98 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



proximity to a good harbor, on tlie banks of a river for the sake of a 

 constant supph' of fresh water, or on a high and inaccessible hill, as 

 in the case of Chuchugo, for the sake of s.ecurity from attaclv. Those 

 on tlie beacli were composed of 50 to 150 houses, those in the interior of 

 from 20 down to a half dozen. The principal town was Agadiia, on 

 the west coast of the island, where a tine river, having its source in a 

 great spring called " Matan-hanom.'' emptied into the sea. In all the 

 larger villages there was a " great house '' frequented bj- the " urritao," 

 or bachelors, in which unmarried men and women lived together. 



The houses contained little that could be called furniture. There 

 were coimaion floor mats, diagonally braided, and sleeping mats, some 

 of very fine texture, made from the leaves of the textile Pandanus. 

 The water vessels weie not coconut shells, as in many Poh'nesiau 

 islands, but sections of large hollow bamboos, about 5 or 6 feet long, 

 which were inclined against the wall. There were coarse bags of Pan- 

 danus matting holding dried breadfruit, and ever}- native carried a 

 finely woven bag of the same material containing betel nut. Coarse 

 baskets were made of fresh coconut leaves, us required, to be thrown 

 away when dry and useless. Baskets of better construction were 

 woven from strips of liamboo (piao). In the kitchen there was a hole 

 in the ground and a pile of stones for an oven. 



Food. — They subsisted principally on fruits, yams, taro, and fish. 

 They ate coconuts prepared in various ways, sugar cane, bananas, 

 plantains, and breadfruit. The last was in season only about four 

 months of the year, but after it yams became mature. In the times 

 of famine following hurricanes they resorted to the woods for "" fadang," 

 or nuts of Oycas cirehuilis. the poisonous properties of which thev 

 removed bj- soaking and repeatedly changing the water, after which the 

 macerated starchy substance was ground in cavities of convenient 

 stones and baked. For relishes they ate certain seaweeds, Terminalia 

 nuts, and the kernels of Pandanus seeds. Pandanus drupes, which are 

 an important food staple on many islands, did not enter into their 

 domestic econom}', and the widely spread "Polynesian chestnut" 

 (Bocoa eduli.^) was absent from the island. They had neither sweet 

 potatoes nor maize until after the discovery, nor did the yam bean 

 (Cacara) occur on the island. Rice was cultivated bj' them and 

 sold to visiting ships. They regarded it as a luxury and kept it for 

 their feasts. They did not practice cannibalism. Indeed the early 

 navigators said that they could not be induced to eat meat of any kind. 

 Although they had pigs at a very early date it is probable that these 

 were introduced after the discovery. Thej' also had fowls and kept 

 doves in capti\'ity, but we have no evidence that they ate them. They 

 could not be induced to eat eels, and spoke disparagingly of some of 

 the early missionaries for eating them. The creamy juice expressed 

 from the grated meat of ripe cocoanuts entered into the composition 



