ORIGIN OF THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS. 117 
»rimitive word, as well as the use of possessive particles appended 
to the name of the object possessed, and the sharp distinction between 
transitive verbs having a definite object from intransitive verbs and 
verbs of which the object is not definitely specified are features of their 
language which at once separate them from the Polynesians of the East- 
ern Pacific and ally them with the inhabitants of the Malay Archipelago, 
the Philippines, and Madagascar. Their use of the betel pepper and 
areca nut as narcotics instead of kava pepper is another feature connect- 
ing them with the Philippine Islanders and the Malayans, and their 
possession of rice in prehistoric times bearing the same name as in the 
Malay Archipelago and Madagascar is another bond between them and 
the inhabitants of these islands. On the other hand, they did not pos- 
sess the paper mulberry, which is so important in the economy of the 
natives of the Eastern Pacific islands as the source of bark cloth or 
tapa. Other trees of importance in the economy of the true Polyne- 
sians which were absent from Guam are the candle nut (Aleurites molie- 
cond) and the Polynesian ** chestnut” (Bocod edulis). 
From a consideration of these features in the language, customs, and 
arts of the aboriginal inhabitants of Guam it is evident that they did 
hot accompany the settlers of Polynesia in their exodus from the 
region of their common origin, but that they remained united or in 
communication with the ancestors of the inhabitants of the Philippines, 
Madagascar, Malaysia, and certain districts of Cambodia until after 
the evolution of the grammatical features which are common to their 
languages and the introduction of rice as a food staple. And it is 
probable that they did not leave the cradle of the race until after the 
adoption of the habit of betel chewing, which was introduced from 
India long after the departure eastward of the settlers of eastern Poly- 
nesia, who took with them yams, taro, sugar cane, and coconuts from 
their former home. 
THE MODERN INHABITANTS. 
ORIGIN AND LANGUAGE, 
Assertions have been repeatedly made that the Chamorros, as the 
Marianne Islanders are called, no longer exist as a separate people: “ 
that ‘at the present day not one of the original race survives, and 
that the islands are peopled chiefly by Tagals and Bisayans from the 
Philippines, with a few Caroline Islanders, and numerous half-breeds, 
but also by the mixed descendants of natives of South American 
tribes.”’ It is also asserted that the present inhabitants are able to 
speak Spanish, which is gradually supplanting the native language, 
‘a Micronesian dialect nearly allied to that used by the Tagals of the 
«Coutts Trotter in Eneyclop:edia Britannica, 9th ed., vol. 16, p. 256, 1885. 
b This remarkable statement is made by Guillemard, in Stanford’s Compendium 
of Geography and Travel (new issue), Australasia, vol. 2, p. 554, 1894. 
