Show THE LARONE ISLANDS Early Exploration People and Pos sbite There Is an old theory concerning the Ladrone islands that the continent of America was peopled from tem The recent taking of the Ldrone revives Interest In this contention which has now become somewhat obsolete says the New York Evening Post alel Ian some years before he sailed westward west-ward a a naturalized Spaniard to discover the Ladrones and lose his life in the Philippines had already as a native of Portugal sailed eastward to the Spice islands a part geographically geographi-cally of the Philippines Wen the For tuese settled In the Spice Islands they found the natives exchanging spices for silver and emeralds from the Ladrones The Portuguese however were never able to find any mines or precous stones or metal In the La drones and the Queston arose Whence came the silver and emeralds of the Ladrone Islander Considering that emeralds were not produced In the East Indies that the Ladrones had been evidently the home of an old civi lzaton and that the Ladrone islander island-er were still remarkable a naviga tons it was concluded by certain writers writ-ers that their silver and emerald were frem America and this connection established tlshed it was conjectured that here lay the answer to the question Whence came the American Indians The boats called areas of the La drone islander were reported by traveler trav-eler to be remarkable Of the flying proas of the Ladrone islanders the reorts of travelers are almost incredible The appearance of the Droa fled the early voyager with astonishment and its speed with wonder won-der his invention says a recent wrier would do credit to any civilized nation The stem and stern are alike naton and are very sharp The boat sails In either direction and always with the same side to the wind On the windward wind-ward sIde Is a long outrigger and at its extremity Is a los of wood pointed point-ed at both ends and paralel with the boat This prevents the capsizing of the boat the lee side of which Is vert cal to prevent drifting to leeward while the weather manner sIde Is built In the ordinary From these proas Magellan gave the Islands the appropriate name of Isla de las Velas Latnas or the Lateen sail Islands but his saiorscled them Ladrone or Robber Islands Drake called the Pelew islands 58 year later the Islands or Thieves The Ladrone islanders were honest among themselves them-selves and were kind to the stranger in distress In 1638 the ship Conception was wrecked on one of these islands The natives wrItes Le Gobien gave gC friendly assistance to those who were saved of the SDaish crew and endeavored en-deavored to alleviate their misfortunes by kind treatment Los ardine or The Gardens and Dos Praeres or the Pleasant Islands are among the names that have been given to these Islands but since 1668 their official designation in honor ot Marianne of Austria has been the M rIanres The islnnls forming the Ladrones begInning at the northernmost are Faralon de Pajaros an active volcano 1000 feet In height a group of three rock islets k wn as the Urracs Assumption As-sumption a partalb active volcano peak 2848 feet In height Aglgan seven miles In length mountainous and the northernmost inhabited island Pagan basing Uir e cones and peopled by a few natives the uninhabited islands of Alamagn Gugan Sari guan Anatan and Faralon de Me dlnla gano SalDan 15 miles long fertile and having about 100 inhabitants and now a place of segregation for leper wih a population of 300 la of no nof r i1 Importance Rota with 5 inhabitats I and Guam I Guam or Guan the southernost I and largest of the islands Is 2 miles long wad has a population of about I 900 twotirds of whom are In Agana and nearly all the ret upon the seaboard the country inland being almost without inhabitants Agann It is beautifully clean and possesses the capital is also a convict settlement good government officials a hospital schools and a church i The Spanish resident have usual numbered abut 20 and the regular I sOldier about 200 all quartered here The militia comprising about all the male population is commanded by native na-tive officers The civil government Is similar to that of the simiar Philippines Postal Post-al communication has been quarterly I When first discovered the Ldrnes I had a population of about 600 Not I one of the original race surves and the islands are peopled chiefly by Ta gals and Blsayans from the Philippines Phlp pines mixed descendants of South America Am-erica Indian a colon of Carolina islander who founded Garpan In the island of Saipan and numerous Cha gaal I memoSpanish al eex census cen-sus of 1888 reports a population of 646 I In Aga and a total of 10172 in all the i Islands 5034 being males and 5135 females I maes 513 males There are 18 schools In the I island of Guam Only 10 per cent of the Ladrne Islanders a unable to read and write Spanish Is the recog aired language but many of the natives na-tives speak a little English The climate mate Is god and equable 7Q to 80 de gees Fahrenheit is the range of the thermometer therometer The frt period of their known history his-tory 1621 to 166 is one of voyage and discover That mater spirit Magellan Magel-lan with his scurstrcken starving crew steer his failing ships across the waste of water towards the high pea of Rot then southwestward to the evergreen alum of Guam Refreshed Re-freshed they proceeded Magellan to his death In the Philippines and the Victoria 10 the completion of her circumnavigation cir-cumnavigation The Trinidad endeavoring endeav-oring to rcrss the Pacific touched at two other islands of the Ladrones and three sailors ran away one of whom was picked up five years later by the ships or Loyaa in still another island of the Ldrnes In 152 Saaedra took nominal poses son as did Legapi In 1565 but no settlement set-tlement was made During this period Drake Cavendish Van Noort Spl bergen Schouten L alr and the Nassau feet on their way around the world stopped at the Ladrones and were heartily welcomed and enter tamed by the natives The account given by Dampier of the remarkable bread fruit tree is the best A certain fruit called the bread fruit grows on a tree a big as our large apple ap-ple trees with dark leaves The fruit Is round and grows on the boughs like apples of the bigness of a good penny loaf When ripe I turns yellow soft and seet but the natives take it gen and bake It in an oven till the rind Is black This they scrape off and eat the inside In-side which is soft and white like the lke inside of newbaked bread having neither seed nor stone but if I Is kept 24 hours it is harsh As this fri Is In season eIght months in the year the natives feed upon no other sort of bread during that time They told us that all the Ladrones Isles had plenty of it I never heard of It In any other place Little else Is know of the original for but the crops at present are maize tobacco and sugar while cotton coffee rice cocoa and Mania hemp are grown and the cocoa palm Is I abundant Deer are numerous and cat tIe hogs and fowls have run wild for more than a century There are no snakes In the Lrones The second period 1663 to 1699 is that of conquest The religious conquest Is represented by the Apostle of Marl ana Diego Luis de Sanvitores the scion of an illustrious house of old Castile Cas-tile and descended by his mother from a nephew of the Cid He gave up the most brilliant prospect of court preferment prefer-ment to enter the order of the Jesuits He arrived at the Ladrones with five other priests and some lay assistants in 1668 He established his faith in 13 of the islands founded eight churches and three seminaries baptized 00000 natives and was killed in 1672 at the age of 45 while successfully attempt lag to baptize a baby against the will of its parents His monument is a few miles northwest of Agans The political conquest is represented by soldiers who came with Sanvitores and by others who came later Burney in his Voyages says Of all the intercourse of Europeans with the natives of thh South Sea islands the settlement of the Ladrones by the Spaniards has been the most unfortunate unfor-tunate In the war of extermination we become be-come acquainted with the original natives na-tives of the Ladrones called Chamor roe meaning frierds a word of salutation salu-tation among these islanders The third historical period 1699 to 1SSS is a chain of administrations by a succession of governors appointed by the governor general of the Philippines Philip-pines the last of whom General Marl na with his secretary Port Captain Duarta Lieutenant Gutierrez and two other lieutenants Sergeant Romelo and 54 soldiers was taken prisoner by the cruiser Charleston June 21 1811 |