2 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[July 7, 1900. 
Charts of Savage Navigators. 
Third and most wonderful of the three things which 
"the wise proverb maker of antiquity declared to be too 
wonderful for him stands the way of a ship in the midst 
of the sea. In our time mathematics and navigation 
have made the mj'stery as simple as one could wish. 
There is no secret at all about the way courses are laid 
from port to port, whether in vessels propelled by steam 
or in the slower and more picturesque "wind jammers." 
Yet despite this general acquaintance with the principles 
of navigation, not even the most abstrusely learned naval 
officers can venture to explain how it is that a race of 
savage seafarers in the very heart of the equatorial 
Pacific find their way over enormous stretches of barren 
sea from island to island without compass or even the 
simplest form of instrument for determining position. 
That such is the case is true. For a long time it was 
disbelieved, and with reason, for it is indeed incredible. 
At odd intervals some vagrant copra trader would re- 
turn from a cruise among the Line Islands and exhibit 
among his curiosities in Sydney or San Francisco what 
,}ie called a native chart. It was never anything but a 
network of dry twigs interlaced apparently at. random 
and tied together at every point of intersection. Here 
and there upon this framework were tied either shells 
or_ sharks' teeth or the scarlet jequirity seeds with the 
bright black eyes. Each such network was generally 
about a yard square. As the copra traders could offer 
no explanation of the way in which tliese charts were 
used for navigation, as it seemed utterly unreasonable* 
that such a device could be of any use at all, and finally, 
as traders in the South Sea Islands were not supposed 
to hesitate at flirting with the truth, these stories were 
for the most part promtly disbelieved. It is only nat- 
ural that incredulity should attend the relation of such 
an incomprehensible device in navigation. Yet it is 
true in every particular, although the rnore carefully it 
is examined and investigated the le^s it is found capable 
of explanation. These stick charts enable savage sailors 
to find their way from island to island. Without them 
they will not go to sea. 
It is fully appreciated that this is taxing the confidence 
of the reader who knows the least about navigation. It 
is a great deal to ask one to believe that by means of a 
bundle of sticks tied with shells and bright beans a race 
of ignorant savages can make unerring landfalls over 
complicated courses of hundreds of miles, and do this 
without the use of compass or other instrument of pre- 
cision, and without any knowledge of the stars. That it 
is literally true I can vouch on the score of personal 
witness of the emploj'^ement of these charts, of the 
unanimous statement of the islanders who have employed 
them from time immemorial, and lastly, from the state- 
ments of many naval officers of the British and German 
services^ who have seen the use of the charts and who 
have vainly endeavored to find some reasonable explana- 
tion ior a series of remarkable facts which they have 
convinced themselves is beyond all dispute. The na- 
tive makers and users of these stick charts make no 
secret about them or the method of their employment. 
It is only that no white navigator has ever been able 
to make head or tail out of the explanation so freely 
offered. 
The islands in which these charts are in use form the 
Marshall group, in two chains known respectively as 
the Radak and the Ralak. They lie just north of the 
equator, and with the Gilberts, the Carolines^ the La- 
drones, the Palaos and many scattered islets form the 
grand division of the Pacific toi which has been applied 
the name Micronesia. They lie directly in the strong 
westerly set of the equatorial current, which, however, 
is deflected by the numerous atolls and reefs into local 
streams, which may run north or south, or even estab- 
lish a reflex flow toward the east again. These are local 
conditions which it is difficult to keep track of and which 
add to the difficulties of navigation, even for those who 
enjoy all the advantages of scientific methods and ap- 
pliances. Furthermore, b'ing as they do in the equa- 
torial doldrums, the Marshall Islands have neither the 
steady southeast trade which is found to the south nor 
the northeast trade which rules to the north of them. 
There is no characteristic wind, calms are frequent, and 
the winds may blow from any point of the compass. 
The navigation of these Micronesians, therefore, must 
be founded on an entirely different basis from that of the 
Polynesians in the two trade wind regions who have 
made themselves such reputations as adventurous navi- 
gators. 
Such in brief summation is the statement of the con- 
dition under which these island savages have developed 
a system of navigation. Now pass to a closer exam- 
ination of the aid to navigation which unaided they 
have developed for their needs. 
