PACIFIC ISLANDS UNDER JAPANESE MANDATE 



611 



Photograph from J unius B. Wood 



THE FRONT YARD OP THE TOM II, ClyUB-HOUSE '. YAP 



The ground around the building is covered with flat stones, and here many of the native 

 conferences and dances are held. The man in the picture is leaning against one of the 

 yellowish limestone discs that were formerly used as money on the island (see text, page 621). 



"Here's where the canoe stopped," he 

 mused, putting a finger on an unmarked- 

 spot on the south side of the ancient city. 



"What canoe?" I asked. 



"That's only a story," he said. "We're 

 Christians now and don't believe those 

 stories any more. It's only what the old 

 natives tell." 



NATIVE STORY OP THE MYSTERIOUS CITY 



However, from his refusal to accom- 

 pany me to the ruins and the reluctance 

 of any natives to visit them, their super- 

 stitious belief in the dangers of the pres- 

 ent world seem to outweigh their confi- 

 dence in the safety of the future. He 

 told the story, and it is probably as good 

 a version of the rise and fall of the mys- 

 terious city as any which the scientists 

 have concocted. 



"Once two brothers, Oleosiba and 

 Oleosoba, came to Ponape. They became 

 chiefs and joined all the tribes in Ponape 

 into one tribe. They wanted a great city 

 and just asked for it, such was their 

 power, and it came down from the sky 



just where it is at Nanmatal today. The 

 other city, at Ronkiti, was built in the 

 same way, and one brother lived in each 

 city, ruling over the island. After them 

 for hundreds of years there was only one 

 king in Ponape. Soutolour was the last. 

 "When he was king, Ijokelekel, a war- 

 rior from Kusaie Island, which we call 

 Kodou, came to attack the city. He had 

 only one canoe and it carried 333 men. 

 They reached Ponape in the night, and 

 when day broke they saw the thousands 

 of palms on the mountains and thought 

 they were warriors, and were afraid to 

 attack and went back to Kusaie. 



PONAPE BETRAYED BY A WOMAN 



"Ijokelekel came again in his canoe 

 with 333 men and circled the island. 

 Each day, from a distance, they saw the 

 palms and were afraid to come closer, 

 but went home a second time. When he 

 came a third time he went only half way 

 around the island and put the canoe into 

 the harbor at Ronkiti. He sent some of 

 his men ashore. Their instructions were : 



