CHAPTER XXVIII

SAMOA AND FIJI

The Samoa, or Navigator's, Islands, discovered by a Dutch navigator in

1722, attracted but little attention until the introduction of

Christianity in 1830. Only a few of the group are inhabited; the others

are chiefly barren rocks.

The islands are of volcanic origin, and earthquakes are frequent, but

not severe. Fringing coral reefs form barriers that in a great measure

protect the islands from heavy seas. The group lie on the steamship

route between Australia and the Pacific coast of North America; hence

they are important to the United States. The larger islands are

mountainous and well forested. Some of the mountains attain the height

of five thousand feet.

Early in the '80's there were three rival chiefs, each of whom wanted to

be king. As a result, they were at war most of the time, and the

property of Americans and Europeans suffered greatly. So, in 1889, Great

Britain, Germany, and the United States formed a joint protectorate over

them. Ten years later another outbreak was stirred up by foreign

adventurers; so the islands were annexed to Germany and the United

States for the sake of peace. The two largest, Savii and Upolu, were

ceded to Germany; Tutuila and the Manua group were taken by the United

States. On condition of having a free hand in the Cook group, Great

Britain gave up all claims.

A rich soil, tropical temperature, and a generous rainfall make the

islands productive. Americans who live there claim that in no other part

of the world can the necessaries of life be obtained so easily as in

Samoa. Savii, the largest island, has a smaller area of cultivable land

than the others. Once upon a time, however, it was the most densely

peopled and the richest island of all Samoa. Then a volcanic eruption

covered much of its surface with ash and lava. Perhaps in time the lava

fields may become good soil, as they have in Hawaii.

Tutuila is one of the four islands belonging to the United States; the

other three, Tau, Ofu, and Olosenga, belong to the Manua group. All of

them together are not half the size of Rhode Island. Tutuila is perhaps

the most important island of Samoa, because of its fine harbor, Pago

Pago--Pango Pango, the Samoans pronounce it. Pago Pago is certainly a

fine harbor. The entrance is so narrow that it can be closed easily;

then it widens out into a bay two miles long and nearly half a mile

wide. When the Panama Canal is completed, Pago Pago will be right in the

track of steamships from Europe and the United States bound for

Australia.

Apia, on the island of Upolu, is the port of the Germans. The harbor is

larger, but it is not so well protected. In 1889, when a typhoon struck

Apia (both the town and the shipping), very few buildings escaped damage

or destruction. And the shipping?--well, there was not much left. There

were six warships and a lot of sailing-vessels in the V-shaped harbor.

When the storm raged hardest it seemed to grow a bit more furious. Some

of the vessels dragged their anchors and were piled up as wrecks on the

beach. Others foundered and went to the bottom with all aboard. Three or

four managed to get out of the bay into the open sea, where they were

fairly safe.

But Pago Pago harbor is large and deep. What is still better, it is

surrounded by bluffs and mountains that will shelter a big fleet against

even the fury of a typhoon.

Most of the islands are covered with a dense vegetation, tropical and

richly colored. There is an abundance of hardwood trees, but the

breadfruit, banana, and cocoa-palm are the most useful. The

breadfruit-tree grows wild, but it is also cultivated. The fruit is

about the size of an ordinary cantaloupe. In some species the fruit is

filled with seeds nearly as large as chestnuts and these are sometimes

eaten. The best fruit, however, is filled with starchy matter.

It is cooked in many ways, but it is greatly relished when baked in hot

ashes covered with live coals. After it is thus cooked, it is cut open

and the rich juicy pulp scooped out. When cooked with meat and gravy it

is superior to the finest mushrooms.

The cocoa-palm is a source of not a little profit. The thick husk yields

a fibre that is much used in making coarse mats; the dried meat of the

nut is the copra of commerce. Large quantities are exported to the

United States and Europe in order to obtain the oil; and the oil is used

chiefly to make soap.

The native Samoans are lighter colored than most Polynesians, and are

the finest native peoples of the South Pacific Ocean. Many years ago

missionaries and teachers settled in Samoa and they found the natives to

be pretty apt scholars. By nature they were dignified and polite; they

also learned quickly the arts of civilized life. Nowadays nearly every

native village has its church and school-house. The Samoans are fond of

music and one may hear American hymns and melodies in nearly every

native house.

The native houses are larger than most of the houses one finds among the

Pacific islands. Two or more long posts support the ridge pole and a

great number of shorter posts hold the lower edges of the roof. The roof

itself consists of closely fitted mats of brush thickly thatched with

the leaves of wild sugar cane. A well-made roof lasts a dozen years or

more.

Mats of sugar-cane closely woven are loosely fastened to the outer rows

of posts so that they can be easily put up or taken down. They form the

side walls of the house. The floor is made of clay, paved with pebbles.

Usually there is a floor covering of mats. In the centre of the floor is

a fire pit which serves for the purpose of cooking during the day and to

drive out the mosquitoes at night. The beds and chairs are mats and the

pillows are made of bamboo.

The Samoans know how to live well. With each house there is pretty

certain to be a garden in which yams, taro, sweet potatoes, bananas,

fruit, and chickens are grown. Then, there are fish and shrimps that can

be caught in abundance. But the chief and most highly prized dish is

called "poi." Taro and kalo are names--or a name, rather; for they are

different forms of the same word--given to several plants that grow from

starchy bulbs. One kind of taro looks much like a lily that grows higher

than a tall man. The bulb, or root, is first baked and then ground to a

paste with water. When thus prepared, it is set aside until it begins to

ferment; then it is ready to be eaten. A great dish or pot of poi is

placed on a mat and the family gather around, one after another dipping

it out with their hands. To foreigners poi has a most unpleasant,

disagreeable taste. When made into cakes and baked, however, it is much

relished by foreigners.

Kava is the national drink. It is made from the roots of a shrub

belonging to the pepper family. The root is ground between stones and

then soaked in water. After a while it is pounded and rubbed until all

the milky juice is squeezed out of it. When "extra-fine" kava is wanted,

young girls chew the root until it has become pulpy. After standing a

day or two it is strained and is then ready to be drunk. It is a cooling

and refreshing drink, but if taken too freely is apt to tangle one's

legs uncomfortably.

On account of its delightful climate and beautiful scenery, Samoa is

one of the most attractive places in the world in which to live. Back in

the mountains, a few miles from Apia, Robert Louis Stevenson spent the

last few years of his life, and his body is buried on the top of the

mountain near by. Stevenson was greatly beloved by the natives, and

after his death he was mourned by them as one of their very best

friends.

Of all the islands in the South Pacific Ocean, the Fiji group is the

most important. All told there are more than two hundred islands, but

scarcely one-third of them are inhabited, or even habitable. Two of them

are large. One, Viti Levu, is about the size of Connecticut; the other,

Vanua Levu, is about two-thirds the size of that State. The famous Dutch

sailor Abel Janszoon Tasman, whose name is remembered in Tasmania, saw

the larger islands in 1643. About one hundred and thirty years later

Captain Cook called at Viti Levu and found himself in the midst of a

great cannibal feast. In 1840, Captain Charles Wilkes, in charge of a

United States expedition, explored them; shortly afterward they became a

possession of Great Britain.

The larger islands are great domes of lava built up by volcanic

eruptions; many of the smaller ones are coral formations, and all are

fringed with coral reefs. Dense forests of tropical vegetation cover the

larger islands. Cocoanut and other palms are everywhere to be found. A

species of pine, much like the kauri pine of New Zealand, grows on the

larger islands. Among the forest trees are also several kinds of

tree-ferns and a tree-nettle. When the pointed leaves of the latter

prick the skin they sting the flesh as badly as does a wasp.

The English have done well by both the islands and the islanders. They

have made the islands yield a good yearly profit to the government

itself, but they have also made the natives industrious and contented.

When the first British settlements were made in Fiji, the islanders

were in a most degraded condition. They did no work except to grow a few

yams, bananas, and breadfruit. Their chief employment was war, and this

was carried on, not for conquest, but to capture as many as possible. A

few captives were held as slaves, but most of them were fattened--to be

killed and eaten at the royal feasts.

[Illustration: Native canoe, Fiji Islands]

Notwithstanding all this there was the making of a very superior people

in them; for when the missionaries and the teachers got among them the

natives proved very apt pupils. Now there are more than twelve hundred

church buildings--and a school-house or two for every church. Some of

the ministers and teachers are English, but there are about four

thousand native teachers and ministers, nearly all of whom were trained

for their work in the island schools.

They are fine farmers, probably the best in the islands of the Pacific.

They grow bananas, pineapples, peanuts, and lemons for the Australians,

copra and tobacco for the British, and rice, taro, and garden vegetables

for themselves. They have learned to irrigate their farms, using open

ditches and bamboo mains. They make the finest canoes to be found in the

Pacific. Some of the canoes are barges nearly one hundred feet in

length; and not even the Hawaiians are more expert in using them.

Not a little profit to the islanders comes from the sea. They are expert

divers and gather large quantities of pearl shells, which find a ready

market with the button-makers of Europe. Fish are caught, dried, and

sold in China. One sea product, the beche-de-mer, a marine animal

commonly called "sea-cucumber," is highly prized by the Chinese, who use

large quantities; most of it is gathered by the Fijians.

Sugar, however, is the chief product of the islands, and the sugar

plantations are owned by great companies that have invested millions of

pounds sterling in the business. The plantations altogether produce more

than three million dollars' worth of sugar yearly. The native islanders

will not work in the sugar fields; so coolies from India were brought to

the islands to work on the plantations.

