The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1898-09-10
OFFER GREAT
OPPORTUNITIES
THE CAROLINE ISLANDS CONSIDER-
ED A FEW MINUTES.
Spain Failed to Develop This Arch1-
pe1aEo-It Is Possessed OF Mani
fold RexOurces-People ct the
1slands Tractab1e, as n Rule
Repression Needed In Some
Observation-Disclosures NavigatOrs i'm
the Olden Days-A Pure PO1yne-
sian Dialect-FoOd is Plentiful.


AS tho comparative Isolation OF the
Caroline Archipelago has made this group
80 much discussed because of the pos
sibility of Untle Sam becoming the owner
and the characteristics of the ISLANDS
a scaled booktto the general reading pub
lie, the statements made by f.. w. Christ
ian Of the Polynesian society of yelling
ton, New Zealand. are interesting ana
important .-.... ...
Spanish Micronesia, according to the
treaty made with Germany lin 1885, lies
between the equato line to the south
and the eleventh northern parallel and
the 'nerid;ans 1870 deg. IL min. and
"a sec. and ITO deg. - min. "a sec east
ern Longitude. Six hundred and hfty-
two islands lie scattered over this wide
stretch of sea. The Spanish do not place
the Mariannes. Q.adrone lsands) In
Micronesia; the large :southernmest is
land, Guam or Guajan, lies some $50 miles
to the north of Lamotrek. The Caroline
Archipelago .consits of thirty-six minor
groups, of which the nine following are
the principal: The Palaos 'Or PeleWs,
Yap Uluthi Uleai, Namonuito, Hogolen
or Ruk the east and west Mortlocks,
Bonabe or .Ponapc, and Kusaie, other
wise called ITALIAN or Strong:s island.
The Pelew group contains some 2o0
Islands ard islets. The principal island Is
Bab-el-Thaob, which in area is equal to
all the rest put together. The most Inn
portant :of the rest are KorrOr, Uruk-
lapel, Malk, Peleleu and Angaur. The
population Of the Pelews is estimated
at some 5000, but is probably~much more.
The language is a peculiar and bizarre
Malayan dialect. The principal products
are turtle-shell, copra and beche de mer
(HOlothuria), which in the Chinese mar
kets brings as much rs $500 "a ton. There
&c oil vyoxy civil wa .OOinO IN the grOuD
between the various tribes. Captain
Butran of the Velasco Qately sunk at
Manila), who visited the group IN 1888,
gives these natives good name. Captain
'O'Keefe, however "a wealthy trader OF
Yap, gives them a doubtful reputation,
putting them down as q folk OF plratlcal
and turbulent character.
In ,olden time there was great COM
mercial activity hore. Rab-el-Thaob is
rich in good timber. Great quantities OF
vans, bread-fruit and cocoanuts are
grown Alligators are found In some OF
the creeks, and a peculiar kind of horned
frog. There is abundance of good pasture
fer horses and cattle. Goats are plent1-
ful. The Spanish have done next to moth
to show their occupation and every
thing goes on much as before. There is
no Spanish garrison. The country is we'll
worth opening mp to honest and energetic
trade. All that is needed here is a little
firmncss with the petty local rajahs. A
fringing reef fifty-three miles long from
north to south surrounds the PeleWs-a
menace to navigators-which has Destroy
ed many a Macao-bound vessel.
Some 900 miles northeast Of Pelews are
Yap and the other fslets of the group.
Yap is surrounded by coral reef thirty
five miles long by five broad There are
hardly any rivulets, but inland are ex-
tensive swamps, carefully planted with
the watertaro (cclocasia). The island is
fun of relics OF a vanished civilization
old entertainments and terraces, sites OF
ancient cultivation. stone-paved roads;
paes or ancient platforms OF stone raced
with huge. circular quartz wheels. set up
at their sides: enormous council lodges
of quaint design, with bold, high ana
rroiecting gables and lofty, carven pill
lars. Walls of ancient fish ponds ana
stone weirs fill the lagoon between the
reef and the shore, making naVlgatlon
difficult matter.
There ere, some 5000 natives on Yap-
kindly, Industrious and generally peace
able folk dark in color, and speaking
a quaint and barbarous dialect. The
fruits of the soil are sweet potatoes,
vans, Of which there is great variety;
taro (alx), mannee apples or pawpaws'
piheapples bananas (pao),, sugar cane
(mauuiD bread-fruit fhau). and the
tropical almond CTorminalia catappa)
Copra is largely exported, mostly through
the German Traders who have spent.
for many years past. Zap is rich in
beautiful scenery, the groves of bamboo.
croto., cocoan1lt and areca palm being
most impressive Huge iguanas are found
in the bush. and the nights are brilliant
with fire-ffies. Bird life, however, is
somewhat scarce, and there are Few
cattle and horses on the island.
The Uluthi, and Mackenzie. group lies
a little to the northward of zap. The ma
tives, since ancient times, are subject to
Yap. and come down about February
each wear to pay tribute to the chiefs OF
Tomil and Gochepa. They are peaceful,
Industrious and law-ablding. .A@
The Uleai natives were intrepid navigat-
ors in olden days. gliding their way
fearlcssly by a most. accurate knowledge
of the stars and currents. When the
Spanish conquered the Mariannes about
1860. a great number OF the cnamorros;
or aboriginal people, fled to Uleai and
Lamotrek to avoid forcible conversion
and slavery. According to- Kotzebue, the
Uleai folk and Their neighbors assemble
at IIamotrek every year IN February
with eighteen or twenty great canoes.
some 500 miles. in about three days. They
stay until April or May and then return,
fearing the southwest monsoon.
The Hall group. or Namonuito. and the
group to the south, of which Pulawat
and Pulc-Suk are the chief islands, are
only 10 DG VlSllGu WILL CO1IS4ucA dO1C III
caution. It would be well for a man-of-
war to visit here and warn the petty
chiefs against p1ratical forays or cutting
off peaceful trading vessels in their
lagoons.
The next group eastward is called Ruk.
or T'ruk from the name of the tallest
basaltic island in the chain (Ruk means
(''highland'' or "lofty''). The group con-
sists of some seventy islands lying in
the midst Of the great lagoon of Hogolen.
In the lagoon there is fine depth of
water and good anchorage for vessels Of
large draft. There is a great annual out
put of copra. Pearl SHE'LL turtle SHE'LL
and beche de mer are abundant. The
we'll known island preparation of "taik, =
a red cosmetic, is made here.
The natives both of Ruk and the neigh
boring group of the Mortlocks, have the
curious custom, remarked in the Visayas
of the Philippines, the Peruvian Indians
and the Taringa-Roroa aborigines Of
Easter Island. Of piercing the lower lobe
of the ear and forcing 1t to grow down
ward in huge unsightly flap. The popu-
lation Of the group Is some 1000. The
products are copra and beache de mer.
OF remarkable interest to philo1ogists Is
the occurrence Of a pure Polynesian
dialect apparently an antique form OF
Samoan, upon two islets named Green
wich and Kap-in-M ailang, otherwise
called Nuku-Oro, lying to the south
southreast Of al Port SChamisso. The
epanigh call them Pescadores. The In