the largest of the Ladrones islands in the South sea, being about 40 leagues in circumference. It is the only one among the innumerable islands that lie scattered in the immense South sea which has a town built in the European style, with a regular fort, a church, and civilized inhabitants. The air is excellent, the water good, the garden stuffs and fruits are exquisite, the flocks of buffaloes innumerable, as are those of goats and hogs, and all kinds of poultry abound in an astonishing degree. There is no port in which worn-out sailors can be more speedily restored, or find better or more plentiful refreshments, than in this.

But Guam did not formerly enjoy this state of abundance. When it was first discovered by Magellan in 1521, with the other eight principal islands that lie north of it, which, with a multitude of smaller ones, form together that archipelago known by the name of the Ladrones, they were all crowded with inhabitants, but afforded no refreshments to navigators except fish, bananas, cocoa nuts, and bread fruit; and even these could not be procured but by force, amidst showers of the arrows and lances of the natives. The Spaniards carried thither from America the first stock of cattle, of fowls, of plants, and seeds, and fruits, as well as garden stuffs, which are all now found in such abundance.

The Ladrones islands, and Guam in particular, were covered with inhabitants when they were discovered. It is said that Guam alone contained upon its coast more than 20,000 people. These men were ferocious savages and bold thieves, as all the islanders in the South seas are, undoubtedly because they were unacquainted with the rights of property; but they were so savage, so incapable of supporting the yoke of civilization, that the Spaniards, who undertook to bring them under the regulations of law and order, have seen their numbers almost annihilated within the space of two centuries. Under the government of their missionaries, these fierce islanders, after having long defended, by cruel wars, the right of living like wild beasts under the guidance of instinct, being at last obliged to yield to the superiority of the Spanish arms, gave themselves up to despair: they took the resolution of administering potions to their women, in order to procure abortions, and to render them sterile, that they might not bring into the world, and leave behind them, beings that were not free, according to the ideas that they had of liberty. A resolution so violent, lent, and so contrary to the views and intentions of nature, was persisted in with so much obstinacy in the nine Ladrones islands, that their population, which at the time of the discovery consisted of more than 60,000 souls, does not now exceed 800 or 900 in the whole extent of the archipelago. About 20 or 30 years ago, the scattered fragments of the original natives were collected and established in the island of Guam, where they now begin to recover by the wise precautions, and prudent, though tardy, exertions of a government more adapted to the climate of these islands and to the genius of their inhabitants.

The principal settlement, which the Spaniards call the town of Agana, is situated about four leagues north-east of the landing-place, on the sea-shore, and at the foot of some hills, not very high, in a beautiful well-watered country. Besides this, there are 21 smaller settlements of Indians round the island, all on the sea-shore, composed of five or six families, who cultivate fruits and grain, and employ themselves in fishing.

The centre of the island is still uncleared. The trees are not very tall, but they are fit for the building of housetops and of boats. The forests are in general very thick. The Spaniards at first cleared certain portions of land to turn them into savannahs for the feeding of cattle. The formation of savannahs consists in multiplying within the forests small cleared spots separated only by thickets and rows of trees, and kept clean from shrubs of every kind. The Spaniards sow these spots with grass seeds, and other indigenous plants that are fit for pasturage. These meadows, being effectually shaded on every quarter, preserve their freshness, and afford the flocks and herds a shelter from the sun and the great heat of noon. The cattle that were formerly brought to the savannahs of Guam from America have multiplied astonishingly: they are become wild, and must be shot when wanted, or taken by stratagem.

The woods are likewise full of goats, of hogs, and fowls, which were all originally brought thither by the Spaniards, and are now wild. The flesh of all these animals is excellent. In the savannahs, and even in the heart of the forests, there is a vast multitude of pigeons, of parrots, of thrushes, and of blackbirds.

Among the indigenous trees of the country, the most remarkable are, the cocoa-nut tree and the bread-fruit tree. The woods are also filled with guavas, bananas, or plantains of many varieties, citrons, lemons, and oranges, both sweet and bitter, and the small dwarf thorny china-orange with red fruit. The caper-bush abounds in all the Ladrones islands; and as it is constantly in flower, as well as the citron and orange shrubs, with many other of the indigenous plants, they perfume the air with the most agreeable smells, and delight the eye with the richest colours.

The rivers of Guam, which are either rivulets or torrents, abound in fish of an excellent quality: the Indians, however, eat none of them, but prefer the inhabitants of the sea. The turtle, which grow here as large as those in the island of Alcendón, are not eaten either by the Indians or Spaniards.

The cultivated crops lately introduced are, the rice, the maize, the indigo, the cotton, the cocoa, the sugar-cane, which have all succeeded. That of the Guam maize, especially, is of astonishing fertility: it is common to find in the fields where this grain is cultivated plants of twelve feet high, bearing eight or ten spikes from nine to ten inches in length, set round with well-filled seeds. The gardens are stored with mangoes and pine-apples. The former is one of the finest fruits imaginable: it was brought from Manila, and may be eaten in great quantity without any bad consequences.—Horses have been brought to Guam from Manila, and asses and mules from Acapulco. The Indians have been taught to tame and domesticate the ox, and to employ him in the draught.

This island, the land of which rises gradually from the sea-shore towards the centre by a gentle acclivity, is not very mountainous. The inhabitants say, that its soil is equally rich and fertile over the whole island, except in the northern part, which forms a peninsula almost destitute of water. But in the rest, you cannot go a league without meeting a rivulet. Upon penetrating a little way into the interior part of the country, to the east and the south of Agana, many springs of fine water are found, forming, at little distances, basins of pure water, which, being shaded by thick trees, preserve a most agreeable coolness in spite of the heat of the climate.

The indigenous inhabitants, are such as they were described by Magellan; of small stature, sufficiently ugly, black, and in general dirty, though they are continually in the water. The women are for the most part handsome, well made, and of a reddish colour. Both sexes have long hair. This scanty people have become by civilization, gentle, honest, and hospitable. They have, however, at the same time acquired a vice that was unknown to their savage ancestors. The men are a little addicted to drunkennels, for they drink freely of the wine of the cocoa-nut. They love music and dancing much, but labour little. They are passionately fond of cock-fighting. On Sundays and holidays they gather together in crowds after the service, at the door of the church; where each Indian brings his cock to match him with that of his neighbour, and each bets upon his own.—The mission of Guam is now in the hands of the Augustinian friars, who have supplanted the Jesuits. E. Long. 143° 15'. N. Lat. 13° 10'.