THE COMPLETED ATOLL. 1) 
(su) 
probably owing to their having nothing to do, and plenty, 
in the vegetable way, to eat; for these equatorial islands, 
somewhat elevated, as elsewhere observed, are unusually pro- 
ductive for atolls,—just the place for a voluptuous barbarian. 
The people on Drummond’s Island were great thieves, and 
knew the pleasures of a cannibal feast. Without metals, or 
any kind of hard stone, they make, out of the teeth of the 
sharks caught about the reefs, a sharp, jagged edging for long 
knives, swords and spears; and the women, jealous of one an- 
other, sometimes, as Mr. Hale says, carry about with them for 
months a small weapon of shark’s teeth concealed under their 
dress, watching for an opportunity to use it; and desperate 
fights sometimes take place. The same author mentions, also, 
some good points in them: observing that the women are, for 
the most part, better treated than is common among uncivil- 
ized people; that the men do the hard out-door work, while 
the women clear and weed the ground, and attend to the do- 
mestic duties that naturally fall to them. ‘Custom also re- 
quires that when a man meets a female he shall pay her the 
same mark of respect that is rendered to a chief, by turning 
aside to let her pass,’—a rule that probably does not al- 
ways hold in practice. He adds: “The word manda sig- 
nifies among the Gilbert Islanders a man thoroughly accom- 
plished in all their knowledge and arts, and versed in every 
noble exercise; a good dancer, an able warrior, one who has 
seen life at home and abroad, and enjoyed its highest excite- 
ments and delights—in short, a complete man of the world. 
In their estimation this is the proudest character to which any 
person can attain; and such a one is fully prepared to enter, 
at his death, on the highest enjoyments of their elysium.” 
Thus much for the human productions of coral islands. 
Coral islands are exposed to earthquakes and storms like 
