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COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
Captain Wilson of the Antelope packet, who was wrecked 
there in 1783, is said to have found the natives “ delicate 
in their sentiments, friendly in their disposition, and, in 
short, a people that do honour to the human race ”; and 
Captain Cheyne says that they are far more intelligent 
and polished in their manners than the Caroline islanders. 
Captain Wilson brought home with him Prince Lee Boo, 
son of the king, Abba Thulle, a young man who evinced 
so much aptitude for civilisation and such an excellent 
disposition, that his death from smallpox excited uni¬ 
versal regret throughout England. Later travellers have 
given a less favourable account of the Pelew islanders ; 
but, as in so many other cases, they have probably since 
had good reason to dislike their European visitors, and 
have had many injuries to revenge. Civilisation of a 
certain kind has reached the islands, and the customs are 
altering, but the wars still continue. 
Dr. Carl Semper, who spent nearly a year upon the 
Pelews, has given a full account of the peculiar customs 
and political organisation of the natives. They have 
invented an order of knighthood which the king has the 
exclusive right to award, as well as to take back from 
those who may have fallen into disgrace. It is called 
“ Kbit,” and its insignia is the first cervical vertebra of 
the dugong or sea-calf ( Halicore ). The investiture and 
resumption of the order are alike a very formidable pro¬ 
ceeding, the hand being violently thrust through the 
narrow ring of the fish-bone, whereby a finger is occasion¬ 
ally lost, and the skin in any case torn off. Yet the 
honour is purchased from the State for so much tripang 
by seafarers. Still more curious are the clubs and con¬ 
fraternities into which the people of various ranks are 
associated, with intricate rules and ceremonies which 
cannot here be given in detail. The women form similar 
