In 1799 a Danish political activist named Malthe Conrad Bruun, an enthusiast for the French revolution and a man frequently in conflict with the restrictive censorship in his own country, arrived in France. Once there he began to indulge his passion for geography, and in 1807 he founded a journal entitled Annales des Voyages de la Géographie et de l’Histoire. In 1809 it included an essay with the title HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY of the ARCHIPELAGO of the MARIANAS. It was actually a translation into French of an essay originally written in German by Friedrich Wilhelm Bratring, and the fact that it was thought worth translating suggests that it was France’s main source of information on the Marianas. Its existence would surely have been known to Louis de Freycinet, and it is very likely that a copy of it went with the Uranie when it left Toulon. It was probably a factor in de Freycinet’s decision to send three members of his état-major on a rather risky voyage with a Carolinian fleet from Guam to Rota and Tinian, and it therefore seems worth translating, even if rather roughly, into English. That translation is given below. Numbers in square brackets are page numbers in the journal.
1. THE DISCOVERY OF THE ISLANDS
THE AMBITION of the Emperor Charles V was responsible for the discovery of these islands. The Portuguese were trading very lucratively in the Moluccas, using the conventional route via the Cape of Good Hope. The 1404 Treaty of Tordesillas excluded Spain from trade by this route, but the Portuguese had not realised that the islands could be reached in a different way .America had been [266] discovered, and imaginative thinkers had speculated that if it was possible to by-pass that part of the world, one could perhaps, by sailing always to the west, reach those important islands.
An accomplished navigator named Ferdinand Magelhaens (Magellan) focused the attention of the emperor on thedea, and assured him that it was indeed possible to round the southern tip of America. Chartes V welcomed this project, equipped a fleet of five vessels, and gave command to Magellan. Guided by his enterprising genius, this navigator set sail in 1519; he discovered the strait between the continent of America and Tierra del Fuego that still bears his name and, after many dangers, entered the South Seas. He immediately headed northwest and discovered two uncultivated and uninhabited islands, but the inadequacy of the means then used to determine position makes it impossible to assign their true position to these islands today. After a long voyage on this immense ocean, on March 6, 1521 at 12° northern latitude and 146° [267] longitude, a small island was sighted to the northwest and, soon afterwards, two others, much lower and less extensive than the first, to the southwest. Their attractive appearance induced Magellan to reprovision there.
The inhabitants surrounded the ship in their canoes as soon as they arrived, and plundered it. By driving off the crew with a hail of stones and sticks, they even succeeded in dragging one of the boats ashore. Magellan punished them for their insolence, burned a great number of their canoes and huts, and even killed some of the islanders. According to Pigafetta, one of his companions, he gave this group of islands the name of Las islas de los Ladrones or the Islands of Thieves, on account of the character of the inhabitants, but according to Herrera, he named them Las Velas because of their shape, which had some resemblance to a sail. On 10 March he put to sea again and, pursued by more than a hundred canoes, headed southwest towards the Philippines.
In this way a part of this Archipelago was discovered, but on which of the islands did Magellan land? It was certainly not [268] Guam, since there are no two smaller islands near it to the southwest. It is likely to have been Saipan and in this case, the small islands would be Tinian and Agiguan. Perhaps these three islands were further south but it is in general scarcely possible to draw certain data from a report as vague and inexact as that provided by Magellan’s expedition. The various diaries from this voyage give some details of the natural resources of the islands, their inhabitants and their occupations. The final edition of Pigafetta, published by Amoretti, even included a map of these islands where a pirogue is shown balanced on floats.
These islands were of little interest to Spain because no metals or other precious objects, which alone could satisfy their greed, were found there. They should have paid attention to their position as [269] way-stations between the two Indies, but the Moluccas continued to be their objective, and a new voyage undertaken to those islands was the reason that the Ladrones were visited for the second time.
Garcias de Loaysa, or rather Alfonso de Salazar, who succeeded him after his death, called in at these islands in September or October 1526, en route from Peru to the Philippines. He landed at a small island which he called Boria, which was probably Rota, also known as Serpana. There he found Gonsalvo de Vigo, a sailor from Magellan’s fleet, who had been marooned there with two others. The inhabitants, whose customs and habits Alfonso de Salazar described briefly, provided him with abundant fruit and provisions. He left after five days.
