my 15, 1955

(1)

ATOLL RZSaRCH BULLj4,TIN

No. 38

Northern Marshall Islands Expedition, 1951-1952. Narrative by

F. R. Fosberg

Issued by

THa PACIFIC SCLE4C.E BOARD

National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council Washington, D. C,

my

15,

1955

(2)

: , . . .

Northern Narshall Islands ikpedition, 19.51-1952. Narrative

. .

. ,.. . , . ^,^.

. . by

. .

3 ^. ^.^. ^.

F. 2. Fosberg

. . .

:: . . . . : .. ..

. . . . . . .

&/

Publication authzrized by t h 6 ~ i r ' & c t d . ? ' , U'i'S. Geological ~ u r v e ' y Preliminary r e s u i t s of t h e ~ P k & i t i b n t o ' t h e Worthern i k r s h a l l ' ^{. . . .}

Islands, 1951-1952, no. 1.

2/

^Botanist, ^U. ^S.Geological Survey

(3)

Table of Contents

Introduction T r i p t o Japan Pokak and Bikar U t i r i k A t o l l Taka A t o l l Likiep A t 011 Jemo Island Ailuk A t o l l

Lae A t o l l

Kwa j a l e i n A t o l l U jelang A t o l l Wotho A t o l l Ujae A t o l l Wotho A t o l l Bikar and Pokak Return T r i p Wake Island Another xttempt

Pokak A t o l l Kwajalein A t o l l

Bikar A t o l l

Condensed I t i n e r a r y of L o c a l i t i e s where

Collections and Observations weremade 34 L i s t of Collection Numbers by Islands

36

(4)

Northern Marshall Islands Fxpcdition, 1951-1952. Narrative

Introduction

-

. . . . . . . . ... _{. .}_.

. . . . .

. . .

. .

The I\iorthern'!~Iarshall I s l a n d s t&editi&, dub6ed V r o j e c t Atoll"

f o r ready referen&, &as accomplished :during 1951 and 1952 a s a p a r t of t h e P a c i f i c Geological Napping Program c u r r e n t l y : being c a r r i e d out co- operatively by t h e a f f i c e of t h e Engineer, Headquarters, Army Forces, Far &st arid t h e U, S. Geological Survey. The .expedition was attached t o a l a r g e .su;ryeying p r o j e c t of t h e Office of .the Xnngineer, H q , AFFE f o r estabi,ishing inapping c o n t r o l on t h e a t o l l s of t h e F i r s h a l l Islands.

Transporta'tioli and G g i s t i c support were furnished by t h e Sngineer

surveying v e s s e l s , & & p r i m a r y obJective of P r o j e c t A t o l l was t o c o l l e c t geological and botaflicnl':ififor:nation, The circumstances of t h e t r i p made p o s s i b l e only a recomaissancei-study of some of t h e major i s l e t s of each a t o l l v i s i t e d . Zmphasis was placeci on s t u d i e s of t h e geoloey, hydrology, s o i l s , and vegetation; observations of land a i d m r i n e ecology, land and marine zoology, and o t h e r s u b j e c t s were made a s t i n e and c i r - cumstances permitted.

.

^. , ^{. .}

The personnel.v&ied from time t o time. The f o u r who partj-cipated were F. Stearns %ch?eil and Charles G. Johnson, geologists, Ted Arnow, hydrologist, and"@, R a p o n d Fosberg,. b o t a n i s t and general ecologist.

P r i n c i p a l a t t e n t i o n was d i r e c t e d t o t h e following a t o l l s : Pokak, Bikar, Utirik, Taka, Ailuk, Jemo, Likiep, Kwa j a l e i n , Lae, Wotho, Ujae, Ujelang, and Wake, with minor observations, e i t h e r on t h e ground o r from t h e a i r , of a n y b e r of other i s l a n d s i n t h e Hawaiian Group, i k r i a n a s , Volcano Group, and Japan.

Since-much m a t e r i a l and information of g r e a t s c i e n t i f i c i n t e r e s t was collected, Bnd v a r i o u s t e c h n i c a l papers a r e projected on d i f f e r e n t aspects of t h e r e s u l t s , it s e e m worth while t o present a preliminary general account, i n t h e form of an i t i n e r a r y and informal n a r r a t i v e , with dates, s e r i e s of c o l l e c t i o n numbers f o r b i o l o g i c a l material, and some d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e ' . i s l a n d s and of t h e s c i e n t i f i c i n v e s t i g a t i o n s c a r r i e d out. The account w i l l be given i n more d e t a i l f o r t h e a c t i v i t i e s of t h e author of this paper, leaving it t o t h e others, i f they c a r e t o , t o w r i t e any d e t a i l e d s t o r y of t h e i r own work. Geological and hydrolo- . .

g i c a l observations w i l l occasionally be mentioned,however, because of t h s i r e s s e n t i a l conriection with an understanding of t h e ecology of t h e i s lands. . . . . . ..

.. . . .

I n t h i s a r t i c l e t h e soils-'and vegetation of t h e northern Marshalls w i l l not be described, except i n c i d e n t a l l y . Since preliminary notes

on t h e b i r d s observed w i l l be presented i n p a p e r s . t o f o l l o i ~ , a s w e l l

, .

, .. ~

. , ,

, . . - , . .. .

(5)

a s l i s t s of p l a n t s and animals c o l l e c t e d , these - b i r d s , p l a n t s and anj~mals w i l l be mentioned only i n connections of very general i n t e r e s t i n t h e n a r r a t i v e . This account w i l l s e r v e a s a reference f o r f u t u r e papers, i n which space may not be a v a i l a b l e f o r more than t h e e s s e n t i a l observations on t h e subjects t r e a t e d . As formality i s not necessary, t h e n a r r a t i v e w i l l be w r i t t e n i n the first person.

: ..

Owing t o circumstances, which will'become c l e a r a s t h e account goes on, it became necessary -lo d i v i d e t h e expedition i n t o two separate parts;

one of these, with iviacNeil a s p a r t y chief, $r&zed from October 1951 t o A p r i l 1952, a d t h e other, with Johnson a s p a r t y -chief, from J u l y t o August 1952. The g a r t i c i p a n t s 'met i n October inTokyo, where plans and preparations f o r t h e a c t u a l t r i p were completed.

T r i p t o Japan

-

P& own t r i p s t a r t e d from iJashingtonj with t r a v e l by commercial &d

m i l i t a r y a i r c r a f t . After a few days i n California and Honolulu, conferring on c o r a l a t o l l ecology with workers whose f i e l d s of knowledge have a bear- . .

i n g on t h i s subject, I l e f t f o r Tokyo. Xy f i r s t a c t u a l a t o l l $bp was. a b r i e f one on Johnston Island on t h e morning ^~of October 22, 1951.

. .

This small patch of sand o r i g i n a l l y had a v a s c u l a r f l o r a of t h r e e species. Af:Ler t h e development of an a i r b a s e t h e r e a t t h e beginning of WoF1d:i::ar 11, p l a n t s introduced both d e l i b e r a t e l y and a c c i d e n t a l l y r a i s e d . t h e f i o r a t o 27 species by

946

(see Fosberg, Pac. Sci. 3: 338-339, 1949) . . and t o 30 species by 1950,Of

2

t h e s e s e v e r a l ornamentals had reached a - f a i . r

. . s i z e b y 1951.' Casuarina equisetifo&a was a t l e a s t B meters high.

&&-

. ,

phyllum inophyllum,

.

Thesoesia qopulnea, Teriiiinalia 'cat appa

,

and Hibiscus t i l i a c e u s were 2 o r 3 nieters high, and t h e l a s t two were r a t h e r c h l o r o t i c

--

i n appearance. Mo@t sloping s u r f a c e s , embankments; .bomb s h e l t e r s , and t h e l i k e were q u i t e covered by a blanket of herbaceous vegetation-Boerhavia, Cenchrus, Eleuzine, and Tribulus. Most f l a t s u r f a c e s were kept clean by t r a f f i c . Nanyweeds, such a s Portulaca oleracea, Amiranthus v i r i d i s , and Euphorbia h.ypericifolia, grew .around t h e bases of buildings. Pluchea odoratawas common, but n o t a s common a s i n 1946, while Pluchea i n d i c a

-.- had a l s o become common.. Only 6rne coconut seedling was :seen.

