THE PELEW ISLANDS 551 



held together by their own weight. These stones are laid 

 in alternate transverse rows, and are in many instances 

 of great size, some being, according to Mr. C. F. Wood, as 

 much as 25 feet in length and 8 feet in circumference. 



The idea that these buildings could have been formed 

 either by the present race of savages or by Spanish 

 buccaneers, as some have thought, is preposterous, and 

 they remain another mystery of the great Pacific, hardly 

 inferior to that of Easter Island with its colossal images. 

 There are other ruins in the island of a similar character, 

 as well as mounds or platforms a quarter of a mile long 

 and twelve feet high. The ruins on Lele Island, of which 

 mention has already been made, closely resemble those of 

 Ponape, but the latter are by far the most remarkable. 



5. The Pelew Islands. 



These are the most westerly group of Mikronesia, and 

 less than 600 miles east of the Philij^pines. They consist 

 of one large and a few small islands, several of which are 

 high and mountainous, others being low and of coralline 

 formation. Their entire area is about 200 square miles, 

 and their population between 12,000 and 14,000. 

 Babeltuap, the largest, is 30 miles long, with a 

 mountain at the northern end. They are well covered 

 with timber trees, from some of which the natives make 

 good canoes capable of holding thirty persons. Yams 

 and coco-nuts are the chief articles of food, but bananas 

 are also grown. The inhabitants are quite distinct from 

 the Caroline Islanders and Polynesians who prevail 

 farther .east, having a darker complexion and being of 

 smaller stature. They are generally frizzly-haired, and 

 paint their bodies in brilliant colours, especially yellow. 

 Early voyagers were loud in praise of these people. 