Suva (Viti Levu), and Leonka (Ovalu), the two largest towns, are much

like European cities, except that the houses are low and have large

yards filled with shade trees and flowers. In the native villages the

dwellings are much like those in Samoa, though a trifle better, perhaps.

The side walls are covered with plaited reeds, and the roof is thatched

with palm leaves securely fastened. In the lowlands it is customary to

build a platform of rock upon which the house stands and into which the

foundation poles are set. This is done for two reasons: when a typhoon

sweeps over the islands, the lowland coast is sometimes flooded;

moreover, the wind blows with such terrific force that none but the most

strongly built house will withstand it.

In the centre of the floor is a pit, or fireplace, much like the

cooking-place one sees in Samoa or in Hawaii. Chickens and pieces of

meat to be roasted are hung from a frame over the pit. Yams and other

vegetables are boiled in earthen vessels which the native potters make.

The floors are covered with closely woven mats; and in order to keep

them clean an earthen vessel filled with water is kept outside so that

whoever enters the house may bathe his feet. Inasmuch as the natives go

barefoot one may see the usefulness of this custom.

Great Britain has many islands in this part of the Pacific; Gilbert,

Ellice, Tonga, Cook, and some of the Solomon group all fly the Union

Jack. There is an English governor, or "High Commissioner," as he is

styled, who looks after British affairs in the islands. In Fiji he is

the real governor, but in many of the islands native chiefs and kings

govern their peoples about as they please, provided they do not

interfere with British interests.

CHAPTER XXIX

THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

Almost midway between the United States and China a mountain chain more

than three thousand miles long crosses the tropic of Cancer. Only the

highest peaks, however, reach above sea level; most of the range is

fathoms deep in the waters of the Pacific. The eastern end of this great

chain constitutes the Hawaiian group of islands, or the Territory of

Hawaii.

Altogether they are pretty nearly as large as the State of New Jersey,

or five times the size of Rhode Island. All the islands are very rugged

in surface--steep and high cliffs, deep valleys and canyons, and

stupendous craters that have vomited great floods of lava. A little way

from shore the Pacific has some of its deepest beds. If the sea could be

removed the island of Hawaii would be a great dome five miles high.

The coral polyps have added their mite to the building of these islands,

and coral reefs are the foundation of the coast plain that surrounds a

considerable part of the girth of each.

An equable climate throughout the year, a soft and balmy air, brilliant

coloring on bush and tree, magnificent pictures of sea and sky, and of

mountain and plain, make the islands a veritable paradise.

It is thought that these islands were peopled by Samoan natives about

the year 600, and that subsequently their number was augmented by

emigrants from the Fiji and other southern islands. At first there was

plenty of land for all, but as their number increased, quarrels arose.

Each island had its king or chief and some of the larger islands had two

or more. The result was a condition very much like the feudal system;

each king had petty chiefs, and these, in turn, their retainers, who

were little better than slaves. Priests, who ranked equal to the petty

chiefs, directed their pagan worship and occasionally made human

sacrifices.

The kings were pretty apt to be at war with one another most of the

time, but, about forty years before the American Revolution, there came

a great soldier and leader, Kamehameha I. By the aid of European weapons

and the counsel of foreign friends, he overcame his rivals and brought

all the islands under his sway.

The Hawaiian Islands were made known to the rest of the world when that

plucky English sailor, Captain James Cook, was making his third and

last great voyage of discovery, in which he had set out to find the

famous and tragic northwest passage. On a roundabout way to Bering

Strait, he called at the islands which seemed very attractive to him.

Perhaps it is not quite right to say that he discovered them, for it

seems very probable that the Spanish explorer Gaetano discovered them in

1555.

[Illustration: General view of Volcano House, Kilauea, Hawaii]

It was 1789 when Cook first visited the islands, and after he had

continued his voyage through Bering Strait, and had failed to find the

northwest passage, he turned about and sailed for the islands. While

ashore with a part of his crew at a landing that is now the village of

Kealakekua, one of the ship's boats was stolen by natives.

Now Cook had learned to manage South Sea islanders in a very practical,

though not the most tactful, way. When trouble occurred he used to send

out a strong landing party, seize the king or chief and take him aboard

the vessel--a proceeding which usually brought the natives to terms.

But at this particular time the landing party was driven to the boats

and Cook was killed.

The group of islands was first named after Lord Sandwich, a patron and

friend of Cook. At the time of Cook's discovery of the long-forgotten

islands it was estimated that their population was not far from four

hundred thousand. Missionaries went to the islands early in the

nineteenth century and their reports brought many Americans and

Europeans who settled there permanently. Then the chief business of the

islands was the ordinary trade with the many whaling vessels that were

in the Pacific.

For a time the islands were under the protection of Great Britain; then

they became an independent kingdom. When it was found that the lava

fields made the best sugar-growing soil in the world, American capital

came in millions of dollars to be invested in great plantations of sugar

cane.

Trouble between the queen and American business interests became so

serious in time that the queen was dethroned and the Republic of Hawaii

was established. The republic was short-lived, however; for when the

Spanish-American war occurred, it was seen that Hawaii is the key to the

Pacific Ocean. The Hawaiians, foreigners and natives, had long wished to

become a part of the United States. So the islands were annexed and

shortly became the Territory of Hawaii.

There are six large islands--Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, and

Lanai. There are many small outlying islets, most of which are not

inhabited. Wireless telegraph stations connect the principal islands; an

ocean cable ties the Territory to San Francisco; and steamship lines

carry on commerce with British, Japanese, and American ports. Even the

railway-builder has not forgotten Hawaii, for there are not far from two

hundred miles of railroad, about half of which carry the products of

the sugar and coffee plantations to the near-by ports.

Hawaii, the largest island, is famous for its great volcanoes, Kea, Loa,

and Kilauea. From the village or city of Hilo comfortable coaches take

visitors over a fine road clear to the crater of Kilauea. At times one

may stand on the edge of Kilauea's rampart and look down on a lake of

white-hot, molten lava three miles long and half as wide. Every now and

then bubbles of gas or steam come to the surface and exploding send long

threads of viscous lava into the air. Some of the glassy threads are

fine as the finest silk and a blast of air carries them off to the

cliff; Pele's hair, they call it, and the sea-gulls gather it to make

their nests.

[Illustration: A lake of white-hot molten lava. The volcano of

Mauna-Loa, Hawaii]

The highest points of Hawaii island are nearly fourteen thousand feet

above sea level. Below the line of about ten thousand feet easterly

winds bring an abundance of rain; above that line westerly winds bring

occasional showers and snow squalls. As a result one may find places

only a few miles apart, one of which has almost daily rains while the

other gets none at all along the lowland coasts.

Oahu is the best-known island because of Honolulu, the capital of the

Territory. A most beautiful city it is; indeed, there is nothing

elsewhere to surpass it in attractiveness--wide streets, beautiful

parks, flower gardens of wonderful plants, fine dwellings, electric

street cars, good government, and schools that are famous. All these

things make Honolulu one of the most desirable and attractive cities of

homes anywhere in the world.

Just back of Honolulu is a volcanic peak with its great crater--the

"Punch Bowl," they call it, because of its shape. As one looks down from

the rim of the Punch Bowl the city is half hidden among its palms and

algeroba trees. Above the trees are the domes and turrets of the

National Palace, the government building, and the school-houses. In the

distance here and there are the great plantations--sugar, rice, and

banana.

In the city streets one will see the people of many lands--Germans,

English, Americans, native Hawaiians, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans,

Malays, and Hindoos. Many of the native Hawaiians are rich and

prosperous; some are in business, and others are in professional life.

Many of the Chinese are well-to-do merchants. The Hindoos, Malays, and

Japanese were brought to Hawaii to work in the great plantations.

In the native villages one will frequently find a little church building

and almost always the district school. Perhaps there may also be a

Chinese store. Black-eyed children are running about dressed in long

gowns, and some of them carry little bundles of school-books, each tied

with stout cord or a leather strap.

The Hawaiians will not work in the sugar and the rice fields, and not

many will stand the easier labor on the coffee plantations. In

cultivating their little patches of bananas, breadfruit, cassava, and

taro, however, they are pretty industrious. When the time of the royal

feast comes, the natives, or "Kanakas," as they call themselves, get

busy. The feast certainly is a royal one. Roast pig and roast chicken

are smoking in a dozen dirt ovens. There are steaming yams and sweet

potatoes by the bushel, great piles of all sorts of fruit--and poi. All

the rest of the food is commonplace; poi is _the_ dish. It is one-finger

poi, two-finger poi, or three-finger poi, according as it is thick

enough to be lifted out of the pot sticking to one finger, or so thin as

to require a dextrous swish of two or three.

Waikiki is the great resort of Honolulu. There is the finest of bathing

the year round; and what is more interesting, the native surf swimmers.

With a piece of plank just large enough to support his weight in the

water, the bather swims out to the reef in still water. Then he, or

she--for young girls are most expert swimmers--makes for open water,

where the combers are forming. Then, lying flat, bather and plank are

borne along on the swift rolling surf until both are tossed high on the

beach.

The aquarium is famous for its unique collection of fish and marine

animals; it is one of the finest in the world. Near by is the race

course and amphitheatre. What is still better is the winding road

through ferns and flowers that leads to the crater rampart, Diamond

Hill.

Half a dozen miles west of Honolulu one goes by rail around the shore of

Pearl Lochs, or Harbor. Pearl Harbor is large enough and deep enough to

float all the warships Uncle Sam will ever own, and the possession of

this magnificent site for a naval station was a very strong inducement

to annex Hawaii.