After crossing t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l d a t e l i n e , we s i g h t e d Wake Island l a t e i n t h e afternoon of October 23. The general vegetation i n t h e

neighborhood of t h e a i r s t r i p i s a scrub of ~ e s s e r s c h m i d i a argentea not over 2 t o

3

meters t a l l , with some admixture of S c a e v o l a ' l o c a l l y , Open a r e a s . a r e occupied by pure stands of Fimbristylis, which seems t o colonize t h e

most extreme h a b i t a t s , such a s t h e edges of a i r s t r i p s , and by Ipomoea

a,

which a l s o climbs i n t h e scrub a s w e l l a s creeping over t h e ground.

'

Around. t h e buildings a r e various weeds, of which Cenchrus i s most common '.and forms pure patches. Heliotropiwn anomalum i s conunon, with no evident f l o r a l dimorphism. There a r e some marshy depressions, perhaps a r t i f i c i a l , along t h e a i r s t r i p ' away from t h e terminal. The s t o p here was a l s o only a b r i e f one f o r f u e l i n g .

Iwo Jima was reached a t midnight, t h e r e f o r e l i t t l e was seen of its f e a t u r e s . Chloris i n f l a t a was abundant around t h e airbase.

_5/

Additional introductions a r e l i s t e d . by Newhouse, Pac. S c i , 9: 91-92, 1955,

(6)

. . .

. . . . : . . . . . . .

. . . .. . .

Japan, on our a r r i v a l , was completely blanketed by clou&. h e ' glimpse. through them of green t e r r a c e d h i l l s and t h e c o n i c a l peak o f ' Fujiyama:toweringfar atjove, p r o v e d t h a t we had r,eached.our.destination.

We came down through t h e cloud9 overTokyo Say, w i t h ; i t s k c a d of f i s h i n g boats,: rows upon rows bf ;fences f o r algae c u l t i v a t i o n , and t h e gray, smoky c i t 2 e s of Yokohama and Tokyo on its. shores,.

, : . _,. . .: _., .,. ..

MacNeil had been i n Japan f o r severalweeks, working with Johnson ^' on plans f o r t h e expedition. A g o w f l e w up from Guam f o r two days t o t a l k over plans, then returned _{. . . .}. . . t h e r e t o join t h e s h i p on i t s f i r s t f u e l i n g s t o p

a t

Kwajal&n. . . . : . . .

. . . ^{. .}^, . . .

,. ., . .

. . . . : . . . . ^. _..:

.

^.^. . _. _. . ^.

, T h e three. weeks

kri

-Japan, w h i k e we ,.waited f o r l a s t minu'te 'prep&%- tions, wepe w e i l spent meeting Japanese b o t a n i s t s , vitsiting Japanese herbaria, and checking equipement .and:su?plies f o r t h e expedition. Week- ends and a t r i p to FukQokait.6 v i s i t ..Prof. Hosokawa gave a few o p p o r @ I i t i e s t o see t h e i n t e r e s t i n g and b e a u t i f u l Japanese c o y t r y s i d e .

. . .

. . . . .. .Pukak and .:Bikar

, . . . _.:_:_. _{, ,}ⁱ ^. _._.^.

Gn November 16 t h e ship, t h e Army FS-367, Captain Marvin Shoaf co'&nding, carrying & Japanese surveying p a r t y of some 40 o r mofe men,

, 10 .U'.S.Ary personnel u n d e r t h e command of Hajor Paul

L.

Hudson, and MacXeil and myself, l e f t Tokyo Harbor.. A d i r e c t course was s e t f o r Pokak

(Taongi) Atoll, the-nbrthernmbst of t h e Marshall I s l a n d s and. t h e f i r s t scheduled s t o p of t h e ,expedition. Not a l i v i n g t h i n g was seen on ' t h i s s t r e t c h , except a few f l y i n g f i s h a f t e r t h e f i f t h day. On t h e n i g h t . of No-iember 2 4 t h e s h i p slowed down and t h e c r i e s of sooty t e r n s t o l d u s t h a t land was nearby. Anticipation of t h e v i s i t t o Pokak A t o l l was 9eight-

ened by a rumor of mysterious b a s a l t i c megaliths, found t h e r e by John Cameron, a P a c i f i c t r a d e r and adventurer, and recounted b r i e f l y i n t h e s t o r y of h i s liS

,

"John Cameronls Odysseyt1. (p.3.97, ,1923). Such stones wwLd indeed be remarkable on a c o r a l . a t o l l 600 m i l e s f r o m t h e . ^{. .} n e a r e s t

volcanic land. . . . . . .

,,

Gn t h e morning of November 25 we awoke t o a clamor of b i r d s , and t h e low gray-green s t r i p of vegetation and white breakers h a l f a mile t o t h e north was Pokak Atoll. A black-footed a l b a t r o s s flew by, t h e only one seen on t h e t r i p .

Pokak A t o l l i s crescent-shaped, with 8, single, narrow boat passage on t h e concave western side.. This being t h e leeward s i d e , a t high t i d e t h e entrance should normally have been passable t o s m a l l b o a t s , but on t h i s occasion a heavy swell was coming i n from t h e west and breaking c l e a r across t h e passage, out of which a strong current was pouring. Inspec- t i o n by small boat p a r t i e s convinced t h e Najor t h a t landing was dangerous

and impractica1;and a decision was made t o leave f o r Bikar, t h e next a t o l l t o t h e south, aefore d e p a r t i n g we were able t o follow t h e south and e a s t coast, where t h e r e a r e i s l e t s , t o t h e e a s t e r n extremity of Kamome I s l e t . Sea b i r d s were generally:ab&dant, b u t . o v e r Kamome they almost darkened t h e sky. The vegetation h e r e was i n e s p e c i a l l y poor condition.

No f u r t h e r d e s c r i p t i o n w i l l be given here, a s Pokak A t o l l was v i s i t e d again l a t e r .

(7)

Bikar was sighted on t h e morning of November 26. Its t h r e e p r i n c i - p a l i s l e t s were completely covered .by what appecred t o be Pisonia f o r e s t , except f o r some storm-syept , b a r e a r e a s and a small coconut grove on Bikar

. . .

I s l e t . ^{. . .} ^:,. ..

..., . _' ^' ^'. . .

. . . ,

Here again, t h e r e ' i s , - o n l i one cha:nnel i n t o t h e lagoon, 'locgted on t h e west o r leeward side; A shok% inspection' of bhiS passage convfnced t h e Fajor t h a t t h i s a l s o w a s i m ~ a s s a b l e , and we departed f o i U t i r i k A t o l l , which we reached t h e following morning; We di.d !lot g e t ashore, howkver, u n t i l Novembey _,., _.;.28j and: were t h e r e u n t i l l)ec,mber

44

. . . . .

.

^. U t i r i k I s l e t , t'ne main land-mass on t h e ito.11, i s very l a r g e l y covered by coconut grov.es, exce3t :or a b e l t of t h i c k scrub and f o r e s t on t h e porthegat, o r windward coast an& t h e ,long, almost bare p r ~ j e c t i o n ' a l o n g t h e reef t o ehe'west. The v i l l a g e i s on t h e : lagoon shore of thi.s i s l e t , I n t h e n o r t h ~ r n h I a r s h a l l s th e r e i s usunlly &ly o n e v i l l a g e on an a t o l l , comonly lokated. on t h e l a r 8 e s t islet, This i s l e t . . u s u a l l y bears t h e - s a m e name a s t h e a t o l l , a s a l s o does t h e v i l l a g e .

: The coccnut groves on U t i r i k were r a t h e r open and f r e e of undergroruth.

