61G 



T1IK NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZIN 



Photograph from Junius B. Wood 



THK COUNCII.-HOUSK OF KORROR CHIEFS : PALAO ISLANDS 



The building, which is placed on a structure of stones about four 

 feet above ground level, is ornamented inside and out with pictorial 

 carvings painted white, red, black, and yellow. The ordinary 

 villagers, and especially the women and girls, are strictly forbidden 

 to darken its doors. 



prohibition for all the natives in its man- 

 dated possessions, but a reasonable ration 

 on dancing days would undoubtedly put 

 more "pep" into the performances. No- 

 body became overheated on this after- 

 noon. At that, it was the best dance seen 

 on any of the islands (see pp. 590-592). 

 Ponape is about the center of the 

 Japanese mandatory islands. Its life and 

 customs may be taken as a standard for 

 all the others. Those who have passed 

 their lives along this border of the Equa- 

 tor say it is the cleanest, healthiest, and 

 happiest. Conditions and habits vary in 



the others; some are 

 better and some arc 

 worse, according to 

 the individual tastes. 

 K a c h group of 

 islands has a language 

 < >i its own. The years 

 a r c not 1< >ng past 

 w li c 11 each was a 

 petty kingdom, and 

 the stranger casl up 

 on its shores was 

 hailed as a gift from 

 the gods, whose head 

 quickly adorned the 

 door post of the first 

 islander to greet him. 

 The extent of Amer- 

 ican missionary ac- 

 tivity can be gauged 

 by the length of the 

 women's skirts. In 

 Yap, which mission- 

 a r y influence h a s 

 hardly touched, the 

 fluffy fiber upholster- 

 i n g clings precari- 

 ously on the fat hips. 

 In the Marianas and 

 middle Carolines, 

 skirts start above the 

 waist-line. In Kusaie, 

 the easternmost of 

 the Carolines, they 

 reach to the shoulders 

 in one - piece wrap- 

 pers. In the Mar- 

 shalls, where the mis- 

 sionary work h a s 

 flourished without in- 

 terruption, the long- 

 t r a ined wrappers, 

 sweeping up the dust, 

 are further ornamented with high ruffle 

 collars and wrist-length sleeves. 



YAP VISITED BY A SERIES OF DISASTERS 



The native of Yap is little concerned 

 over the controversy which is waging in 

 other parts of the world as to who shall 

 rule his rocky home. Just now, his chief 

 worry is to get enough to eat. War and the 

 elements have completed the blight which 

 has cursed the islands for a decade. When 

 the English cruiser sailed past and shelled 

 the wireless station out of existence, and 

 a few weeks later a Japanese transport 