Admiral Michel Lopes de Legaspi having, in 1565, subjugated the Philippines, all the navigators who followed the same route put in at the Ladrones to take on water and fresh supplies, but none of these voyages contributed anything to enriching geography [270] with a more exact knowledge of these islands, since the Spanish court had good reason for preventing these discoveries from being known abroad. This principle has to some extent been followed even to the present day, although the reasons for it being adopted have long since ceased to exist.
Thomas Cavendish was the first visitor to the islands after the Spaniards. After a voyage of about forty days across the Pacific, this English captain reached Guam, which had been discovered by the Spaniards and which, more than all the others, offered sailors plentiful supplies, on 3 January1588. Guam is the largest and southernmost of the islands of the archipelago. Pretty, the editor of one of the diaries of Cavendish’s voyage, placed it at15⁰ 40′ N. They did not land, and the diary tells only of some trading with the islanders for fruit and fish.
It is often said that Drake was the first English navigator to visit these islands. It [271] is true that on 30 September 1579 he was at a group of islands which he called the Islands of Thieves or Isles des Larrons, on account of the penchant which their inhabitants had for thieving, but these lay south of 8⁰N, and therefore cannot have been the Marianas.
Magellan’s voyage had convinced the Spaniards that there were still important discoveries to be made in the South Seas, and in 1667 the Viceroy of Peru despatched Alvaro Mendanna de Neyru from Callao in 1667. During a very successful voyage, he discovered lands of considerable extent, which he took to be King Solomon’s Ophir. Following his account of this discovery, in 1695 the Spanish government despatched him at the head of a fleet to take possession of them, but although he discovered a number of islands he could not find his Ophir. Mendanna died during the voyage and the chief pilot, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, having set sail for the Philippines, called in at Guam and Serpana on 5 January, 1696. The inhabitants brought him fruit and fish in abundance. Quiros did not go ashore, but in trading with the islanders he had occasion to make observations on their character, [272] which agreed perfectly with those of Magellan and Cavendish.
In 1598 the success of English privateers led a company of Dutch merchants to send Admiral Oliver van Noort to the west coast of America with several ships. Noort made several captures, and after leaving Chile he headed northwest to reach the East Indies. On 16 September 1600 he arrived on at one of the Ladrones, which he assumed to be Guam. He sailed round it and found it to measure seven or eight miles from south to north. In trading with the inhabitants he learned how addicted they were to thieving. Apart from this, his account contains few new observations and he only remained for two days. The same is true of the voyages of George von Spilbergen and Schappenham, who visited these islands, one in 1616 and the other in 1625. However, they all confirm the accounts of the Spanish and English navigators.
Most of the navigators limited themselves to Guam for resupply, without concerning themselves with the other islands of the Marianas. The Spaniards, whose galleons made the annual voyage from America to the Philippines, were able to visit them but this did not make them well known. However, Gemmeli Careri mentioned three small islands in the north of the archipelago, and It is true that in 1664 the Spanish galleon, the Saint Joseph, discovered three small islands called Tulas or Tunas to the north of the Ladrone, in a group also known as Maug. However, these islands were not situated, as Gemelli claimed, between 54⁰N and 56⁰N [274] but south of 20⁰ 55’N. The Spaniards have since named them Islas S. Lorenzo.
Almost a century and a half passed after the discovery of the Ladrones without there being more than superficial knowledge of them. Spain did not take possession of them or establish a colony there, seeing them only as a way-station on voyages from Acapulco to Manila, but eventually some Jesuits asked for missionaries be sent there to preach the Gospel. Their wishes were fulfilled during the reign of the dowager queen Maria Anna of Austria when, around the year 1668, some missionaries were sent there. They made many converts and named the islands the Marianas in honour of their sovereign. They saw that the islands were very fertile and, following their report, the court sent colonists and a governor there. This mission was entrusted in 1678 Juan Antonio de Solaso, who landed in Guam with thirty soldiers, built a fort on the island, and formally took possession of the entire archipelago in the name of His Catholic Majesty. [275]
Little by little the missionaries also visited the other islands of this group, which were not yet even known by name. However, the islanders soon had reason to be dissatisfied with the Spaniards, which gave rise to revolts, of which the missionaries were the first victims.