It was in&e.;liately e.vjc;ent t h a t a typhobn (Typhoon Georgia, March 21, 1951) had r e c e n t l y v i s i t o a t h e i s l a n d , Largelnw.bers of coconut t r e e s were

. : knocked d c m , mostly i n a sout:?erly or southwesterly d i r e c t i o n . Practi-

. cally no r i p e coconuts were t o be s e e n i n t h e t r e e s or on t & e ground, and

: n o copra was drying, On t h e western p r o j e c t i o n of t h e i s i a n d ' m 0 s t : d f t h e

'. loose m a t e r i a l was removed, exposing l a r g e root systerns of dead and un- . . : recognj.zable plants. The Penphis bushes t h a t graw here were i n a v e r y

I b a t t e r e d and ragged s t a t e . Curiously enough, though, t h e r i d g e of low d - m e s along t h e lagoon s i d e of t h i s s t r i p of land was w e l l vegetated with

. f a i r - s i z e d bushes of Scaevola, Messerschmidi.a, and Pemphis and'showed no s i p s , whatever, or' typhoon damage.

.

^. ^{. .}

. ^:

. .

Evidence of an e a r l i e r typhoon was q u i t e ' c l e a r i n t h e form 'of a rubble bar i n t h e lagoon opposite t h e bare portion of t h i s . extension Of

t h e i s i a n d , i t s end a t t h e point where t h e coconut grove .ended. That t h i s was n o t $ r e s u l t of t h e 1951 typhoon was indicated by t h e f a c t s t h a t a l l

t h e f a l l e n t r e e s pointed i n t h e opposite d i r e c t i o n and t h a t t h e bare a r e a and rubble bar .were both evident on a e r i a l photogiaphs taken i n 1944. The e a r l i e r tjrp!ioon was severe enough t h a t loose m a t e r i a l up t o s u b s t a n t i a l boulder s i z e was swept off t h i s narrow portion of t h e i s l a n d and p i l e d in. t h e ijgoon. . Rel.a,tively l i t t l e vegetation, except s c a t t e r e d Pernph5-s

. bushes , a d a p t e d t o growing on bare l i m e s t o n e rock, had reappeared i n t h e

35

or ,more years since. t h i s s t o ~ m . .The n a t i v e s t e l l of a storm about 1918 - . b,ut'.are not c e r t a i n of . t h e year. It i s q u i t e - p o s s i b l e , though t h a t we were

obsir$ng t h e e f f e c t s of an e a r l i e r storm, t h e - l a s t p a r t of t h e 1 9 t h . .

century, . . . .

, . . .. . . . . ,, . . . .

. . . . some a r e a s of bare c o r a l sand were characterized by a t h i n c r u s t ^Of

. i sand held by a mass o blue-green algae. Rains were frequent enough t o . . . . keep t h i s sand washe

6-

f a i r l y f r e e of s a l t , but once i n a while very high

t i d e s would give it a salt-water bath in' low areas. This' happened a t l e a s t

1

(8)

-5-

once o r twice i n t h e days t h a t we spent t h e r e .

The Polynesian arrowroot, Tacca l e o n t s e t a l o i d e s , grew i n unusual abundance and luxuriance a s ground cover i n t h e coconut groves here.

Each year, i n t h e l a t e f a l l , it f r u i t s and d i e s down t o t h e ground.

Here it was beginning t o t u r n yellow, and t h e f r u i t s were e s s e n t i a l l y mature. The tubers, mistaken f o r potatoes by other members of our party, were being harvested i n some q u a n t i t y by t h e Marshallese. They were grated and t h e s t a r c h was washed out and d r i e d i n l a r g e b a l l s , about t h e s i z e of a c h i l d ' s head. Whether t h j s was normally so widely practiced was not

c e r t a i n . It may have been a r e s u l t of food shortage because of t h e typhoon, There was some complaint about l a c k of f l o u r .

Several p i t wells were observed, and t h e water i n them was SWpriSing- l y fresh. Dragon f l i e s and damsel f l i e s were seen around them, but no mos- quitoes were noticed, Several holes were dug i n an attempt t o g e t water samples and t o study t h e behavior of the ground-ywater body, a s w e l l a s t o c o l l e c t s o i l samples. The upper l a y e r s of t h e s o i l were s u r p r i s i n g l y black.

Digging was extremely d i f f i c u l t because of t h e amount of rubble i n t h e s o i l and because bedrock was usually reached aWve t h e water t a b l e . This bedrock i s a curious cemented f i n e c o r a l gravel, q u i t e hard, but s h a t t e r i n g completely under a hard blow of a hammer.

I n t h e c e n t r a l p a r t of t h e i s l e t a r e a number of elongate depressions o r trenches about 10 meters wide and 2 meters deep. They a r e s a i d by t h e n a t i v e s t o have bcen made by t h e ttold people," and a r e doubtless long- abandoned t a r o p i t s . They have been abandoned long enough t o have mature coconut t r e e s growing i n t h e i r bottoms. I n t h e bottom i s a l a y e r of black mucky s o i l almost 6 decimeters deep. A hole dug i n t h e bottom of one of t h e s e re3ched water a t l e s s than 1 meter. The water had a s t r o n g hydrogen s u l f i d e odor and a peculiar sweetish t a s t e .

On t h e northeast p a r t of t h e i s l e t , near t h e edge of t h e coconut p l a t h t i o n , but within it, were noticed some cur',ous low rounded mounds of

s i i ~ a l i ~ sharp, broken c o r a l fragments. Their o r i g i n was not apparent. On t h e s e mounds Fleurya rud.eral& and Boerhavia d i f f u s a a r e common.

On Bekrak I s l e t , north on t h e r e e f from U t i r i k , i s a t i n y mangrove swamp, serving a s a wallow f o r pigs. On t h e north passage beach of t h i s i s l e t s:.iall pumice pebbles were embedded i n a bank of white c o r a l sand t h a t was being cut away, These were, in most cases, e n t i r e l y enveloped i n a casing o r capsule of c l o s e l y matted small Scaevola roots. Appar- e n t l y t h e r e i s something i n t h i s pumice, f l o a t e d across t h e s e a from some far-off volcano, t h a t t h e Scaevola p l a n t needs, and t h a t i s d e f i c i e n t i n t h e c o r a l sand.

Eluk I s l e t , t o t h e north of Bekrak, has few coconut t r e e s and much n a t u r a l scrub vegetation. Dark-blue velvety b u t t e r f l i e s

(pI?olimnas B),

were abundant here, v i s i t i n g t h e flowers of

Here on Utirik, when our s h i p returned from fueling a t Kwajalein, we were joined by Ted Arnow, t h i r d member of t h e s c i e n t i f i c party. After

t h i s t h e t a s k of supervising t h e digging of holes o r wells f o r water and s o i l samples was l a r g e l y taken over by him, leaving more time t o tramp

(9)

t h e islands, nlaking g e o g r a ~ h i c a l , veget.ati.ona1 and general ecological observations and collectj.ons.

A t our camp on t h e open western projection of U t i r i k . I s l e t , I had a canvas s h e l t e r b u i l t t o p r o t e c t my p l a n t drying stand. Unable t o g e t t h e preferred. t y p e of h;erosel.te s t o v e i n +.he United S t a t e s before Start-

ing on t h e t r i p I had allowed q m e l f - l o i x t , & ~ l d . bm:-stovea'of a type I' iiad not s e e n b e f o ~ . About t h e t h i r d evening, one of t h e s e s e t t h e p l a n t :

pressea and s h e l t e r on f i r e . FortunaLely a l l specimens were saved, but t h e s h e l t e r was a t o t a l

laas.

Taka A t o l l

-

On December

4

we departed f o r Taka Atoll, j u s t over t h e horizon, vdth a f e e l i n g t h a t we had b a r e l y s t a r t e d t o l e a r n something about Utirik.

