hibiscus, archways of, no
(see also Hibiscus).
Kamau seeds, 180.
Kambing (Goat) Island, 39.
Scenery, 55.
Kaneke, 197, 201, 207, 227.
Kangit tree, 299.
Kap-en-Mailang Islands and lan-
guage, 21.
Kapara Islet, 118.
Kapara, spring of fresh water in coral,
22, 60, 210.
Kava —
Cargo of, 100.
Drinking and betel-nut chewing,
189.
Festivals, 76, 87, 95.
Making ceremony, 190.
Plant and beverage, 1S8.
Plant described, 211.
Plea for use of, 193.
Kehoe, J., 87, no, 119.
Offers help in exploring ruins, 85.
Reminiscences of, 98.
Kehoe, Louis, no, 113, 119.
Keppel Bay, pilot station in, 27.
Keroun, extortionate demands of, 107.
Superstition of, 85, 86, 89.
Ketam, fortified post of, 214.
Captured by Spaniards, 28, 99.
Kevas, teaches author Kusaian lan-
guage, 155, 168.
Kilauea of Hawaii, 212.
Kingfishers, 358.
Kingsley, Charles, Westward Ho, 1S5.
Kipar, Barrow of, 69.
Kipling, Rudyard, 293 ; remarks upon
the Rukh of India, 250.
Kiti —
Fight of men 01, 23.
Tradition of iron men, 217.
Tribes and Metalanim, war be-
tween, 117.
Kiti, King of —
Battle with Chau-Kicha, chief of
Wana, 214, 215, 218.
House of, 215.
Kiti River, 61.
Kobe, author visits, 41.
Kol, native kilt, 122.
Konias, assists author, 303, 316.
Konuk, or Betel-pepper, 182.
Korror, King of, 261.
Kosso Kisrik (rats) of Kusaie, 159.
Kotzebue visits Carolines, 23.
Kubary, J. S. —
At Mpompo, 175, 200, 227.
His List of star names collected in
Mortlock Islands, 267.
On Dr Pereiro's views on Nan-
Matal ruins, 81.
Opinion of ruins, 82, 85, 108.
Plan of Pankatara and Itet, 95.
Sketch plan of names, 93.
Tale of Conger-eel of Itet, 96.
Kupuricha peak, 60, 199, 228.
Kusaie (or Ualan) Islands, 22.
Discovered, 23.
Inhabitants, 153.
Language, 155, 168; Appendix.
Name, derivation of, 156.
Kyoto, temples of, 41.
L.
Ladrone Islands (see Marianne
Islands).
Lai, 243, 260, 265.
Local Superstitions, 267.
Lak or Water-taro (Colocasia), 18,
248, 256, 260, 299, 308.
Lamenkau, meaning of, 94.
INDEX
407
Lamotrek —
Islanders' customs, 238.
Legends of alligator, 300.
Star names, 267.
Uleai folk assemble at, 20.
Lampongs, tribe of Sumatra, 94.
Land-birds of Ponape, 357, 358.
Land-shells, 213, 359.
Lang-Takai, native fortress of, 116.
Langar Islet, 60, 199, 227.
Lap or Headman of, 175.
Laponga, the Wizard, legend of,
193-
Lame at Kiti, 23.
Bronze cannon discovered by,
216.
Le Hunt, description of Ixora trees in
flower, 91.
Leak, hill settlement, 207.
Legaspi and Villalobos discover Yap,
23.
Lele Island, 150, 156.
Axes and adzes, 157.
King of, 173 ; receives author,
154-
Loom, 158.
Manufactures, 158.
Cyclopean Walls on, 158.
Products, 158.
Ruins, 157, 169; Measurements,
171.
Lew-Chew Islands, 229.
Lewis, Evan, reminiscences of
Lamotrek Islanders, 238.
Li-kiak-sa, native teacher in Lele,
.!54, 155. 159, 168.
Lidah Pait, artificer of Passumah
monoliths, 198.
Limbi, 39.
Lime Fruit, 250.
Limestone rocks on Paniau, 180.
Lirou, Chief of Tomil, 267.
