Dampier describes the natives of this island as " strong bodied, large limbed, and well shaped. They are copper coloured like other Indians ; their hair is black and long : their eyes incaiily proportioned ; they have pretty high noses ; their lips arc pretty full ; and their teeth indif ferent white. They are long visaged, and stern of coun tenance ; yet we found then' to be affable and courteous." These people have a great tendency to corpulency, and are very subject to leprosy, or a kind of cutaneous disease, especially in the wet season, or between June and October. They arc particularly characterised by mildness and hos pitality, which have enabled their invaders to make deeper encroachments on their liberty, than if they had displayed a more repulsive disposition. They are indolent, prone to intoxication, and fond of music, dancing, and cock•iighting. The Spaniards have rendered them acquainted with agri culture ; and, to facilitate their labours, they tame the wild cattle, which arc trained to carry loads throughout the island. Several are kept for this purpose by most fami lies, becoming perfectly tractable, and as quiet as horses. They are guided by a. halter penetrating the septum of the nose, to which they grow accustomed in a fortnight. No part of the industry of the natives of Guam appears to have existed anterior to their conquest ; they have either been explicitly taught, or acquired what•they practise from example. Some of the mechanical arts are practised by them in carpentry, smith-work, brick-making ; and they fabricate cloth, cordage, and even cables, for the Acapulco galleons from the wild banana, which are reputed of supe rior strength to those manufactured of the best European hemp. But there is one branch of the arts in which they have remained stationary since the discovery of their isl and, namely, the construction of their canoes ; and this has arisen less from want of skill to make the alteration, than from their having already adopted the best possible form of which their local situation admitted. Celebrated naviga tors have repeatedly expressed their ad miration of these vessels, which are equally calculated to keep the sea, and to take advantage of the prevalent winds. Some of their canoes are forty feet long, hollowed out of the trunk of a single tree, and very.narrow. _A piece two inches deep is sewed on as a washing board to raise it higher ; " but what is very singular, one side of the boat is made perpendicular like a wall, while the other side is round, and made just as other vessels are, with a pretty full belly." The ends are sharp, each serves for a prow ; and the neighbouring islands frequented by the natives lying chiefly north and south, and the wind being almost constantly east, the rounded side is found on the lee. But there is besides an outrigger projecting from the side, necessary to steady so narrow a vessel, and at the extremity is a log of wood, in shape resembling another canoe, though much smaller. A single mast stands in the middle, with a triangular sail, which, when taken in, is rolled around a yard at the bot tom. No canoes are better adapted for sailing. A French navigator assures us, that, with a fair wind, they go at the rate of nine miles an hour, a distance said to be augmented to fifteen under the most favourable circumstances. Dam pier observes, " I did here, for my own satisfaction, try the swiftness of one of them. Sailing by our log, we had 12 knots on our reel, and she run it all out before the half mi nute glass was half out, which, if it had been no more, is after the rate of 12 miles an hour ; but I do believe she would have run 24 miles an hour." He was told of one of them having been sent express to Manilla, and perform ing the voyage, which is about 400 leagues, in the space of four days.. However, it is understood, that, although the best sailers known, the canoes of Guam are not safe at sea ; but should an accident happen, the natives are so ex pert at swimming, they are capable of repairing it in the water. The companions of AT. Marion observe, that "the form of these embarcations is such, as would do ho 110111• to a ship-builder among people who have made the greatest progress in the knowledge of navigation. This form has been imitated from no model, because it differs from all those which men, inhabiting. different parts of the world, have given to their vessels." • The inhabitants of Guam are dispersed in twenty-one native establishments, chiefly on the coast, and the town of Agana, situated about twelve miles northeast of the har bour. All the Indian families are agricultural, and each has a small portion of land subdivided into fields or gar dens ; but the interior of the island is still in a state of na ture, covered with thick woods, affording excellent timber for the construction of houses or vessels. The town stands on the shore, at the base of sonic hills of moderate eleva tion, in a fine district full of springs, and watered by a small rivulet. Its streets are laid out in a straight line ; and the houses, built for the most part of wood, stand on posts about three feet above the ground, and are roofed with tiles or palm leaves. But all the public edifices are constructed of brick. There is a fine church here deco rated after the Spanish fashion ; and two or three convents or colleges occupied by monks, one of which was esta blished for the education of Indians. The religious esta blishment of Guam was formerly vested in the Jesuits, who, on the suppression of their order, were supplanted by the Augustines ; and besides Agana, there are two or three other cures in different parts of the island. The go vernment house is spacious. There is a royal magazine tolerably well stored, and barracks for 500 men. This be ing the only Spanish colony in the Ladrones, was preserved with considerable care ; however, its chief and most im portant improvements were derived from the governor Tobias, who was at its head about forty years ago. He taught the natives the proper means of cultivating the land; he planted rice, maize, indigo, sugar canes, and cot ton, al/ of which succeeded admirably, and the maize in particular produced an incredible return. To give them
a proper example, this paternal governor formed gardens and plantations, where all necessary vegetables were cul tivated, along with the most delicious fruits. He esta blished a kind of cotton manufacture, and caused salt pits to be dug. Further, he instituted a school for the gratui tous education of the native children of both sexes, where they were instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic, as also vocal and instrumental music; whence strangers have been agreeably surprized, in finding practised musi cians assisting the celebration of divine worship in a place so remote from the civilized world. Finding it necessary to provide the island with a sufficient force to protect itself, he formed a militia of 200 Indians, among whom were four Spanish captains, while the remainder of the officers were chiefly Mestees, or the mixed race of Spaniards and na tives from the Philippines. But to preserve these troops from the hazard or idleness, and to procure them ample subsistence, they were occupied in cultivating a tract call ed the Royal Domain, separate from all other property. By such humane and prudent measures, while the natives are reclaimed to habits of industry, their principles and rrwrals, aided by an innate placid disposition, undergo an absolute alteration ; yet this patriotic individual was after wards persecuted by the clergy of Manilla.