The last observation made on Utiri!c was of a whits-tailed tropic-bird fly- i n g over t h e lagoon, t h e o n l j one 1 was t o s e e u n t i l many months l a t e r .

kle a r r i v e d a t Taka t h e sane day but d i d not go a h o r e u n t i l Decem- b e r 5. Because t h e s h i p could e a t e r Taka Lagoon, we d i d not camp ashore but returned t o t h e s h i p zt night. Here, a f t e r some i n v e s t i g a t i o n ,

1

decided t h a t plant-presses could be d r i e d in t h e funnel of t h e ship. There were doors on t h e funnel s i d e s , and a rack between t h e hot exhaus% pipes', on which t h e presses cou!ld be l a i d , S o i l sanples ale6-could be placed i n t h e i r bags on t h i s rack t o dry. The Chief Fngineer, Charles Frey, r e a d i l y

consented t o t h i s use of h i s f a c i l i t i e s , and p l a n t s were d r i e d t h i s way f o r t h e r e s t of t h i s l e g of t h e t r i p . For t h e f i r s t week o r so, c l o s e watch was k e . ~ t , but t h e r e seemed no danger whatever of f i r e . Drflig was q u i t e s a t i s f a c t o r y , exce?t when t h e ship was anchored i n l a g o m s f o r Con- s i d e r a b l e periods. Then t h e r e was not s u f f i c i e n t heat and, i n s p i t e of t h e use of formalin, a f m spec:'imens molded.

Taka i s an uninhabited a t o l l with r a t h e r l i t t l e land area. It has one fair-sized i s l e t , two small ones, and s e v e r a l b a r e sand bars. The l a r g e s t , Taka I s l e t , i s roughly rectangular, an5 only a t h i r d o r f o u r t h of it along t h e lasoon beach was planted t o coconuts. The r e s t i s brushy woods with a few openings and one small grove of typhoon-beaten l a r g e Pisonia t r e e s . The ground i n t h e coconut grove i s l u x u r i a n t l y covered l o c a l l y by t h e f e r n -odium scolopendria, which i s p r a c t i c a l l y absent from nearby U t i r i k , This i s l e t i s occasionally v i s i t e d by t h e U t i r i k people when copra i s harvested.

Several p i t s were dug on Taka I s l e t t o examine s o i l p r o f i l e s and b obtain water samples, One of these, dug t o a depth of over 2.5 meters, showed an i n t e r e s t i n g s e r i e s of buried s o i l horizons. I n most of t h e holes, rock l a y e r s were encountered t h a t prevented us from reaching water.

Lojiron I s l e t , a v e r y small one t o t h e north of Taka I s l e t , has a t i n y but b e a u t i f u l grove of Pisonia t r e e s . Some of t h e s e had been knocked

down by t h e typhoon, s h w i n g t h e i r very shallow root systems with no s t r o n g taproots. The t r e e s were not dead but were sending up q u a n t i t i e s of vig-

orous sprouts a l l along t h e trunks. The surface l a y e r of t h e s o i l here i s a black peaty m a t e r i a l o r raw humus a few centimeters t h i c k with a pH of 5.6 t o 6 when unmixed with sand, whereas t h a t of t h e c o r a l sand o r materials mixed it i s about 8. This accurmiLation of humus, a s w e l l a s i t s low pH, was a r a t h e r unexpected phenomencn on well-drained limestone

(10)

. . . . . ..: .,; .

. . . ... . ^, s o i l i n t h e lowland t r o p i c s .

..

. . , :. . ^{. . . .}_{. .}^.. . . . . . . . ^...^, ^.,^{. . ,}^{, .} ^'

~ h e . r o c k : ~ l o ~ e from

th.ee:gene& i@~61..

bf tkie j s l e t down t o t h e r e e f f l a t ' demonstrated s'ome o f the rnqcesqes

.bF

which r ~ s e d r e e f surfaces a r e gradually reduced t o a base+leve$: a t . . . about low-t,ide mark, Conspicuous among t h e s e p r o c e s s e s

ace ^%h@.

^f^ormation^{. .}^., ^.o f & l u t i o n basins and t h e s p a l l i n g off of slabs. Where t h i s , 91- &was covered yith sand and grave?, process- e s of colonization by p1mt.w we,ya.:also .very...,apparent. Portulaca and

.

%epttur&: a r e . t h e most ..conspicuous. and abupd,&t' e a r l y contingent, with Messelr'schrnidia.

---

and S c a e v ~ l a . appearing. i n ,sm+l.ier numbers and apparently

. . . . .

s l i g h t l y l a t e r . . . . . :.._.i. .

: Notwerok I s l e t , west gf:-Taka,,on th e : s o u t h r e e f of t h e a t o l l , i s a barre&lboking, r ~ c k y . f l a t : . ~ ? n l y a few. a c r e s i n a r e a but inhabited by g r e a t numbers of birds,.?-In prder t o . have more opportunity t o s t u d y t h e extreme ecological condi&ioGs' exhibited,. T..had'myself put ashore t h e r e a l o f i e , t o be: picked up t h e next day. '.The vegetztion is g e n e r a l l y a sparse t o dense @serschinidia scrub, with some mixture of Pisonia and Scaevol& _{. .} _{. .} _{. . .} _{. . . .}

--

. . . . ^. ^.

There ar:e i r r e g u l a r openings' with Lepturus, i f t h e s o i l , i s sandy, .i

a n d with Fl.ew.va .and BoerhavA i f e n t i r e l y stony, and l a r g e a r e a s . on' t h e ' two seaward;comers ,a-irely bare. ^.The F l e ~ y a i s an w d s u a l population - i n t h a t i t . s h o l s no t r a c e s of red c o l o r i n stems o r leaves. Obviously ^{. '}

two speciks 09 Bowhavia a r e present, showing a s e r i e s of d i s t i n c t morpho- l o g i c a l c h a r a c t e r s a s well a s t h e f a c t t h a t one i s not attacked by t h e white r u s t j &bu& p l a t e n s i s , whereas t h e &her i s f r e q u e n t l y attacked.

This f~mgus.:changes t h e h a b i t of p a r t s of i t s host .from elongate p r o s t r a t e .. t o s h o r t e r e c t ' b m w h e s , probably a type of witches-broom e f f e c t . For t h i s

i-eason-these.infections a r e e a s i l y seen, and t h e p a r a s i t e i s known from plants o f : t h e Boerhavia d i f f u s a complex from widely s c a t t e r e d l o c a l i t i e s i n t h e P a c i f i c .

This i s l e t i s a g r e a t t e r n rookery, a s thousands of sooty t e r n s , two species of noddies, and f a i r y t e r n s , a l l n e s t there. The sooty t e r n s , o r wideawakes, l a y t h e i r eggs on t h e bare g r a v e l on t h e seaward s i d e . When disturbed t h e y f l y up i n g r e a t c l o d s . They s o resented my presence t h a t a f t e r I went t o bed a l a r g e column of them flew screaining above my cot, c i r c l i n g and c i r c l i n g . They kept t h i s up s t e a d i l y from about 6:30 p. m. u n t i l about

7

a . m., making it r a t h e r d i f f i c u l t t o sleep.

To t h e seaward of t h i s i s l e t i s a d c f i n i t e c o r a l l i n e a l g a l ridge, even though it i s on t h e south r e e f . The t i d e was low enough s o t h a t a short t r i p out t o t h e edge of t h e reef was f e a s i b l e , and a number of algae, mainly lime-secreting ones, were obtained. The a l g a l f l o r a , however, i s r e l a t i v e l y meager. Tie land f l o r a i s extremely r e s t r i c t e d , only 11 species being observed. I n s e c t s and o t h e r small land inverte- b r a t e s were common, however, and a considerable number were collected.

: The Taka A t o l l p l a n t and animal c o l l e c t i o n s a r e important because they very l i k e l y come c l o s e r than those from most other i s l a l i d s t o repre- senting t h e f l o r a and fauna of t h e northern Marshalls p e i o r $0 t h e coming of man. No f l i e s and no r a t s were seen; but grasshoppers, one,mosquito, _{. . . .} _....

. . .

and two lizards-- a skink'and a gecko--were noticed. _{. , . .} _,

. . , . ^!