Author visits, 304.
House, 305.
An old tradition, 310, 318.
Southern Yap version of Flood,
286.
Lizards (Lamuar), 180, 362, 363.
Lockhart, Hon. Stewart, at Hong-
Kong, 41.
Lot, 106.
Loth, the Fairy Mother, 282.
Lukunor Islands, 21.
Lumpoi, David, English-speaking
Chief, 76, 78.
At Nan-Matal, 104.
Extortionate demands, 107.
Luneta Esplanade —
Fashionable promenade, 45.
Military executions on, 317.
Liitke, Admiral —
Rediscovers Seniavin Islands, 109.
Visits Carolines, 23.
Luzon Railway, 45.
Luzon Sugar-Refining Company at
Malabon, 44.
Lygodium, climbing fern, 295.
M.
Macao, 37.
Machamach-men or Wizards of Yap,
288, 289.
Macleod, Willie, 48.
Mactan Island, Magellan murdered
on, 22.
Magellan discovers Marianne and
Philippine Islands, 22, 53.
Mai Island, 198.
Malabon, tobacco industry, 44.
Malate (Manilla) Botanical Gardens,
Fiesta at, 46.
Malayan alphabets, early, 231.
Malayan sea-rovings, 9, 119, 144.
Maluek (Morinda) tree, 248 {see also
Morinda Citrifolia).
Mango groves, 227.
Mangrove bark as dye, 268.
Mangroves, 61, 328.
Manilla, account of, 43.
Botanical Gardens, 46.
Diario, stanza from, 276.
Population, 42.
Products, 45.
Rebels shot in, 317.
Tondo, native quarter, 44.
Mantapeitak Island, 76.
Mantapeiti Island, 76.
Manton Island, 142.
Map Island, 234, 271, 280.
Club houses, 294.
Marachau tree, 177.
Marau settlement, 209.
Au gives author information, 211,
217.
Basalt slab, 213, 216.
Flats, 210.
Fort, 214.
Native Hospitality at, 219, 220.
Marche, Alfred, visits ruins on Tinian
and Saipan, 54.
Maria Secunda, cutting-off of the
trading schooner, 315.
408
INDEX
Marina, Senor, Governor of Mari-
annes, 50.
On history of Mariannes, 53.
Marianne Islands —
Discovered by Magellan, 22.
History of, 53.
Spaniards conquer, 20.
Marianne ladies, 262.
Marquesan holy places, 170.
Marrap-en-chet seeds, 180.
Marshall Islands, 22.
Martinez, Ensign, massacred with his
party, 226.
Massacre of Lieut. Porras and party,
163.
Mats, Ponapean, 127.
Mateu shrub, 216.
Matreu, bush town, 299.
Matuk of Gochepa —
On old traditions, 310.
On Pimlingai, 318.
Maypayo village, cock pit at, 45.
Menmuir s.s., voyage from Sydney to
Hong-Kong, 27 seqq.
Metalanim —
And Kiti Tribes, war between, 117.
Bombarded by Spanish, 118.
Descent of, 117
Dialect, 118 and note.
Metalanim ruins {see Nan-Matal
ruins).
Metalanim, Ichipau of {set Ichipau
Paul of Metalanim).
Michor settlement, 149.
Migrations eastward, early Malay, 9,
119, 144.
Milai Island, 255, 257.
Capuchin station, 258.
Mindoro Island, 39.
Mitchell, Joe, 51.
Mok-Lal, 160, 161.
Mokil (or Duperrey) Islands, 22, 144.
Canoes, 145.
Inhabitants, 143.
King, or Icho of, 144.
Mokomok man on native language
and folk-lore, 311.
Mokomok, or Arrowroot Island, 19.
Mollusca on Paniau, 181.
Morinda Citrifolia (Flame Tree), 122,
182.
Mortlock Islands, 21.
Dialect, 124.
Star names, 267.
Motu dialect, 144.
Mount Takaiu, Sugar-loaf Peak, 61.
Mount Tolokom, 61.
Mount Wana, near Aleniang, 117,
119, 176, 183.
