49^
PÈÏ.EWS.
JTirft Difeoyery.
■ two to fix'leagues from the Ihore, and of. great length. . The ebony tree
is found in the forejfS, and the bread fruit and cocoa, tree' feem to
abound with fugarflcahes; and, bamboos. No kind of .gram wasfeen,
Bor any quadrupeds, except fome rats in the. wodds^and th r ^ o r four
; cats in thehoufes, probably driftéd alhore from fome. wreek. Of birds,
pigeons feem the moft numerous : and the wild poultry have been already
mentioned.
-IL LA 0R o j j p ^
This'appellation implies -the Ifles of Robbers, and was given by that
diftinguifihed navigator Magalhaens, who firft'difeovered thefe iflands m
i C21, the natives fhewing great difpofitions to
th a t- defigas.*' a r n ^ g a l -
haefis, deferibes the- people-«» naked,! their ‘hairtafo#i>e*d»Mitag, tall
and well proportioned,' with an d iv e com p le x io n .- T h e y |» g a u re d
thei^ teeth black K k ^ th e l’elewaps; and th e re ’feems tcr*d‘’a n » m a t e
c&rreijioadenee in their other m a n n e d arid etiftMns. T h b i t c M d k had
ohtrdggers, and a rude'delineation o f one has ifeeh'publifltefttrOm* PigafettaV
manufeript.* S ^ L - ■
According to the jefuit Gobien, who Has puMilhe'd ^pambulat HBftry
Of the Ladrones, or Marian Iflands/ the'inhaM^H?lPffie "arrival of
the Spaniards, regarded themfelves as the only men in the world, being
affured that the firft man was made of a piece of rock taken from Ftpa,
a little ifland near Guam; but, according to others, he was made of
garth in the latter ifland. When they were vifited by the Spaniards
and Dutch,-they inferred that thefe ftrangfers wer'e brethren, who had
loft the primitive Guamefe language. In colour, fpeech, manners, and
government, they- corifiderably refembie the Tagals or people of the
Philippines, before the Spanifh conqueft. Thefe ifles were-then very
populous, Guam, in forty leagues of circuity having thirty thoufand inhabitants.
A favourite-occupation of the women was to dye;.their teei
black, and their hair white; butler not Europeans fmile; for we have
* See alfo the Supplement of De Broflcs, n .'w ? - , for an Imggjimcqmit of the tiadrotjes.
S
4 9 7
manyfimilar absurdities. The J ig difplayed a Angular pride,-being MSL
addrefled with great refped, and.it was a crime for a noble..,to marry a
' common- f0 Yet ■ the. pcoplc.^cre. not enflaved, or even fubjedt, but
revered their nobles without any. coufequent idea of obedience. The
houfes were divided into four apartments, .by partitions of palm leaves
In their abfolu.te independance each man avenged .his own quarrel • and'
vyars tyere frequent, but not fanguinary, as:the lofs of one or two’ men
dec;ded the battl% Their magicians invoke the Anitis, or the. Dead
whofe flcuIls were'preferved in the houfe, and they are anxious left an .
M or ghoft thould difturb their filhing or rio&irnal repofe.
In the | # i i l PhiliP W of Spain thefe-ifles. were alfo called'the Ma-
'rW ' P & m p ? -Q£ his queen, M ary q f;A u ftd a .y T h e /a rg e f tis that o f
Guqm, h u t'Tm iaq has a b ra d ed (mgpe at^enti§£y from ttfie romantic de- T.man
fcnption in Anfon’s voyage.M f & M i&ng, dqubt-jthatmiarine^ who W
beeirpmg at fea; and fuffered many difea% and privations^1 will- be infinitely
delighted with any verdant land, and find beauties wher,e none
exift. Hfence fubfequent navigators have been greatly difappqinted in h
Tinian. Anfon found1 here abundance o f wild' cattle^of a white colour,
except,' the cars,,.whjch are generally blagk o f brown. But' 'th ey had’
■ B | | b?6I? imP°?ted the S p a n i a r d at
jS B E j Here were alfo found oranges, limes, and cocoa nuts, with that
c« t e d and'remarkable tree which bears^the hread fruit'1’ 1
IbsM- f"adrones are computed to be twelve or fourteen in number;
byt not ahoye# three of four are inK$ite<l Theiy veflels,’ flyth^
proa^have Keen efteemed Angular Ipecimens of naval architecture; and
ar S ftant int?rval impreffed Pigafetta and Anfon with the ihgdhuity .
of tfcfeSttftitrivance. The haturarhiStfry of thfefe irfanBlf! liftl^knoWn. *
it appears from the voyage of La Peroufe that fome of them are'vol-
To the N. of the Ladrones are ‘many fmall iflands, extending to To-
dos Los Santos, laf, 3o ° ,, thofe further to the h f belonging to Japan.
This group may either he arranged among the Ladrones, or might perhaps
admit1 of a diftintit appellation. '
The Golden and Silver Ifles; feem to be fo ftyled.from Japanefe fables,
and with a few other fcattered ifles on the N. of the Carolines,
I 111 u * ■ ' j j 3.-S | | merit'