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71-459: Micronesian describes something of, from, or related to Micronesia , a subregion of Oceania composed of hundreds of small islands in the Pacific Ocean. Micronesian may refer to: Micronesia Micronesia ( UK : / ˌ m aɪ k r ə ˈ n iː z i ə / , US : /- ˈ n iː ʒ ə / ) is a subregion of Oceania , consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in

142-580: A prehistoric seaborne migration , known as the Austronesian expansion , from pre- Han Formosa , at around 3000 to 1500 BCE. Austronesians reached the northernmost Philippines , specifically the Batanes Islands , by around 2200 BCE. Austronesians were the first people to invent oceangoing sailing technologies (notably catamarans , outrigger boats , lashed-lug boat building , and the crab claw sail ), which enabled their rapid dispersal into

213-630: A Spanish expedition under Ferdinand Magellan reached the Marianas. This contact is recorded in Antonio Pigafetta 's chronicle of Magellan's voyage, in which he recounts that the Chamorro people had no apparent knowledge of people outside of their island group. A Portuguese account of the same voyage suggests that the Chamorro people who greeted the travellers did so "without any shyness as if they were good acquaintances". Further contact

284-404: A coral reef, which is exposed at low tide and dotted with pinnacles. The presence of the reef has prevented the establishment of a seaport , although channels in the reef allow small boats access to the island. A fertile coastal strip 150 to 300 m (490 to 980 ft) wide lies inland from the beach. Wake Island is a coral atoll with a coastline of 19 km (12 mi) just north of

355-511: A hypothesis that contact between Arabs and Austronesians in their Indian Ocean voyages may have influenced the development of the triangular Arabic lateen sail; and in return Arab square-shaped sails may have influenced the development of the Austronesian rectangular tanja sail of western Southeast Asia. Others, however, believe that the tanja sail was an indigenous invention of Southeast Asian Austronesians, though they also believe that

426-849: A mandate to Japan and were named the South Seas Mandate . During World War II , Nauru and Ocean Island were occupied by Japanese troops, with also an occupation of some of the Gilbert Islands and were bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific. Following Japan's defeat in World War II its mandate became a United Nations Trusteeship administered by the United States as the Trust Territory of

497-407: A point. Another evolution of the basic crab claw sail is the conversion of the upper spar into a fixed mast. In Polynesia , this gave the sail more height while also making it narrower, giving it a shape reminiscent of crab pincers (hence "crab claw" sail). This was also usually accompanied by the lower spar becoming more curved. Austronesians traditionally made their sails from woven mats of

568-563: A small difference there). This can clearly be seen in Marchaj's wind tunnel photos published in Sail Performance: Techniques to Maximise Sail Power (1996). The vortex on the top spar of the sail is much larger, covering most of the sail area, while the lower vortex is very small and stays close to the spar. Marchaj attributes the large lifting power of the sail to lift generated by the vortices, while others attribute

639-527: A time. However, they tend to stay mainly at ports of entry and are too few in number to be counted as a major source of income. Copra production used to be a more significant source of income, however, world prices have dropped in part to large palm plantations that are now planted in places like Borneo . The people today form many ethnicities, but all are descended from and belong to the Micronesian culture. Because of this mixture of descent, many of

710-548: A year earlier. Micronesia is a region in Oceania that includes approximately 2100 islands, with a total land area of 2,700 km (1,000 sq mi), the largest of which is Guam , which covers 582 km (225 sq mi). The total ocean area within the perimeter of the islands is 7,400,000 km (2,900,000 sq mi). There are four main island groups in Micronesia: This does not include

781-466: Is little seasonal temperature variation. The dry season runs from December or January to June and the rainy season from July to November or December. Because of the location of some islands, the rainy season can sometimes include typhoons . The Northern Mariana Islands were the first islands in Oceania colonized by the Austronesian peoples . They were settled by the voyagers who sailed eastwards from

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852-407: Is loosened and then transferred to the opposite end of the boat, a process called shunting . To shunt, the proa's sheet is let out. The joined corner of the spars is then transferred to the opposite end of the boat. While remaining attached to the top of the mast, the upper spar tilts to vertical and beyond as the forward corner moves past the mast and onward to the other end of the boat. Meanwhile,

