THE CAEOLIXE ISLANDS r>47 



breezes, is very healthy, and where sufficient soil is found 

 most of the fruits of the Malay Islands flourish, not even 

 excepting the durian. Such a condition is, however, not 

 very generally existent, and the coco-nut, pandanus, and 

 banana afford the chief support of the natives after tlie 

 Ijread-fruit, which here supplies the place filled by taro in 

 the eastern islands of the Pacific. The archipelago has a 

 considerable trade in copra, and several German, American, 

 and English traders are established. 



The Carolines, like the Ladrones, belong to Spain, but 

 were discovered by the Portuguese in the early part of 

 the sixteenth century. At that period, with so much 

 territory of value still unappropriated, they were not con- 

 sidered worthy of notice, but in 1696 and 1721, canoes 

 from the islands having reached the Philippines and 

 Ladrones, the Spanish sent an expedition to them. They 

 were subsequently claimed as a Spanish possession, but 

 no attempt at government was made until 1886, when, 

 in consequence of Germany attempting to gain a footing 

 by hoisting her flag on Yap, a Governor was appointed. 

 The entire garrison were murdered in the following year, 

 and a further massacre took place in 1890. Since then 

 order is said to have been restored. Politically, the 

 archipelago is divided into an Eastern and Western 

 group, the capitals being at Ponape and Yap. 



The natives of the Carolines are believed to number 

 about 30,000, and the population is massed chiefly in 

 the largest islands or groups — Euk, Yap, Lukunor, and 

 Ponape. They exhibit a considerable mixture of race and 

 variation of colour, the latter passing from a very dark 

 copper in the west almost to a light brown in the 

 eastern islands. Many are of unusually tall stature and 

 strongly built. In the east, Polynesian blood is more 

 evident, and on the island of Xukuor, according to Mr. F. 



