» cies of deer from the Philippines to Guam, which un- 
dergoes so great a along with the season as 
sca to be recogni as the same animal. From 
ber to May, its winter coat is long, thick, and of 
a grey colour; but from the month of May, the hair is 
_ brown, or almost yellow, smooth, and shining, havin 
three black streaks on the back, interspersed wi 
___ white. It multiplies in the woods, which are also 
__-well stocked with wild hogs. 
in- — Dampier describes the natives of this island as “ strong 
MS bodied, limbed, and well shaped: They are cop- 
coloured like other Indians ; their hair is black and 
; ; their eyes meanly proportioned ; they have pre 
th noses ; their lips are pretty full; and their tee 
erent white. They are long vi |, and stern of 
countenance ; yet we found them to be affable and 
courteous.” These people have a great tendency to 
corpulency, and are very subject to leprosy, or a kind 
_ of cutaneous disease, especially in the wet season, or 
between June and October. They are particularly cha- 
racterized by mildness and hospitality, which have ena- 
bled their invaders to make deeper encroachments on 
their liberty, than if they had displayed a more repul- 
Sive disposition. They are indolent, prone to intoxica- 
‘tion, and fond of music, dancing, and cock-fighting. 
‘The Spaniards have rendered them acquainted wi 
iculture ; and, to facilitate their labours, they tame 
he wild cattle, which are trained to loads 
throughout the island. Several are kept for this pur- 
pose by most families, becoming perfectly tractable, and 
as quiet as horses. They are guided by a halter pene- 
trating the septum of the nose, to which they grow ac- 
customed in a fortnight. No part of the industry of the 
natives of Guam appears to have existed anterior to 
their conquest ; they have either been explicitly taught, 
er acquired what they practise from example. Some of 
_ the mechanical arts are practised by them in carpentry, 
_ smith work, brick-making; and they fabricate cloth, 
cordage, and even cables, for the Acapulco galleons 
from the wild banana, which are reputed of superior 
strength to those manufactured of the best European 
hemp. But there is one branch of the arts in which 
have remained stationary since the discovery of 
their island, namely, the construction of their canoes ; 
‘and this has arisen less from want of skill to make the 
alteration, than from their having already adopted the 
best possible form of which their local situation admit- 
ted. Celebrated navigators have repeatedly pene 
their admiration of these vessels, which are equally cal- 
eulated to keep the sea, and to take advantage of the 
valent winds. Some of their canoes are forty feet 
long, hollowed’ out of the trunk of a single- tree, and 
very narrow. A piece two inches deep is sewed on as 
a washing board to raise it higher ; “ but, what is very 
singular, one side of the boat is made perpenicnss like 
a wall, while the other side is round, made just as 
_ "other vessels are with a pretty full belly.” The ends 
are sharp ; each serves for a prow ; and the neighbour- 
ing islands frequented by the natives lying chiefly 
north and south, and the wind being almost constantly 
- east, the rounded side is found on the lee. But there 
is, besides, an outrigger projecting from the side, ne- 
_cessary to steady so narrow a vessel, and at the extre- 
' mity is a log of wood, in shape resembling another ca- 
“noe, though much smaller. A single mast stands in 
the middle, with a triangular sail, which, when taken 
in, is rolled around a yard at the bottom. No canoes 
are better adapted for sailing. A French navigator as- 
~ sures us, that, with a fair wind, they go at the rate of 
“nine miles an hour, a distance said to be augmented to 
: 
’ 
tie ee 
I eS a ek oe 
GUAM. 
533 
fifteen under the most favourable circumstances, Dam- 
pier observes, «I did here, for my own satisfaction, try 
the swiftness of one of them. Sailing by our log, we 
had 12 knots on our reel, and she run it all out before 
the half minute glass was half out, which, if it had been 
no more, is after the rate of 12 miles an hour; but I do 
believe she would have run 24 miles an hour.” He 
was told of one of’ them having been sent express to 
Manilla, and performing the voyage, which is about 400 
leagues, in the space of four days. However it is un- 
derstood, that, although the best sailers known, the ca- 
noes of Guam are not safe at sea; but should an acci- 
dent happen, the natives are so expert at swimming, 
they are capable of repairing it in the water. The com- 
panions of M. Marion observe, that “ the form of these 
embarcations is such, as would do honour to a ship- 
builder among people who have made the greatest pro- 
gress in the knowledge of nayigation. This form has 
been imitated from no model, because it differs from all 
those which men inhabiting different parts of the world 
have given to their vessels.” 
The inhabitants of Guam are dispersed in twenty- 
one native establishments, chiefly on the coast, and the 
town of Agana, situated about twelve miles north-east 
of the harbour. All the Indian families are agricul- 
tural, and each has a small portion of land subdivided 
into fields or gardens ; but the interior of the island is 
still in a state of nature, covered with thick woods, af- 
fording excellent timber for the construction of houses 
or vessels. The town stands on the shore, at the base 
of some hills of moderate elevation, in a fine district 
full of springs, and watered by a small rivulet. Its 
streets are laid out in a straight line; and the houses, 
built for the most part of wood, stand on posts about 
three feet above the ground, and are roofed with tiles 
or palm leaves. But all the public edifices are con- 
structed of brick. There is a fine church here decora- 
ted after the Spanish fashion ; and two or three con- 
vents or colleges occupied by monks, one of which was 
established for the education of Indians, The religious 
establishment of Guam was formerly vested in the 
Jesuits, who, on the suppression of their order, were 
supplanted by the Augustines; and besides Agana, 
there are two or three other cures in different parts of 
theisland. The government houseis spacious. There 
is a royal magazine tolerably well stored,.and barracks 
for 500 men. This being the only Spanish colony in 
the Ladrones, was preserved with considerable care ; 
however, its chief and most important improvements 
were derived from the governor Tobias, who was at its 
head about forty years ago. He taught the natives the 
proper means of cultivating the land ; he planted rice, 
maize, indigo, sugar canes, and cotton, all of which suc- 
ceeded admirably, and the maize in saciid produ- 
ced an incredible return. To give them a proper ex- 
ample, this paternal governor formed gardens and plan- 
Guam. 
Town of: 
Agana. 
tations, where all necessary vegetables were cultivated, - 
along with the most delicious fruits. He established 
a kind of cotton manufacture, and caused salt pits to be 
dug. Further, he instituted a school for the gratuitous 
education. of the native children of both sexes, where 
they were instructed in reading, writing, and arithme- 
tic, as also vocal and instrumental music ; whence stran- 
gers have been agreeably surprized, in finding practised 
musicians assisting the celebration of divine worship 
in a place so remote from the civilized world. Find- 
ing it necessary to provide the island with a sufficient 
force to protect itself, he formed a militia of 200 In- 
dians, among whom were four Spanish captains, while 
the remainder of the officers were chiefly Mestees, or 