The history of Guam is marked by some singular and interesting features. It was discovered in the year 1521, by Magellan, who ascertained that it belonged to a cluster of nine principal islands, and a number of Smaller islets, which he first called De Velas, from the sails of the canoes, but afterwards Ladrones, from the propensity of the na tives to theft. Guam appeared to enjoy a delightful cli mate it was covered with fruits, and afforded the means of supporting a colony ; therefore the Spaniards, having already established themselves in the Eastern Seas, resolv ed upon making a settlement here. The inhabitants were a wild and savage race; hut equally savage with themselves, the Europeans, in usurping their territories, carried fire and sword along with them. In violating the religion of their fathers, they endeavoured to inculcate the principles of Christianity r but, instead of adhering to its mild and be nevolent doctrines, they practised the most horrible cruel ties to enforce belief. While their rude opponents might have been gained by conciliation, a war of extermination was unrelentingly prosecuted, because their demands, alike ungenerous and unjust, were resisted. At this early pe riod, the nine islands of the group were calculated to con tain 60,000 inhabitants, of whom 20,000 belonged to Guam. But they gradually fell under the barbarity of their inva ders, too well skilled in warfare. After a long interval of suffering, a measure was at length adopted by the natives, which is scarcely to be paralleled in history : They resolv ed to allow their race to he extinguished in themselves, that posterity might not be able in their misery to reproach then) with existence. Thus the women drank deleterious potions to procure abortion at the moment, and to prevent their having any future offspring ; and this outrage against nature was so obstinately persisted in, that about 60 years ago, the total population of the group had decreased to 800 or 900 persons. The Spaniards, however, had awakened from their error, and learning the benefit of conciliation, found means to collect the whole in the island of Guam. There it continued to augment during twenty years, to about 1500, since which time we have no further accounts of it ; but most probably it is much more considerable, or part may have colonized the neighbouring islands. During these convulsions the invaders did not escape with impuni ty, and on one occasion when the natives rose upon then), all the missionaries were massacred; but on another, when their numbers were small, they proved unsuccessful, and all except 100 evacuated the island, leaving the Spaniards in peaceable possession of it. Afterwards they became accustomed to the yoke, and a quiet, peaceable, and in offensive race has now sprung •up to promote, instead of resist, the objects of the settlers.
Guam is of importance as a Spanish establishment from its position and great fertility : the galleons from Acapulco to Manilla, so much the object of capture to hostile nations, were wont to put in here for refreshments, besides which, a vessel came annually from the Philippines. It is said that the natives of the neighbouring islands have become more warlike of late, and seem disposed to make conquests of other territories; but whether they disturb the European colonies is not explained. In concluding these observa tions, we may cite the words of a French navigator, who made a short residence in Guam, which will satisfactorily illustrate its properties. " In traversing this island, we discovered how lavish nature has been of picturesque and agreeable places. -Enchanting spots were met with in our excursions, where she had bestowed every thing, and where the hand of man had made no arrangements. Ennui was banished : here all was united for the enjoyment of solitude : verdure, shade, coolness, and the perfume of flowers: crystalline fountains were seen springing from the rocks: the song of innumerable birds was heard: and groves appeared of cocoas, bread-fruit, oranges, citrons, and an infinity of fruits interspersed among the foliage of trees, all cultivated by the operation of nature alone. Here, too, they presented a pleasing disorder, which art has never been able to imitate. I could not quit this de lightful abode without regret, where life might be passed in satisfaction." It seems doubtful whether the actual position of Guani is completely ascertained. Dampier, after a very long run, lays it down in Latitude 13° 21' North, Longitude 125° 11' West : later navigators place it in 13° 25' North Latitude, and 155° 10' East Longitude; and La Perousc, probably from observation, fixes the harbour of Umata in 13° 10' North Latitude. (c)