(11)

On December 10 we l e f t Taka bound f o r 'iluk. IIowever, Ted Arnow had developed an aibnent, and it was necesswy t o g e t him t o more expe- rienced medical a t t e n t i o n than was a v a i l a b l e on t h e ship. B y r a d i o

it

was ascertained t h a t t h e A i r S e a Rescue PBK plane from Kwajalein would not land in Ailuk lagoon but would come t o Likiep, s o we changed our plan and made Likiep our next stop. We reached it and anchored i n t h e lagoon on December U, and t h e PBN a r r i v e d promptly t o t a k e Ted t o Kwajalein.

were s o r r y t o see him go, a s he was both an e x c e l l e n t companion and a g r e a t h e l p with t h e work of t h e expedition. We hoped t h a t h i s t r o u b l e would prove t o be minor and t h a t he would r e t u r n s h o r t l y ,

Likiep was an a t o l l t h a t I had v i s i t e d o n t h e Economic Survey i n 1946, s o I chose t o concentrate my e f f o r t s ' on a d i f f e r e n t i s l e t than Likfep I s l e t , studied then. The astronomical p a r t y of t h e surveying team s e t up t h e i r s t a t i o n on Lado I s l e t , s o MacNeil and I moved ashore with themo Beforegoing t o L a d o , I v i s i t e d Likiep Village and renewed acquaintance with t h e ' l o c a l magistrate, Anton DeBrum. Anton, a middle-aged Marshallese halfc'aste, i s head of t h e DeBrum family, r i v a l s of t h e r e l a t e d Capelie ^,, family f o r leadership i n northern Marshall a f f a i r s . I w e l l remember a c e l e b r a t i o n of t h e birthd3y of an e l d e r of t h e C a ~ e l l e family a t which

1

was a gue& i n 1946. The two f a m i l i e s displayed t h e i r f r i e n d l y r i v a l r y i n doing honor t o t h i s old gentleman, and I had a chance t o observe, from a vantage point, Marshallese h i g h s o c i e t y a t an i.mportant function.

On Likiep, a l s o , I met a p r i e s t , Father NcCarthy, with whom I l a t e r had some i n t e r e s t i n g t a l k s . A b r i e f vmlk on t h e i s l e t confirmed t h e im- pression gained i n 191+6 or" v e r y t h i n s o i l and sparse vegetation in t h e ^Co- conut groves south of t h e v i l l a g e , probably an e f f e c t of t h e g r e a t typhoon t h a t swept t h e a t o l l clean about 90 years ago. This same sparseness of vegetation i s apparent on Lado I s l e t , e s p e c i a l l y on t h e e a s t end.

Being e n t i r e l y planted t o coconuts, Lado has a s i n g u l a r l y uninterest- i n g vegetation. This, with t h e f a c t t h a t I had c o l l e c t e d many Likiep p l a n t s i n 1946, made it p o s s i b l e t o concentrate more on other t h i n g s such a s col- l e c t i n g i n s e c t s , water samples, s o i l s , and algae on t h e windward r e e f . The moon was almost f u l l , and one n i g h t was l a r g e l y spent l o b s t e r hunting out on t h e reef f l a t and a l g a l r i d g e of t h e windward r e e f . The night l i f e of t h e r e e f was observed and, i n c i d e n t a l i y we had l o b s t e r s f o r breakfast next day.

My own v i s i t t o Likiep was s h o r t , a s I had decided t o v i s i t Jemo I s l a n d with a small 2 a r t y of surveyors who were t o spend s e v e r a l days

t h e r e . Before leaving I spent one night and most of a day on Likiep I s l e t , t a l k i n g with Father McCarthy and walking around t h e i s l e t . With low-level a e r i a l photos taken during t h e war, it was possible both t o t e s t m~ a b i l - i t y i n i d e n t i f y i n g p l a n t s on t h e photos and t o a s s e s s changes i n t h e island.

P l a n t s c o l l e c t e d on Likiep (mostly on Lado % l e t ) were l a r g e l y algae.

A search was m d e f o r Hippobroma l o n g i f l o r a , a poisonous weed newly estab- l i s h e d i n 1946. I had then advised t h e n a t i v e s t o d e s t r o y it, and t h e y apparently had, a s I found none on t h i s v i s i t . Anton confirmed t h a t t h e y had pulled it up whenever t h e y had seen it.

(12)

Jemo

-

Departure f o r Jemo w a s on-December . . . 18, and t h e voyage took only two

. . hours. Landing t h e r e i s never very certain,..,and t h i s landing could have been exciting, but beyond a w e t t i n g t h e r e ' was no e s ~ e c i a l incident. The

' s h i p l e f t f o r Likiep again a s soon'as we

were

^ashore.'.

, :% ,: , , . . . .

% . .. ^. ^.

~em; i s a t i n y egg-shaped:Gatch'of

iaii,

less. than one-tenth of a square p i l e in area, on t h e end of a','ree?..ab.gut & i / 2 miles iong. I n pre- European times t h e Karshallese i:epJc i $ a $ &sanctuary f o r b i r d s and t u r t l e s , v i s i t i n g it o : i l ~ o n c e a year t o harvest .a..limited number of t h e s e animals . .

and t h e i r eggs f o r food. It was l?rgdy,:.cleared and planted t o coconut

t r e e s by t h e Likiep people 50 o r 60years.. ago. FoYtuna.tely f o r my investiga-

; t i o n s , they l e f t a s t r i p of vegetation completely a r o k d t h e ' i s l q n d . Jemo

' i s uninhabited, though t h e r e i s a:,sm%ll frame h o u s e t h e r e f o r use during ,

'

t h e times when copra i s harvested. ~ o r t i i a t e l y we were'permitted by t h e owner t o occupy t h i s house. during our v i s i t , s o t h a t l e s s of our l i m i t e d time w a s was'ed making camp, and p r o t e c t i o n from t h e ra i n was more-effect- ive. My f i r s t a c t on entering.t,he house;,,was t o c o l l e c t a scorpi-on, which was t h e first and only record of t h i s s$ecias (Isometrus naculatus) from

t h e Marshall Islands. It was t h e common pan-tropical house scorpion, but t h a t i t , should have been c o l l e c t e d only ,here,. . . on-an+inhabj.ted i s l a n d , i s

.

^. ^,. ., ^. ^... . ^,

curj.ous. _{. . ,}^{. .}

.

^. ^{. .}

: . .,.. . . '.

0n iallciing, t h e e n l i s t e d m e n i n the k a r t y were q u i t e excited a t what they. f i r s t thought were t a n k t r a c k s going s t r a i g h t ,op t h e beach from t h e water's edge. It was obvious t h a t they w e r e t r a c k s of sea t u r t l e ' s t h a t had cohe .ashore t o l a y t h e i r eggs. When' 1:walked around t h e island, I

, counted t h e number of f r e s h t r a c k s i n t h e &dis'curbedSand and found

44

i n a l l , i n d i c a t i n g t h a t 22 t u r t l e s had come ashore t h e previous n i g h t o r two.

A t t h e t o p of t h e beach, i n t h e edge of t h e vegetation,' were k d e , . shallow p i t s and mounds of sand. We dug i n s e v e r a l of t h e s e p i t s , looking f o r eggs.

This was e x a c t l y hat t h e t u r t l e s had intended we should do. They had been smrt enough not t o l a y them i n t h e obvious place, We e v e n t u a l l y found t h e eggs i n a sinall, deep hole under t h e p i l e of sand excavated f r o m t h e main p i t . I n t h i s hole were 106 eggs, white, spherical, an& somewhat e l a s t i c , ' about t h e s i z e and appearance of pingpong balls:, packed t o g e t h e r under 2 f e e t of sand. . When cooked, C h e w h i t e s of t h e s e e g g s d i d not coagulate;: and scrambled, t h e y t a s t e d more l i k e s o f t cheese t h a n chicken's eggs. ^,

It was just past. f u l l moon t h e f & s t night we were t h e r e , and a t about 1:30 a. m. I went out with two of t h e boys t o see i f any more t u r t l e s had come ashore. After ,walking around almost t h e e n t i r e sandy p a r t of t h e i s l a n d we found two s e t s of f r e s h t r a c k s , one going up t h e beach, and one down. A l a r g e dark form was seen j u s t about t o enter t h e water. Racing t o it, we found a t u r t l e , stopped it, and wi.th s.me e f f o r t , turned it over on i t s back. After struggling v i o l e n t l y f o r a b i t , slapping w i l d l y with i t s f l i p p e r s , it ,calmed down,' emitting a sighing flahlhll sound, with t e a r s run- ning from i t s eyes. Seeing t h i s , one of t h e boys, an American-born Japanese i n t e r p r e t e r , who had been a l l excited abbut having t u r t l e meat, asked me anxiously i f I were going t o k i l l it. !When I t o l d him t h a t I wanted only t o t a k e p i c t u r e s of it t h e next day and t h e n t o l e t it go, he was relieved.

