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CAROLINE

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 381 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CAROLINE iSLANDS, a widely-scattered See also:

archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, E, of the Philippines and N. of New See also:Guinea, included in See also:Micronesia, .between 5° and 10 N., and 135° and 165° E;,. belonging to See also:Germany. They fall into three See also:main See also:groups, the Western, Central and Eastern Carolines, the central being the most numerous, while the western include the Pelew See also:group. The See also:total See also:land See also:area is about 38o sq. m., and out of this, 307 sq. m. is covered by the four main islands, Ponape and Kusaie in the eastern group, Truk or Hogolu in the central, and Yap in the westerns These islands are of considerable See also:elevation (the highest point of Ponape approaches 3000 ft.), but the See also:rest are generally See also:low See also:coral islets. The See also:climate is equable and moist, but healthy; but the islands are subject to heavy storms. The total See also:population is estimated at 36,000. The natives, who are Micronesian hybrids of finer physique than their kinsmen of the Pelew Islands, have a comparatively high See also:mental See also:standard, being careful agriculturists, . and peculiarly See also:clever boatbuilders and navigators. The Germans See also:divide the whole archipelago into two administrative districts, eastern and western, having the seats of See also:government at Ponape and Yap respectively. The See also:principal See also:article of. export is See also:copra. The islands were discovered (at least in 'See also:part) by the Portuguese Diego da Rocha in 1527, and called by him the See also:Sequeira Islands. In 1686 See also:Admiral See also:Francesco Lazeano, who made further explorations, renamed them the Carolines in See also:honour of See also:Charles II. of See also:Spain. The islands were subsequently visited by a few travellers; but the natives have only in See also:modern times been reconciled to the presence of foreigners; an See also:early visit of missionaries (1731) resulted in one of several murderous attacks on See also:white men which darken the See also:history of the islands; and it was only in 1875 that Spain, claiming the group, made some See also:attempt to assert her rights. These were contested by Germany, whose See also:flag was hoisted on Yap, and the See also:matter was referred to the See also:arbitration of See also:Pope See also:Leo XIII. in 1885.

He decided in favour of Spain; but. gave Germany See also:

free trading rights; and. in 1899 Germany took over the See also:administration of the islands from Spain, paying 25,000,000 pesetas (nearly £1,000,000 See also:sterling). See also:Ancient See also:Stone Buildings.—In Ponape and Kusaie, massive stone structures, similar to those which occur in several other parts of the Pacific Ocean, have See also:long been known to exist. They have been closely explored by Herr Kubary, Mr F. J. See also:Moss; and later Mr F. W. See also:Christian. None of the See also:colossal structures hitherto described appears to have been erected by the See also:present Melanesian or :Polynesian peoples, while their wide See also:diffusion; extending as far as See also:Easter See also:Island, within 400 M. of the New See also:World, points to the occupation of the Pacific lands by a prehistoric See also:race which had made some advance in See also:general culture. The Funafuti borings (1897) show almost beyond doubt that. See also:Polynesia is an area of comparatively See also:recent subsidence. Hence the See also:eland connexions must have formerly been much easier and far more continuous than at present. The dolmen-builders of the New Stone See also:Age are now known to have long occupied both See also:Korea and See also:japan, from which advanced See also:Asiatic lands they may have found little difficulty in spreading over the Polynesian world, just as in the extreme See also:west they were,able to range over Scandinavia, See also:Great See also:Britain and See also:Ireland.

To See also:

Neolithic See also:man, still perhaps represented by some of the more See also:light-coloured and more See also:regular-featured Polynesian groups, may therefore not unreasonably be attributed these astonishing remains, which assume so many different forms according to the nature, of the locality, but seem generally so out of proportion with the present restricted areas on which they stand. With the See also:gradual subsidence of these areas theirculture would necessarily degenerate, although echoes of See also:sublime theogonies and philosophies are still heard in the oral traditions and See also:folklore of many Polynesian groups., In the islet of Lele, See also:close to Kusaie, at the eastern extremity of Micronesia, the ruins present the See also:appearance of a citadel with cyclopean ramparts built of large basaltic blocks. There are also numerous canals, and what look like artificial harbours constructed amid the shallow lagoons. In Ponape the remains are of a somewhat similar See also:character, but on a much larger See also:scale, and with this difference, that while those of Lele all stand on the land, those of Ponape are. built in the See also:water. The whole island is strewn with natural basaltic prisms, some of great See also:size; and of this material, brought by boats or rafts from a distance of 30 M. and put together without any See also:mortar, but sustained by their own See also:weight,, are built all the massive walls and other structures on the See also:east See also:side of the island. The walls of the main See also:building near the entrance of Metalanim See also:harbour See also:form a massive quadrangle 200 ft. on all sides, with inner courts, vault and raised, See also:platform with walls 20 to 40 ft. high and from 8 to 18 ft. thick. Some of the blocks are, 25 ft. long and 8 ft. in circumference, and many of them weigh from 3 to 4 tons. There are also numerous canals from 3o to too ft. wide, while a large number of islets, mainly artificial, covering an area of 9 sq. m., have all been built up out of the shallow See also:waters of the See also:lagoon See also:round about the, entrance of the harbour, with high See also:sea-walls composed of the same huge basaltic prisms. In, some places the walls of this Pacific ' See also:Venice " are now submerged to some See also:depth, as if the land had subsided since the construction of these extensive See also:works. Elsewhere huge break-waters had been constructed, the fragments of which may still be seen stretching away for a distance of from 2 to 3 M. Most observers, such as Admiral See also:Sir See also:Cyprian See also:Bridge and Mr Le Hunte, agree that these structures could not possibly be the See also:work of any of the present Polynesian peoples, and attribute them to a now See also:extinct prehistoric race, the men of the New Stone Age from the Asiatic mainland. Stone See also:Money.—The inhabitants of Yap are noted for possessing the most extraordinary currency, if it can ,be so called, in the whole world.

Besides the See also:

ordinary See also:shell money, there is a sort of stone coinage, consisting of huge See also:calcite or See also:limestone, discs or wheels from 6 in. to 12 ft. in See also:diameter, and w eighing up to nearly 5 tons. These are all quarried in the Pelew Islands, 2ooni.to the See also:south, and are now brought to_ Yap, in See also:European vessels. But some were in the island long before the arrival of the whites, and must• consequently have been brought 'by native vessels or on rafts. The stones, which are rather tokens than money, do not' circulate; but are piled up round about the See also:chief's treasure-See also:house, and appear to be regarded as public See also:property, although it is hard to say what particular use they can serve. They appear to be kept rather for show and See also:ornament than for use. See F. W. Christian, The Caroline Islands (See also:London, 1899); G. See also:Volk-ens, " Ober See also:die Karolinen Insel Yap," in Verhandlungen Gesellschaft Erdkunde See also:Berlin., See also:xxviii.<19o1) ; J. S. Kubary, , Elkno-graphische Bedtrage, zur Kentniss See also:des Karolinen-Archipel (See also:Leiden, 1889-1892) ; De Abrade, Historic del confide de See also:las Carolinas, &c. (See also:Madrid, 1886).

End of Article: CAROLINE

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