SEA CHAETS USED IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS. 507 



It was much easier to keep in the right course sailing with a favorable 

 wind than against the wind. As an example of this the voyage from 

 Jaluit to Mille was cited. As a ground therefor it was insisted that 

 north of the okar from Jaluit to Mille the Rilib is much stronger than 

 the Bungdockerik, southward the Bungdockerik is stronger than the 

 Rilib. On this route it was not the Bungdockerik and Bungdockeing 

 that were taken together into consideration, but the Bungdockerik and 

 the Rilib, since in this region the Bungdockeing is scarcely perceptible. 

 The Bungdockerik and the Rilib, on the contrary, are sharply marked, 

 the first running from southeast to northwest, the other east-northeast 

 to west-southwest, so that they turn one upon the other nearly at right 

 angles, a thing which is very apparent to the e}^e. 



In crossing over from Jaluit. the navigator lies first on the starboard 

 bow till the Bungdockeriiv i.s much stronger, then he turns and lies on 

 the port bow until the Rilib is the stronger. He need not be so 

 observant that he sta}" immediately between them, and should be able 

 in his crossing to mark the greater strength of the one or the other 

 dunung, since they run against the canoe forward, entirely distinct and 

 much more striking than when he is sailing with the wind abaft and on 

 a straight course. 



The navigator at first makes extended tacks, perhaps six hours long, 

 then gradually shorter. When he arrives at a distance of about 25 

 nautical miles from Mille, he traces his way by the crossing of the 

 Rolok and the Nit-in-Kot, till in the Djelladai (that is, by means of the 

 palm trees), the island comes into view. 



The capability of the navigator, his skill in observing the water and 

 drawing the right conclusions therefrom, came into play, especially 

 under unfavorable conditions, when good weather fails and the flotilla 

 is surprised by bad weather. As a good example in this line, 1 was 

 told that a chief on the voyage with his flotilla from Ebon toMaraorik 

 encountered so much bad weather, and for that reason had so often to 

 lower sail, that he occupied eight days in the passage. That he did 

 this in spite of the equatorial current, running here from 30 to 40 nauti- 

 cal miles in twenty-four hours and frequently much stronger, nmst 

 certainly be confessed to have been a great accomplishment. 



The journey is not in all cases successful, and there are several sad 

 misfortunes to record. First, from the testimony of Europeans, such 

 cases have been quite numerous, but on close enquiry they can not be 

 substantiated, so I shall close with enumerating the actual instances 

 recounted by Capelle and those mentioned in the oral traditions of the 

 chiefs, which I have reduced to five: 



1. About 1830, a flotilla of over 100 canoes set out on a voyage. It 

 was destroyed, and only one boat, with the chief\s daughter, Ligib- 

 berik, on board, drove on an island in the ocean; the others were 

 never heard from. 



