THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



99 



things for the time being or permanent- 

 ly. For example, a king of Polynesia 

 must not touch the ground for fear of 

 serious consequences to his people. The 

 marking of gardens with tahii symbols 

 was sulfioient to safeguard them. Tahn 

 could also be utilised in the conservation 

 of food over lean seasons, as when game 

 or fish were scarce. 



Hereditary chieftainship was the form 

 of government usually recognised, and 

 the state religion was controlled by a 

 priestly caste, who served numerous 

 gods. 



THE MICRONESIANS. 



The Pacific Ocean nortli of the 

 ^Equatorial Line is studded with in- 

 numerable islands, and, because of their 

 limited size, the area is collectively 

 known as Micronesia. The islands in- 

 cluded under this name are the Gilbert, 

 Marshall, Caroline, and Ladrone Archi- 

 pelagos. The latter group are at pre- 

 sent inhabited by a race derived from 

 the Philippine Islands. This archipe- 

 lago was discovered by Magellan in 

 152], and, because of his inability to 

 trust the ihen inhabitants (Chamorros), 



Warriors, Gilbert Group. Dark Micronesians, 

 "wearing coir armour, fish-skin helmets and 

 armed with shark-teeth weapons. 



owing to their habit of pilfering at 

 every opportunity, he called the group 

 the Ladrone (Thieves) Islands. This 

 name was changed to Mariana Islands in 

 1(5(58. The inhabitants of the remaining 

 ai'chi|K'lagos are of a very mixed type, 

 the dominant elements being probably a 

 com})ination of pre-Malay (Indonesian) 

 and Polynesian. Some ethnologists con- 

 sider the Micronesians to be a branch 

 of the Polynesian race, but the slightly 

 mongoloid caste of feature differentiates 

 them from the true Polynesian. 



The Caroline Group, now named after 

 Charles II., of Spain, was discovered 

 by Portuguese navigators in 1527, and 

 called Sequeira, but in 1686 they were 

 annexed by the Spanish, who renamed 

 them in honour of their own reigning 

 king. The natives here exhibit a re- 

 markable variety of complexion, being 

 dark in the west and a lighter brown 

 towards the east. In the east also the 

 Polynesian element is more pronounced, 

 and the custom of tattooing is very pre- 

 valent; on the other hand PajDuan in- 

 fluence is likewise apparent. 



The Caroline Islanders are exception- 

 ally good seamen, and in common with 

 Marshall Islanders possess direction- 

 charts to guide them in their inter-in- 

 sular voyages. 



Special attention may be directed to 

 the currency of the Carolines. Shell 

 money changes hands for commodities, 

 and, in the island of Yap, immense 

 rings of limestone, up to three tons in 

 weight, are used as money. These 

 masses have a communal proprietorship, 

 and belong, not to the individual, but to 

 tlie village. A peculiar interest attaches 

 to the Carolines also on account of the 

 ruins of large stone buildings set up at 

 some remote pei-iod by a prehistoric 

 race. The primitive use of the hand 

 loom is also practiced in this island 

 group. 



The Gilbert or Kingsmill Group con- 

 sist of about a score of atolls oi- low 

 coral islands enclosing lagoons. The 

 inhabitants are very dark, and of fine 

 physique. They are for the most part 

 a fishing community. For protection 

 against a two-handed sword of shark's 

 teeth the warriors wear a complete set 

 of armour composed of closely inter- 

 laced cocoanut fibre. 



