LADRONES, THE, OR MARIANA ISLANDS. 



LIGHTHOUSES. 



361 



some places, through the destruction of the forests, 

 freshets have been increased, and droughts made 

 more common, the rainfall having been diminished 

 in this way. 



EMnest specimens of the cocoanut, the bread 

 fruit, and the banana may be found here. Sugar, 

 rice, corn, wheat, arrowroot, the guava, figs, indigo, 

 cotton, and tobacco are other products. The pres- 

 ent growth has for the most part been trans- 

 planted here in recent times ; new plants were 

 brought by the colonists from the Philippines. 

 The indigenous flora was mainly of Asiatic species, 

 and has almost disappeared. Cattle, horses, and 

 llamas were introduced by the Spaniards soon after 



saluted. He sent out to apologize, saying that lack 

 of ammunition prevented him from returning the 

 salute, and learned then for the first time that his 

 country and the United States were at war, and 

 suddenly found his dominions captured by the 

 enemy. The islands were occupied by the United 

 States in July, 1898. 



LIBERIA, a republic on the west coast of Africa, 

 founded by emancipated American slaves, with a 

 constitution copied from that of the United States. 

 The Senate has 8, and the House of Representatives 

 13 members. The President is W. D. Coleman, who, 

 as Vice-President, succeeded to the office on the 

 death of President J. Cheeseman, Nov. 13, 1896. 



VILLAGE OF SAYPAN, LADRONE ISLANDS. 



they came to the islands, and there are many wild 

 hogs which here grow very large. The keraudren, 

 a large bat, is the only indigenous mammal, and its 

 flesh, though it has a very unsavory odor, is eaten 

 by the natives. There are but few birds or insects, 

 and one species of serpent and a few kinds of 

 lizards are the only representatives of the reptiles. 

 Fish swarm in the lagoons. 



Guam contains six sevenths of all the population. 

 The other inhabited islands are Rota, Tinian, Say- 

 pan, and Agrigan, the northern ones occupied only 

 by a few fishermen. And in Tinian is a commu- 

 nity of lepers. 



When Anson visited Tinian he found there well- 

 made houses, and outriggers that coiild make 20 

 knots an hour, but rude cabins and canoes have 

 replaced these. The people have deteriorated, and 

 though they have been baptized and taught to read 

 Spanish, their agriculture and weaving are inferior 

 to the former work of the natives, and the- art of 

 pottery, once practiced in the islands, has disap- 

 peared. 



The Spaniards have maintained but one mail a 

 year between Agana and Manila ; so it is hardly 

 surprising that the last Governor upon hearing, on 

 May 20. 1898, the firing of guns from an American 

 war vessel, could only conclude that he was being 



The area of the republic is about 14,360 square 

 miles, and the population is estimated at 1,068,000, 

 of whom 18,000 are civilized negroes of Afro-Amer- 

 ican descent and 10,050,000 native tribal negroes. 



The revenue, which is derived mainly from cus- 

 toms, for 1894 was $158,861, and the expenditure 

 $151,975. A debt of 100,000 was contracted in 

 1871, but no interest has been paid since 1874. An 

 internal debt has likewise been in default for many 

 years. The chief exports are coffee, palm oil and 

 kernels, rubber, cacao, sugar, arrowroot, ivory, and 

 hides. The export trade in rubber was given to a 

 syndicate, which undertook to take 200 tons a year 

 for three years from 1896. 



LIGHTHOUSES, RECENT PROGRESS IN. 

 Development in lighthouses, during the past ten 

 years, has taken the direction of steel construction 

 in preference to stone for the structures, and the 

 use of increased force and distinctness in the lights. 

 Nearly all the recent towers built by the Light- 

 house Board in the United States are of steel or 

 iron, and Trinity House, (a lighthouse board of 

 Great Britain) has not erected any rock to*wers 

 since 1887. This is owing partly to the lower price 

 at which structural steel and iron can be obtained, 

 and partly to the increased facility with which the 

 material may be had in the desired shapes and sizes. 