Less than one hundred miles away, at Kalaupapa, on the island of

Molokai, is the leper settlement. Years ago Chinese settlers brought the

disease to Hawaii; then the natives began to be stricken, and when it

was found that leprosy was spreading, the lepers were sent to Molokai.

For many years they had but little care; the government fed and clothed

the poor victims and that was about all.

In 1873 Father Damien, a plucky Catholic priest, went to Molokai and

thereby made himself practically a prisoner for life. Father Damien

procured physicians, trained nurses, and the best possible care for the

lepers, and they could at least die in comfort if they could not live.

Then Father Damien himself was stricken and died. By this time, however,

the government took the matter in hand. A fine hospital was built and a

laboratory for the study of the disease was established. Those who are

able to work can partly support themselves, and they are far better off

when busy than when idle.

In 1848 the "Great Division" took place; that is, the lands for the

king, for the public domain, and for the people were set aside, so that

the people who so desired could own their farms and dwellings. At that

time the islands were important only as a calling place for whaling

vessels. At the present time Dame Nature is made to yield annually not

far from one hundred million dollars' worth of products--sugar, rice,

coffee, fruit, and cattle. A few years hence, tobacco, rubber, cotton,

and honey will be added to the list of exported products.

Americans own the sugar plantations, which are mainly on the lava fields

of Hawaii, Oahu, and Maui Islands. The Chinese and Japanese cultivate

the rice along the coast lowlands of Oahu and Kauai. Sheep and cattle

are grown on Lanai and Niihau.

Uncle Sam has brought some very valuable additions to his public domain,

but no investment has paid better than Hawaii, the Paradise of the

Pacific.

CHAPTER XXX

GUAM

While cruising in the Pacific Ocean Magellan discovered a chain of

islands about fifteen hundred miles east of the Philippine group. While

he lay at anchor, predatory natives stole some of his belongings;

thereupon Magellan gave them a bad name, and to this day the islands

bear the name Ladrones, or "thieves" islands.

Guam, the largest island in the group, became more or less important

just after the Spanish-American War, inasmuch as it was required as one

of our chain of naval and coaling stations that pretty nearly encircles

the earth. As islands go, Guam is of fair size, about thirty miles long

and from three to ten miles in width. It is mountainous and the surface

is jungle-covered except where the natives have made trails and

clearings. Fringing coral reefs, broken here and there, encircle the

island. One of these breaks is opposite a bight in the coast, San Luis

d'Apra, or Apra, as it is now called; and the bay and channel together

form a harbor so well guarded that no transport laden with hostile

troops would ever attempt landing.

In 1668 a mission was established. At this time the population numbered

about one hundred thousand. The country was so well cultivated that the

whole island seemed like a beautiful garden, for the people were pretty

good farmers. Rice and tropical fruits were cultivated in abundance.

The natives were also skilful in the making of pottery and they had a

well-regulated calendar.

For a time they were well disposed toward their intruders; but at

length, as they began to learn that conversion to the Christian faith

meant also slavery to the Spanish, they rebelled against a system which

was so one-sided, and their opposition led to constant strife and

bloodshed.

In the course of time the severe treatment of the Spaniards, together

with contagious diseases introduced, so completely wiped out the native

population that, at the end of seventy years, scarcely two thousand were

left. Perhaps no peoples in all the South Sea Islands have suffered more

keenly from contact with Europeans than these aborigines.

Frightened at the terrible mortality they had caused, the conquerors

turned to the Philippines to replenish the depopulated island. Tagals

were brought over to occupy the place of the fast-disappearing natives,

and with these many of the natives intermarried. The half-castes are

inferior to the original inhabitants, but they have increased in

population, and now number ten thousand.

Spain ceded Guam to the United States in 1898. Since the acquisition our

government has established both day and evening schools for the natives,

and they are making rapid progress in education.

It is a long journey to Guam--thirty-five hundred miles almost from

Honolulu and not quite half as far from Manila. And how to get there?

Well, it is not an easy matter. If you go to Apia, or to Manila, and

remain long enough--perhaps six weeks, maybe six months--a German

trading schooner will come along and take you aboard. You get there in

time; for the trading schooner is likely to make a very circuitous trip,

calling at a dozen islands to get copra in exchange for cloth, knives,

and cheap jewelry. But if one happens to have the right sort of "pull,"

one can get a pass on an army transport. That means a most delightful

trip from San Francisco to Honolulu, and thence to Guam. Uncle Sam does

the square thing by his soldiers, and the army transports that carry

them to the distant stations are fitted so as to be as comfortable as

the best liners. There are a big exercise deck and a reading-room with

plenty of books. Not the least important part of the equipment is a

self-playing piano and a good assortment of music.

[Illustration: Native ploughing in rice-field, Guam. One may find

rice-farms as skilfully cultivated as those of Japan or China]

There is not very much to see after one reaches Guam. One village is

just about the same as all the others. Perhaps half a dozen huts are

built of mud, or possibly of coral limestone; the rest are made of

bamboo frames covered with palm--all in one room in which the family

and the pig live.

Agana, however, is a village of six or seven thousand people. It is laid

out in streets which are fairly regular. They are deep with dust during

the dry season, and with mud the rest of the year. There are several

government buildings which are neat and trim, two or three churches,

several school buildings, and a few stores. Most of the people one meets

on the street speak Spanish; a few speak English. English is the coming

language, however; for the schools are there to stay and every one of

the fifteen hundred youngsters who attend school carries away a little

English. A fine road bordered with palms connects Agana with Apra, seven

miles south.

There is not much to see in Guam. The scenery is much like that of every

island in that part of the Pacific. About the only diversion of the

soldiers stationed there is hunting, which is pretty good if one is

content to hunt deer and wild hogs. Artistic sportsmen might prefer the

deer, but all the real fun is the share of the hog-hunters. The hogs are

savage beasts when cornered; they likewise are full of animal cunning.

Along the coast lowlands one may find rice-farms as skilfully cultivated

as those of Japan or of China. Most of the rice is consumed on the

island; however, copra, or dried cocoanut, is an export, and its sale

brings enough money to the natives to purchase the cloth and other goods

needed. Since American occupation the cacao tree has been cultivated,

and cocoa bids fair to be the chief export in the near future.

The government of Guam is better under American rule than at any time in

the previous history of the island. When the late Admiral Schroeder was

governor of Guam he consulted his log-book and discovered that he was

altogether too far away from Washington to be tied to rules and

regulations, or to be tangled up in official red tape. So he cut the

tape and used good common sense instead. Perhaps the government was a

bit patriarchal, but it was good, clean, and wholesome--and every one

profited by it.

CHAPTER XXXI

THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

Our newest possession, the Philippine Archipelago, in a way, is also our

oldest, for the islands were discovered by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521,

about twenty-nine years after the great discovery of Columbus. Magellan

called at several islands, among them Mindanao and Cebu. He anchored in

the harbor on which the city of Cebu now stands. He seems to have been

treated in a very friendly manner by the natives of Cebu, but when he

crossed to a near-by island he was attacked and killed. The friendship

of the King of Cebu was not very steadfast, for after Magellan's death

several of his officers were put to death by the king's order.

For two hundred and forty years the islands were a possession of Spain;

then they were captured by a British fleet. They were soon restored to

Spain, however, and remained a Spanish possession until 1898, when they

were ceded to us after the Spanish-American War.

There are more than three thousand islands in the archipelago, and they

are the partly covered tops of a mountainous and rugged plateau. Many

volcanoes testify to the volcanic origin of the plateau; indeed, the

surface of the plateau seems to be a thin crust over--well, over

trouble; for the dozen or more volcanoes are never quiet long enough to

be forgotten. Perhaps it was proper to name the islands after Philip II

of Spain, for he, too, had his full measure of trouble.

The archipelago is of pretty good size. The whole plateau, land and

water, is about as large as that part of the United States east of

Chicago; and the islands themselves are pretty nearly as large as the

State of Texas. Luzon, the largest island, is about as large as

Pennsylvania, and Mindanao is a bit smaller. Then there are Samar,

Panay, Palawan, and Cebu--every one large enough to make a State of fair

size, and every one with enough people to make a State.

There are about seven million people all told, most of whom are of the

Malay race. As a rule, they are pretty well along toward civilization;

some of them are educated. There are also tribes of the black

race--Negritos, they are called--who are just plain savages. They are

the original inhabitants of the islands, and it is most likely that they

are the descendants of people from New Guinea. In the southwest is the

Sulu group, inhabited by Malays, called Moros. They are Muhammadans in

religion and are the last of the Malays who came to the islands.

Of all the Malay peoples, the Tagalogs of Luzon have been the foremost

to learn the arts of western civilization. They have surpassed their

near relatives, the Visayans, who live in the central part of the

islands. Perhaps it is the closer contact with the Spanish that has

given the Tagalogs their great progress. At all events they have become

well to do and prosperous as measured by other Malay peoples.

The Moros, who live mainly in the southern part, have scarcely reached

civilization. In the Sulu islands they have their own government, at the

head of which is a native sultan. In many parts of the islands there are

tribes governed by chiefs called "dattos." Some of the natives are

prosperous farmers, but many of them are savages.

A great deal has been said about the misrule and cruelty of the Spanish

governors and officials. Being soldiers and task-masters it is likely

that they did many things that will not stand the searchlight of

civilization. But the work of the priests will always leave a pleasant

flavor. For three hundred years they braved every danger and suffered

every hardship in their work. For every one that fell a victim to

disease, or to the bolo, there was another ready to fill his place. They

not only converted the natives to Christianity, but they also taught

them to be thrifty farmers and prosperous business men. As a result the

Filipinos are the only Asian people of considerable numbers that have

yet become Christians.

