GUAM. THE ABORIGINES AND THEIR DESCENDANTS. The Splendid Aboriginal Stock The Superior Structures of the Guam Islanders - The Social Organization Was Simple - Their Arts Were Few but Excellent - The Flying Praos of the Pacific - The Marvelous Seamanship of the Natives -Hospitality and Deference to Women - Three Castes were Strictly Maintained - Marital Relations - Death and Burial - Superstitions and Religious Belief - Language and Origin - A Strong Aboriginal Strain Exists Among the Present Inhabitants In Dress and Occupation the Chamorros Resemble the Filipinos - The Family Relations are Admirable. - The original population of the island seems to have been an exceptionally fine race, judging from the descriptions of missionaries and observant navigators. They all agree that the natives whom the Spaniards found upon the island presented an attractive appearance, were tall, muscular, and wellformed in short, had splendid physique. They displayed surprising strength and, considering their size, remarkable agility. They were more robust than the Filipinos and lighter in color. Legaspi observed that they had a custom of bleaching their naturally black hair to a yellow shade, but the practice was not continued, or the writers of the following century must have mentioned it. At about the same time the men took to shaving their heads with the exception of a narrow crest about three inches long in the center of the crown. At the time of the discovery they wore it long and loose, or knotted upon the top of the head after the fashion of the Moros of the Philippines. Full and strong beards were not uncommon. The women, whilst fairer and more delicate than the men, were also tall, strong, and handsome. Pigafetta tells us that their hair fell from their head to the ground (con capegli nerissimi sciolti e lunghi fino a terra). Unlike the majority of heathen tribesit would be unfair to call them savages - they had no disfiguring practices. They neither tattooed nor painted their bodies; nor did they pierce the nose or ears. Their teeth were not bored but the women stained them black for the sake of ornament, and those of the men showed the natural discoloration entailed by the habit of chewing betel-nut. Both sexes anointed themselves freely with cocoanut oil. The men used no form of clothing whatever, with the single exception of a sort of hat when fishing and this only for the purpose of shading the eyes. The females wore fringes of grass or leaves depending from the waist and sometimes vegetable aprons. Upon gala days the women bedecked them |