Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-04
SPORTS OF A SAVAGE RACE.
How the People of Gilbert Island
Amuse Themselves.

How the People of Gilbert Island
Amuse Themselves.
Considering their lack of opportunities,
says the Pacific Commercial Advertiser, the
people of the Gilbert Islands manage to
amuse themselves in a variety of ways.
Out of halves of cocoanut shells, with the
husks attached, fleets of miniature sloops
are built, and their sails, made from a
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 civ
ilized regatta. Their kites are made of
the fiat, thin leaves of the pandanus, fas-
tened together by their edges, and shaped
like the long and narrow pinions of a sea
bird. The framework of the kites is built
of the thin but strong and elastic midribs
OF the cocoanut plnn3, and the whole
machine is so light and so nicely balanced
and deftly strung that no ''taiP' is needed
to balance them in the air. In size they
vary from six inches to six feet in length.
Another form of @roHautic toy is kite
shaped like those already described, but
furnished at the tip of each wing with o
bit of light wood hanging from the end of
short string. The one flying this kite
Wades into the water short distance,
where the wind is blowing off the land,
and losses the toy into the air. 1t is car
ried along by the breeze, sinking as it
goes until the bits of wood touch the
water, when the Kite, being relieved of
their weight, springs into the air, again
to descend and rise in a succession 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 de-
scribed.
In the game of checkers, in all its
varieties, they are very skIllful, and in
manipulating loop of string in the game
of seat cradle' they are only eXcelled by
the Esquimaux in the number and variety
of the figures they will construct on their
taper fingers. "JackstOnes," ''jack-
straws" and other indoor games they are
very fond of and proficient in. Among
the boys and young men foot races, leap
ing and wrestling are practiced a good
deal, and much agility and muscular
energy shown.
In their dances there is much slow,
rhythmic movement, which differs from
the Hawaiian huldS in the absence of the
undulatory motions of the body. A group
of men and women will gather together
for a dance and form in two rows opposite
each other. One steps forward as a
leader, and chant is commenced. The
time is accented by an occasional stamp
of the foot or resounding slap on the
mat covering the body or the muscular
part of the upper arm and 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 claps, and the noise
suddenly ceases.
The Gilbert Islanders were once ac-
counted to be one Of the most savage races
in the Pacific. But few vessels touched
at the group, and they lay off and on while
they procured eocoanuts, fish, etc. If a
vessel did ann n, or when boats were
sent in, ma careful watch had to be
kept lest the NXws should be murdered
and the boats captured or vessels driven
ashore