THE PELEW ISLANDS 
551 
held together by their own weight. These stones are laid 
in alternate transverse rows, and are in many instances 
of great size, some being, according to Mr. C. F. Wood, as* 
much as 25 feet in length and 8 feet in circumference. 
The idea that these buildings could have been formed 
either by the present race of savages or by Spanish 
buccaneers, as some have thought, is preposterous, and 
they remain another mystery of the great Pacific, hardly 
inferior to that of Easter Island with its colossal images. 
There are other ruins in the island of a similar character, 
as well as mounds or platforms a quarter of a mile long 
and twelve feet high. The ruins on Lele Island, of which 
mention has already been made, closely resemble those of 
Ponape, but the latter are by far the most remarkable. 
5. The Pelew Islands. 
These are the most westerly group of Mikronesia, and 
less than 600 miles east of the Philippines. They consist 
of one large and a few small islands, several of which are 
high and mountainous, others being low and of coralline 
formation. Their entire area is about 200 square miles, 
and their population between 12,000 and 14,000. 
Babeltuap, the largest, is 30 miles long, with a 
mountain at the northern end. They are well covered 
with timber trees, from some of which the natives make 
good canoes capable of holding thirty persons. Yams 
and coco-nuts are the chief articles of food, but bananas 
are also grown. The inhabitants are quite distinct from 
the Caroline Islanders and Polynesians who prevail 
farther east, having a darker complexion and being of 
smaller stature. They are generally frizzly-haired, and 
paint their bodies in brilliant colours, especially yellow. 
Early voyagers were loud in praise of these people. 
