PALAU — BAYER AND HARRY-ROFEN 487 



period) when sold in Macao, and stands as a tribute to British forti- 

 tude and resourcefulness in the face of adversity. 



The English, although at first apprehensive, found no difficulty 

 in establishing friendly relations with the Palauans. Even though 

 they "had not on board philosophers, botanists, draughtsmen, or gentle- 

 men experienced in such scientific pursuits as might enable them to 

 examine with judgment objects which presented themselves, or trace 

 nature through all her labyrinths," they nevertheless gave us a fasci- 

 nating account of the islands and people and their experiences among 

 them. 



Palau and the Palauans today present a far different impression 

 from that described by Wilson and his men in 1783. Although the na- 

 tives had complete power over the English, they did not take advantage 

 of their superior position, but instead did everything possible to help 

 their hapless visitors. Admittedly, the Palauans were awed by fire- 

 arms, and the English assisted Abba Thulle (Ebadul or Ibedul) the 

 chief of Koror, in some of his interisland campaigns. Good relations 

 were thereby strengthened, but it probably was not guns alone that 

 made the Palauans friendly. "We ourselves have been residents of 

 islands where the people have had little real contact with civilization 

 as we know it, and found that they remain much as Wilson pictured 

 the Palauans, with a high regard for honesty and respect for their fel- 

 lows. Now the Palauan people have become sophisticated and mun- 

 dane after 20 years of German administration and another 26 under 

 the Japanese. Missionaries long ago insisted that they give up their 

 native way of dress (or undress) in favor of less practical European- 

 style clothing. Their airy, thatched houses and abais, or men's houses 

 (pi. 3, fig. 1), decorated with colorful murals depicting historical and 

 mythological events or droll folk tales, have given way to quonset huts 

 and quasi- Japanese frame structures. Their elegant outrigger canoes 

 are becoming a rarity, replaced by dirty little diesel boats like the 

 My Flower — anything but flowerlike — that plies between Peleliu and 

 Koror. 



The Palau Archipelago in the western Caroline Islands (fig. 2) ex- 

 tends northeastward from about latitude 6°53' N. to 8°06 / N., or 

 over 70 miles, at a longitude of about 134°29' E. The main islands, 

 dominated by Babelthuap, lie between latitudes 7° and 7°45' N. Ex- 

 cept for Kayangel, the northern part of the islands is volcanic in 

 origin. Babelthuap is about 25 miles long and 8 miles wide, covered 

 with rugged hills and dense jungle, rolling grasslands, sparkling 

 streams and dashing water falls, (pi. 12, fig. 1) , and fringed with man- 

 grove. Twenty miles to the north of it is Kayangel, a true atoll like 

 the islands far to the east, and to the south of it is the maze of lime- 

 stone ridges and conical islets (pi. 1) that forms one of the most re- 



412575—57 32 