923-469: Is nothing to suggest any kind of settlement. The majority of the islands in the area are part of a coral atoll . Coral atolls begin as coral reefs that grow on the slopes of a central volcano . When the volcano sinks back down into the sea, the coral continues to grow, keeping the reef at or above water level. One exception is Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia , which still has

994-461: Is only about 2.1 metres (7 ft) above low tide level. Nauru is an oval-shaped island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, 42 km (26 mi) south of the Equator , listed as the world's smallest republic , covering just 21 km (8 sq mi). With 12,511 residents, it is the third least-populated country , after Vatican City and Tuvalu . The island is surrounded by

1065-406: Is supported by a short mast attached near the middle of the upper spar, and the forward corner is attached to the hull. The lower spar, or boom, is attached at the forward intersection, but is not attached to the mast. The proa has a permanent windward and leeward side, and exchanges one end for the other when coming about. To tack, or switch directions across the wind, the forward corner of the sail

1136-587: The Carolines to the south. The Chamorro language is included in the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian family. Because Guam was colonized by Spain for over 300 years, many words derive from the Spanish language . The traditional Chamorro number system was replaced by Spanish numbers. The Chuukese people are an ethnic group in Oceania . They constitute 48% of the population of

1207-537: The Carolinian people may have originally immigrated from the Asian mainland and Indonesia to Micronesia around 2,000 years ago. Their primary language is Carolinian , called Refaluwasch by native speakers, which has a total of about 5,700 speakers. The Carolinians have a matriarchal society in which respect is a very important factor in their daily lives, especially toward the matriarchs . Most Carolinians are of

1278-618: The Federated States of Micronesia . Their language is Chuukese . The home atoll of Chuuk is also known by the former name Truk. The Nauruan people are an ethnicity inhabiting the Pacific island of Nauru . They are most likely a blend of other Pacific peoples . Crab claw sail Crab-claw sails were invented by the Austronesians somewhere in Island Southeast Asia by at least 2000 BCE. It spread with

1349-831: The Gilbert Islands , the Mariana Islands , and the Marshall Islands — as well as numerous islands that are not part of any archipelago. Political control of areas within Micronesia varies depending on the island, and is distributed among six sovereign nations. Some of the Caroline Islands are part of the Republic of Palau and some are part of the Federated States of Micronesia (often shortened to "FSM" or "Micronesia"—not to be confused with

1420-512: The Marshall Islands . It is an unorganized , unincorporated territory of the United States. Access to the island is restricted and all activities on the island are managed by the United States Air Force . While geographically adjacent, it is not ethnoculturally part of Micronesia, due to its historical lack of human inhabitation. Micronesians may have possibly visited Wake Island in prehistoric times to harvest fish, but there

1491-740: The Philippines in approximately 1500 BCE. These populations gradually moved southwards until they reached the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands by 1300 BCE and reconnected with the Lapita culture of the southeast migration branch of Austronesians moving through coastal New Guinea and Island Melanesia . By 1200 BCE, they again began crossing open seas beyond inter-island visibility, reaching Vanuatu , Fiji , and New Caledonia ; before continuing eastwards to become

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1562-479: The Roman Catholic faith. The immigration of Carolinians to Saipan began in the early 19th century, after the Spanish reduced the local population of Chamorro natives to just 3,700. They began to immigrate mostly sailing from small canoes from other islands, which a typhoon previously devastated. The Carolinians have a much darker complexion than the native Chamorros . The Chamorro people are

1633-675: The United Nations Trust Territory System, with the United States as Trustee. In 1976, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States entered into a covenant of political union under which commonwealth status was granted the Northern Mariana Islands and its residents received United States citizenship. The Marshall Islands are located north of Nauru and Kiribati , east of the Federated States of Micronesia , and south of

1704-503: The indigenous peoples of the Mariana Islands , which are politically divided between the United States territory of Guam and the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. The Chamorro are commonly believed to have come from Southeast Asia at around 2000 BC . They are most closely related to other Austronesian natives to the west in the Philippines and Taiwan , as well as

