Q& USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 
proximity to a good harbor, on the banks of a river for the sake of a 
constant supply of fresh water, or on a high and inaccessible hill, as 
in the case of Chachugo, for the sake of security from attack. Those 
on the beach were composed of 50 to 150 houses, those in the interior of 
from 20 down toa half dozen. The principal town was Atvadiia, on 
the west coast of the island, where a fine river, having its source in a 
great spring called ** Matan-hanom,” emptied into the sea. In all the 
larger villages there was a** great house” frequented by the ‘* urritao,” 
bachelors, in. which unmarried men and women lived together. 
The houses contained little that could be called furniture. There 
were common floor mats, diagonally braided, and sleeping: mats, some 
of very fine texture, made from the leaves of the textile Pandanus. 
The water vessels were not coconut shells, as in many Polynesian 
islands, but sections of large hollow bamboos, about 5 or 6 feet long, 
which were inclined against the wall. There were coarse bags of Pan- 
danus matting holding dried breadfruit, and every native carried a 
finely woven bag of the same material containing betel nut. Coarse 
baskets were made of fresh coconut leaves, as required, to be thrown 
away when dry and useless, Baskets of better construction were 
woven from strips of bamboo (piao). In the kitchen there was a hole 
in the ground and a pile of stones for an oven. . 
Foop.—They subsisted principally on fruits, yams, taro, and fish. 
They ate coconuts prepared in yarious ways, sugar cane, bananas, 
plantains, and breadfruit. The last was in season only about four 
months of the year, but after it yams became mature. In the times 
of famine following hurricanes they resorted to the woods for ** fadang,” 
or nuts of Cycas cfrcinalis, the poisonous properties of which they 
removed by soaking and repeatedly changing the water, after which the 
macerated starchy substance was ground in cavities of convenient 
stones and baked. For relishes they ate certain seaweeds, Terminalia 
nuts, and the kernels of Pandanus seeds. Pandanus drupes, which are 
an important food staple on many islands, did not enter into their 
domestic economy, and the widely spread ‘Polynesian chestnut” 
(Bocoa edulis) was absent from the island. They had neither sweet 
potatoes nor maize until after the discovery, nor did the yam bean 
(Cacara) occur on the island. Rice was cultivated by them and 
sold to visiting ships. They regarded it as a luxury and kept it for 
their feasts. They did not practice cannibalism. Indeed the early 
navigators said that they could not be induced to eat meat of any kind. 
Although they had pigs at a very early date it is probable that these 
were introduced after. the discovery. They also had fowls and kept 
doves in captivity, but we have no evidence that they ate them. They 
could not be induced to eat eels, and spoke disparagingly of some of 
the early missionaries for eating them. The creamy juice expressed 
from the grated meat of ripe cocoanuts entered into the composition 
