504 SEA CHARTS USED IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS. 



To estimate the perforniiinee of the navigator, it must )»» reealled 

 that his voyage never extends over the entire Marshall group, but is 

 alwa^'^s sailed from one atoll to the one lying nearest. The distances 

 from one atoll to another are, as the charts make plain, of no great 

 extent, the longest in the Ralik chain being that between Jaluit and 

 Ebon, 85 nautical miles; the distance from the Kalik to the Ratak chain 

 between Jaluit and Mille covers about 120 nautical miles. 



As has been shown in describing the charts, the navigator directs 

 his attention in the first place to the dunungs. Whether the stars also 

 were consulted I have not been able to settle definitely. The chiefs 

 denied this, and replied to my questions that the}' did not specially 

 use the stars, but could just as well find their way when the sky was 

 covered as when the stars were out. On the other hand, Mr. Cap('ll(^ 

 declared that some old chiefs could direct their courses b}' the stars, 

 and mentioned as an example that when he was once sailing on an 

 American schooner from Jaluit to Kl)on. in company with a chief, the 

 latter remarked to him at night that they were not on the right course, 

 since Ebon lay under a star further eastward. Next morning I found 

 out that he had been right, since they had been standing west from 

 Ebon. 



The different dunungs are to be clearly made out by people versed 

 in such things, from the canoes when the water is quiet, and they sail 

 at no other times. As a rule, navigation begins at the close of June 

 or a))out the 1st of July, and ends when the trades set in, so that the 

 sailing period on the whole covers about four months. During this 

 time, in every case, favorable weather is awaited before a voyage is 

 entered upon, and at first they delay until it seems sure, from a well- 

 known sea lore, that the good weather will last for several days. 



The month of July was on this account favorable to setting out on 

 a sea voyage, since then the ])readfruit begins to ripen and upon all 

 the islands abundance of this is at hand. A supply of provisions coukl 

 be carried along only under cramped conditions, since the canoes, as 

 a rule, were already so crowded with men that many times scarcel}'^ a 

 decimeter was out of the water. 



In such voyages generally a whole people took part, under guidance 

 of their chief. Onh' entire flotillas and never single canoes take long 

 voyages. The large canoes, which now, since the introduction of 

 the schooners of European pattern, are no longei* to be seen, were 

 50 to 60 feet long and held 40 to 50 persons. Smaller <-anoes for 10 

 to 15 persons, which yet exist in larger numbers, and as a rule serve 

 onh' for commerce inside the lagoons, were frequently taken along. 



The canoes consist of the hull, which is made up of large pieces of 

 breadfruit wood sewed together, and the outrigger. Between these is 

 a large platform on which men pass their time. The larger canoes 

 have upon the platform a small hut for covering provisions and mats, 