Mout settlement, 150; account of, 163.
Mpompo, 175.
Murcenas, sea-eels, 181.
Mutakaloch Islet, cellular basalt for-
mation, 22, 60, 199.
Mutok Island, 118, 176.
Feast on, 186 seqq.
N.
N., Captain, 50, 56, 57.
On Ponape natives, 58.
Pilots Spanish cruisers into Oa
harbour, 198.
Nagasaki, early Japanese emporium of
trade with Malays, 156.
Nakap Island, 92.
Nalap Island, 118.
Described, 64.
Placed at author's disposal, 63, 65.
Nalio, Nanapei's mother, 65.
Death of, 225.
Naming the birds, Ponapean legend of,
194.
Nan-Matal ruins —
Builders, 109.
Conclusions on, 108.
Description of, 79 seqq.
Excavations, 85, 89, 102.
Labyrinth of, 78.
Measurements, 80, 86, 91, 100.
Similar ruins, 82.
Skulls found in, measurements of,
109.
Treasure trove, 89.
Nan-Moluchai, meaning of name, 93.
Breakwater, 198.
Walled sanctuary, 92.
Nau-Tauach, 79, 85, 86.
Meaning of name, 93.
Nan-Yo, Islands known as, 157.
Nanapei, Henry, chief of Roukiti, 76.
Author meets, 63, 175.
Author takes leave of, 225.
Imprisoned by Spanish, 26.
Nanchau of Mutok, 83.
Entertains author, 1 76.
Nanchau- Rerren of Annepein-Paliet,
entertains author, 197, 209.
Nangutra Island, 95.
Nantamarui, 1 10, 1 12, 197.
Stone work at, 108.
Nantiati, 197.
Enormous basalt slabs at, 198.
Native dance, 252.
INDEX
409
Native diseases, 326, 327.
Negritos of Ponape, III, 112.
Nei-Afu, spring of fresh water on reef,
210.
Nets, Ponapean, 126.
New Year's Island, 32.
Ngatik, or Raven's Island natives,
22, 23, I75.
Curious dialect on, 175.
Ruins of a third Pankatara on,
218.
Ngi or ironvvood foliage, 183.
Ngingich Island, 51, 233, 238.
Ngiri courtyards, 255.
Nkau, medicinal weed, 179.
Nin tree, 177.
Bark, native cloth made from,
122, 124.
Fruit, 112.
Nipa palms, 63, 78, 180.
Noch, Metalanim chieftains, 203.
Not-tribe, 212.
Nukuhiva sand- flies, 113.
Nukuoro Island and language, 21.
Nutmeg (Karara), 177.
O.
Oa, rebel stronghold, 98.
O'Keefe, Captain —
Author's agent and banker, 233.
Cruise in Pelews, 51.
Meets author, 315.
Offers author passage on Santa
Cruz, 322.
Opinion of Pelew Islanders, 17.
O'Keefe, Mrs, 268, 316.
Obadiah, Deacon, 202, 203, 204.
Obi Islet, 307.
Olot or sea-grass, beds of, 199.
Onoth village, 249.
Oppenheim-Gerard, E., 51.
Orange-tree groves, 233.
Owl, native, 358.
P.
Pacific Atoll-Island characteristics,
178.
Pakin Islands, 22.
Pal-akap, meaning of, 93.
Palang people, peculiar speech of, 1 12.
Palang River, Valley of, 63.
Paliker hills, 63.
Paliker natives, 58.
Palmer, Miss, at Mont, 163, 164.
Palomo, Padre Jose, gives author
information, 230.
Pampang, dialect of the Philippines,
231.
Pampanga Cock-fight, 46.
Pampangs of Luzon, 55.
Pandanus or Screw Pine, 336.
Pandanus (Matal or Taip), 55, 1 12,
"5» 159. 177-
Fruit, 179.
Pan-ilel, meaning of, 94.
Pan-Katara —
Meaning of, 95.
Sacred Precinct of, 217, 218.
Paniau Islet, Fishing-Station on, 178.
Coral limestone on, 182.
Tour of, 179.
Panuelos, 46.
