St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-07-20
GILBERT ISLANDERS.
Ho,s These Pacific Natives Amase Them.


Ho,e These Pacific Natives Amuse Them
setres.
Considering their lack of opportunities,
the people of the Gilbert islands manage to
amuse themselves in variety of ways. Out
of halves of cocoanut shells, with the husks
attached, fleets of miniature sloops are built
and their sails, made from broad, dry thick
leaf, being set, the tiny boats are ranged in
line by an excited crowd of yachtsmen and
sent on their course over the lagoon toward
some floats anchored half a mile or so away,
the race creating as much excitement as any
civilized regatta. Their kites are made of
the fiat thin leaves of the pandanus, fastened
long and narraw pinions of a sea bird. The
framework of the kites is built of the thin but
strong and elastic midribs of the cocoanut
plume, and the whole machine is so light
and so nicely balanced and deity strung
that no sstail'' is needed to balance them in
the air. In size they vary from six inches
to six feet in length and when dozen or so
are soaring about together the scene is very
animated.
Another form of aeronautic toy is a kite
shaped like these already described, but fur
nished at the top of each wing with a bit of
light wood hanging from the end of short
string. The one flying his kite wades into
the water short distance where the wind
was blowing off the land, and losses the toy
into the air. 1t is carried along by the breeze
sinking as it goes, until the bits OF wood
touch the water, when the kites being re-
ieyed of their weight, springs into the air
again, again to descend and arise in sue
eession of graceful bounds until it IS lost to
sight out at sea. No small amount of skill is
shown in adjusting the weight OF the bits OF
wood to that of the kite, to have it affected
by the wind as has been described.
In the game of checkers, in all It's variety,
they are very sllillful, and in manipulating
loop of string in the game OF s'cat riddle, i"
they are only excelled by the Esquamaux in
the number and variety of the figures they
will construct on their taper fingers. Mar
bles, did notsee played. the sandy yielding
nature of the soil being unfavorable to the
game. .'Jackstones,n 'jaekstraws," and
other indoor games they are very fond of and
proficient in. Amongst the boys and young
men, foot races, leaping and wrestling are
muscular energy shown.
LII LufSc QdICGs lllClc ID oiON 1-i1 III
mic movement, which differs from the Haw-
allan hulas in the absence of the undulatory
motions of the body. A group of men and
women viii gather together for dance and
form in two rows opposite each other. One
steps forward as leader, and chant is
commenced. The time is accented by an oc-
casional stamp of the foot, or a resounding
slap on the mat covering of the body or the
muscular part OF the upper arm or chest. The
stamps and blows grow more frequent as the
song is sung the voices are raised higher
and higher; the words are shouted faster and
faster until climax being reached, the
stanza concludes with three echoing stamps
and clips, and the noise suddenly ceases.
The Gilbert islanders were once accounted
to De one of the most savage races in the Pa
cific. But few vessels touched at the group,
and they lay 'soff and on while they pro-
cured eoeoanuts. fish, ETC. If vessel did
anchor, or when boats were sent in, most
careful watch had to be kept lest the crews
should be murdered and the boats captured
or vessels driven ashore.
The hope of getting the cargo and material
of the vessels generally prompted these at
tacks, though sometimes they were made in
a spirit of revenge, as now and then some
.'labor'' vessel would swoop down On fleet
of fishermen in their canoes and carry of all
they could capture.
As an illustration of how these kidnapping
expeditions Jared the following narrative of
an eye witness is apropos:
In the spring of 1870 the bark Anna, Of
Melbourne, captured from the islands Of By
ron and Peru-only thirty miles apart-111
men and women. Shortly after, falling in
with French labor vessel from Tahiti, the
captain of the Anna sold these people for e6
perFead and took passage himself in the
Frenchman to get his pay in Tahiti. When
half the way between the tive islands the peo-
pie broke out of the hold, killed the two cap
tains and mate, drove below the second
mate and the crew, and tried to disable the
vessel so that she would go ashore. The sec
ond mate, finding some forty pounds of pow
der in the cabin, laid it under the main
hatch. led train aft and fred it, blowing up
the decks and the people. All of the sayag-
es who were not killed by the explosion took
to the water, and the second mate and crew
regained possession Of the ship. The shat
tered decks were covered as well as they
might be with canvas and the vessel reached
Tahiti in safety. Here she was retitted,
sailed in company with another vessel, re-
visite d the two islands, where over hun
dred natives were killed and 700 carried
away into a seryitude that lasted, in some
instances. for ten years. This is not a soil
tary ease, but sample of how the ''labor'
business was once carried on.
It is not to be wondered at then that we
find the people on these islands suspicious,
although, upon the whole they are friendly,
and one can traverse the land from end to
end in perfect safety, though they will prob
ably miss such trifies as they may have start
ed out with, for they are dexterous pickpock
cts.