ORIGIN OF THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS. 117 



primitive word, as well as the use of possessive particles appended 

 to the name of the object possessed, and the sharp distinction between 

 transitive verbs having a definite object from intransitive verbs and 

 verbs of which the object is not definitely specified are features of their 

 language which at once separate them from the Polynesians of the East- 

 ern Pacific and ally them with the inhabitants of the Malay Archipelago, 

 the Philippines, and Madagascar. Their use of the betel pepper and \ 

 areca nut as narcotics instead of kava pepper is another feature connect- \ 

 ing them with the Philippine Islanders and the Malayans, and their 

 possession of rice in prehistoric times bearing the same name as in the 

 Malay Archipelago and Madagascar is another bond between them and 

 the inhabitants of these islands. On the other hand, they did not pos- \ 

 sess the paper mulberry, which is so important in the economy of the 

 natives of the Eastern Pacific islands as the source of bark cloth or J 

 tapa. Other trees of importance in the economy of the true Polyne- 

 sians which were absent from Guam are the candle nut {Aleurites moluc- 1 

 cana) and the Polynesian "chestnut" {Bocoa edulis). 



From a consideration of these features in the language, customs, and 

 arts of the aboriginal inhabitants of Guam it is evident that they did 

 not accompany the settlers of Polynesia in their exodus from the 

 region of their common origin, but that they remained united or in 

 communication with the ancestors of the inhabitants of the Philippines, 

 Madagascar, Malaysia, and certain districts of Cambodia until after 

 the evolution of the grammatical features which are common to their 

 languages and the introduction of rice as a food staple. And it is 

 probable that they did not leave the cradle of the race until after the 

 adoption of the habit of betel chewing, which was introduced from 

 India long after the departure eastward of the settlers of eastern Poly- 

 nesia, who took with them yams, taro, sugar cane, and coconuts from j 

 their former home. 



THE MODERN INHABITANTS. 



ORIGIN AND LANGUAGE. 



Assertions have been repeatedly made that the Chamorros, as the 

 Marianne Islanders are called, no longer exist as a separate people - /' 

 that "at the present day not one of the original race survives, and 

 that the islands are peopled chiefly b} 7 Tagals and Bisayans from the 

 Philippines, with a few Caroline Islanders, and numerous half-breeds, 

 but also by the mixed descendants of natives of South American 

 tribes." 6 It is also asserted that the present inhabitants are able to 

 speak Spanish, which is gradual^ supplanting the native language, 

 "a Micronesian dialect nearly allied to that used bj^ the Tagals of the 



« Coutts Trotter in Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., vol. 16, p. 256, 1883. 

 6 This remarkable statement is made by Gnillemard, in Stanford's Compendium 

 of Geography and Travel (new issue), Australasia, vol. 2, p. 554, 1894. 



