52 THE PLANT WORLD 



the houses have wells near them ; but as there are no sewers for drain- 

 age, the doctor thinks it unsafe to drink well-water. Noticed some eels 

 (" Hasule ") and other fish (" Pulan ")* in the river ; in the high grass 

 a rail and on the bank a bittern. 



Sunday, September 3. — Took breakfast this morning with Father 

 Palomo. Received visits from two old women of Merizo who had walked 

 all the way from that village to Agana to make complaints against the 

 Gobernadorcillo. The first one, Benita Barcinas, stated that shortly after 

 the seizure of the island by the Americans the Gobernadorcillo had wrong- 

 fully taken possession of a part of her land and had given it to one of her 

 neighbors. He had borrowed the copy of her title to the land, and while 

 in his possession he had mutilated it, substituting incorrect measurements 

 for the original ones, which he had erased. On comparing the copy with 

 the original title in the archives of the government I found that it had 

 been altered. The marks of erasure were distinctly visible. The other 

 old woman stated that the same Gobernadorcillo had imprisoned her son, 

 charged with stealing 13 plants from his son-in-law, while as a matter of 

 fact the said son-in-law had stolen 22 coflFee plants from her son. The 

 Gobernadorcillo was ordered to appear before the court in Agaiia to answer 

 these charges. 



Monday, September 4. — Having been notified that my present quarters 

 will be required as barracks for Company B of the Marine battalion, I 

 bought a house this day from Doiia Rufina Quitugua y Pangelinan. It 

 is situated on the north side of the plaza, nearly opposite the palace, and 

 is separated from the tribunal by a vacant lot belonging to Mr. Atanasio 

 Taitano y Perez. On each side of the house there is a garden shut off 

 from the street by a solid wall of masonry. There is no entrance to the 

 house from the street. The entrance to the yard is east of the house. 

 Steps lead to a terrace which connects the house with the kitchen, and 

 the entrance to the house is at the rear, from the terrace. It is interest- 

 ing to trace the evolution of the better class of Guam houses from the 

 primitive habitation of the natives. The latter are raised from the ground 

 about three or four feet on posts. In their rear is usually a kitchen also 

 raised on posts. Both the dwelling and the kitchen have a substantial 

 frame-work of wood with sides either of boards or woven reeds, the latter 

 often coated with mud to make the texture air-tight. They are thatched 

 either with coconut leaves or with fringes of Nipa-palm leaflets strung 

 on reeds, which are the more durable. For greater convenience the 

 kitchen and house are often connected by a raised passage or bridge. In 

 some of the Guam houses solid walls of masonry are built in between the 

 supporting posts, the kitchens remaining as in the primitive type. In 

 others both the kitchen and the dwelling rest on walls of masonry ; while 



* Kuhlia rupestris. 