[Illustration: The carabao, harnessed to a dray or wagon, shuffles

along]

When the Philippine Islands became a possession of the United States,

one of the first things done was to establish several thousand schools.

A thousand American teachers were at first employed. Training schools

for teachers were established, and in the course of a few years more

than five thousand Filipino teachers were conducting native schools.

English is taught in all the schools, and there are special schools in

which agriculture, mechanical trades, and commerce are taught.

There is good reason for all this, for the islands have wonderful

resources. Gold, silver, copper, and iron are abundant. The forests have

an abundance of hard woods that sooner or later will find a market both

in Europe and America. The rice-fields will easily produce enough grain

for the whole population, and a considerable amount to sell in addition,

when all the rice-lands are cultivated. For want of good wagon roads and

railways only a small part of the rice-lands are cultivated.

There is an abundance of good grazing land that will produce meat for

twice the present population. Most of the cattle now grown in the

islands are of the kind found in India.

The most common beast of burden, however, is the carabao, or

water-buffalo. What an ugly looking beast it is! It is as clumsy as a

hippopotamus, as ugly as a rhinoceros, and as kind and gentle as an old

muley cow. Harnessed to a dray or a wagon, it shuffles along, its big,

flat feet seeming to walk all over the road. But those same big feet are

the animal's chief stock in trade. They enable him to walk through both

sand and deep mud--mud so soft and deep that a horse or a mule would

sink to its body. Nothing but the carabao's flatboat-like feet could

drag ploughs through the soft mud of the rice-fields.

Carabaos are easily trained to farm work, and even children can drive

them--or ride on their backs in going to school. The milk of a carabao

is as good and wholesome as that of an ordinary cow; the meat is pretty

tough, but it is not unwholesome.

One thing, however, the carabao must have, and that is a bath several

times a day. Deprived of its bath, the animal at first becomes restless;

then it breaks away in a half-crazed condition for the nearest water,

where it buries itself, all but its head. Native drivers know just how

to manage their animals and drive them to the nearest water several

times a day.

There are horses in the islands, but not many. Most of them are very

much like the mustang. The Spanish brought Andalusian ponies to the

islands many years ago, but they did not prove very useful. Within a few

years American horses were introduced, but they could not live on

Philippine grasses. Mexican mustangs and Mongolian ponies were much

better, however, but they are used chiefly as riding animals.

Of all the beasts of burden in the Philippine Islands, none is in the

same class with John Chinaman. Everywhere his bland smile is seen; his

patience has no end--and, apparently, his work has none. The Filipino

farmer works merely to keep body and soul together; John Chinaman works

to save hard cash, and he saves it. Wherever there is any money to be

made, John is pretty certain to be near by. He is the cook and

"maid-of-all-work" in the house of the foreign resident, the stevedore

on the dock, the clerk in the forwarding house, the "boss" in the rice

plantation, the handy man in the tobacco factory, and the store-keeper

in the remote Filipino village. Sixteen hours of hard work every day and

Sunday seem to make him grow fat; the rest of the time he just works for

fun--and hard cash.

Long before the Chinese coolie came to the United States the Spanish

raised the cry "The Chinese must go." The Spanish made short work of

them, killing them by thousands and tens of thousands. But in a year or

two John was on hand again, smiling and working sixteen hours a

day--strictly for cash. And he is in the Philippine Islands to stay.

As a rule the Filipinos rarely live isolated as do the American farmers.

Almost always they cluster in villages of one or two hundred people. The

Filipino is not likely to cultivate a big farm. Two or three acres will

supply the family with all the food required, and the Chinese merchant

will buy enough of his produce to provide a few dollars in cash and the

cloth for the family wearing apparel. In the smaller villages there is

an open place that answers for a street, but the houses are apt to be

scattered about without much regularity of arrangement.

The houses, like those of the Pacific islands generally, are built of

bamboo frames--heavy pieces for the framework itself and woven bamboo

splints for the side sheathing. The roof is carefully thatched with the

leaves of the nipa-palm and these are sewn into a thick mat with ratan.

In places where the ground is likely to be overflowed, each house is set

on posts so that the floors are several feet from the ground. In this

case the "pig" does not "live in the parlor"; the pigs and chickens

occupy the "ground floor." All told, the Filipino village mansion may

not be very ornate, but it is extremely comfortable.

The larger villages and cities are built much alike. There is a plaza or

public square. Around the four sides, and facing the plaza, are the

church, government buildings, and stores. The more pretentious

residences are near by. Further away these give place to the Filipino,

or "nipa houses," as they are called. The street surrounding the plaza

is broad and well kept; elsewhere the streets are quagmires in the

rainy, and dust holes in the dry season. Pretty nearly always there is a

Chinese quarter that is crowded and dirty; quite likely, too, the best

stores in the town are kept by Chinese merchants. That is the way the

Spaniards laid out their cities and towns in Spain; they did not change

the plan in the Philippines. The houses built for them in the islands

are much like those in Spanish towns--adobe walls plastered with stucco,

and roofed with tiles.

[Illustration: The harbor of the city. Scene on the Pasig River, Manila]

Manila is the capital and commercial centre of the islands. It is a city

about as large as Seattle, and is situated at the head of a landlocked

body of water, Manila Bay. Corregidor Island, a little dark-green islet,

guards the entrance to the bay; and one cannot see the wicked guns that

are ready to pour a raking fire into a hostile fleet until one is within

a few hundred yards of the island. The only thing visible at a distance

is a flag flying from a high mast; but it is the Stars and Stripes that

bends to the east wind. The bay is a good-sized bit of water, too. In

the middle of it one can just barely see the gray, misty hills that

surround it. Then the shore line begins to take shape and the mouth of

Pasig River seems to open in front of the incoming steamship. In a few

minutes the harbor of the city is in sight. Steamships, with their

painted stacks and funnels, and sailing vessels, with every sort of mast

and rigging, crowd the harbor. Row-boats by the hundred are moving in

every direction, and little steam-launches and motor-boats are spitting

viciously as they go back and forth.

The lower part of the city is almost like Amsterdam; it is traversed by

canals, great and small, in which are fishing-smacks waiting to have the

catch taken to market. Puffy, wheezy tugs are making fast to huge

cascoes, or lighters; for the cargoes must be taken from the docks to

the steamships and sailing-vessels out in the harbor.

The Pasig is only ten or twelve miles in length. It flows from a near-by

lake, and both sides of the river are lined with villages, and

market-gardens, and duck-hatcheries.

The business streets are crowded with carts and drays. Here and there

are smart-looking carriages carrying well-groomed men, who talk little

and look rich. There could not be more style and ceremony about them if

they were in New York, London, or Paris. Trim-looking soldiers in khaki

uniforms, native Filipinos in white suits, Chinese in silk gowns and

long sleeves, native women wearing red skirts and black shawls, native

coolies in loose blouses and short pantaloons--all go to make up the

throng of the streets.

Most of the houses are two stories in height with arcades or awnings

that shelter the sidewalks. And such narrow sidewalks!--they are hardly

wide enough for more than three people to walk abreast. But even the

business houses are built for comfort. The roof has a broad overhang,

and quite likely there is a covered veranda.

Many of the Filipinos of Manila are educated and prosperous. Their

houses are said to be furnished in European style, and likewise their

clothing. Sure enough everything bears a "made in Germany" mark, but

everything looks distinctly Filipino. The head of the family wears a

suit of spotless white duck, but it has a military cut--and perhaps he

goes about the house barefoot; if so, he knows what real comfort is.

[Illustration: Extracting indigo in Ilocos Province, Philippine Islands]

Mother and daughters wear skirts of beautiful brocaded silk, very wide

and full; above the skirt is a loose garment much like a shirt-waist cut

low at the neck, and over this a lace cape with a wide, flowing collar.

Possibly they wear heelless slippers, but just as likely they, too, are

barefoot--when no visitors are present. Perhaps such suits are not quite

so becoming as the trim, tailor-made suits in New York, but they are a

lot more comfortable.

A short distance from the Escolta, or chief business street, is one of

the many markets of Manila. The whole space is laid off with rows of

bamboo booths. Pretty nearly everything to eat, to wear, or to furnish

the house is on hand--or rather in loose piles--fish, duck's eggs, meat,

rice, pinole, fruit of forty kinds, straw hats, straw sandals, straw

raincoats, tin ware from America, wooden ware from Holland, and clay

stoves "made in Manila."

Every alley has its own wares, and John Chinaman with his baskets

balanced on a long pole puts a finishing touch to the market. A Filipino

cannot be emphatic in an ordinary tone of voice. Buyer and seller work

themselves up to high C pitch until it seems as though nothing short of

a fit would overtake both. Bedlam is turned loose in every part of the

market. Usually a man and his wife are required to conduct the business

at a booth. Their bare feet sticking out from the skirts bob up and

down, beating time to the clatter of their voices.

Here comes a man whose sole stock in trade consists of a single article,

namely, a python. His goods are twined about a pole with a cross piece

for a perch, but the snake's tail has a loving twist around the owner's

neck. What for?--well, the python has a sweet tooth for rats and mice

and the sweet tooth of this particular snake is on edge for a square

meal. Years ago foreign ships brought rats from various countries. In

the course of time rats and mice became so numerous that it became a

question whether Manila should exterminate the rats or the rats

exterminate Manila.

