102 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



An son", Who* in his narrative 'gives a figure of a flying prao of Guam, 

 differs from Dumpier in correctly stating that the flat side is always 

 kept to the leeward and the outrigger to the windward. He describes 

 the outrigger as a log fashioned in the shape of a small boat and made 

 hollow, the sail made of matting, and the mast, yard, and thwartship 

 pieces connecting the outrigger, of bamboo. In his figure, however, 

 the sail is shown incorrectly. It should be of lateen or triangular 

 shape with the upper yardarm projecting well aft beyond the stern/' 



Besides the large praos they had small canoes, which were very 

 swift, light, and pretty, ""for they painted them with a coating made 

 of red earth from the island of Guam, mixed with lime, with coconut 

 oil as a medium, which beautified them greatly." 6 Pigafetta, in speaking 

 of their canoes, says that they were all painted; some black and others 

 red. They had paddles of the form of bakers' shovels, which could be 

 used either for steering or propelling the canoes. 



MENTAL AND MORAL CHARACTERISTICS. 



In counting they used a decimal system, the names of the numerals 

 corresponding with those of Malay o- Polynesian languages. Different 

 forms of numerals were used in counting living and dead objects, and 

 in expressing measurements/ 



They were a happy, careless people, fond of festivities, dancing, 

 singing, story telling, and contests of strength and skill, yet suffi- 

 ciently industrious to cultivate their fields and garden patches, build 

 excellent houses for their families, braid mats of fine texture, and con- 

 struct canoes which were the admiration of all the early navigators. 

 They were much given to buffoonery, mockery, playing tricks, jest- 

 ing, mimicry, and ridicule, offering in this respect a striking contrast 

 to the undemonstrative Malayans. Legazpi, who visited the island 

 in 1565, speaks of the loud laughter of those who surrounded his ship,;. 

 In selling rice to passing ships they would often increase the weight 

 and bulk of the packages by stones and leaves. " For each nail," says 

 Legazpi, "they gave measures of rice containing half a fanega, d morc 

 or less." When straw and stones at the bottom of the packages were 

 discovered by the Spaniards, the natives seemed to regard the decep- 

 tion as a huge joke; they "clapped their hands in glee and laughed 

 long and loud, going from that vessel to another and playing the same 

 trick. Then again they would take nails and ity without giving any- 

 thing in return." On the other hand, the Spaniards gave them in 

 exchange for rice and fruits the most valuable possessions of the 



See Anson, Voyage Round the World, p. 340, 1748. 

 & Garcia, Vida y Martyrio de Sanvitores, p. 198, 1683. 



c For numeral system and calendar of the aborigines, see Safford, W. E., Tho 

 Chamorro language of Guam, Amer. Anthrop., n. s., vol. 6, pp. 95-104, 1904. 

 d A fanega is about 1.6 bushels. 