Such was the state of affairs in the Ladrones when the English captain Eaton and the pilot Cowley arrived. They anchored there on the 1 March 1685 by a small island near Guam which they estimated to be at latitude 13° 3’N. They reported that the troubles were then at their height but the islanders, in full revolt against the Spaniards, were too weak to resist the forces of their oppressors and had left the island to establish themselves on another, ten miles further north. Cowley himself had proof of their treachery, and the Spanish governor sent him word that he would be greatly obliged to him if he would exterminate the entire nation. However, on 1 April, as soon as their vessel had been repaired and the governor had supplied them with pigs and fruit, they weighed anchor to sail to the Philippines. Cowley said in his journal that they could have taken control of Guam on their own, and that the inhabitants had often given them to understand that they asked for nothing better. The account he gave of the islands is more satisfactory than anything written by his predecessors.
The next navigator to visit the Ladrones, in the midst of the troubles there,, was William Dampier. He arrived off Guam with Captain Swan on 20 May 1686, and anchored off the west coast, which he placed at 15⁰ 21’N. All the inhabitants who had taken part in the revolt had fled, and he found only a hundred islanders left. After the governor had provided them with a large quantity of pigs, coconuts, rice and other provisions, they left the island for Mindanao on 2 June. Dampier’s Journal contains observations on the island which, while few in number, are very interesting, They describe h the produce of the country, its inhabitants and their relations with the Spaniards.
[277] The divisions among the Spaniards prolonged their wars with the inhabitants, but finally José de Quiroga, an officer of merit, having been appointed governor in 1694, succeeded in reestablishing peace and order on Guam. He enjoyed the esteem and confidence of the missionaries, the garrison and islanders. He subdued all the islands of the archipelago, which his predecessors had long attempted in vain. The inhabitants of Serpana and Saipan surrendered voluntarily. Those of Tinian took refuge among the rocks of Aguignan, but attacked from all sides, were all taken prisoner. This victory, and the humanity of the victor, having been known in the northern islands, the inhabitants of the nine islands of Gani submitted to the Spaniards and received baptism. All these events took place in 1695, in the space of a month. Father Charles le Gobien reports them in his History of the Marianas. Of all the works which deal with this archipelago, this is the only one of interest, and from which one can draw profit. The author collected together the various [278] accounts of the missionaries, especially that of Father Louis de Morales, and gives very full details of the situation, the produce, the inhabitants, etc., of this group of islands. In the absence of any more recent work, it is still today the principal source to which recourse can be had, because modern navigators have limited themselves to calling in at just one of these islands, without making observations on the archipelago as a whole.
Gemelli Careri claims to have landed on Guam in 1606. His account contains only a listing of the islands and some observations on their inhabitants; it appears to be a work ar second hand, and he fixed the locations of the islands very inaccuratly.
On 11 March 1710, Captain Woodes Rogers, Stephen Courtney, William Dampier (on his 4th voyage), and Edward Cooke anchored off Guam after cruising the South Seas. Although their vessels were fitted out as privateers and their nation was at war with Spain, the governor received them as friends and furnished them with provisions and supplies in abundance. They set sail again on the 21st of the same month. Rogers gave a short [279] but interesting description of the island, its produce, and the peaceful commerce which then prevailed between the Spaniards and the inhabitants. Cooke’s Journal also contains several remarkable observations, which agree in general with those of Rogers.
Le Gentil de la Barbinais arrived off Guam, which he also called the Larrons on 30 May 1716 and anchored in the Marianas harbour. He reported that there were only 1500 inhabitants, and that a large part had taken refuge in the mountains to defend their freedom. A few days later, having obtained provisions, he left for China. His account is inaccurate and not very interesting.
John Clipperton, an English buccaneer, landed on Guam on13 May 1721, anchoring in the Umata roads. His trading for provisions and fresh food [280] gave rise to hostilities; the Spaniards treated his vessel badly, and forced him to leave the island. His account contains only the story of his misfortunes.