It has already been stated that they have no compasses. 
It should be said that it wotild be utterly impossible for 
the compass ever to develop with them, for the simple 
reason that their islets are utterly devoid of metals in 
nature, and certainly the phenomena of magnetism could 
never arise upon their attention. Even the sun is 
scarcely available for the determination of direction, for 
it is sometimes north of them, sometimes as far to the 
south, and between its two extremes it opens a wide 
angle which would puzzle such simple observers. Why 
the more conspicuous fixed stars have not sufficiently 
attracted the attention of these savages to serve as aids 
in sailing and to receive names is a matter not so easily 
explained. Still such is the case. Their charts have no 
connection -whatever with the stars for the determination 
of position or the laying of a course. 
These Marshall Island charts are made of twigs tied 
in complicated angular patterns. The twigs are taken 
from the shoots of the native trees, peeled of the bark 
and carefully dried. Then they are rubbed down on 
Goral slabs until they are of at least approximately even 
diameter throughout. If there are any twists or angles 
in the twiprs these are removed by steaming and bend- 
jng, after which the twigs are baked in hot sand. They 
are finally finished off smooth with sharks' teeth and 
fjtj.^ skin of Jjb.^ ,saroe figh, which is frequent in those seas. 
These sticks are seldom found larger than a common 
lead pencil and just as seldom smaller than one of the 
familiar slate pencils. Where there is use for a finer 
line recourse is had to the midrib of the cocoanut leaflet, 
which is very flexible, and even when at its dryest is so 
tough as scarcely to be broken. Out of these materials 
the chart maker builds up his chart according to rules 
of procedure based on his own knowledge, and which, 
while perfectly willing to expound, and not making any 
secret of, he finds it impossible to explain in such a 
manner as to carry understanding to persons of the su- 
perior races. Large sticks and small ones are tied to- 
gether with cocoanut fiber at every conceivable angle, 
and cocoanut midribs are entwined in additioinal con- 
fusion. Certain of these corners are decorated with a 
shell of one kind or another, certain other intersections 
have several shells, others have jequirity seeds, yet others 
are left undecorated. Similarly, on the portions of the 
sticks between intersections there are similar decora- 
tions. And these things are not mere ornament; they 
carry essential information to the navigator who de- 
pends on them to find his way over the sea. 
It should be said that these lines of the stick charts 
are not disposed at regular intervals nor at right angles. 
They have, therefore, no connection with parallels and 
meridians, for the makers are entirely ignorant of math- 
ematical geography. It is quite impossible to institute 
any comparison between the native charts and those 
produced by naval surveys, for the reason that the various 
islands are not included by marks on these stick systems. 
One native navigator, when questioned as to the rea- 
son for this lack and when a real chart was placed before 
him for examination expressed himself with much 
scorn of his civilized rival. Any man, he said, could 
tell an island when he saw it, but the true need of a chart 
was to find the corners in the sea which did not show 
boldly in the sight; for if you only could find the right 
corner in the sea it was easy enough to sail along the 
proper stick to- reach the island you were bound for. 
What is meant by this mysterious expression, the cor- 
ner in the sea, will come up later for further elucidation. 
According to the best native authority there are two 
distinct classes of stick charts, one embracing the whole 
world as known to Marshall Islanders, the other class 
being subordinate thereto and dealing more in detail 
with individual archipelagoes. Marshall Island geo- 
graphical knowledge restricts the world to their own 
archipelago, with the Carolines, at a distance of some 
twelve degrees to the west, and the GUberts, at a nearly 
equal distance to the southeast. Thus it will be seen 
that a world chart of these savages covers a distance, 
after allowing for the space occupied by each of these 
archipelagoes, of about thirty degrees. It must be ac- 
knowledged that this is a very creditable geographical 
showing, if one takes into consideration the difficulties 
under which they labor. According to the same native 
authority it has been many generations since these world 
charts have been used in the direction of the Gilbert 
Islands, No person now lives who knows how. to use 
the charts in that direction, for it must be said that the 
charts cannot be used except by those who have been 
taken over the course by those who have been there 
before and are willing to supplement the device with 
oral instruction. Thus it has come about that in the 
vicissitudes of savage existence all those who possessed 
the knowledge of how to use these world charts in the 
southeastern voyage to the Gilberts have vanished with- 
out communicating to others their knowledge. The old 
construction is repeated on all modern charts, even 
though it is no longer of use. 
