Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

EASTERN MICEOXESIA. 291by breezes from the east and south-east, or else internipted by calms.Storms areto be dreaded chiefly in October and November. Being also further removedfrom the continents than the Marianas and Carolines, the Marshall group eujoys amore oceanic climate.At the same time its flora and fauna are much poorer, although still comparati\elyrich for lands of coralline origin. To the fifty-nine species of plants foundin the archipelago by Chamisso subsequent explorers have scarcely added any newforms; one alone seems jDeculiar to the Marshal'ls. The most useful plant is the 2)andanusodonitmhnu^, of which there are some twenty varieties, and from which the nativesderive their chief nourishment.Both the pandahus and the bread-fruit treegrow to greater perfection here than in any other oceanic region.There are alsoseveral distinct varieties of the cocoa-nut palm ; but this plant is less used for foodsince the development of the export trade in copra and cocoa-nut oil.There are no indigenous mammals or birds ;but the goats, jjigs, and cats introducedfrom Em-ope have multijjlied rapidly, and the domestic poultry have revertedto the wild state.The indigenous populations become gradually modified in the direction fromnorth to south.Thus the natives of the Marshalls resemble those of the Carolines,and like them belong to the Micron'esian group, whereas the people of Ellice areof nearly pure Polynesian stock, Kke those of the eastern archipelagoes.Betweenthese extremes stand the Gilbert islanders, of mixed descent but fimdamentally]Micronesians. They are the finest race in this oceanic region, tall, sometimeseven gigantic, often with quite European features, and occasionally acquiring asomewhat Jewish cast from their slightly aquiline nose. Except in the remoterislands not yet vjsited by the missionaries the old dress— a loin-cloth and fringes—as well as the practice of tattooing have been abolished, and the few ornamentsnow worn are flowers or foliage inserted in the pierced lobe of the ear, bird'sfeathers and necklaces.In 1817, when Chamisso explored the Marshall group, the natives, still freefrom the influence of traders and missionaries, seemed to be possessed of highqualities, intelligence and enterprise. Everywhere was presented a picture ofIJcace, love of work, and domestic harmony, combined with a strong sense ofequality, even in the presence of the chiefs.Yet these pojiulations, which seemedto give promise of a prosperous future, are preciselj' amongst those that have mostrapidly declined. The young are carried off by consumption ; all initiative iskilled by the introduction of European wares ; there is no longer any necessityfor exercising the faculty of thought, and listlessncss takes the place of an activelife.In some of the islands not a single article of native manufacture is now to befound, and here the villages resemble the wretched suburbs of some Americancity.Traditions still survive of former cannibal i^ractices, at least in some of thegroups. Other sanguinary rites also prevailed, as in the Ratak Isles, where themother was allowed to keep her three first children ; if a fourth was born she hadto bury it with her own hands. But much tenderness was shown for the