In 1742, after having sailed along the coast of America, Admiral George Anson arrived near the Larrons, where he wished to land to cure those of his crew who were suffering from scurvy. He sighted Anatacan and Serigan on 23 August but having failked to find safe anchorage there, he anchored off Tinian on the 27th, shortly after the Spaniards had transported the inhabitants to Guam. The island resembled a huge garden, and was filled with flocks, pigs and chickens. Everywhere there were signs of very intense cultivation. Captain Anson spoke of this island as a paradise, placing it at 15⁰ 8’N and at 114⁰ 50′ west of Acapulco. After remaining for two months for his sick recover and to repair his ship, he set sail again, provided with all the provisions he needed.
Admiral Anson, or rather Richard Walter, the writer of his diary, described many details of their stay on Tinian and of the beauty [281] of that island. Their account is accompanied by several views of the islandsp, and the author added a description and a historical summary of their discoveries. This account contains several new observations, but must be read critically.
Twenty-two years later, on 5 July 1765, the English captain John Byron and his companion Gore, arrived at Tinian after a long and arduous voyage in the South Seas, and dropped anchor in the harbour where Anson had stayed to repair his ship. The island had entirely changed in appearance; the beautiful meadows were covered with brushwood and rushes, and while the cattle had become rare and wild, flies and other insects had multiplied. In a word, it was impossible to find there the happy picture that Anson had drawn of it. To reconcile these accounts, it must be believed that they are both exaggerated. At the end of nine weeks, with his ship repaired and well provisioned, Byron left for Batavia on 30 September.
On 19 September 1767, the English captain Samuel Wallis moored in the Tinian roadstead to have his ship repaired and to take on fresh food, but the formerly abundant pigs, cattle and chickens had become even rarer and more feral. In order to prevent the island serving as a place of stay and provisioning, the Spaniards had these animals destroyed by dogs. Wallis had great difficulty in obtaining provisions, and remained only a few days. The heat in the thick forests with which the island was covered was stifling. His account contains only a few general observations on the islands.
On 10 June 1768, De Pagès came to Guam on an Acapulco galleon with the new governor of the Marianas on board. The vessel remained at anchor in Agana harbour, three miles from the town, until the 15th, so De Pagès had time to examine the island. However, [283] his account contains nothing new or important.
On 27 September1772, the French navigators Duclesmeur and Crozet, on route from New Zealand to the East Indies, touched at the Ladrones and anchored off Guam, at the port of Agana. They disembarked those of their crew who were suffering from scurvy, who soon recovered despite continuous rain. The vessels being repaired and provisioned, they left the island on 19 November. The two months stay enabled them to examine Guam in detai, and the good treatment they received from the Spanish governor had made their stay very pleasant. Crozet provided a very useful description of the island; he dwells mainly on its inhabitants and their industry, and on the Spanish colonists. Of all the accounts of Guam, his offers the most accurate and complete picture of the island.
While en route from Monterey to Macao in 1786, the [284] unfortunate La Pérouse arrived at one of the islands known as Gani, in the northern Marianas. This island had not then been visited; he named it Assumption Island, and placed it 19⁰ 45’N,143⁰ 15’E. He anchored there on 14 December, but on landing found only a volcanic crater, lava and steep cliffs.along the edges of which grew a few straggly coconut palms. He soon resumed his voyage to China. It is to him that we owe a more exact calculation of the latitudes of these islands, and some details of Assumption.
On August 1st, 1788, the English explorers Marshall and Gilbert, sailing from Port Jackson to China, sighted Saipan, but having found no safe anchorage, were obliged to content themselves with gathering coconuts and palm hearts, some of which were collected in a boat. For the relief of their sick, they anchored off Tinan, near where Anson and Wallis had been. They found the island as described by Wallis, and were able to catch [285] only a very small number of the domestic animals, such as oxen, pigs, and chickens, which had become feral. On the other hand, they were able to collect plenty of coconuts, oranges and small lemons. After eight days they put to sea again. On 16 September, the English captain Sever, returning from Port Jackson, anchored in the Tinian roads. The journal of this voyage, written by Lieutenant Watts, contains nothing new of interest, but confirms Byron’s report of the prodigious quantity of flies, and of the feral nature of the formerly domesticated animals.