In the other direction the additional information has 
been handed down unimpaired, and the Caroline voyage 
is frequently made. This has been particularly the case 
in recent years since the Marskall Islanders have ac- 
quired various sloops and schooners from white men and 
are able to make such a long voyage with greater profit 
and comfort than in their aboriginal canoes. 
Of the group charts there is an abundant supply for 
the home archipelago in its two chains, as, of course, is 
only to be expected. There are also charts of the Caro- 
line Islands designed to be used after the landfall has 
been made on the world chart. Probably there no longer 
exist in the archipelago itself any specimens of the chart 
for the Gilbert Islands. After the knowledge of the Gil- 
bert voyage had perished the detailed chart of that group 
became useless. Traders and naval officers visiting the 
islands and seeking to buy charts as curios would be 
accommodated from these which had outlived their use- 
fulness. Most of such purchases brought back from the 
land of savage peoples become rubbish at home and are 
destroyed. But some of these charts have found their 
way into museums in Europe. Neither in the Gilberts 
nor in the Carolines have the people the slightest knowl- 
edge of the art of navigating by means of these charts, 
whether general or of their own group. 
According to the method of the Marshall Island pilots 
the use of these stick charts lies in comparison with the 
sea, for each corner of interesecting sticks represents a 
corner in the sea. In practical operation the pilot takes 
his place in the bow of the vessel. The chart is laid otit 
flat in some place where he can conveniently refer to it 
and is lashed or weighted down in such a way that the 
stick along which the vessel is sailing is brought into 
alignment with the course. The pilot devotes his whole 
attention to the sea, and when some important point is 
about due or expected all aboard who have the wisdom 
of the charts give him the benefit of their assistance in 
identifying the particular point in the empty waters. In 
doing this they aid the sight by tasting the water. When 
the corner in the sea has been reached the pilot refers 
to his chart, and in accordance with what he sees there 
gives directions whether to continue along the same course 
or to go on another one, and the position of the chart is 
adjusted to conform to the new direction. 
Now, what is this corner in the sea that the islander 
can see, and even taste? Frakly, it is impossible to tell. 
It is certain that_ the islander sees something there. 
There is no medicine or maginc in it. He is ready and 
anxious to point it out to his white fellow voyager, and 
is disgusted because you cannot see what is so plain to 
him. When asked to giA^e an explanation, his stock 
reply is a comparison with two paths on the beach. 
Yovt are on one oath and you come to another which 
intersects it. If the new path is your road to destina- 
tion yott tjjrn and follow it in the proper direction. 
So at sea you watch until you come to the intersection 
of the paths, which is perfectly clear to him to see, and 
dependent on your ultimate destination you keep on 
your own path or turn off to the new one.' Others 
make reference to two streams of water which come to- 
gether and form one; if you are going up the stream 
you have no difficulty in seeing where the two forks 
come into one. 
This certainly sounds absurd. No one familiar with 
the sea can imagine any such system of paths and riv- 
ulets recognizable within it. Absurd, irrational, impos- 
sible, this may be argued to be all of these. Yet; the 
fact remains, none the less, that by watching these cor- 
ners in the sea this race of hardy navigators has been 
able to find its way over thousands of miles of sea with- 
out the use of any instruments beside the network of 
sticks with its shells and beads. That such is the case 
does not rest on the word of mere beachcombers of the 
South Sea, but has been proved by naval officers who 
have been piqued to confess the existence of something 
m navigation which with all their scientific training they 
could not explain. That there is no humbug on the part 
of these native pilots appears very plainly in their con- 
duct when It happens that they have lost a corner. They 
waste no time in a search which they konw would be 
^'•^T' .^'^^"'^^ ^^^'^y westward until some land is 
sighted. This gives them a new departure; they are 
once more on their chart and mav proceed on the in- 
terrupted voyage. 
Llewella Pierce Churchill. 
Through the Parsonage Windows. 
vm. 
