° Chuuk (Truk) ° Pohnpei ° Ulithi ° Yap
Hutchinson News, September 12, 1892
Hutchinson, Kansas, USA
The Gilbert Islands, which England is said to have just taken under its wing, are fifteen in number and constitutes the southeastern-most group in Micronesia. They are all of coral formation, low and level, and with soil only a few inches in depth. There are at present about 11,000 inhabitants on them, and in that respect they are the most densely populted islands in that part of the Pacific Ocean. The inhabitants are industrious, fairly thrifty, and under the guideance of protestant minnionaries are nearly all Christians and have largely adopted civilized customs. As far as trade is concerned, the islanders are most intimately connected with the copra merchants of San Francisco than any other country.
Last winter, the king of the islands was in San Francisco to see if that country would not assume a protectorate over them. It was not regarded as wise for the United States to take any such responsibility. The only thing that this government will do is to see that American interests in the islans ar eprotected, and that it will do, whoever assumes to control the islands.
Hawaiian Gazette, August 23, 1895
Honolulu, Hawaii
VOYAGES TO THE SOUTH SEAS
Morning Star Had Made Twelve Trips to Micronesia
LAST ONE OVER NINE MONTHS.
Probably Sailed Over 25,000 Miles
Forty Islands on Visiting List-No Wharves for Ship to go to-Goods Have to be Boated Several Miles
"Ship ahoy!"
"Halloo!"
"What ship is that?''
"The Morning Star."
''Where are you from?"
"Honolulu."
"Where are you bound?"
"To Micronesia."
Conversation between vessels meeting at sea generally begins about in this way. The Morning Star has few opportunities to be social in this manner, because there are so few ships in the region where she sails. But she is not lonesome by any means. Her voyage is all planned before she sails from Honolulu, and she has to work lively to get around on time. There Is not much time to think of other vessels or to get lonesome. Her last voyage occupied over nine months, daring which she probably sailed over 25,000 miles. If she could have sailed on straight courses from island to island, the distance would be only 12,000 miles, but with bead winds she has to beat, first on one side, then on tbe other, sailing often 120 miles in twenty-four hours, only to make from thirty to fifty miles towards her port. At times she does not make even so much as that, because of strong currents running through the sea in different directions.
Can you imagine how disappointing it is to the captain and others on board, after taking observations and working them up. to fiad the ship has only made 100 miles when by log she should have made 150? This often happens in the waters where the Star sails. "Why don't the captain allow for the current in his reckoning'?" That seems simple enough, but when he sails along and finds a current setting fifty miles westward, what would you advise him to do about it?
Those who sail about much on the Star are very glad that the American Board was enabled to put even a little steam into her. It helps her out of mighty tight places, and enables her to visit lagoons where sailing vessels cannot go. Without steam tbe amount of work now done on each voyage would take over a year.
What takes up so much time? Well, last year she visited thirty islands, and some of them three or four times each. This, year she has forty islands on her visiting list, having to take the islands usually visited by tbe schooner Robert W. Logan, which is supposed to be lost at sea. Some of these Islands are only six or eight miles apart, and some are 400 miles apart. The whole distance from east to west traversed by the Star in Micronesia after she has sailed tbe 2500 miles from Honolulu to the Gilbert group is 1500 miles, and it has to be gone over three times each voyage, stopping at islands on the way from one to ten days, while the missionary in charge goes on shore to visit churches and schools. During tbe tours among the islands the missionary has to eat and sleep on board the Star for most of tbe natives' bouses are very poor, affording no protection from mosquitoes, which are very large and hungry. Moreover, the heat on these coral islands Is much greater than on board ship at anchor away from the land.
At every island the Star has goods to land for the teachers, and this also takes up her time, for often the goods have to be boated from three to ten miles, and perhaps tbe boat will be caught on tbe coral flats by the outgoing tide, and generally but one load of goods can be landed in a day. There are no wharves in Micronesia for ships to go to.
I wonder how many young people know or can imagine what a coral island is like? First, it is very low--perhaps at tbe highest point ten feet above water. In books they are generally pictured as round, or nearly so, but that is an error, for they are very irregular shaped and narrow, so narrow that one can walk across them in from five to ten minutes. Their length is sometimes very great. I know of one island which is nearly 100 miles in circumference, with its outside reef only a few rods wide. The area of water inside the reef is called a lagoon, and near the center of tbe lagoon are several islands where from 12,000 to 15,000 people live. But coral islands generally have no land in tbe lagoons, and tbe people live on the narrow strip from 200 feet to half a mile wide. They are very poor people and it is well that their wants are few. They need but little clothing, and their food in many cases is only cocoanuts and fish; and in dry seasons tbe cocoanuts nearly fall. One a day is often all they can have. Think of going to school with only an old hard cocoanut for lunch! And yet these island children keep fat on it. I don't know how they do it, but tbey rival all tbe Mellius Food and Nestle's Food children we see pictured in the magazines.
I think tbe young people would like io see the Star when she is leaving Kusalie for a Gilbert or Marshall Island trip. There will be forty or more school boys and girls on board tbe little ship, beside the missionary and his family and the ship's crew, say sixty or more in all. The The boys take with them a supply of bananas and from one to two tons of cane. While the cane lasts the boys and girls are turned into sugar mills, and forty pairs of jaws do the grinding. The "trash" is of course thrown overboard and leaves a good mark for one to follow the ship by. But the liveliest time we have is during rain squalls, when all hands take a bath. We cannot carry enough fresh water for each one on board to have a bath everyday, and so when it ruins hard tbe scuppers are stopped up, and the rain gathers and the decks are turned into a vast bathtub. The boys take one deck, and the girls another. It is hard telling which make the most noise, but I think the girls do.
We have had many good illustrations of the great value of even a small amount of steam power. In August aud September, when we were in the Carolines, there was a dead calm most of the time for three weeks.
We met a trading schooner, rolling and flopping about, unable to steer at all. During those three weeks we had to steam over 1,000 miles. Here is a question in arithmetic for the stockholders of the Morning Star. How many whole days' steaming would that be at five miles per hour? Here is another. How much patience must the captain have to keep him from "jumping on his hat" while beating from Ruk to Kusaie, 700 miles, with a three-knot breeze. "Jumping on one's hat" is the seaman's expression for showing impatience at calms and contrary winds.
On February 25, we were homeward bound and had, as usual, head winds and fair winds, storms and calms, and on one night the Star ran ashore on a sunken reef. But we were able to get her off again the same day and go on our voyage. Perhaps some of the Star's stockholders were praying for her at that time. We love to think in times of trouble that so many prayers are being offered for the ship and those on board. Indeed, we need God's help and guidance at all times, but in special trials or troubles we are more apt to feel this need and our helplessness without him. On April 8,1895, tbe Star arrived safe in Honolulu, having completed her twelfth voyage to Micronesia.
—Captain Geo. F. Garland.