The t e a r s had changed h i s mind about t u r t l e meat.

(13)

Next day we got sorne excellent p i c t u r e s of t h i s l a r g e specimen of green t u r t l e before sending it back t o sea. The Japanese surveyors d i d not t h i n k much of t h i s procedure, it being. considered bad luck t o molest t u r t l e s . I n f a c t , when t h e s e a got choppy l a t e r , and t h e r e was some doubt t h a t we would be a b l e t o get off t h e i s l a n d , t h e r e was some mutter- jng t h i t it would have been b e t t e r . i f we. had not bothered t h e t u r t l e a t a l l ,

Fjhenthe i s l a n d *!as cleared a s t r i p of vege5ation 30 meters or more widewas l e f t cokpletely around t h e : i s l a n d , On t h e west s i d e t h i s S t r i p

i s a m g n i f i c e n t . f o r e s t of g i a n t '*u& grandis t r e e s . Elsewhere it i s lower and of mixed s c r ~ ~ . b b ~ ' f o r z s t . This f o r e s t grows mostly on a r i d g e of

&mes

5

t o .

6

meters above low-tide l e v e l , not high, a s dunes go, but .strik*g f o r a low c o r a l isiand, It was f o r t u n a t e f o r my investigatj.ons

t h a t this b e l t of f o r e s t was l e f t , a s i n it I f i r s t got an idea of one of t h e most i n t e r e s t i n sets of re1ationshj:ps t h a t were t o appear a s r e s u l t s of t h e e x p e d i . t i o n g I t , was noted here t h a t t h e surface of t h e ground i n t h e Pisonia grove was covered by a t h i c k l a y e r of a peat-like Iraterial, s i m i l a r t o t h e "raw hums" o r %ortt of northern f o r e s t s and heaths. Under t h i s was a l a y e r of cemented sand, t h e cement dark brown, t h a t corresponded t o t h e d e s c r i p t i o n s I had been given of phosphate rock on Arno Atoll.

Red-footed. boobj.es were nesting i n t h e t r e e s , and t h e ground was l i b e r a l l y s p a t t e r e d with white Gmno, Broken and weathered pieces of rock were abundant i n t h e h a l f of t h e coconut p l a n t a t i o n next t o t h e X s o n i a grove but were absent i n t h e other half of it. The p a r t of t h e coconut planta- t i o n with t h e rock fragments was dense and luxuriant; t h e other p a r t was i n very poor condition, and most of t h e older t r e e s were dead or dying.

he

i s l a n d was combed f o r p l a n t s and land animals, and good collec- t i o n s were made. Descriptions were m d e of t h e vegetation, t h e topography, 'and t h e arrangement of beach r o c k and p e r i p h e r a l ridges; and s o i l p r o f i l e s wsre examined. It would seem t h a t more tha four days on such a t i n y speck

of land might be almost enough, but when t h e .ship came f o r us on December 23, I f e l t t h a t only a preliiriinary examination had-been made and t h a t i f only a few more days were a v a i l a b l e I might begin t o l e a r n j u s t what was happen- i n g i n t h i s microcosm.

Much t o my d e l i g h t , Ted Arnow, havine recovered completely, was aboard.

Ailuk A t o l l

Ailuk was s i g h t e d l a t e i n t h e afternoon, and we were, a b l e t o e n t e r t h e lagoon through t h e north passage on t h e west side, where we dropped a'nchor not c a r inside.. Two days, including Christmas, were spent on board getteng c o l l e c t i o n s taken care of and notes i n shape. The Christmas dinner produced by Captain Shoaf's steward's departnent w a s a g r e a t achievement, and was t h e gastronomic high point of t h e expedition. To our s u r p r i s e we we're served everything we would have had a t home .or i n

a.

fancy s t a t e s i d e r e s t a u r a n t .

MacNeil and ~ r i o w had gone ashore on Christmas eve and had

established camp on Ailuk, I s l o t , a t t h e south e:~d of t h e lagoon. I joined them on t h e 26th, but spent t h e e n t i r e day g e t t i n g t h e r e from t h e ship.

See S o i l Science 78: 99-;07, 1954.

(14)

Since we a r r i v e d a t Ailuk a s t i f f tradewind had been b b ~ i n g continuously, and it n e i t h e r stopped nor slackened t h e e n t i r e time we were there. If I had needed t o be d i s i l l u s i o n e d about caLn t r c p i c a l lagoons t h i s day on Ailuk lagoon would have done it very we1.l. The waves on t h e lagoon were f u l l y a s rough a s on an ordinary day i n t h e open sea. ^. Travelling i n an open motor whaleboat meant a continuous drenching. The water was not r e a l l y cold, but because. o f . th e wind everyone was s u r e t h a t it was. Nith one s t o p t o put up a surveying s i g n a l on t h e r e e f , and an h o i r ashore on Akulwe I s l e t , t h e on1.y one on t h e west reef of Ailuk, we spent. a l l day going t h e 13 miles

f r o x t h e s h i p t o tine main island. ^: ^{. .}

. .

Ailuk I s l e t i s by fiir t h e l a r g e s t i s l e t on t h e a t o l l , and i s s i t u a t e d on t h e southeast comer of t h e . elongdte ring-like r e e f . It i s almost e n t i r e - l y covered by coconut and b r e a d f r u i t t r e k s ; which provide.much of t h e l i v e - lihood f o r t h e b13 people.. A$ .$fie .sonthwest corner of t h e . i s l e t i s a tri- angular projection of sand: w i t h a hook-like s p i t on t h e , end of it. This small peninsula i s bare of' t r e e s exce1)t' f o r scattered, Pandanus,. and here the p a r t y of surveyors had s e t -up t h e i r camp, and IhcNeil and A r n o v r had been comfortably e s t a b 1 i s h e d ; f o r two days when I a r r i v e d . The people o f . Ailuk, who a r e extremely f r i e n d l y , had welcomed both Americans t o t h e i r . Christlms f e s t i v i t i e s , and a f t e r I . a : r r i v e d , brought presenti::and b.*itations t o a v i l l a g e ?arty. Their h e l p i n digging holes f o r water and s o i l samples . _:.

f a c i l i t a t e d our work greatly..

. :

.. .

Some d i s t a n c e back 'of: t h e v i l l a g e on t h i s is1'e.t i s an a r e a of s e v e r a l ^" . a c r e s whers t h e otherwise healthy coconut groves seem t o b e i n s o r r y c&

d i t i o n . They resemble those on t h e e a s t e r n half of Jemo Island in ^{t h a t}

most of t h e old t r e e s a r e dead or dying, but young ones a r e not present, .. . .

Also, t h e s o i l here i s black, a s black a s any seen on any of t'ne i s l a n d s ^-:

v i s i t z d . Nothing was apparent i n t h e p i t dug i n t h e s o i l , o r i n t h e samples secured, t h a t woad account f o r t h i s condition. The remaining t r e e s s t i l l standing. did show more than usual s i g n s of f i r e a r o ~ d t h e i r bases, so

t h a t it i s conceivable t h a t a severe f i r e r&y have k i l l e d most of t h e t r e e s .

