EASTEEN MICRONESIA. 291 



by breezes from the east and south-east, or else interrupted by calms. Storms are 

 to be dreaded chiefly in October and November. Being also further removed 

 from the continents than the Marianas and Carolines, the Marshall group enjoys a 

 more oceanic climate. 



At the same time its flora and fauna are much poorer, although still compara- 

 tively rich for lands of coralline origin. To the fifty-nine species of plants found 

 in the archipelago by Chamisso subsequent explorers have scarcely added any new 

 forms; one alone seems peculiar to the Marshalls. The most useful plant is the jmh- 

 danus odoratissimus, of which there are some twenty varieties, and from which the na- 

 tives derive their chief nourishment. Both the pandanus and the bread-fruit tree 

 grow to greater perfection here than in any other oceanic region. There are also 

 several distinct varieties of the cocoa-nut palm ; but this plant is less used for food 

 since the development of the export trade in copra and cocoa-nut oil. 



There are no indigenous mammals or birds ; but the goats, pigs, and cats intro- 

 duced from Europe have multiplied rapidly, and the domestic poidtry have reverted 

 to the wild state. 



The indigenous populations become gradually modified in the direction from 

 north to south. Thus the natives of the Marshalls resemble those of the Carolines, 

 and like them belong to the Micronesian group, whereas the people of EUice are 

 of nearly pure Polynesian stock, like those of the eastern archipelagoes. Between 

 these extremes stand the Gilbert islanders, of mixed descent bvit fundamentally 

 Micronesians. They are the finest race in this oceanic region, tall, sometimes 

 even gigantic, often with quite European features, and occasionally acquiring a 

 somewhat Jewish cast from their slightly aquiline nose. Except in the remoter 

 islands not yet visited by the missionaries the old dress — a loin-cloth and fringes 

 — as well as the practice of tattooing have been abolished, and the few ornaments 

 now worn are flowers or foliage inserted in the pierced lobe of the ear, bird's 

 feathers and necklaces. 



In 1817, when Chamisso explored the Marshall group, the natives, still free 

 from the influence of traders and missionaries, seemed to be possessed of high 

 qualities, intelligence and enterprise. Everywhere was presented a picture of 

 peace, love of work, and domestic harmony, combined with a strong sense of 

 equality, even in the presence of the chiefs. Yet these populations, which seemed 

 to give promise of a prosperous future, are precisely amongst those that have most 

 rapidly declined. The young are carried off by consumption ; all initiative is 

 killed by the introduction of European wares ; there is no longer any necessity 

 for exercising the faculty of thought, and listlessness takes the place of an active 

 life. In some of the islands not a single article of native manufacture is now to be 

 found, and here the villages resemble the wretched suburbs of some American 

 city. 



Traditions still survive of former cannibal practices, at least in some of the 

 groups. Other sanguinary rites also prevailed, as in the Hatak Isles, where the 

 mother was allowed to keep her three first children ; if a fourth was born she had 

 to bury it with her own hands. But much tenderness was shown for the 