Panui, meaning of, 94.
Paper Mulberry Bark {Brottssonettia),
native cloth made from, 124.
Parasol-fern (A'ana), 305.
Parat, sea bird, 180, 181, 184.
Parrakeet, native, 357.
Parsley Fern (Ulunga-n-Kieil), 182.
Pasig River, 42.
Passumah Monoliths, Sumatra, 198.
Pat Kul, shell-axes, 85, 90, 193.
Peak, the Railway, 40.
Pei-Kap, meaning of, 94.
Pein-Aring Island, 92.
Peitak, meaning of, 94.
Pelew Islands —
Dialect, specimen-words of, 261.
Expeditions from Tomil, Rul and
Gochepa to, 319.
Population, language and pro-
ducts, 17, 18.
Pereiro, Dr Cabeza —
Account of Yap Islands, 234.
Historiette, 80, 98.
On Barrow of Kipar, 69.
On Nan-Matal ruins, 81.
Philippine Islands —
Dialects, 275.
Discovered by Magellan, 22.
Revolution in, 229.
Philology, abstract of, 68, 69.
Pidal, Don Jose —
Assists Author, 57.
Policy in Carolines, 25.
Pigeon English, specimen of, 203.
Pigeons (Pahtck), III.
Pigs, native, 366.
Pilau, author at, 273, 298, 303.
O'Keefe's station at, 265, 269.
Pilung and Pimlingai, Yap class-
divisions, 318.
Pine-apples, 299.
4io
INDEX
Pingelap (or M'Caskill) Islands, 22.
Characteristics of inhabitants, 150.
King of, 149.
Notes on, 147.
Pitcher-plant, 299.
Plant and Tree-names, Caroline, 328,
352.
Poison-root, 91, 126.
Pon-Kaim, 97, 207.
Pona-Ul, ruins upon, measurements
of, 115.
Ponape, or Seniavin Islands, 21.
Climate, 62.
Description of, 59, 61.
District, 61.
Early history, 83.
Flora, 62, 64 (Appendix).
Harbours, 60.
Islets in Lagoon, 60.
Lame, coasts round, 23.
Population, 61, 65.
Salt marshes, 63.
Star names, 267.
Stone enclosures, 115, i7c-
Wars, early, 117, 211.
Waterways, 63.
Ponapean —
Axes and knives, 132.
Baskets, 128.
Bottles, 129.
Burial, 74.
Carving, 130.
Character, 71, 117.
Combs, 129.
Cooking utensils, 129.
Dances, 139.
Dress of men, 122.
Dress of women, 123.
Faith, 74.
Food, 72, 73-
Fan, 128.
Fish hooks and fishing, 126.
Fortifications, 214.
Gods, 381, 384.
Hats, 124.
Hospitality, 219.
Household implements, 127.
Houses, 140.
Husking-stick, 131.
Legend of Kava plant, 241.
Loom, 131.
Marriage, 73.
Materials for textiles, 124.
Mats, 127.
Mosquito screen, 127.
Musical instruments and dances,
138.
Ponapean (conti?iued) —
Nets, 126.
Pillow, 128.
Traps and cages, 125.
Warlike character of, 117.
Weapons, 136.
Ponapean language, 84; twodialects,68.
Meaning of local names, 93.
Porras, Lieut., murder of, 163.
Port Aru or Oa, action in 1890 at, 60.
Port Darwin —
Botanical gardens, 33.
Description of, 32.
Port Luis, 230, 232.
Port Luis de Apra, 54.
Posadillo, Spanish Governor, murdered ,
24.
Pot Falat (see Lele ruins).
Priestly caste, Ponapean, 325.
Puia, cave at, 161.
Fresh water shells, 295.
Gilbert Islanders' settlement, 151,
160.
Pulak Island, meaning of name, 94.
Pulok seeds, 180.
Pulo-Suk, pirate stronghold, 20.
Pulo-Wat, pirate stronghold, 20.
Quiros discovers Ngatik, 23.
R.
Rafts, bamboo, 242.
Ralik Islands, 143.
Ramak shrub, 146.