Now, those same ships ought to have brought some cats along, too. But it

is just as well that they did not, for one python is worth half a dozen

cats or rat terriers when business is on hand. The only drawback occurs

when the python insists on getting into bed with his owner to keep warm.

When in Manila, go to Duck-town by all means. It is only a short

distance from the near-by market. The feeding grounds and hatcheries

extend for two miles along the river. Hundreds of thousands of ducks are

reared at the hatcheries, some for eggs, and others for food. The ducks

are fed on shell-fish, and foreigners imagine that both the meat and the

eggs have a fishy flavor. Eggs and edible bird's nests are also brought

from neighboring sea-cliffs to the Manila markets; and both are

considered great delicacies.

[Illustration: Manila hemp as it is brought in from the country]

Manila is the largest city of the Philippines, but there are also

several other cities of good lusty growth. Bauan, Lipa, Laoag, and

Batangas--all in Luzon--and Ilo-ilo in Panay are growing in population

and business as the resources of the islands develop. Since the

American occupation, Uncle Sam has done a great deal to make these ports

centres of business; harbors have been deepened; railways have been

extended; good roads have been built; and rivers have been made

navigable.

There are several exports that will always tend to make the Philippines

rich. Tobacco is an important crop and the Manila leaf, as it is called,

is of very fine quality. There are those who whisper it about that much

of the leaf is shipped to Cuba to be made into "Havana" cigars. Sugar is

also a great export crop, and when the railways now under way are

completed sugar will become one of the foremost exports. The export of

copra, or dried cocoanut, is a leading industry, and the Philippine

Islands produce a large part of the world's product.

One Philippine product, however, connects the islands with almost all

the rest of the world, namely, Manila hemp. That is, it is called

"hemp," but it is not hemp at all; the fibre is obtained from a plant

very closely related to the banana. White leaves or husks grow closely

around the stalk of the plant, forming a tightly fitting case. This

envelope is composed of thousands of long, strong fibres that, when

cleaned and dried, are the hemp that makes the strongest and best rope

in the world.

After the pulpy leaves are stripped from the stalk, the pulp is squeezed

out of them and the fibres are left in the sun to dry. The best fibre is

as soft and fine as silk. Some of it is used in making a fine cloth; the

coarser fibre is used for rope and hawsers. More than fifteen million

dollars worth of Manila hemp is sold yearly.

In the treaty with Spain, by which Uncle Sam acquired the islands,

twenty million dollars was paid to Spain. But the exports from the

Philippines have averaged nearly thirty million dollars a year ever

since.

CHAPTER XXXII

THE DUTCH EAST INDIES--JAVA

The East India Islands is a name which embraces nearly all the islands

of the Malay Archipelago, together with the Philippines. The largest of

these are New Guinea, Borneo, Sumatra, Celebes, and Java. Nearly all of

them, except the Philippines and parts of New Guinea and Borneo, are

controlled by the Dutch. These fertile islands are a source of great

revenue to the Netherlands; to the rest of the world they are the chief

source of sugar, spices, and coffee.

Of all the Dutch East Indies, Java is by far the most beautiful and

productive; it is a garden of the choicest fruits and flowers.

There are two seasons, a wet and a dry. During the wet season the

torrential rains are accompanied by thunder and lightning. In some parts

of the island more than a hundred thunder-storms occur yearly. The

average rainfall is from sixty to one hundred and eighty-five inches,

most of the rain falling on the windward side.

Many of the streams are perennial, and their waters are conducted away

to be used in irrigation, thus bringing under cultivation nearly every

part of the island. Moreover, the streams themselves hold fertilizing

material much of which has been thrown out by volcanoes. The irrigating

water itself furnishes sufficient enrichment for the soil, and but very

little fertilizing is required. The heat, moisture, and fertile soil,

coupled with skilful farming, produce bountiful harvests and make the

whole island a smiling field of verdure and plenty.

The hills and mountains in many places are terraced, so that at a

distance they look like gigantic staircases carpeted with bright green.

So fertile is the soil that in some places two or three crops are raised

each year.

About one-fourth of the surface is covered with forest. Among the most

valuable trees is the teak-wood, which is extensively used in

ship-building. It is a more durable timber than oak, since it resists

decay for a long time, even when wholly or partly submerged in sea

water. There are vessels afloat to-day which were built of teak one

hundred years ago.

The inhabitants, about thirty million in number, are of the Malay race

and belong to three nations, speaking closely related but different

languages--the Sundanese, Javanese, and Mandurese. The island was

wealthy, populous, and had a high degree of civilization long before it

was known to Europeans.

Long years ago--twelve hundred or more--the Hindoos invaded the country,

and in the fifteenth century Muhammadans came. They were followed later

by the Dutch who first gained trading concessions and then gradually got

possession of the whole island, much in the same way as England secured

India. Each conquest left its impress on the people; the Muhammadans

converted the natives to their religion. Buddhism preceded the religion

of the great prophet, and some of the teachings of Buddha have been

retained, together with many pagan customs.

The Dutch wisely made no effort to Christianize the natives and, until

recently, they have discouraged all such attempts, believing that they

could control the people better without disturbing the prevailing

religious conditions. Indeed, they manage affairs with the natives

wonderfully well.

The island is divided into "residences," in each of which the laws are

administered by a native governor. A Dutch resident is employed by the

colonial government to assist the native governor--really to see that

he manages his people justly and fairly, for strict justice has always

been observed in dealings with the natives.

[Illustration: A breadfruit tree in Java]

The Dutch residents are called "elder brothers." Each resident watches

his residency with great care to see that the taxes are collected and

paid to the government, and that the natives are treated with justice.

He is usually the judge who settles all family quarrels and disputes

between neighbors. He is just in his judgments and his decisions are

not questioned. Affairs are managed in much the same way as the "School

City" or the George Settlement in the United States.

At the same time the Dutch are very careful to impress their authority

on the natives. They require the natives to pay great respect to all

officers of the colony. A native who comes into the presence of an

official must have his head turbaned and his attire in proper form.

Under no circumstances is he permitted to smoke, chew betel-nut, or

behave carelessly.

The daily work of the natives is very carefully supervised. They are

taught where to plant, what to plant, and how to plant their crops. The

"elder brothers" also see that the crops are cultivated with care and

properly harvested.

Java is ruled by a Governor-General and a council appointed by himself.

The officers are selected because of their fitness, and most of the

subordinates must pass a civil service examination. Once in the East

India service an official is fixed for life, and when he has served his

time he retires on a pension. Most of the pensioners prefer to remain in

the island the rest of their lives.

The officials and, indeed, all European residents live well. Stone

houses with marble or tile floors, wide verandas, and large gardens are

the rule. Breakfast at one o'clock is the substantial meal of the day.

It marks not the beginning but the end of the day's work. From one to

five the intense heat keeps every one indoors. At five, official Java

and all other Europeans bathe, dress, and get ready for dinner. After

dinner, driving, calling, and gossiping at the clubs is the proper

thing, and nowhere are people more ceremonious.

The natives have but little ambition and no desire to do anything for

themselves. Now and then there are exceptions, however; and a native may

be found pegging away at the studies that will enable him to pass the

examinations and hold an official position.

As a whole, the native is gentle and polite and yields ready obedience

to those in authority. He is fond of amusement, feasts, and gambling;

he, moreover, celebrates every possible event--his marriage, the birth

of his children, the building of his home, the rice harvest, a return

from a journey, a recovery from illness, and even the filing of his

teeth. If he, perchance, has not sufficient money to hold the

celebration, he can join with a neighbor, then both will share mutually

the expense. On all occasions his deportment is quiet, and whether moved

by joy or anger, no loud language or boisterous laughter is ever heard.

The marriageable age of girls is from twelve to fourteen years, and that

of boys sixteen. The night preceding the wedding must be spent by the

couple in watching, in order to avert subsequent unhappiness, and the

next day they repair to a mosque and are married according to Muhammadan

rites and customs. To symbolize her total submission to her husband, the

wife washes his feet. Unfortunately, a divorce can be obtained by the

husband for a trivial cause by the payment of a small fee. A native, on

being asked why he got a divorce from his wife, replied, "She ate too

much and I could not afford to keep her."

Early in the morning the highways are thronged with people on their way

to and from the markets. And the markets?--well, one is certain to find

John Chinaman in charge. As a matter of fact, there are more than half a

million Chinese in the island, and they have the control of the trade

with the natives. But the native Javanese trudges along, balancing two

baskets on a long bamboo pole. Women and girls help to make up the

throng, and they, too, are laden.

At the market pandemonium seems to be loose, and both buyer and seller

are shrieking at the top of their voices over a bargain price. There is

no question as to which wins; the Chinese merchant is there for

business. When the native receives the pay for his produce quite as

likely as not he makes for the nearest gambling-house and in half an

hour loses the savings of a month.

To the natives the greatest terrors are lightning and tigers, both of

which claim hundreds of victims each year. They often refrain from

killing the tigers, since the tigers kill the wild pigs which destroy

their crops.

The tiger is killed usually by capturing him in a sort of box-trap, and

then the trap is taken to the nearest stream, where it is submerged and

the animal drowned, to avoid injury to the skin, which brings a good

price. The claws and whiskers are carefully removed and sold as

fetiches, since they are considered to be very efficacious.

Notwithstanding their hard lot, the people seem happy and there is no

starvation poverty. They and their ancestors from time immemorial have

always worked hard under task-masters and they know of no better

condition. Since their scanty clothing costs but little, if they can

have enough to eat and a little amusement occasionally, they are

content. When they have money they spend it recklessly, regardless of

the future. If the needs of the present are supplied, that is

sufficient. When misfortune or disaster overtakes them they merely say:

"It is the will of God."

