126 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 
shafts and with solid wooden wheels of Calophyllum wood, which are 
inclosed in iron tires usually made from old gun barrels. 
Leather of excellent quality is made from the hides of cattle and buf- 
falo and from deerskins, The principal tan bark used is that of 2the- 
colobium dulce, & leguminous tree of Mexican origin. Shoes are com- 
monly made without heels, after the Philippine fashion, the uppers of 
yellow deerskin, ornamented with red leather, and the soles of cow skin 
or buffalo hide. Very good shoes are also made after European styles. 
Ordinarily while working on their farms the people wear sandals, for 
making which a piece of sole leather is kept on band in each family. 
Kach individual cuts sandals to the shape of his foot, as he may require 
them, securing them by thongs passing backward on each side of the 
foot from between the first and second toes. 
Asarule, the masonry work on the island, chiefly stone walls and 
the basements of houses, is substantial but crude. In squaring the 
stones and in laying them horizontal the mason frequently depends 
upon his eye, though he may have both square and level at home. The 
result is, as may well be imagined, that frequently the corners of 
buildings supposed to be square are by no means right angles, and 
stone steps and terraces intended to be horizontal are far from it. On 
having his attention called to such defects the workman may excuse 
himself by saying, ‘‘Ay, sefior, I am not a master mason. I didn’t 
know you were so particular about having it square. DIL go home and 
get my level and square; or will you send your boy to borrow Don 
Juan’s?” 
The source of both the stone and the mortar used for building is 
chiefly coral rock. Coral fresh from the reef is not used, as it contains 
salt and remains moist for a long time, and the mortar it yields is also 
salty, with a tendency to remain soft and sticky. Coral hummocks 
for building : are taken from the reef and allowed to weather for a long 
time, and the best of lime is burnt from coral rock and limestone of 
the ancient reefs composing the greater portion of the island. 
PREPARATION OF FOoD.-—The principal food staples of the natives 
are maize, rice, breadfruit, yams, taro, sweet potatoes, eguminous 
pods and seeds, and several species of Cucurbitaceae. They often ea 
fish of various kinds, venison, pork, and chicken, and less frequently 
beef. Wild ducks (Anas oustalet’) are his ely esteemed. The sport 
of trawling under sail for bonito and other game fish has died out, and 
fish are caught only in tide pools and with “cast nets along the beach. 
Most of the cooking is done in kitchens adjacent to the dwellings, 
raised like the latter from the ground and connected by means of a 
bridge or a solid terrace of masonry filled in with earth. In the 
kitchen there is a raised shelf at the end opposite the direction of 
the prevailing wind covered with earth which is retained by raised 
slabs along the edge. Stones are arranged in pairs at certain dis- 