Ramung Island, 234, 237, 275, 281,
300, 302.
Rats, native, 125, 159.
Banal tree, 249.
Raur, trading depot, 20.
Rife, Dr, at Mout, 163, 168.
Robinson, Sir William, Governor of
Hong-Kong, 41.
Rocha, King of Kiti, 121, 176, 179.
Plants trees, 181.
Settlement at Aleniang, 1 10.
[ Rocky Island, 27.
Ronkiti, 64, 208, 225.
Population, 65.
Ronkiti River, 61, 62, 209.
Ruk, or Hogolu Islands, 20.
S.
Saavedra, Alvaro de, discovers
Uluthi and Kusaie Islands, 22.
St David's Isle, Dutch flag hoisted on,
315.
INDEX
411
Saipan Island, colony of Caroline
Islanders upon, 232.
Cones or pyramids upon, 53.
Salazar, Alonzo de, discovered Mar-
shall Islands, 22.
San Bernardino, Straits of, 119.
Sand-flies (Em-en-wal), 113.
Santa Cruz, Catholic school at, 265.
Santa Misa, Filipino rebels defeated
at, 229.
Santiago, Spanish colony, 56, 60.
Sarung Sakti, artificer of Passumah
monoliths, 198.
Satoan Islands, 21.
Saturnino, Padre, 57.
Scorpions, 361.
Screw-pine (P. edulis), 146.
Sea-birds of Ponape, 355, 356.
Sea-cucumbers {Holothurid), 184.
Sea-snakes (Kafoldla), 159.
Sea-weed, curious narcotic, 336.
Seeds, deadwood, etc., drifting of, 180.
Sempalok theatre, drama in Tagala
dialect, 47.
Shanghai, sights of, 41.
Shark, capture of shovel-headed, 31.
Shark, names of, 352.
Worship of, 214.
Shell-axes, excavation of, 85.
Shenandoah visits Carolines, 24.
Shimonoseki, 41.
Sisin shrub, 146.
Skink lizards (Kieil), 113.
Slings, 136.
Snakes, 18.
Somerset, beche-de-mer and pearling
trade at, 29.
Sonsorol Island, attempts to intro-
duce Catholic faith on, 23.
Soto, Colonel, killed, 25.
Spaniards conquer Marianne Islands,
20.
Spanish occupation ot Ponape, 24, 25.
Spanish Micronesia, account of, 17.
Spears, 137.
Sponges, 184, 196, 209.
Squid, various names for, 373.
Steatite (soap-stone) carvings, 42.
Stevenson, R. L., 177 ; South Sea
Ballads quoted, 77.
Sting-ray (Paibok) tail of, 309.
Stone money-wheels of Yap, 236, 259.
Stone images or Tikitik on Ponape,
213-
Sula Besi, 39.
Sulu Archipelago dialect, 231.
Sydney to Hong-Kong, 27 segq.
Tagala, dialect of the Philippines,
231.
Tagals, 55, 234.
Tahiti, scarcity of land-birds on, 257.
Tahitian sepulchral monuments, 170.
Taka Island, 147.
Taka-tik, or Little Island, 227.
Takabau instructs Author in Pelew,
261.
Takai-nin-Talang, stone on Chapalap
River, 99.
Talik-en- IVal, climbing hartstongue,
112.
Talisai, native almond, 45.
Tamanu timber, 294.
Tan - ne • Erouatch, land of Dead
Heroes, 280, 294.
Tapak Island, sacred enclosures, 76,
82, 115.
Tapalau Island, 51.
Fiesta, 312.
Tarragon, Pelew chieftain, prisoner
on Santa Cruz, 315.
Tarrang Island, 51.
Sonsorol boys on, 303.
Tattooing, 268.
Tauak Island, 225.
Tau-Mokata Channel, 226.
Taylor, captain of Esmeralda, 42.
Te Bako, "The Shark" account of, 66.
Telemir Peak, 60.
Tenga-uai or Cerbera lactaria blos-
soms, 248.
Termites' mounds, 28.
Teton dialect, 38.