The temples built centuries ago are among the most wonderful structures

in the world. They vie in size and grandeur with those of India.

Thousands of these ruined temples are found scattered everywhere over

central and eastern Java, and many of them are built on the slopes and

summits of mountains. These ruins give evidence of the wonderful skill

in sculpture and building attained by the people in by-gone ages, a

skill not excelled even in modern times, but lost to the present

inhabitants.

The ruins of the great temple of Boro-Bodor, situated in the

south-central part of Java, are among the largest and most striking in

the world. This temple is square and was built in six terraces or steps

on the summit of a hill. The first terrace measures about five hundred

feet on each side, while each of the five decreases in size toward the

top. The last one is crowned by a cupola fifty-two feet in diameter,

surrounded by sixteen smaller ones.

Here in this great temple of the dead past may be seen scores of

statues, showing on their countenances the peace of Nirvana. On both

inside and outside of the structure are hundreds of images of Buddha and

carvings of scenes connected with his life. It is estimated that all of

the sculptures occupy an extent of wall at least three miles in length.

All the figures are carved from large blocks of lava.

This wonderful temple is built of lava blocks without lime or mortar,

the huge stones being jointed most accurately by tenons, mortises, and

dovetails which bind them solidly together.

Many of the temples erected by the Buddhists and Brahmanists were

destroyed by the Moslem invaders, and others abandoned. All of these

edifices became, during the succeeding centuries, overgrown with the

luxuriant tropical vegetation and partly buried. Some of them, like that

of Boro-Bodor, have been uncovered, displaying hundreds of statues and

long lines of bas-relief.

Java is one of the most productive regions of the world, otherwise

thirty millions of people could not live there. The greater part of the

islands consists of government plantations, but there are more than

twenty thousand private plantations. The Dutch government has built fine

wagon roads and miles of railways, otherwise the great crops of rice,

sugar, coffee, and tea could not be moved to the great trade centres and

seaports. Rice is the chief crop, but so much is consumed that only a

little is left for export. The export rice is sold in Borneo. Most of it

is grown on the low coast plains, and these are watered by a net-work of

canals.

Coffee is the crop that has made Java famous, and Java coffee is

regarded the best produced. A few years ago it was the custom to sort

the coffee with great care and then to store it several years in order

to improve the flavor. The coffee thus seasoned was known as "old

government" coffee. Much of the crop is now grown by private owners and

is known as "private plantations" coffee.

Sugar has become the foremost export crop. Most of it goes to Europe; a

small part of it is sent to the refineries of the United States. The

great sugar plantations are likewise on the lowlands. Most of the

plantations are owned by wealthy Hollanders, or by Dutch companies. The

cane grows taller than that of the Cuban plantations; usually it is

twice the height of the native laborers and grows so thickly as to make

the field like a jungle. It requires a great sum of money to carry on a

sugar plantation, for thousands of dollars must be spent in preparing

the land.

But when one sees the great mills with their ponderous machinery, the

thousands of native workmen, and the train loads of sugar which seem to

be swallowed by the great steamships, one cannot help thinking that the

sugar-planters make a lot of money in their business. Their homes, many

of them, are beautiful palaces--as costly as can be found anywhere in

Europe.

Indigo is another famous product of Java. The indigo plant would look

like a rank bunch of weeds were it not planted in rows. The leaves,

which contain the coloring matter, are picked two or three times a year

and soaked in water. When they begin to rot, the coloring matter leaves

the plant and mixes with the water, from which it is afterward

separated by boiling. The coloring matter itself is called indigo; it is

a beautiful blue used for dyeing yarns and cloth. The blue cotton cloth

so much worn by the Dutch peasants is colored with indigo, and both the

cloth and the dye find a market in pretty nearly every country in the

world.

[Illustration: Coffee-drying in Java]

Years ago an enterprising Dutch botanist brought to Java some cinchona

trees from South America. The experiment was successful and so many

trees were afterward planted that Java now furnishes about half the

world's supply of quinine, which is extracted from the bark of the tree.

Tobacco is extensively grown in Java, but one does not hear much about

it, because a great deal of it is sold as "Sumatra" leaf. Tea-growing

has become a great industry in Java and the tea in quality is as fine

as that grown in China. Women and girls are the pickers. They work with

head and arms bare, each wearing a loose gown resembling a Japanese

kimona without sleeves. As fast as they are picked the leaves are piled

on squares of white cloth. When the cloth contains enough to make a

bundle of good size the picker carries it on her head to the factory,

where the leaves are first wilted, rolled into compact form and then

dried on great stone floors that are shielded from the sun. The hundreds

of pickers with their brightly colored gowns and white bundles, form a

wonderful kaleidoscope picture.

In recent years petroleum, long known to the natives, has added much to

the wealth of Java. The thrifty Hollander studied well-drilling in

Pennsylvania and California; then he put his training to work on the

Javanese oil-fields. As a result Java is beginning to supply not only

the East Indies, but also Japan with coal-oil.

Years ago travellers used to tell marvellous stories about a certain

poison valley of Java in the centre of which stood an upas-tree. The

tree itself was famed for the deadly effects of its poisonous

exhalations, which killed man, beast, or bird that came near it. These

stories proved to be mere fabrications. They grew out of the fact that

near by was a valley from which arose at times carbonic-acid gas in

sufficient quantity to kill small animals running over certain low

places. But the upas played no part, though the juice of the tree is

poisonous.

Batavia is the capital of the Dutch East Indies. It is on low, flat

land, half a dozen miles from the artificial harbor which has not long

been finished; for the old port had but little protection from stormy

seas and high winds. The swampy land on which the city is built has been

drained by canals. Excepting the business streets, the city is almost

hidden by the gardens with their profusion of plants. It is the

Amsterdam of the Old World; and one will find as good wares in Batavia

as in Holland. During the eruption of Krakatoa, Batavia was buried deep

in dust and ragged cinders of lava. More than twenty thousand dead were

under the heaps of ash.

Surabaya is larger than Batavia and has a population of more than one

hundred and fifty thousand. But Surabaya has not much trade with Europe;

its commerce is mainly with the ports of Asia. The harbor is good and it

has become the chief naval station of the Dutch East Indies.

The Dutch authorities do not encourage visitors to Java. All visitors

must have passports or permits; and if one goes to the interior,

officials question him at every turn and demand his permit at every

district.

CHAPTER XXXIII

THE DUTCH EAST INDIES--SUMATRA AND CELEBES

Two lofty mountain ranges with a deep valley between them lie at the

eastern side of the Indian Ocean. The Malay Peninsula is one range; the

island of Sumatra is the other. The floor of the valley between them is

covered by the sea and forms the Strait of Malacca.

As islands go, Sumatra is of goodly size--larger than New York,

Pennsylvania, and the New England States together. From end to end its

length is about the distance between Boston and Chicago. Greenland,

Borneo, New Guinea, and Madagascar are each larger. The equator crosses

Sumatra at its central part.

Sumatra is also a possession of the Dutch East Indies, but it is not

very important as compared with Java. Although it is three times as

large as Java, it has scarcely one-tenth the population. There is a

pretty good reason for this. In the first place, the mountainous region

is very rugged and much of it is covered with jungle; therefore, it is

neither habitable nor productive for mankind. In the second place, the

broad plain on the east side of the island is not well adapted to

cultivation; it is cut by deep river valleys in the higher parts, swampy

in the middle part, and covered with water next the coast during a part

of the year.

Rather singularly the lakes--and there are many--are not in the low,

swampy lands; most of them are high in the mountains. What is still more

singular, these lakes are the craters of inactive volcanoes. But

Sumatra, like Java, has many active volcanoes. One of these, Dempo, is

almost constantly active. Every now and then it discharges great

quantities of sulphur gases; these are caught by the rain and, falling

on the cultivated lands, kill pretty nearly everything touched.

In the jungles nature has been very lavish with life. The forests

contain more than four hundred kinds of trees--among them teak, ebony,

camphor, and even good pine. Sumatra is also the home of several trees

and plants from which gutta-percha is obtained. Railroads to connect the

forest belts to the coast are the one thing needed to make Sumatra a

lumber-producing country.

For some reason or other many of the wild animals that crossed the

shallow water between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra did not cross the

Sunda Strait to Java. There are many more kinds of animals in Sumatra

than in Java; indeed, nearly all the larger species of wild animals of

southern Asia are found in Sumatra, and only a few are in Java. There

are many elephants in the uplands; the rhinoceros lives in the lowlands;

the tiger lives in the jungle, as in India. The flying "fox" is one of

the curiosities of Sumatra. So much for a name, however, for the animal

is not a fox but a very large bat. Its wings are membranes that connect

the limbs corresponding to one's fingers. Like other bats, it hangs from

the limb of a tree, head down, in the daytime, and goes to business at

night. Its body is not much larger than that of a hare, but when in

flight it is four or five feet from tip to tip.

[Illustration: Natives in the jungle, Sumatra]

The flying "cat" is likewise a misnamed animal that bears no

relationship to pussy, but is a kind of lemur. The wild dog, however, is

very much dog and nuisance at the same time--as much of a nuisance as

the coyote of the western United States, and far more numerous. The

"coffee" rat is likewise a great nuisance wherever found; unfortunately

it is found almost everywhere. Monkeys are also numerous.

