Whatever artistic power the maker possessed has been given to the head, and it must be acknowledged that he has carried out his idea most vigorously. The long dress worn by this idol is not stained black, like that which covers the face, head, and body, but is white, and without even a pattern.

For this interesting specimen I am indebted to E. Randell, Esq., who has furnished me with many of the objects which have been figured in this work.

CHAPTER CXIII.
THE CAROLINE ARCHIPELAGO.
DRESS—ARCHITECTURE—AMUSEMENTS—WAR.

DISCOVERY AND NAMING OF THE ISLANDS — THEIR GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT — THE MARSHALL AND GILBERT GROUPS — INHABITANTS OF ROMANZOFF ISLAND — THE ISLAND OF BORNABI AND ITS INHABITANTS — TATTOOING AND HAIR DRESSING — A MAN OF FASHION IN BORNABI — ARCHITECTURE AND ANCIENT RUINS — LOVE OF COAST — THE PELEW ISLANDS — SHIPWRECK OF CAPTAIN WILSON — COMPLEXION AND GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE NATIVES — THE TATTOO — CURIOUS COMBINATION OF NAKEDNESS AND MODESTY — USE OF THE BETEL-NUT — THE RUPACKS AND THE BONE BRACELET — MODE OF INVESTITURE — SPEAR THROWING — MODE OF CONDUCTING SEA FIGHTS — ARCHITECTURE OF THE PELEW ISLANDS — MANUFACTURE OF DOMESTIC IMPLEMENTS — DANCE OF THE WARRIORS — IDEA OF RELIGION — A FUNERAL IN THE PELEW ISLANDS — STORY OF LEE BOO.

Passing in a south-westerly direction from the Sandwich Islands we come to a very large group called the Caroline Archipelago. These islands were discovered—as far as is known—in 1526, by the Portuguese, who in those days were the most enterprising navigators in the world. About fifty years afterward they were visited by Drake, but they did not receive the name by which they are known until more than a hundred years after Drake’s voyage, when they were named by the Spanish the Carolines, in honor of Charles the Second, the then king of Spain.

These islands extend over a very considerable geographical range, a space of some fifty degrees intervening between the most easterly and westerly of them. Owing to the extensive range of these islands, there is considerable difference between the manners and customs of these natives, and even between their form and complexion. We will therefore take as examples some of the easterly, central, and western islands.

The most easterly of the group are those which are called the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, the former being those of the north and the latter those of the south. They are sometimes divided into the Eastern and Western Islands, the former being the Radick and the latter the Ralick chain, each group comprising about fifteen or sixteen islands.

These islands are all low in the water, being mostly of coralline structure, so that they are not visible from any great distance. In consequence of their lowness, they seem to have escaped the observation of voyagers until 1788, when they were discovered by Marshall and Gilbert, after whom they were named. As is usual in coral islands, the soil is but shallow, having been formed by the decomposition of vegetable matter thrown on the coral reefs by the waves. The vegetation is therefore scanty, and is mostly confined to bananas, cocoa-nut trees, bread-fruit—all of which thrive best on a low situation near water.

As a sample of the Marshall Islanders, I give a [portrait] of a man and woman of Romanzoff Island, on the next page. They are a rather fine race, taller than the generality of the Caroline Islanders, and possess tolerably good features. They use the tattoo with some profusion, both sexes appearing to be equally addicted to it. They are better clothed than many Polynesians, the men wearing a short mat round their waists, and the women being clad in a very fine and neatly-made mat, falling nearly to the feet. The hair is long, and naturally curling, and is worn long by both sexes. Earrings are in great request, and some of them, as may be seen by reference to the illustration, are enormously large.