, . . .

did. t a r o pi" a r e abundant near t h e center of . t h e i s l e t , . most of them being elonga&e.and wsnding; with the.excavated & $ e r i a l p i l e d up a s much a s 2 meters above t h e general ground l e v e l between them. Coconut t r e e s a r e g r o ~ i i n g on t h e i r bottoms, a & t h e y a r e choked with Clerodendr7m and Ioomoea. One o r two p i t s are. i n t h n v i l l k g e near'the lagoon. These show a few p e r s i s t i n g p l a n t s of Csrtosuerma, and s t i l l have a good muck l a y e r i n t h e bottom, highly organic and very wet. ^'F h t ' t i r o c u l t u r e i s j u s t a s e f f e c t i v e l y abandoned here a s i n t h e other no+thern Marshalls. And h e r e , . a s elsewhere, Pasnalum vazinatum forms a dense m 8 t on a l l r e c e n t l y used p i t s . kiluk, l i k e Likiep, has abundant and healthy b r e a d f r u i t t r e e s around t h e v i l l a g e . They do not, however, extend much beyond halfway t o t h e outer s i d e , and a t t h i s d i s t a n c e a r e v e r y yellow and unhealthy looking. One healthy t r e e , however, grew on t h e boulder ridge on t h e s o u t h w e s t s i d e only about 16 meters f r o n high-tide mark.

. . . .

After determini.ng--that it would be possible t o wa.lk f r o n i s l e t t o i s l e t a t low t i d e , a n c I t h a t t h e r e were lo7.c t i d e s about midday, '1. decided t o walk northward along t h e chain. of i s l e t s on t h e e a s t , or windward r e e f of t h e a t o l l . I arranged t o be-picited up a t one of t h e surveying s t a t i o n s on an i s l e t about t h e middle of t h e a t o l l two days l a t e r . With a pandanus

(15)

mat, a g i f t from t h e v i l l a g e r s , t o s l e e p on, C r a t i o n s f o r food, two canteens of water, machete, i n s e c t ,let, and c o l l e c t i n g v i a l s , 1 l e f t i n t h e middle of t h e morning.

These i s l a n d s a l l seem t o be remnants of an o l d higher reef p l a t - form t h a t nad i t s s u r f a c e well above present high-tide l e v e l . Most o f tM.s platform on every i s l e t i s covered by loose material, b u t t h e seaward ends have been r e c e n t l y swept clean of loose mater,j.al arid vege%atj.on, Along some passa.ges t h e r e a r e wide exposures of rock surface. On these, though, t h e r e i s a w e l l developed f o r e s t of

smphis

a c i ~ h - , dense and impene- t r a b l e . After a f a i r n u z i b e r of $hese i s l e t s were examined, a vegetation p a t t e r n became apgarent. The lagoon s i d e i n most places had been planted t o coconuts, l e a v i n s a crescent-shaped band of k t i v e scrub and f o r e s t

arouna t h e seaward s i d e s and extending along t h e passages between t h e i s l e t s . The outer edge of t h i s i s low scrub; p r i n c i p a l l y PernbhLs i f t h e substratum i s rock; Scaevola, i.lesserschhi&, Guettarda, and Suriana i f sand and gravel.

The Eep&. does not 'seem a t a l l inconvenienced i f i t s r o o t s a r e covered by t h e sea a t h i & t i d e . The t r e e s i n this band hecoae t a l l e r inward, u n t i l a well-developed f o r e s t , p-rkcipa.lly Fessersc,"&r&, Pandanu.s, Guettarda, arid Ochrnsia forms an e x c e l l e n t w i ~ d b r e s k t o p r o t e c t t h e cocmut t r e e s against ----..- ³

t h e strong spray-laden t r a d e w k d s

.

The need f o r h a s t e t o t a k e adva,ntage of t h e low t i d e s did not permit very c a r e f u l study of t h e s e i s l e t s , but extensive notes were wade and some f a c t s became obvious. Perhaps the most i n t e r e s t i n g t h i n g was t h a t , a t l e a s t duqing t h e trade.-wind season, t h e r e i s no r e v e r s a l of t h e current flowing between t h s s e i s l e t s with t h e t i d e . The flow i s always i n t o t h e lagoon on t h i s s i d e , i f t h e c11a.mel 9s deep enough t o contain water a t low t i d e . A t high t i d e t h e current is l i k e t h z t of a millrace, q u i t e capable of sweeping a man off h i s f e e t , a s 1 found out. The water, of course, drains out of t h e lagoon over t h e leeward r e e f , which i s lower, mostly below low t i d e l e v e l , and not obstmcted by i s l e t s .

k sone of t h e i s l e t s were n a t i v e huts, not permnent residences, used apparently o ~ l y dur-ing copra harvesting. On most of t h e s e i s l e t s were pigs, l e f t t o s h i f t more or l e s s f o r tnemselves. Correlated with t h e presence of pigs were plagues of f l i e s , some of t h e most p e r s i s t e n t and raven- ous f l i e s Chat I have ever seen.

Afier being picked up on schedule, I was a b l e t o exarLne most of t h e other i s l e t s t o t h e north from a boht i n t h e lagaon, landing on only f o u r of them, On one of these, Enejelar I s l e t , was a r i d g e of r a t h e r well- d c v e l o p d sand d-mes; t h e sand had o b ~ i o u s l y been caught by t h e s t r i p of

scrub vegetation growing along a long s p i t , On the windward s i d e of t h i s , a s well as e a r l i e r on a sand hank on Ailuk I s l e t , were again found pumice pebbles enclosed i n a capsule of c l o s e l y matted roots, s i m i l a r t o t h o s e observed on U t i r i k , c e r t a i n l y r o o t s of Scaevola, t h i s time. It was t h e only p l a n t ng?ar, and one such capsule was s t i . 1 1 attached t o t h e root of Scaevola bush. The only reasonable explanation f o r t h i s seems t o b e a deficiency

i n t h e c o r a l sand of some element needed by t h e plant tht i s not s e r i o u s enough t o prevent t h e growth of Scaevola.

The l a s t s t o p on Ailuk was on an open s t r e t c h of t h e leeward r e e f , where t h e surveyors had s e t up a tower. The r e e f here i s a broad surface

(16)

below low-tide l e v e l , t h i c k l y studded with.. c o r a l -heads and clumps, strewn with boulders thrown up by storms, some of ithem q u i t e l a r g e , up t o 2 meters across, and almost completely d e v o i d o f &.nt l i f e . Among t h e

abund.ant anima.1 growth, bright pink clumps' of Liagora were t h e only p l a n t s seen. T h e 4 V e g e t a t i o n " seemed almost entirel.yanima1 i n . n a t u r e .

i . ,.

. ..

. . .. _{. .}.

---

Lae A t o l l . . ^. ^.

. .

.

. . . . .

. .

On January

4 ,

1952, we l e f t Ailuk and on ' ~ i f i d r ~

5

a r r i v e d a t h e . h e i s a t i n y a t o l l compared .with Ailuk, but a b e a u t ~ f u l one. From i n s i d e t h e lagoon t h e whole a t o l l i s ; v i s i b l e a . t once, and. t h e r e a r e many well- wooded i s l e t s . For i t s s i z e , Lae had. more undisturbed.-vpgetation than any _.

other a t o l l we .had seen t o t h i s time. : Here l a r g e pai&es' of a p e c u l i a r f o r e s t type, very conspici~o~us on aeria.l.photos, but which *ti1 now defied i d e n t i f i c a t i o n , turned out t o be p,ure stands of Ochrosia o p ~ o s i t i f o l i a , except one of very s i d l a r appejrance,, whicll..is.a p w e . s t a n d of Barringto- n i a a s i a t i c a . Pure f o r e s t s of n e i t h e r of t h e s y t r e e s : had been reported

- --

previousl:r, t o t h e best of my knowledge., and t h e . p a t t e r n t h a t t h e i r crowns make on t h e photos resembles nothing e l s e w5Lh which I. am f a m i l i a r .

, . . .