The natives of Sumatra, like those of Java, are Malays. Unlike them,

however, they are difficult to govern; some of the interior tribes are

fierce and warlike. Near the coast, and in places controlled by the

Dutch, the native ruler is subject to an "elder brother" or Dutch

commissioner. Most of the tribes of the interior are Muhammadans; they

believe that they will be blessed if they are killed in war, and,

therefore, they take every opportunity to make war. The natives of

Acheen, a province in the northwestern part of the island, have always

given the Dutch a great deal of trouble, and they are not fully

conquered, even after a hundred years of warfare.

One of the interior tribes, it is thought, came from India several

hundred years ago, for their religion and customs are much the same as

those of the Hindus. Although they are surrounded by savage tribes, and

far removed from the civilization, both of India and Europe, they have

reached a remarkable condition of civilization of their own. They are

excellent farmers and stockmen; they also make firearms, cloth, and

jewelry which they sell to the Malay peoples about them.

Throughout the island the houses are much like those of Malay peoples

elsewhere, with timber frames and thatched roofs. As in the other

islands, they are set on posts wherever floods are likely to occur. The

larger timbers of many houses are beautifully carved, although many of

the designs are grotesque and even hideous. All the houses are clustered

in villages. This is done partly for protection against man-eating

tigers, and partly because the people are inclined to social life. The

club-house is usually to be found in the villages. It is the town hall,

bazaar, market, lounging place, and social club combined. Perhaps a

wedding and a funeral may be going on there at the same time. Men

gamble, and women gossip and chew betel-nut; the peddler likewise shows

his bargain-counter wares at the club-house.

The great plantations of sugar, coffee, and tobacco are managed much the

same as in Java. The rice-fields are cultivated usually by the Chinese,

and they have much of the trade in the rice. Sumatra is famous for its

tobacco. The plants grow larger and higher than those cultivated in the

United States. The leaves are large and the best of them are used as

"wrappers," or outer coverings for fine cigars. Sumatra leaf commands a

high price, and a considerable amount of the best tobacco is shipped to

Cuba and the United States.

The coffee crop is also of excellent quality. Some of it reaches the

market as "Java" coffee; and, indeed, it is equal to the best coffee

grown in Java. The beans are large, light in color, and of fine flavor.

Carefully sorted Palembang coffee commands a high price.

Sumatra is famous for its pepper, and not far from one-half the world's

product of pepper comes from this island. The plant producing pepper is

not the pepper-tree so commonly grown for its beautiful foliage and

bright red berries in California and Mexico; it is a vine or climbing

bush. It is commonly planted near to a sapling, around which it twines;

but in many plantations the plants are pruned and trimmed so that they

grow unsupported. The pepper of commerce consists of the dried berries

or fruit of the vine. It is the custom to pick the berries as they turn

red. The berries shrivel and turn black as they dry. These, when ground,

are the black pepper of commerce. When fully ripe the color of the berry

turns to a pale yellow and the outer skin is easily removed. The

"husked" berries are used for making the white pepper of commerce.

Sago is also an important product of Sumatra. It is the starchy pith of

a kind of palm-tree--the sago-palm. The pith is dried, ground to a

powder and washed in order to remove the stringy fibre. In the process

of washing, the starchy granules sink to the bottom, while the woody

fibre floats off.

[Illustration: A jungle, scene in Sumatra]

There are several large towns in Sumatra--Siboga, Padang, Benkulen,

Telok Belong, and Palembang--but their names are rarely seen in print or

spoken. The reason is not hard to find; Singapore, just across the

Strait of Malacca, is a free port, with a fine harbor. Vessels from

every part of the world call at Singapore, and it is much more

convenient to have the Sumatra products marketed there than to send them

from Sumatra ports.

A few miles to the east of Sumatra are the islands of Banka and

Billiton, famous for their tin mines. These mines produce about

two-thirds the world's supply of tin. It is interesting to know that the

silver-white metal, with which so many of our kitchen utensils are

coated, has travelled more than half-way around the world to be used,

but this is probably the case.

Sunda Strait separates Sumatra from Java. In this narrow strait is

situated the island of Krakatoa, remarkable for one of the most

destructive volcanic eruptions that have ever occurred. The great

eruption was preceded by low rumblings and slight explosions for three

months before the volcano burst out in all its fury, on the night of

August 26, 1883. The explosions were heard at a distance of many hundred

miles and over an area equal to one-thirteenth of the earth's surface.

The entire southern part of the island was blown away and the earth was

shaken for thousands of miles, the shock being recorded as far as South

America.

The upheaval caused a tidal wave one hundred and twenty feet high which,

with the lava clots and ash ejected, destroyed all of the towns and

plantations bordering on both sides of the straits. In this disaster

more than forty thousand persons perished and every vestige of animal

and vegetable life in the surrounding region disappeared. The only

person left to look out upon the scene of destruction was the keeper of

the light-house, a structure one hundred and thirty feet high, whose

light the gigantic waves merely succeeded in extinguishing.

A cubic mile of material is said to have been thrown out in the form of

lapilli and dust by the successive explosions. The dust, estimated to

have reached the height of several miles, was disseminated by the upper

currents of air and caused the brilliant sunsets seen for months in

nearly every part of the civilized world.

Celebes is the most curiously shaped island in the world. It has a

central body from which project four large arms, making it look like a

huge starfish. These radiating peninsulas are mountain ranges, here and

there peaked with volcano cinder cones. There are no low-lying marshes;

the position and high surface render this one of the healthiest islands

in the Malay Archipelago.

The Dutch have had settlements here for more than two centuries; and

their wise and just treatment of the natives has made the island famous

for peace and prosperity. Except a few tribes of the interior, all the

islanders are at least partly civilized. The natives who live in the

coast regions are intelligent and industrious. Paganism and corrupted

Muhammadanism are the prevailing religions, but Christianity has secured

a firm hold in a few places. A written language and literature have

prevailed for centuries.

All able-bodied men are compelled to work and each year to give a few

days' labor to keep the excellent roads in good repair; but they reap

the reward of their industry and are happy and contented.

The best coffee land in the East Indies is to be found on this island.

The most favorable soil for coffee is the rich, black volcanic ash that

covers the mountain slopes in many parts of north Celebes.

The Menado coffee is said to be the finest the world produces.

The coffee-trees are allowed to grow to the height of six feet, when the

tops are cut off, so as to strengthen the growth of the lateral branches

which bear the fruit.

Besides a fungus disease, coffee has many other enemies. Both rats and

mice are fond of the juicy stalks of the berries when they are nearly

ripe, and they nibble at them until the berries fall. The long-haired

black rat is the greatest of these pests. Cats are kept on each

plantation to prey upon the animal pests; but, unfortunately, the

natives are very fond of cats--not as pets, but as articles of food.

This feline appetite on the part of the workmen causes the owner to keep

a vigilant watch over his cat family, and to severely punish any

offender. Perhaps in time they will learn to employ the python as a

rat-catcher, for the python is not surpassed for this purpose.

The forest trees are much like those of the adjacent islands. There are

no very large animals, those peculiar to Celebes being the tailless

baboon and the "pig-deer," which has tusks and curving horns.

Parts of the interior of Celebes still remain unexplored and are said to

be inhabited by cannibals and head-hunters.

Macassar is the capital and chief city. It is situated in the southern

part of the southwestern peninsula, and in commerce ranks next to the

largest cities of Java. Its trade totals upward of three million dollars

annually.

The principal exports of the island are coffee, rice, nutmegs, cloves,

dammer, copal, rattan, copra, tobacco, trepang, and tortoise-shell;

coffee greatly outranking all the other products.

CHAPTER XXXIV

BORNEO AND PAPUA

Hot, damp, and swampy along the coast lowlands; rugged and fairly

pleasant in the high plateau lands--that is Borneo, an island as large

as the State of Texas. Borneo has a great future, however, when a race

of civilized people can be found who can inhabit it, for it is even more

unhealthful than Sumatra.

But the wealth is there--diamonds that are rather poor in color, gold,

copper, iron, coal, and petroleum. That is a good list, and it remains

only to find a people who can live there and make the great wealth of

the island available to the world. Perhaps it may be the Japanese--less

likely the Chinese, for they are content to trade with the natives.

Possibly it may be the Filipinos--for some of the Filipinos, especially

the Moros, are the descendants of Borneo peoples.

Safe it is to say that the native tribes will not accomplish this

result, for they are among the most debased and disgusting savages on

the face of the earth. Many of these tribes are Malays governed by

chiefs, or dattoes. Some of the tribes near the coast carry on a crude

sort of farming, which is encouraged by the Chinese merchants who buy

their produce. Some of the interior tribes just live, being both lazy

and vicious. For food, there is an abundance of bananas and meat. As to

the meat, it makes little or no difference about the kind; any animal

whose flesh has become putrid is relished.

The most interesting natives of Borneo, however, are the Dyaks, the

people from whom the Moros of the Philippine Islands are descended. They

are perhaps the most intelligent, but certainly the most troublesome

peoples. They are best known as the "head-hunters" of Borneo. Among

themselves, the one who has killed the greatest number of people is the

greatest man of the tribe, and the heads of his victims are the

testimony to his greatness. So the head-hunters kill just for the

pleasure of killing, and the heads of their victims are kept as

trophies. Not all Dyak tribes are head-hunters, however.

When they are not off on head-hunting expeditions, the Dyaks are very

industrious farmers. They are fond of ornaments. The men of some of the

tribes wear richly embroidered jackets; the women may wear waists made

of fine rattan strung with metal beads and ornaments. They may even wear

crowns of burnished metal; at all events, they are certain to wear

earrings of astonishing size--perhaps three or four inches across and

made of solid brass. To hold these pieces of native jewelry the lobes of

the ears, after they have been pierced, are stretched until they form

loops two inches or more in length.