Textiles, Kusaian, 158, 394, 396.
The House of Taga, description of, 54.
Theodoro, 48, 49, 51, 58, 85.
Collects seeds and fruits, 120.
Photos, 52.
Runs away, 104.
Sent to Aleniang, no.
Taken prisoner and shot, 121.
Te Bako and, 67.
Thespesia trees, 55, 182.
Thursday Island, account of, 29.
Beche-de-mer and pearling trade,
29.
Tiati, feast at, 223.
Timor, 34.
Description of, 38.
Early home of Malayo — Poly-
nesians, 39.
Portuguese Governor and Aus-
tralian merchant, 35.
412
INDEX
Tinian Island, ruins, 54.
Tipungan village, 233.
Titin, medicinal tree, 183.
To-Kogunsama, Emperor, interdicted
trading expeditions, 156.
Tobi, stone images of Yari upon, 170.
Tol-en-Takai, 177.
Tol-o-Puel, 177.
Tolotik Islet, " Little Hill," 209, 225.
Toluk of Omin or Amon, 302.
Tomil Bay, Spanish Colony in, 237.
Tomil harbour, 19, 51.
Author visits, 304.
"Big House," 306.
European settlement at, 269.
Tomun, or Tamuan Island, 76.
King's dwelling on, 206.
Tondo, ward of, 44.
Torres Straits, 28.
Tree-Gardenia, 227.
Tree-lizards (Galuf), 19.
Tribal jealousies, 217, 218.
Tulengkitn, 142, 161, 175.
Tupap, Umbrella Tree, 225.
U.
Ualan Islands (see Kusaie Islands).
Uchentau, 79, 85, 102, 105, 207.
Uleai Island, 20.
Uleai star names, 267.
Uluthi key-words, 310.
Uluthi or Mackenzie Islands —
Account of, 19.
Discovered, 22.
Umin, grave of chief of, 296.
Urak Island, 142, 143.
Uranus, author leaves Ponape on,
228.
V.
Valley of Dwarfs (see Chokalai).
Velasco, Don Miguel, Commander o'
Quiros, 70.
At Nan-Matal, 100.
His popularity with natives, 25.
Venus, Mail steamer, 48, 50.
Enters Ascension harbour, 56.
Victoria, Capital of Hong-Kong, 39.
Description of, 40.
Villalobos and Legaspi discover Yap,
23-
Voi tree, 19.
W.
Wachai of Chokach, 63.
Account of, 59.
Waingal seeds, 180.
Walai Island, 273.
Wampum, shell- bead money, 89.
Water-melons, 299.
Weilbacher, Captain, at Langar, 175,
199.
Whales, 353.
Wichmann, Dr, on basalt of Nan-
Matal, 82.
Wilson, Captain of Antelope.
On " Flower-pot islets," 180.
On paved causeways of Pelews,
251.
Winds, season of, prevailing in Yap,
235. 236-
Wizard, 193.
Wood, C. F., on Ponapean super-
stition, 104.
Wote, wild fig tree, 308.
Wyatt-Gill, Rev., legend of origin of
pigs, 285.
Y.
Yalafath, head of the Yap Pantheon,
281, 284.
Yam-vines, 257.
Yam, varieties of, 333, 334, 349.
Yap Islanders —
Characteristics, 258, 262.
Two Classes, 288.
Yap (Guap or Wap) Islands —
Account of, 18, 234 Seqq.
Barter, 269.
Canoes, 52, 145.
Description of, 51.
Discovered, 23.
Gods, 384, 385.
Graves, 295, 296.
Inhabitants, 52.
Language, 52.
Mat, 237.
Mespil system, 290.
Pearl shells, 237.
Population of, 241.
Productions, 19.
Scarcity of land birds, 257.
Star names, 267.
Stone money, 236, 259.
Tabu system, 290.
Trees, 257.
Version of flood, 281, 286.
Wharf of coral blocks, 265.
Wizards, 289.
Yetaman, chief of Gilifith, 300.
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Frederick
William ,
r The Caroline
Islands : travel
m the sea of the
DATE DUE
BORROWER'S NAME