Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-09
ISLAND OF GUAM
CUSTOMS OF PEOPLE OF THAT
LITTLE LAND.

| From the National Geographic Magazine.
Guam is considerably larger than Tutuila.
the most important of the Samoan Islands
| owned by the United States. though its
chief port, San Luis de Apra, cannot be
compared with Pango-Pango. our naval sta
ton in the South Pacific, and perhaps the
| finest harbor In the world. The advantage
of Guam as q station for repairs and sup
| plies is evident. forming, as II does stop
| ping place for vessels between Hawaii aand
| the Philippines. Its strategic Importance
has been greatly enhanced since 1t has been
! made the landing place OF the transpacific
| cable. and the completion of the Panama
| canal will make 1t still more valuable to
our government.
| The extreme length of the island from
north-northeast to south-southwest Is
| twenty-nine statute miles. It's width is
| from seven to nine miles, narrowing at the
! middle to neck only four miles across.
On the northwest coast of this neck is sit
| uated Agana, the capital, city of over
5000 inhabitants. The entire population
of the island. according to the census of
1901. was 1916
/ The Coming Of Magellan.
The Island of Guam was discovered on
March &, 1521. by Magellan, after a pas
l
the strait which bears his name. An ac-
count Of the privations and suffering of his
crew, many of whom died on the way
across the hitherto unexplored ocean. is
graphically given by Antonio Pgafetta
Magelians historian. He describes how
the expedition arrived at Guam with the
| crews suffering from scurvy and in a starv-
| ing condition. having been compelled on
the passage to eat rats and even the
ieather from off the standing rigging to
Keep SOU ana nody together. In compari-
| son with Magelans feat of crossing the
| vast Pacific, the first voyage of Columbus
from the Canary Islands to the West In
Gies seems Insignificant. The natives of
Guam came to meet the Spaniards in
| strange flying proas" canoes provided
with outriggers and triangular sails of
mats. Inc Spaniards had dropped anchor.
furled their sails, and were about TO land
| when it was discovered that a small boat
| Whlch rode astern of the flagship was miss
| ing. Suspecting the natives of having sto-
zen IT, Magellan himself went ashore at
| the mead OF landing party of forty armed
| men, burned forty or fifty houses and MANY
boats and killed seven or eight natives
male and female. He then returned to his
snip with the missing boat and immediately
| ward. vac "e''
The natives did not fare much better at
the hands OF later visitors Missionaries
| came in 1868. -N'
Though Guam lies within the tropics its
| cnmate is tempered throughout the greater
part OF the year by brisk trade wind blow
| ing from the northeast and east It's noun
| talnS are not high enough to cause marLed
| d1nerences in the distribution of rain on the
| island, and the island is not of sufficient ex
zen. 10 cause the daily alternating currents
| OF ar known as land and sea breezes Cen
orally spea king, the seasons conform in q
measure with those of Manila. the least rain
Iaiiing IN the colder months, or the periods
called winter by the natives and the great
er rainfall occurring In the warm months
which are called summer by the natives.
| Inc mean annual temperature Is about 30
| degrees Fahrenheit in December the coolest
month. to So degrees Fahrenheit in Nav and
| June, the hottest months The highest alb
| solute temperature recorded in 1902 90 de-
| grees Fahrenheit, occurred in June and
| July, the lowest. GO degrees Fahrenheit in
| December "
Though the mean monthly temperature
| varies only degrees on either side of the
| mean annual temperature, yet the win
| ters of Guam are so definitely marked that
| certain waSps which during the summer
| make their nests In the open fields among
the bushes invade the houses of the peonJe
| at that season and hibernate there
Inc forest vegetation of Guam consists al
most entlreiy OF strand trees, epiphytal
terms, l1anas and few understands. The
majority of the species are included in what
Schimper has called the Barringtonia for
nation. The principal trees are the wild.
fertile breadfruit the Indian almond Jack
| in-the-box and the giant banyan.
Catching Fish With Intoxicants.
| The fruit of another common tree the ma
| tives use to stupefy fish.
| The fruit is pounded into paste, fnclosed
| in bag and kept over night The time of
! an especially low tide is selected and bags
| of the pounded fruit are taken out on the
| reef next morning and sunk In certain deem
| holes In the reef. The fish soon appear at
| the surface, some of them lifeless others
attempting to swim family struggling
win their Ventrai side uppermost The ma
tives scoop them in their hands, sometimes
even diving for them. Nothing more strik-
| ing could be imagined than the picture pre-
sented by the conglomeration of strange
| shapes and bright colors snake-like sea
| cells, voracious lizard fishes. gar-like hound
| fishes. with their jaws prolonged into a
| sharp beak; long shouted trumpet fishes,
| hounders, porcupine fish. bristling with
| spines; squirrel fishes of the brightest and
| most beautiful colOrs-scarlet rose color and
silver and yellow and blue; parrot fishes.
| with large scales, parrot-like beaks and in
| tense colors. some Of them deep greenish
| blue, others looking as though painted with
| blue and pink Opaque colors; varieeated
Chaetodons. called "sea BUTTERFLIES by the
| natives; trunk fishes with horns and armor:
| leopard-spotted groupers. demonstrating,
| warty toad fishes, "nufu." armed with poi
| sonous spines, much dreaded by the natives,
| and black fish with a spur on its forehead
| AS many young fish unfit for food are de-
| eminent forbade this method of fishing. but
| since the American occupation of the island
the practice has been revived
In the mangrove swamps when the tide is
low hundreds of little fishes with protrudinp
eyes may be seen hopping about in the mud
| and climbing among the roots Of the Rhizo-
phora and Rruguiera. These are widely
spread, belonging to a group of fishes inter-
esting from the fact that their air bladder
has assumed In a measure the function of
lungs, enabling the animal to breathe at
mospheric air.
The Natives.
Both sexes were expert swimmers, and
were as much at ease In the water as on
land AS they threw themselves into the
sea and came bounding from wave to
| wave they reminded Pigafetta of dolphins.
The men were good divers Legazpi states
that they would catch fish in their hands
The children accompanied their parents
while fishing. and were SO expert In the
water that Garcia declared that they ap-
peared rather fish than human beings
According to the testimony Of early writ
ers, their houses were high and neatly