The most recent European explorers to visit and describe these islands were the English captain John Henry Cox and his lieutenant George Mortimer. After leaving Unalashka, they anchored off Tinian on 12 December 1789. They saw fine herds of cattle grazing but when they went ashore, the animals took refuge in the forests, which it was impossible to penetrate. On the 15th they landed at another place, but [286] they could only take away good food and some fruit. They left the same day for Macao. Mortimer’s journal does not contain any new observations, but confirms those of Anson and Byron.
What we know of the Ladrones is therefore still rather incomplete. It is true that the islands of Guam, Tinian and Assumption have often been visited and described, but the others have been seen only in passing or are even still entirely unknown. The only account we have of the latter is that of Father Morales, which is found in the work of Father Le Gobien. It would therefore be desirable that some navigator be sent to survey them, or that some of those who sail from Port Jackson to Canton pause there and dtermine their exact situation.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE LADRONES.
1: THE NAMING OF THE ARCHIPELAGO
There is no agreement concerning the name given by Magellan to the three islands of the group he was the first to discover. According to Pigafetta, who voyaged with him, he named them the islas de los Ladrones, because of the skill showed by the inhabitants in thieving, but Herréra says that he gave them the name islas de las Velas latinas, because of the triangular shape of the sails of the the canoes. It has also been claimed that the these were a different group, closer to the Philippines. Magellan may very well have given two different names to the same islands without Pigafetta knowing, but Ladrones is the name they have retained. Later, Spanish missionaries called them the Archivel de Saint-Lazare, [288] due to an error by Fabré, the first translator of Pigafetta’s journal, who says that on March 16 Magellan discovered the island of Zamal and the Saint-Lazare Archipelago 30 miles west of the Ladrones. If this were true, these islands would naturally be part of the Mariana group, but in Amoretti’s translation of the same journal it is said that these islands were 300 leagues from the Ladrones. It therefore seems that these were the northern Philippines, two of which still bear the names of Samar and Zeha today.
According to Father Le Gobien, the nine islands of the northern Marianas are also called the Gani Islands, but he does not say why. The Spaniards also named them the Islas de los Bolcanes, because of the volcanoes there. Volcanoes on Assumption and Pagan that are not entirely extinct.
2. LOCATION
The archipelago is situated in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, between the Philippines and Hawaii, and extends from south to north in an almost straight line. French explorers place it between 141⁰ and 144⁰ east of Paris; and according to [289] Father de Morales, the first geographers who speak of it locate it between 13°N and 21°N. More recent navigators have corrected these approximate estimates, but without determining the position of the southern tip of the island of Guam.
According to Crozet, the port of Agana, situated on the west coast of Guam at 13⁰ 26’N, 141° 30’E (of the Paris meridian), is about equally distant from the southern and northern ends of the island. The positions of the northern islands of the archipelago were determined by La Pérouse , who placed Assumption at 19° 45’N, 143° 15’E, 50′ minutes further north than did the missionaries. This is also true of the three rocks of Mangs (Maug) and of Uracas which is the most northerly of all. La Pérouse’s obervations show that the archipelago cannot extend beyond 20°N.
3. CLIMATE
Although these islands are situated in the same climatic zone as Mexico, the Philippines, Bengal, Arabia Felix, Nubia and most of the countries neighbouring Senegal, the climate there is nevertheless [290] very temperate, thanks to the influence of the sea, and not nearly as hot as in those countries. At certain times, the sea and the west winds produce great humidity; but the north wind and the hurricanes, which are very frequent in those parts, soon purify the air and restore its healthiness. From the middle of October to the middle of June, the north trade-winds keep the sky constantly clear. During the rest of the year, when the wind called the west monsoon reigns, that is to say during the winter of the islanders, the weather is very changeable and storms are very frequent. During Lieutenant Watts’s stay on Tinian during the rainy season, the thermometer was at 87⁰.