In a d d i t i o n t o much of s c i e n t i f i c i n t e r e s t 'on h e , t h e r e was other excitement aplenty, In t h e lagoon was anchored a small schooner t h a t

proved t o he t h e Laura, f ~ o m Llkiep, which had disappeared on a voyage from Kwajalein t o Likiep two and a ha1.f months previously and had been given u p ,

f o r l o s t by almost everyone. Her engine had been disabled and, with t h e r o t t e n sail-canvas, she had managed t o s a i l down-~iind t o h e , f a r t o t h e westward of h e r course a n d d e s t i n a t i o n . Having no radio, her f a t e remained

obscure

u n t i l

we were able,.,'&.(, announce her s a f e t y .

.. .

Our own ship, a f t e r p u t t i n g us ashore, l e f t f o r Kwajal-ein. The next news we had af her over t h e r a d i o was t h a t she was l a i d up i n Kwaja-

l e i n , awaiting a replacement p a r t , which would have t o be brought from Yokohama. We thought t h a t ; perhaps, t h i s would give us a day or two more than t h e scheduled time here, and would enable us t o do a. some~~rhat more thorough job of t h i s a t o l l than we had been a b l e t o do on any of t h e others.

This proved a v a i n hope, a s t h e surveyors f i n i s h e d i n l e s s than t h e i r a l l o t - t e d time and a p a t r o l b o a t w a s s e n t 'up from Kwajalein t o pick us up.

Geanwhile, we got around t h e 'Atoll and d i d t h e b e s t job we could.

A s was expected, t h e vegetation was ccnspicuouslg mor'e luxuriant h e r e than on t h e a t o l l s f a r t h e r north. In t h e i~laarshalls th e annual r a i n f a l l i n c r e a s e s r a p i d l y from n w t h t o south. %ere i n Lae were the f i r s t functioning t a r o p i t s , a few among%he many abandoned ones. These had Cyiitosperma and Colocasia growing i n a j e l l y l i k e brown muck l y i n g on a sandy bottom, with

--- -

t h e water t a b l e pract3.cally a t t h e surface. Alocasia has invaded t h e s e p i t s and i n most of them has crowded out t h e two e d i b l e t a r o s . The n a t i v e s seem l i t t l e concerned about this, a s t h e y can g e t r i c e and f l o u r from

Kwa J a l e i n only 70 lni1e.s away.

Here, f o r t h e f i r s t time on t:he expedition, we found I n t s i a biiuga, noted i n Guam where it i s c a l l e d i'fil, f o r i t s f i n e hard wood. This i s not i t s northern l i m i t i n t h e flarshalls, however, a s ,we lace? found it on Wotho. It i s a notable component of t h e mixed fo'rest

.

^. The mixed f o r e s t here, a s well a s t h e b r e a d f r u i t f o r e s t and t h e coconut-breadfruit f o r e s t ,

(17)

-14-

.

have denser canopies than seen on any other a t o l l s o f a r on t h e t r i p , and t h e u s u a l sparseness of undergrohth when heavily shaded was apparent, I n t h e Ochrosia f o r e s t , mentioned above, t h e r e i s no undergrowth except small seedlings of Ochrosia. I n t h e hrrinaton& f o r e s t t h e only o t h e r p l a n t s were a small colony o f Peperomia, growing on boulders, by f a r t h e northernmost record f o r t h i s i n t h e Ivlarshalls. This f o r e s t i s e s p e c i a l l y i n t e r e s t i n g b e c a u s e : i t i s growing on t h e inner slope: of t h e highest boulder r i d g e seen i n t h e i%rshalls,about 5.5 meters above low-tide

l e v e l . The t r e e s a r e very l a r g e , t h e l a r g e s t being alniost

4

meters through, though t h e average i s w e l l under 1 meter. The n a t i v e s have cut a t r a i l across t h e boulder ridge, digging w e l l i n t o t h e loose material. Here it can be seen t h a t t h e l a y e r 0.5 meter o r more t h i c k of boulders was depos- i t e d a f t e r t h e t r e e s had reached e s s e n t i a l l y t h e i r present size.

I n t h e mixed f o r e s t on the. wi.ndward i s l e t s , which i s apparently o r i g i n a l uncleared f o r e s t , it was noticed t h a t t h e only Messerschmidj.a t r e e s a r e very old ones. Some dead logs a r e found, but noyoung t r e e s . Young ones a r e abundant, on t h e other hand, around t h e p e r i p h e r i e s of t h e s e s a n e i s l e t s , Tne obvious inference from t h i s i s t h a t &s~!-schnlidia _{. .} i s not. a t r e e o f 'mature mixed f o r e s t . It reproduces i t s e l f on3-y under

. ,

%ore o r ' l e s s pioneer conditions. .. . . . .

. .

The p z ~ t ~ o l ' c r a f t froin Kwajalein:~canie fo r us, a l l t o o soon, before we had had a chance t o v i s i t a l l of t h e -21 i s l e t s of Lae Atoll.. We l e f t a t

7

p.m.on January 11 a n d a r r i v e d a4 Kwaiaiein a t 10 p.m. t h e same night,.

. . _{.. .}

. , . . ^..: ~wa.'al&n A t o l l

L . - -

.. .

.Kwajalein had changed r a d i c a i l y s i n c e my l a s t v i s i t i n 1950. Then it 'Seemed i n t h e process: of being slowly abandoned, growing up t o weeds.

Now it had become, again, a busy base, with much c o n s t ~ u c t i o n going on, and very l i t t l e t o be seen i n t h e way of p l a n t s . The prospect o f an i n d e f i n i t e s t a y here w a s a t t r a c t i v e only if t r m s p o r t a t i o n t o t h e o t h e r i s l e t s was, a v a i l a b l e . Kwajalein I s l e t , i t s e l f , would. a f f o r d l i t t l e of i n t e r e s t , ^'s c i e n t i f i c a l l y . ^. ^.

. . . .

. ,

On 'January

13

an opportunity .afforded i t s e l f t o f l y t o l<ajuro A t 0 1 1 f o r a few hours. This gave me,a c h a n c e t o s e e any obvious changes t h e r e

' s i n c e 1950 and t o t a l k t o t h e Trust T e r r i t o r y o f f i c i a l s a t t h e d i s t r i c t headquarters t,here. Tobin, t h e ~ t a f f anthropologist, provided some information on t h e h i s t o r y of Pokak, Dikar, and Jemo A t o l l s , He had been working on land t e n u r e and land use among t h e Marshallese and had found t h a t t h e s e t h r e e . a t o l l s had been maintained, a s b i r d and. t u r t l e s a n c t u a r i e s i n pre- .&iropeantimes, arid t h a t t h e y were v i s i t e d p e r i o d i c a l l y and a lirnLted number o f birds.and t u r t l e s and t h e i r eggs taken.

. . . . . . .

Such a s h o r t tin% was a v a i l a b l e t h a t only a b r i e f r i d e i n t h e

v i c i n i t y of t h e :'headquarters was possible. The contrast with t h e northern a t o l l s i n grea%erluxuria.n.ce of vegetation even on very narrow i s l e t s , was s t r i k i n g . Only on& p l a n t , a conspicuous species of t e r r e s t r i . a l N O S ~ O C , was collected. En r o u t e from Kwajalein, we saw Nama A t o l l b r i e f l y from t h e a i r . iluring our f l i g h t , from a short d i s t a n c e south of Kwajalein t o M a j y o , and. t h e same d i s t a n c e back, t h e s e a was almost completely covered by a t h i c k l a y e r of clouds, i n a season when t h e r e had been few clouds

...

my 15, 1955

my

1955

&/

2/

36

-

.

-

946

2

&&-

.

,

--

3

a,

_5/

a t

.

kri

L.

,

44

.

.

35

6-

-5-

(pI?olimnas B),

laas.

-

4

1

th.ee:gene& i@~61..

.bF

ace %h@.

.

---

--

7

it

1

-

were

iaii,

.

.

44

5

6

he

a.

smphis

.

---

.

4 ,

5

- --

u n t i l

--- -

.

-14-

4

7

L . - -

13

ace ^%h@.