The men also are fond of earrings and similar ornaments, but a real Dyak

swell does not consider himself properly in style until his front teeth

are filed away so that they are notched and shut together like the teeth

of a steel trap. Moreover, he cannot hope to obtain a wife unless he has

at least one head as a trophy.

In hunting, the Dyak often makes use of the blow-gun. This weapon, for

short distances, is about as sure and true as a rifle. It is a wooden

tube four or five feet in length, the bore of which is made very

straight and smooth. The arrow, or dart, fits the bore of the tube. To

make sure of the game the tip of the dart is dipped in a most deadly

poison; so that, if it merely breaks the skin of the animal at which it

is shot, it makes a wound that is quickly fatal.

Unlike most of the natives of the tropical Indies, instead of living in

villages, the Dyaks frequently live in communal houses. Sometimes twenty

or more families live in the same house, which is not unlike the

communal houses of the American Indian, except that it is surrounded by

a broad veranda.

Hunting honey in the forests is one of the native sports. The forests of

certain parts of Borneo seem to be alive with wild bees. As a result,

honey and wax are very abundant. The honey-bear gets a good share of the

wild honey, for his shaggy hide is proof against the stings of the bees.

The Dyak hunter has no shaggy coating to protect him; so he goes about

robbing the bees in a more scientific manner.

The bees seem to prefer the mengalis tree, which has so many angles and

hollow places about its trunk that to build the comb is an easy matter.

Not infrequently there may be fifty or more swarms in a single tree.

When a bee-tree is to be robbed, great piles of a certain plant or weed

are collected and put in such a position that the smoke will be carried

against the nesting-places of the swarms. The piles are then fired. The

smoke neither kills the bees nor does it drive them off; it merely

stupefies them. When the humming of the bees is hushed, comb and honey

are easily removed. A considerable part of the wax is exported, but

thousands of tons are wasted.

Hunting in the forests of Borneo has its unpleasant features, for the

leeches are almost as numerous as the leaves of the trees. They are big,

fat, ugly-looking slugs, but they can stretch their bodies into a small,

thin form. When waiting for a victim they lengthen and sway their

threadlike bodies to and fro, ready to launch out at the first

opportunity. So gently do they commence their work that the pricking

sensation is felt only when they are gorged with blood and begin to

loosen their hold.

The gathering of edible birds' nests, built by a kind of swallow, is

quite an industry, and is confined to the rocky-cliff sections of

certain parts of the coast where cover abounds. This species of swallow

is smaller than the common swallow and builds its nest either in the

dark limestone caverns or in the crevices and nooks of the overhanging

cliffs. The chief material used in constructing the nest is a glutinous

saliva produced by the bird itself. The Chinese are very fond of the

nests, and Chinese merchants buy most of them.

The roofs of some of the caves frequented by these swallows are several

hundred feet above their floors, and to reach the nests, scattered over

the curved roofs and sides, it is necessary to construct ladders and

stages. These are made out of rattan and bamboo and are fastened by pegs

driven into the limestone walls. Crawling up on these slender supports

with a candle and forked bamboo pole, the native proceeds to detach the

nests, which he passes to a companion below. When the nests are built

in caves and crevices, near the top of cliffs, a swinging ladder is

dropped from above.

There are two kinds of nests, the clear yellowish-white ones, and the

dark ones. The former bring a price as high as twelve dollars per pound;

the latter only one-tenth as much. The best nests are found in the

darkest caves.

Bird-nest gathering is a perilous calling, and serious accidents are not

infrequent. The nests are gathered two or three times a year.

The northern part of Borneo is British territory, and the British also

control the States of Sarawak and Brunei; the rest of the island is a

part of the Dutch East Indies. The British are more interested in the

minerals and jungle produce, such as gutta-percha, rattan, rubber, and

birds' nests, than in the cultivation of plantations. The Dutch, on the

other hand, are trying to establish the great plantations there that

have made Java famous. Already these are producing great quantities of

sago, tobacco, and sugar.

There are no large cities and only a few ports with good harbors, but

German steamships make the rounds of the ports and carry the produce to

Singapore, the clearing-house of the East Indies.

Scarcely one hundred and fifty miles north of Australia lies Papua, or

New Guinea. Next to Greenland it is the largest island in the world, and

in many ways it is the world's wonderland. It was one of the first large

bodies of land discovered after the discovery of America, and one of the

last to be settled by Europeans. Most likely dry land at one time

connected Australia and New Guinea, for the animal and plant life of the

two are much the same. Even the Great Barrier Reef that skirts the east

coast of Australia extends part-way around New Guinea.

Of all the islands southeast of Asia, New Guinea is the most

interesting. It is rich beyond measure with things useful and

beautiful. Sugar-cane grows wild from sea to mountain; wild oranges,

lemons, and limes can be had for the picking; and land adapted for

growing rice, coffee, tobacco, rubber, cocoanuts, and cinchona is

plentiful. There are mountain summits clad in everlasting snow,

healthful plateaus abounding in delightful scenery, and dank coast

plains in which lurks the deadly jungle fever.

Dense forests cover most of the island, but the forest trees of the East

Indies are not to be found except here and there in the northwest neck

of the island. The famous eucalyptus abounds in the lowland regions; so

also does the nipa-palm. Pines, much like the kauri pine of New Zealand,

grow in the high plateaus. Most singular of all, in the high mountain

regions one may find the alpine plants of Europe, New Zealand, the

Antarctic islands, and the Andine heights of South America. Still

another strange feature is to be found: while the forest trees are

Australian kinds, the plants that make the forests a thicket are the

rattans and other jungle plants of India!

New Guinea is noted for birds of beautiful plumage, especially birds of

paradise, of which there are many kinds. Among the insects is one

commonly known as the "praying" mantis. It is related to the grasshopper

and is found also in many other parts of the world. In New Guinea the

praying mantis is three or four inches long and at first sight seems to

be nothing but a broken twig. In various parts of the world it is known

as "preacher," "nun," "soothsayer," and "saint." It has received its

name from the fact that it rests in a sort of kneeling position, holding

its forelegs in a devotional attitude.

Its character, however, is anything but saintly; it is a most vicious

wretch that may well be called the tiger of the insect world. The

devotional attitude is the position in which it can best seize its

insect prey; for when an unsuspecting insect lights on what seems to be

a green twig, snap!--those blade-like forelegs armed with sharp spikes

come together like scissors, and the unlucky victim is cut to pieces in

an instant.

John Chinaman has discovered a use for the praying mantis--a very

practical use, too. John and his near-by friends capture a lot of the

insects, carry them to a convenient bungalow, turn them loose in a

cockpit, and bet on the survivor. When the insects are turned loose

there is business on hand, for they go to work at once, cutting one

another to pieces by the most approved methods of surgical amputation.

The owner of the survivor wins.

The native Papuans much resemble the bushrangers of Australia; they are

Negritos, with black skins and woolly hair. There are a few tribes of

natives that much resemble the peoples of Samoa and Hawaii; there are

also other tribes that resemble the Malays of southeastern Asia.

The Papuan tribes of the coast are about as degraded as the bushrangers

of Australia. Some of the tribes are cannibals who have a fondness for

sailors that have been wrecked on the shores of New Guinea. They are

neither better nor worse than most of the other tribes of islanders.

Like other islanders, too, they are tractable and easily governed by the

Europeans who treat them decently. Not very much is known about the

tribes in the interior, except that some of them have neither houses nor

clothing. They live in the trees, and wear no clothing. They are hardly

better off than the troops of monkeys, but unlike them eat raw flesh

instead of fruit and nuts.

Missionaries have established schools along the coast settlements, and

the native children trained in these schools make amazing progress. They

learn to read and write quickly, are neat in dress, and polite in

manners. Many of the boys who attend the mission schools are trained to

skilled labor on the plantations; some go to the interior as missionary

teachers.

A few of the Papuan tribes have reached a condition of barbarism much

like that of the Iroquois Indians in New York when the white men found

them. They live in houses, some of them four or five hundred feet in

length. Perhaps thirty or forty families may occupy a single house. The

houses are divided into apartments, each family living separately.

In some of the tribes the men live in a communal house by themselves.

The women live in small huts, two or three together. They cook the food,

which they carry to the communal house; they also do all the work

required in cultivating the gardens of yams, bananas, and vegetables.

War, hunting, and fishing are the only pursuits of the men.

Three nations, Holland, Great Britain, and Germany, have divided New

Guinea among them. The Dutch have the eastern half of the island. The

British and Germans possess each about one-quarter, British New Guinea

being situated opposite to Queensland, Australia. The British own the

Solomon Islands to the eastward of New Guinea, also.

The Dutch are laying out plantations and teaching the natives to work

them in the same way that they are managed in Java. The British are busy

exploring the interior, looking especially to the rich mines in their

possession. They have also established a considerable trade in copra,

sago, pearl shell, and cocoa-fibre mats. They are planting rubber-trees,

for there is no better land in the world for rubber. They have one great

advantage, namely, the Fly River, which is navigable six hundred miles

from its mouth, and opens a trading route far into the interior. Port

Moresby is the trade centre of British New Guinea.

The Germans make their share of the island pay expenses by taxing and

licensing the traders who go there to do business, and they manage to

get a considerable profit out of it. When they find that a trading

company is making too much money they buy the company out and carry on

the business themselves; and this is profitable, too.

Although less is known about New Guinea than almost any other part of

the earth, enough is known to make it certain that it is one of the most

desirable bodies of land in the world.