NAURU, THE RICHEST ISLAND IN THE SOUTH SEAS 



577 



"millionaires' s a 1 a d," 

 owing to the valuation 

 of trees. 



The sheath at the base 

 of the leaf (stipule) re- 

 sembles a coarse sacking 

 and is used for wrap- 

 ping the grated meat in 

 the crude oil press. The 

 leaf makes an outside 

 layer for the thatch, a 

 coarse basket, broad 

 coarse mats for the floor 

 and for hanging on the 

 weather side of huts. 

 The midrib is used for 

 fence palings and house 

 walls. The dried leaves 

 are bunched together 

 and tied with green ones 

 for torches. A strip of 

 leaf bound around a tree 

 trunk acts as a gutter for 

 rain-water and a piece 

 of leaf attached to the 

 trunk in a certain way is 

 a trespass notice. 



The trunk of the tree 

 is used for posts and 

 rafters of huts, the 

 shafts of spears, and 

 dug-out canoes. 



WEALTH IS MEASURED 

 BY COCONUT TREES 



Wealth and rank are 

 gauged by coconut trees. 

 To own much coconut 

 land is wealth and aris- 

 tocracy ; to own none is 

 beggary ; in the old time 

 it was slavery. Some 

 men have made a good 

 thing, as reckoned in the 

 islands, by marrying 

 brown brides rich in coconut land. 



The land is cut up into very small plots, 

 usually described by square rods and 

 roods instead of acres. The title to the 

 trees does not pass with the land, but is 

 a separate transaction. You may buy a 

 piece of land, but cannot use the nuts, 

 and the native owner has the right to 

 come upon your premises to gather toddy 

 and nuts. 



The present valuation of the trees is 

 from one pound sterling each for bearing 



Photograph from Mrs. Rosamond Dodson Rhone 



NATURE TRIUMPHANT AMID THE CORAL PINNACLES OP 



NAURU 



A workecl-out phosphate field is a dismal tract of land, with 

 its thousands of upstanding white coral pinnacles from ten to 

 thirty feet high. Yet, in this waste, vegetation begins and young 

 pandanus trees and sprouting coconuts are here seen opening 

 their vigorous leaves after having sent down strong shoots into 

 the rock crevices. 



trees to one shilling each for properly 

 planted young trees. The first British 

 administrator on Nauru did not know 

 this, and when he cleared a piece of gov- 

 ernment land for a cricket ground by 

 cutting down 80 trees, the native owners 

 asked and were paid 80 pounds. 



The trees are not only reckoned by 

 count, but the nuts are reckoned by count. 

 In normal times the crop is continuous, 

 blossoms, green and ripe fruit being on 

 the tree at the same time. 



