A Art. VII. — A. Matsumura: 



with a total area of only 420 square miles. The discovery of the 

 islands began in 1521, when the famous navigator Magellan found 

 two islands at the southern extremity of the group. He named 

 them " Islas de las velas latinas,"^ but " Islas de los Ladrones," 

 the appellation given by his crew, has become the more famous. 

 The latter means the " Islands of the Thieves " on account of the 

 tliieving propensity of the islanders. The present name of the 

 archipelago, Mariana, was given in 1668 in honour of Maria Anna, 

 queen to Filip IV. of Spain. The islands remained a Spanish 

 possession until 1899, when they were sold to Germany, with the 

 exception of Guam which had become an American possession a 

 year before. Excluding Guam, the Mariana Islands occupied by 

 Japan total only 180 square miles, of which more than half the 

 area is uninhabited. 



Of the Mariana group, Saipan, Tinian and Guam are larger 

 islands. They are densely wooded and very fertile. Saipan (Saypan, 

 Seypan) has a length of 13 miles and a breadth of 6 miles at the 

 widest point, the area measuring 72 square miles. About 1889, the 

 population of the island was only 920, wdiich, however, increased 

 to 2,752, according to a census taken in January, 1916. The 

 Chamorro tribe and settlers from the Caroline Islands make up the 

 largest portion of the population. Most of the latter bear a great 

 resemblance to the natives of Truk, in features, manners and 

 customs, and stage of civilization. 



The Caroline Archipelago consists of 48 clusters comprising some 

 080 islands, which lie scattered over the wide expanse of the 

 Pacific roughly from 4° to 10^ N. lat., and from 134° to 165° E. 

 long., and extending for a distance of 1,800 miles from west to 



J So called .after a kind of canoe found there Mitli two bows and triangular matting-sails, 

 meaning " Islands of the Lateen Sails." 