4. NATURAL PRODUCE
When the islands were discovered by Magellan, the only fresh food and produce that could be obtained from them consisted of fish, coconuts, dates, and some other fruits; which were obtained by trade. Since Spain took control of the whole archipelago they have introduced quadrupeds, different kinds of grains, vegetables, and other useful plants, which multiply there in an astonishing manner. The cattle, pigs, goats, chickens, ducks, etc., [291] that were transported to Guam and Tinian have become wild. living in herds in the woods and mountains, and it takes skill and cunning to catch them. Their flesh is said to taste delicious. The oxen are large, well-fed, and usually white, with only the ears being black. They are trained for ploughing, transport and riding. Horses, donkeys and mules have also been brought from the Philippines and America.
Governor Tobias introduced deer from the Philippines, which populated the forests. In the fields and woods there are a great number of turtle doves, parrots, thrushes, and blackbirds, and on the banks of the small rivers there are even moorhens. On Assumption there are crabs of a very large species. On Guam fish, both sea and fresh water, are very abundant. Although the other islands have no rivers, they are not lacking in springs. While not actually poisonous, many of the sea fish are nevertheless very unhealthy and sometimes cause cramps and other discomfort. The turtles caught on the coasts of Guam are very large, but neither the inhabitants nor the Spaniards eat them.
Insects, such as flies, morquitos, [292] centipedes and black ants, are present in great numbers in all theislands but especially on Tinian and those that are uninhabited; it is a scourge from which navigators have suffered greatly
The Ladrones surpass most of the countries situated in the same climatic zone in the abundance of exquisite fruits, because the great number of native varieties has been supplemented by those of other countries, introduced by the Spaniards. The uninhabited islands are covered with whole forests of cocoanut trees (of which there are three different species), of bitter and sweet orange trees, of lemon trees with large and small fruits (this last species is the limonia acidissima) and of lemon trees. The albu, which in these islands is called rima and which is the bread-tree (sitodium altile), is very common, as in most of the Pacific islands. It provides the inhabitants of these islands with a food for daily use, which replaces bread of flour. The forests are full of guajava (psidium guajava), of caper trees and shrubs, of banana or pisang trees ; even on Assumption, which is otherwise very barren, there are several species of banana that La Pérouse assured us he had never seen anywhere else. Although all these trees grow everywhere without cultivation, those cultivated in plantations provide [293] better-tasting fruit. The gardens of Guam are filled with mangoes (mangifera indica) with a delicious fruit, pineapples and melons of all kinds.
The islanders, the missionaries, and most of the Spaniards lived at first only on sea fish, rima, and other fruits. Vegetables were gradually cultivated, and it was only about forty years ago that Governor Tobias introduced rice, wheat, indigo, cotton, cocoa, and sugar cane. The production of wheat and corn is prodigious. Crozet assured us that one quite often finds these plants twelve feet high, bearing eight to ten ears ten inches long. Captain Gilbert found a great number of wild cotton plants on Tinian.
5. THE ISLANDERS
The archipelago was formerly densely populated, and even the smallest islets were inhabited. It is said that Guam, Rota and Tinian alone had more than 50,000 inhabitants. The first navigators who saw them could not sufficiently admire their stature and their beautiful faces: they paid dearly for their civilization; today inhabitants of Guam, Rota and Saipan number about 1500 individuals, and the other islands are entirely [294] deserted. Attachment to their liberty and their customs, suicides, epidemics, plague and other diseases, and the weapons and dogs of the Europeans, have been the causes of their near-extermination. The small number of those who survived the misfortunes of their homelands were transferred, about forty years ago, to the island of Guam.
Crozet describedthe Christian descendants of this beautiful nation in the following manner: “They are,” he says, “small, rather ugly, black, and for the most part scabby, although they bathe often. The women are generally beautiful, well-made, and reddish in colour; both sexes have very long hair, Civilisation has made them gentle, generous, and humane, but they have acquired a vice unknown to their ancestors, which is the love of drink. They often get drunk on a strong liquor that they prepare from coconuts. They love dancing and music as much as they shun work. Their usual amusements are cockfights, which, as in London, are occasions for betting.
