350 THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



papalagis was much better than their own. He had not pro- 

 ceeded far in his reply when he was told he was a ' prating 

 fellow and a liar.' ' It was natural for a foreigner to talk thus, 

 but unpardonable in a Tongan.' 



It will be noted that travellers' tales are regarded with the 

 same scanty respect in Tonga that they sometimes receive 

 elsewhere. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



WHO BUILT THOSE PORTS 1 



WESTWARD of the Marshall Group extends the great archi- 

 pelago of the Carolines, covering the sea from the Ealick chain 

 to the Palaos, a distance of over 2000 miles, and containing 

 more than 500 islands, most of which are very little known. 

 Some of them, especially towards the westward, arc unin- 

 habited, the population having been transferred by the 

 Spaniards for the colonisation of the Ladrones. Others are 

 very populous, but, with the exception of that particular group 

 known as the Seniavines, at the eastern end of the archipelago, 

 and Yap at the opposite extremity, have been brought into 

 contact very little with civilised man. 



The most important of the eastern Carolines is called Kusaie, 

 or Strong Island. It is lofty and basaltic, about 80 miles in 

 circumference, and possessed of two secure harbours' for the 

 largest class of vessels. The inhabitants, who number about 

 2000, have a king of their own, and are naturally industrious 

 and well disposed, though they have been a little demoralised 

 by beche-de-mer fishers and the crews of whaling vessels, who 

 sometimes frequent the place. The antagonism of ruffianly 

 white traders, both rich and poor, to the missionaries all over 



