LAD 



500 



L A H 



Ladrene*. the state of the island, and furnishes a remarkable in- 



*- ~V"^ stance of the effects produced by human culture on the 



soil and climate of a country, and of the rapid relapse 



into all their original wildness, when that influence is 



withdrawn. 



. With regard to the productions of these islands, in 



general, it may be farther stated, that sulphur, and 

 some signs of metals, have been discovered on Guam, 

 and a pearl fishery near the coast of Saypan ; that the 

 cotton and indigo trees are very abundant on many of 

 them, and that the most valuable productions of both 

 the Indies might be easily introduced; that, besides 

 the animals already mentioned, there are numbers of 

 wild hogs of a large size, (some of which weighed 200 

 pounds) guanacoes, particularly on Saypan, which are 

 supposed to have been introduced by the Spaniards; 

 immense swarms of musquitoes, large black ants, a va- 

 riety of venomous insects, and % a species of tick, com- 

 monly attached to the cattle, but which was apt to set- 

 tle on the hands and limbs of the European visitors, 

 and burying its head under the skin, caused a painful 

 inflammation ; and that the fish on the coast have been 

 uniformly found to be unwholesome. 



Ntives. The inhabitants of these islands regarded themselves, 



before the arrival of the Spaniards, as the only human 

 beings in the world, and had a tradition that the first 

 man was formed of earth from the island of Guam. In 

 colour, speech, manners, and government, they bore a 

 great resemblance to the Tagals, the original inhabi- 

 tants of the Philippines. They appeared even to Ma- 

 gellan to have made some advances in civilization ; and 

 several monuments were observed by Anson and other 

 navigators, particularly on the islands of Tinean and 

 Saypan, which indicated the arts and antiquity of the 

 population. Square pyramidal pillars, measuring about 

 five feet at the base, and thirteen feet in height, each 

 *urmounted by a semiglobe with the flat surface upper- 

 most, so as to have the appearance of a large bowl, were 

 observed in various parts of tire islands, arranged in 

 double rows. These pillars were formed of a composition 

 of stone and sand, with a coating of plaster ; and seem to 

 have fallen rapidly into decay, after the depopulation 

 of the island took place. The natives are tall, robust, 

 and well proportioned ; of an olive complexion, darken- 

 ed by the use of cocoa-nut oil ; with well grown beards, 

 and long black hair ; sometimes tied up on the top of 

 the head. The men wear very little covering, com- 

 monly nothing more than a cap of palm leaves ; but 

 the women have a kind of petticoat made of mat. Both 

 sexes stain their teeth black, and many paint their bo- 

 dies with a red colour. They are naturally acute, lively, 

 and ingenious ; and the females are described as pecu- 

 liarly cheerful in their dispositions, and graceful in their 

 deportment. They are said also to be treated with great- 

 er respect thin is usual among uncivilized tribes; and 

 in the married state, to hold rather a superiority in point 

 of privileges over the men. Their houses, or rather huts, 

 were formed by the palm tree, and divided by mats in- 

 to different apartments, appropriated to distinct uses, 

 as places for sleeping, eating, working, and holding 

 provisions. Their utensils, though few, were neatly 

 made ; and their weapons, consisting only of lances or 

 javelins, were formed of a tough strong wood, and 

 pointed with human bones. But the most striking in- 

 genuity is to be seen in their canoes, called by the Eu- 

 ropeans flying prows, or prows, which are considered 

 as peculiarly adapted to the nature of the seas and 

 winds around these islands, and as altogether unequal- 

 led for simplicity of structure, swiftness of sailing, and 



I ,nhore. 



ease of management. They are usually about 4-0 fet-t Lagoon 

 in length, 4 in depth, an<j little more than two in 

 breadth, formed sometimes of a single stern, but com- 

 monly of two pieces sewed together witrl bark, and 

 caulked with bitumen. The mast is above 20 feet high, 

 the sail of a square or rather triangular sli.ipe, and cap- 

 able of being accommodated in such a manner, as to 

 enable the vessel to steer indifferently with either end 

 foremost. The lee-side is perfectly flat, but the wind- 

 ward side is curved like other boats, and is also pro- 

 vided with an outrigger or frame of bamboo, about 12 

 feet in length, resting on a log 13 feet long, hollowed 

 out like a little boat, the whole being kept steady by 

 braces from the head and stern of the mam vessel, and 

 serving to prevent its being overset. These prows will 

 sail, with a brisk^wind, at the rate of 20 miles an hour ; 

 and nothing can exceed the dexterity of the natives in 

 steering, trimming, and righting them when overset. 

 When such an accident happens, they discover great 

 expertnes and presence of mind in the water, to which 

 they are inured from their infancy, and are surpassed 

 by few savage nations in the arts of swimming and 

 diving. They were without any regular government 

 before their subjection to the Spaniards ; but have a 

 class of nobles among them, who preserve a high de- 

 gree of dignity and distance in their intercourse with 

 the other ranks, and are treated with great respect ; but 

 possess no farther authority than what their persuasion 

 can secure. These islanders, in short, carry the prac- 

 tice of liberty to the utmost possible extent, and pur- 

 sue their own pleasure without any controul. Every 

 man avenges his own quarrel ; and hostilities frequently 

 occur between the inhabitants of different districts ; but 

 their wars, which are conducted with more acrimony 

 than courage, are never sanguinary ; and the loss of one 

 or two combatants decides the battle, and usually ter- 

 minates the dispute. In order to qualify themselves for 

 these martial exploits, they apply with much ardour to 

 active and athletic exercises, such as running, leaping, 

 wrestling, pitching stones, and throwing lances. Their 

 religion consisted chiefly in a superstitious dread of an 

 evil being, and of departed spirits, whom their magi- 

 cians (who also practise surgery) teach them to appease 

 by stated fasts, and various ceremonies. They have 

 also poets among them, who are greatly admired ; and 

 whose songs i which consist in eulogies on their an- 

 cestors and nation) the women are accustomed to sing 

 in bands with a considerable degree of harmony of voice, 

 and gracefulness of gesture. See Modern Universal His- 

 tory, vol. ix. ; Alison's Voyages, book iii. ch. i. ; Byron 

 and Wall is" Voyage in Hatvkestvort/i's Collection ; Mar. 

 chand's Voyage round the World, vol. ii. ; and Morti- 

 mer's Observations during a Voyage to Teneriffe, &c. 

 and the article GUAM. (</). 



LAGOON ISLAND, is an island in the Pacific ,Ocean 

 discovered in 1765, by Captain Cook, and so named 

 from its having a Lagoon in the middle which occupies 

 the greater part of it. It is of an oval form, and is co- 

 vered with trees, principally cocoa nut trees, and palm 

 trees. We.^t Long. 139 28', South Lat. 18 47'. See 

 Hawkesworth's Voyages, vol. ii. 



LAGUNA. See TENERIFFE. 



LAHORE, a large and fertile province in Hindos- 

 tan, lying between the 30 and 34* of North Lat, 

 and extending about 320 miles in length, and 220 in 

 breadth. It is bounded on the north by the province 

 of Cashmere; on the south by Delhi, Ajnieer, and 

 Mooltan ; on the east by the river Sutuleje, separating 

 it from Northern Hindustan; and on the west by th_- 



