206 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



of late to a great extent replaced the old weapons, and the armor has 

 been generally laid aside. It is odd that the custom of the duel should 

 be common among the Gilbert natives. Duels are rarely to the death, 

 but a wooden sword bristling with shark's teeth can, to judge from 

 the tremendous scars on many of the men's bodies, inflict very severe 

 wounds. 



The Marshall Islands are less known than the Ellice or Gilbert 

 groups. The Archipelago is divided into two chains ; the Ralick, or 

 western, and the Radack, or eastern. The Marshall Island men are 

 tall, the women singularly short. Some of the latter sex, who are of 

 high birth, are very good-looking, and extremely graceful. The men 

 are tattooed on the body and right up to the temples. Those of chiefly 

 family cover the whole body ; commoners leave an unmarked patch 

 from the armpit nearly to the waist. The lobe of the ear is perforated, 

 and often greatly distended with an unclosed hoop of wood. When 

 this ornament is not carried, the vacant loop of flesh is hung over the 

 point of the ear. The women tattoo the back of the hand and the 

 forearm nearly to the elbow in tasteful patterns, so that they appear 

 to have on open-worked silk mitts. The male costume is decidedly 

 picturesque. It consists of two enormous tassels of shreds of van bark 

 joined by a plaited strap and disposed round the body so as to form a 

 kilt. It is kept in place by a cord covered with plaiting of pretty pat- 

 tern, which cord, being often over a hundred feet long, is wound round 

 the waist till it forms a large coil. Chiefs particularly affect great 

 length of cord, which does not improve the wearer's appearance, as it 

 makes the kilt too bunchy. "With a coil of moderate size the kilt is 

 very becoming, and recalls the Albanian fustanella. The women's 

 dress is composed of two mats worked with devices of great taste. 

 The so-called " Greek key " is common as an ornament at the edges. 

 These mats are bound round with a cord, similar to that of the men, 

 above the hips, leaving a few inches of mat above, while the rest 

 reaches nearly to the ankle. The costume is thus very like a low- 

 necked European gown without sleeves, and, though a little stiff 

 for sitting down in, has an attractive appearance when the wearer 

 stands. 



The Marshall Island canoes are like those of the Gilbert Islands ; 

 but they are larger, and on the sloping platforms built out on each 

 side there are frequently little houses in which three or four of the 

 crew can sleep. The natives are great navigators. They actually 

 make curious charts of thin strips of wood tied together with fibers. 

 Some of these charts indicate the position of the different islands with 

 a surprising approach to accuracy. Others give the directions of the 

 prevailing winds and currents. These are used as instruments to de- 

 termine the course to be steered, so as to take advantage of the wind 

 and to allow for current-drift rather than as charts are used by us. 



The low atolls of the three groups just spoken of are called by sail- 