They are all labourers. Each family has its lands, which consist of a garden, an orchard and a field cultivated with the spade. Besides agriculture, which is their principal occupation, they have several trades. There are among them workshops occupieby [295] carpenters, joiners, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, brickmakers and lime-burners. Governor Tobias successfully introduced the weaving of cotton. They have in general a great deal of industry, and today the inhabitants of Guam have made it unnecessary to import manufactures from other Spanish colones,i
6. GOVERNANCE
The Ladrones belong to the King of Spain; the governor he appoints is a civil and military leader, and four or five Spaniards fulfil the various civil duties under his direction,. The navigators who visited these islands in the early days of Spanish rule found a garrison of 200 European soldiers on Guam but Crozet spoke only of a militia of 200 natives who wear uniforms and are well paid. They are under the command of four Spanish captains; most of the other officers are Mestizos and Indians from the Philippines. The soldiers cultivate the lands which form the royal domains, the produce of which is intended for their maintenance. It is pointless to prove that these islands bring nothing to Spain, and that on the contrary they are a burden to it.
[296] 7.INDIVIDUAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ISLANDS
The archipelago, not counting small isolated islands located in the vicinity of the Ladrones to the north, east and especially south, is composed of fifteen islands, whose names are known. They are divided into southern and northern groups.
A) Southern Islands
1. Guam or Guahan, otherwise the Ile de Saint Jean, is the southernmost and largest. The first navigators who visited it estimated its circumference at 50 miles but according to Crozet it is only forty. It is elongated north-south. The centre is formed by a chain of fairly high mountains which slope gently towards the sea, with valleys occupied by fields and pasture. There are scenic and attractive places everywhere.. The mountains are covered with coconut, lemon, orange, breadfruit, guava, banana and caper trees. Springs and small streams run from the heights into the sea. In this happy climate, the trees bear both [297] flowers and fruits, and summer is perpetual. The numerous herds of cattle, goats, pigs, and fowls that have been abandoned and which live and feed in the forests, and the great quantity of fruits which ripen without cultivation, furnish the inhabitants with provisions beyond their needs. The population formerly amounted to 30,000 souls, but there are now only 1500 inhabitants.
Agana or San-Ignatio de Agana is the chief town, situated on the north-west coast, four miles north of the small port. It is the residence of the governor of the whole archipelago. His house is large and well built. The streets are laid out in line, and the houses of the individuals are, for the most part, built solidly of wood. They are supported on piles rising three feet above ground level, and are mostly roofed with shingles and tiles, although some are roofed with palm leaves. The public buildings are of brick. The church is built in the Spanish style, and is over-ornamented. The buildings that were formerly of the Jesuits are now occupied by Augustinian monks. There are also in the town spacious barracks and a large government store for the use of the soldiers. The city is surrounded by fortifications and beautiful gardens; the squares and avenues are planted [298] with four rows of coconut and breadfruit trees, making a stay there very pleasant.
The port, four miles south of Agana at 13⁰ 36′ N, 141° 30’E , is the only secure one in the whole archipelago. On the south side it is closed by a strip of land that extends two miles out to se, and a row of reefs of the same length protects it on the north side. The entrance, which is narrow and defended by the brick-built Saint Louis battery, is very dangerous on account of the great number of reefs and madrepores. All navigators report that the reefs that border these islands do not allow one to find safe anchorage there. The port of Agana itself can only accommodate four vessels.
In addition to the town of Agana, the inhabitants have established twenty-one settlements along the coasts, each occupied by five or six families living on wheat, vegetables and fish. The interior of the island is empty
2. Serpana, Zarpana or Roti, called the Ile de Sainte-Anne by the Jesuits, has been located by Father de Morales seven miles from Guam, at 14⁰ N. It has a circumference of 15 miles. Anson told us that in his time it was occupied by a colony [299] of islanders, who cultivated rice for the inhabitants of Guam. That is all that is known about it.
3. Aguigan or Aguiguan, called the Ile de Saint -Ange by the Jesuits, is situated 15 miles further north, one mile from the westernmost point of Tinian, from which it is separated by a strait. According to Father de Morales it has a circumference of three miles, and is situated at14⁰ 43’N. It is otherwise unknown.