No need of raising the curtain, for it has been up all 
ntormng, and the window open to Jet in the fresh breeze 
that 13 rustling the bunch grass on the stage. The snow 
has disappeared, and the sun is shining with glow, soft- 
ened by the balminess of the air—a glow that gilds the 
■ bunch gass that extends out and away from the win- 
dow. To make the scene more reahstic a jack rabbit 
has just crossed the stage, the latter part of his per- 
formance being accelerated by the thud of a .22 bullet in 
the sod just under him. 
. f ? Loup River country rehearsal is on. The scene 
IS laid m the hills south of the Loup and just west of the 
now famous Victoria Springs. It is late in February, and 
the day is hne. The landscape is aglint with sunshine 
and a gentle south wind fans the face of nature and causes 
a smile to run athwart its wrinkled expanse, for it is still 
covered with the withered cuticle of the dead year 
Not much attention had been paid to hunting for the 
last SIX weeks on the Loup, as expeditions from the set- 
tlements had gradually ceased after the first of lanuary 
ihe weather had become more severe then and little 
communication was had with the outside world There 
was only three camps left on the upper Middle Loup and 
the population of these had dwindled to about half ' Wc 
had occupied our time in hunting wolves, which was the 
mam sport during the latter part of the winter, as I never 
saw any tendency among hunters to kill game that was 
not in immediate demand. 
During the last five years of the reign of the buffalo 
and other big game on the plains of the West I spent the 
winters m camp at different points, from the Niobrara 
River south to the Arkansas, yet I never saw an animal 
killed ior the hide and carcass left to rot. I have often 
heard of it, but never met with a circumstance, and 
think such wantonness has been much overrated 
During that winter on the Lo-up the hunters were very 
modest in their demands on the game supply, the Parson 
himself being the worst, making a record of ten bull elk 
!" five months, though I never killed a cow or calf in mv 
life. These ten elk made full half of all that were killed in 
that country within my knowledge. I was new in the 
big-game country, and perhaps over anxious to kill- but 
as each head of game killed by me lessened the demands 
oi some other party there was no waste in it 
Guina was Ace Button's pardner, and I had gone over 
to their camp, and Guina and I were away for a ramble 
in the hill with no definte object in view. We had been 
tolled oat by the extra fine weather, and were just loafin' 
round with each other. Guina was something of a char- 
acter, filled with the ideal and little fitted to combat the 
real in life. He was not a professional hunter, but a 
drifter who had a liking for outdoor life, and in eddying 
round had lodged in a hunter's camp. 
We had explored the great cedar canon to the west of 
Victoria Creek, starting in at the mouth and climbin<^ the 
almost perpendicular wall some miles above. The canon 
IS narrow, often not more than 100 yards from the top of 
one wall to the top of the opposing one. Below the level 
of the prairie the walls were covered with a fine growth 
of red cedar. Some of these trees were very tall yet 
none of them reached the level of the prairie above ' The 
bottoms of the caiion had also a splendid growth of ash in 
places; the floor of it was smooth and a wagon might 
have been driven its entire length as easily as on the 
open prairie. 
From there we turned to the northwest and toward the 
nyer again. We had just entered a range of sandhills 
which characterize the Dismal River country when we 
were attracted by the strange antics of a bunch of elk 
They were cows, calves and spike bulls. When we first 
saw them they were huddled together in a round bunch 
and seemed "milling" about like cattle at a round-up 
As we stood looking at them they broke into a run" 
going 100 yards or so, and then stopped and knotted 
up again. 
At first we could not make out what the matter was 
but on going closer to them saw that thev were beint^ 
harassed by a couple of buffalo wolves. The elk would 
bunch up with cows and young bulls on the outside, heads 
out, and calves in the center, the wolves circling round the 
outside and trying to break up and scatter herd so 
they could single out a calf. 
The wolves charged again and again, but for a lone- 
time the elk stood firm, we lying on an adjacent hill and 
watching the sport. At last the wolves withdrew and 
seemed to give it up. At this the elk broke into a run 
again. As soon as their organization was broken the' 
wolves returned to the charjre. and this time .succeeded in 
cutting oyt a two-y?ar-old heifer. As .soon as the heifer 
