The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1891-05-20
LAT. 80 DEG. Lon. 152 MIN. WEST.

MAY 4th, 1891.
I think in my letter when way to the is
lands. promised to write something about their
productions manners. customs of the Inhabitants.
&c At this late day wish to apologize for my
long delay. When I was boy in school, often
had the adage, ProcrastinatiOn is the thief of
time as a copy in my copy book and later in
life it has been verified so many times by hard
experience, that realize the full force of it.
It is partly by holding up this fimsy excuse,
that seek to extenuate my breach of prom
ise," and partly by more truthful assertion,
that any person upon visiting a foreign country,
and especially one in which everything is very
different from native land. is poorly prepared
to write it up. on SO short an experience in it.
To illustrate: During residence on Kanai, a
correspondent of an Eastern paper was " doing -
the islands. preparatory to full and authentic
description, I suppose. She did, Kanai in
two days. and went away knowing about as much
concerning it as a wild goose flying over Ohio
knows of its resources.
At the risk of repeating some things said in
my former letter, will begin hy saying that the
appearance of the islands as yu, approach them
is very disappointing. You expect to see low
lying country covered with dense tropical veg
etaton with great quantities of fruit. In reality
all the islands mountainous and present a
very barren appearance. As you draw nearer
you discover that between the mountains and
the sea is narrow strip of land more level. and
it is this that all the inhabitants live, and
is all that is capable of being cultivated except
| in some of the little valleys Most of the noun
| tains are destitute of trees, especially on the
| windward side and on the lower portions. In
| regard to the growth of trees and other vegeta-
ton, the order of nature is reversed here. as in
regard to many other things. The farther you
| Al H. IL
the more rank the vegetation. In most coun-
tries ferns grow in low. moist land; here they
| are found in their greatest perfection on the
mountain sides, the higher the greater variety
and more wonderful the growth. Indeed. these
islands seem to be the home of the fern. and they
are found in greater variety ard more perfect in
| form than most anywhere else. From the deli
cate maiden hair clinging to the rocks and bush
| es. to the mammoth tree fern with stem or
body six eight inches in diameter, and gigan-
| tic fronds fifteen or twenty feet in length All
this. paradoxieal it may seem. arises from nat
| ural causes. and is explained in this way: The
| clouds and mists that are constantly rising from
the warm water of the surrounding sea. drift
| with the trade winds over the islands. and as
| soon as they come in contact with the higher al
| titudes of the mountains precipitated in the
form of rain. and thus it comes that there al
i
that these islands owe their wonderful capacity
for the production of sugar cane. for they are
thereby furnished with an inexhaustible supply
of water for the purposes of irrigation. Another
| result of these frequent showers. is the produc
| tion of the most wonderful display of rainbows
| At almost any time one more can be seen. Ell
| ther out at sea, up among the mountains.
| spanning some Of the valleys, arching from hill
top to hilltop. or perhaps completely filling some
valley with the most gorgeous colors.
| The scarcity of fruit mentioned above. needs
some modification. There are many varieties of
Indigenous fruits growing here that answer the
purposes of fruit to the natives; but they grow
mostly wild or without care. To enumerate :
Oranges, lines. mangoes. guavas. olives. alligator
pears, vi apples, pomegranites. loquats. and some
others. Most of these fruits not relished by
foreigners. and hence do not fill the place of fruit
| Oranges and grapes could be produced in great
perfection but most of the land suitable for their
production belongs to the great sugar planters,
and hereto fore sugar has been king. And besides
all the other people who would naturally engage
in fruit culture are here but temporarily. and do
not care to plant trees for some one else to pick
the fruit AS to the natives. it is part of their
nature to make provision for the future.
| In the above lists of fruits did not mention
| bananas cocoanuts. Of the former. vast guam
titles are raised and shipped to California. mostly
by Cinnamon. Of the latter, most of those pro-
duced grow upon trees planted many years ago.
Of the other productions of the islands, I will
mention them in the order of their importance:
Sugar. rice taro. bananas. coffee hides and leis-
ure. The surplus of all these commodities finds
market in the U. S.. except the latter. which is
all consumed here; and in fact. the supply is
none too great for the demand. for it is the east
est place to be lazy of which 1 have any know
Iege The taro is species of lilly or arrow root.
and is grown under water the same as rice. 1t
formerly constituted almost the exclusive foed of
the natives 1t is from the root of this plant that
poi, their chief food is made. The root is boiled
and then pounded into sort of dough, or batter;
in this state it soon sours, and is probably the