4. Tinian, called Buena Vista Mariana by the Jesuits, is, after Guam, the island visited most often. Father de Morales estimated its circumference at 14 miles, and placed it at 14⁰ 50′ N, but according to Anson it is situated 11° 8′ N, 114⁰ 50′ west of Acapulco. The centre is occupied by mountains that slope gently down to the sea, enclosing charming valleys. It was formerly flourishing but is entirely deserted and uncultivated since the small number of inhabitants who escaped the fury of the Spaniards were transferred to Guam. The soil, though light, is nevertheless very fertile. There are no rivers; but Anson informed us that it does not lack springs. The only [300] anchorage is at the south-west point, but the seafloor is festooned with coral that often proves fatal to vessels anchored there. The island abounds in coconuts and other fruits, but the Spaniards have killed almost all the cattle and wild pigs which were once there in great numbers.
5.Saipan, which the Jesuits called the Isle de St. Joseph, is three miles north of Tinian, at 15° 22’N. After Guam it is the largest island of the entire archipelago, wit a circumference of 100 miles according to Father de Morales. In the centre is a mountain peak that extends to the sea. The island was formerly well populated but today there is only a small colony sent there from Guam with a priest. It is, moreover, very little known.
B) Northern Islands
6Anatahan or Analcjan, which the Jesuits named Saint-Joachim, is situated at 17° 20′ N, 35 miles from Saipan, according to Father de Morales. He gives it a circumference of 10 miles. This island is very high and very hilly but its soil is fertile. It is covered with [301] coconut trees and brushwood, is uninhabited and has neither anchorage nor springs.
7. Paxaros, mentioned under this name by Anson, is marked on most maps as a simple rock, but is actually a very low islet of small extent. It is situated to the west of Anatahan, and otherwise entirely unknown. [N.B. Now the Farallon de Medinilla]
8. Sarigan or Sérigan, known to the Jesuits as the Ile de Saint-Charles, is three miles from Anatahan; according to P. de Morales, it has a circumference of four miles, and is located at 17° 35′ N. Seen from the sea it appears very high but, like all those which follow, is deserted and has no anchorage.
9. Guguan, called the Isle de Saint-Philippe by the Jesuits, has not been visited by any navigator. According to Father de Moralès it has a circumference of three miles, and is situated at 17° 45’N, six miles from Sérigan.
10. Amalagan, which the Jesuits called the Isle de la Conception. According to de Morales it has a circumference of six miles, and is located at 18° 10 north latitude, three and a half miles from Guguan, but it is otherwise unknown.
11. Pagan, known to the Jesuits as the Isle de Saint-Ignace, is, like those that follow, known only from the description by de Morales. He [302] placed it at 19⁰ N, 10 miles from Amalagan and with a 14 mile circumference.
12. Agrigan, known to the Jesuits as the Isle de Saint-François-Xavier. De Moralès placed it 10 miles from Pagan at 19⁰ 04′ N, with a circumference 16 miles.
13. Assonong or Assumption is situated 20 miles from Agrigan, at 20° 15’N according to Morales but at 19° 45′ N according to La Pérouse. It is at least 200 brasse above sea level, and is shaped like a keel. Its circumference is not six miles, as claimed by Morales, but only three miles. In the centre is a volcano, continually surrounded by clouds, whose lava has covered the entire island to within 50 brasse of the sea. Its summit is composed of a blackish material similar to glass. During the stay by La Pérouse in 1786 it smelled strongly of sulphur and there was very fresh lava, proving that at that time this volcano was not yet extinct. On the edge of the cliffs there are some straggly coconut trees, vines, several species of bananas and some other plants, but there is no safe anchorage.
[303] 14. The islands of Maug or Mangs, five miles from that of the Assumption, are three rocks, each three miles in circumference; there are only birds. They are also called Tulas or Tunas, and the Jesuits named them the Isles de Saint-Laurent. According to La Pérouse they are situated at 20⁰ 05′ N
15. Urac or Uracas, the most northerly of the Marianas, five miles from Mangs, is only an arid desert. La Pérouse claimed that it is placed too far north on the maps, and estimated its latitude at 20° 20′ N