CAROLINE ISLANDS, or NEW PHILIPPINES, a widely scattered archipelago in the Pacific, n. of New Guinea and e. of the Philippines, between 3° and 11° n., and 135° and 137° e. The westernmost are known as the Pelew (q.v. ante) or Palau islands, and cover 346 sq.m. of land, being nearly encircled by a coral reef. The surface is well wooded, and the soil fertile, producing bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, sugar-cane, oranges, bananas, etc., in abundance. Cattle, sheep, and hogs have been domesticated; there is a great variety of birds, and the lagoons abound with fish. The inhabitants are dark colored, and evidently of Papuan and Malay blood. The islands, and most of the vil lages, form independent but co-operative republics. One of the most remarkable insti tutions is the "clabbergall," a kind of union for mutual aid and defense. The women, too, have clobbcrgalls of their own, and exercise much political influence. Up to the close of the last century the people used stone instruments and weapons. Their cur rency consists of pieces, or pieds, of ancient glass and enamel, to which they ascribe a divine origin. The population, supposed to be about 10,000, seems to be decreasing. The central islands, or Carolines proper, consist of 48 groups, and comprise between 400 and 500 islands, of about 360 sq.m. in all. The Matelotas group lies n.e. of the Pelews, and consists of three islands, thinly inhabited. Yap, or Guap, further n.e., is 10 m. long, and has a good harbor. The natives of Yap are more advanced in civiliza
tion than their neighbors; they cultivate the betel-nut with great care, build good boats, lay out regular villages, pave the streets, and build stone piers and wharves. A Span ish mission was established in 1856. The Ilea, Swede, and Lutke islands are unim portant; but the Hugoleu (or Rug) group, discovered in 1824, consists of five large and about 40 small islands, with 35,000 inhabitants of two races, red and black, who are often at war with each other. The Mortlack, or Young William's, group consists of three islands, with a population of about 3,400, of Samoan origin, who are the only idol-worshipers in all the archipelago. To the n.e. lies ittivea island, inhabited by immigrants of mixed foreign blood. The Seniavine group, comprising three islands, has a small colony of whites, and one of the islands has been the seat of an American mission since 1851. This island, called Ascencion by the French, is a rendezvous for whaling vessels. In the center is a remarkable pile of ruins which seem to have belonged to a fortification. Strong's island, in the center of the Carolines proper, is a volcanic upheaval, discovered by Crozier in 1804, and is now the seat of an American mission. The eastern Carolines, otherwise the Mulgravo archipelago, comprise the Radak or Marshall group, and have a population estimated at 100,000. See POLYNESIA, ante.