1775-447: The mainsheet is detached and used to rotate the rearward end of the boom through a horizontal half circle. The spar join is then re-attached at the new "forward" end of the boat and the mainsheet is re-tightened at the new "rearward" end. A shunting rig with the sail propped vertically at the bow, very similar to the proa rig described above. The term "crab claw sail" is also used for non-shunting sails that widen upwards. The 'ōpe'a,

1846-429: The point of sail deviates from close hauled. The configuration has been considered for modern yachts. The crab claw sail consists of a sail, approximately an isosceles triangle in shape. The equal length sides are usually longer than the third side, with spars along the long sides. Austronesian sails typically have spars along two edges of the sail. This is to distribute the loads of sheets and other point loads on

1917-526: The Austronesian migration to Micronesia , Island Melanesia , Madagascar , and Polynesia . It may have also caused the unique development of outrigger boat technology due to the necessity for stability once crab claw sails were attached to small watercraft. Crab claw sails can be used for double-canoe ( catamaran ), single-outrigger (on the windward side), or double-outrigger boat configurations, in addition to monohulls . Crab claw sails are rigged fore-and-aft and can be tilted and rotated relative to

1988-642: The Gilberts, including the island of Tarawa , the site of the country's capital. The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of fifteen volcanic mountains. The island chain arises as a result of the western edge of the Pacific Plate moving westward and plunging downward below the Mariana plate , a region that is the most volcanically active convergent plate boundary on Earth. The Marianas were politically divided in 1898, when

2059-618: The Mariana Islands, and other possessions to Germany. Under German control, the islands became a protectorate and were administered from German New Guinea . Nauru had already been annexed and claimed as a colony by Germany in 1888. In the early 20th century, the islands of Micronesia were divided between three foreign powers: During World War I , Germany's Pacific island territories were seized and became League of Nations mandates in 1923. Nauru became an Australian mandate, while Germany's other territories in Micronesia were given as

2130-742: The Northern Marianas the only islands in Oceania where rice was grown prior to European contact. However, it was considered a high-status crop and only used in rituals. It did not become a staple until after Spanish colonization . Construction of Nan Madol , a megalithic complex made from basalt lava logs in Pohnpei, began in around 1180 CE. This was followed by the construction of the Leluh complex in Kosrae in around 1200. The earliest known contact with Europeans occurred in 1521, when

2201-605: The Northwestern Pacific Ocean . It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Polynesia to the east, and Melanesia to the south—as well as with the wider community of Austronesian peoples . The region has a tropical marine climate and is part of the Oceanian realm . It includes four main archipelagos —the Caroline Islands ,

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2272-570: The Pacific Islands . Nauru became independent in 1968. Today, most of Micronesia are independent states, except for the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , Guam and Wake Island , which are U.S. territories. The Pacific Community (SPC) is a regional intergovernmental organization whose membership includes both nations and territories in the Pacific Ocean and their metropolitan powers. Nationally,

2343-696: The Republic of the Marshall Islands. The sovereignty of Wake Island is contested: it is claimed both by the United States and by the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The United States has actual possession of Wake Island, which is under the immediate administration of the United States Air Force . Notwithstanding the fact that the notion of "Micronesia" has been quite well established since 1832 and has been used ever since, by most popular works, this set does not correspond to any geomorphological, archaeological, linguistic, ethnic or cultural unity, but on

2414-531: The U.S. territory of Wake Island . The islands consist of 29 low-lying atolls and 5 isolated islands, comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets . The atolls and islands form two groups: the Ratak Chain and the Ralik Chain (meaning "sunrise" and "sunset" chains). All the islands in the chain are part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands , a presidential republic in free association with

2485-598: The United States acquired title to Guam under the Treaty of Paris, 1898 , which ended the Spanish–American War . Spain then sold the remaining northerly islands to Germany in 1899. Germany lost all of her colonies at the end of World War I and the Northern Mariana Islands became a League of Nations Mandate, with Japan as the mandatory. After World War II , the islands were transferred into

2556-464: The United States, and the $ 150 million the US paid into a trust fund for reparations of residents of Bikini Atoll who had to move after nuclear testing. Few mineral deposits worth exploiting exist, except for some high-grade phosphate, especially on Nauru . Most residents of Micronesia can freely move to and work within, the United States. Relatives working in the US who send money home to relatives represent

2627-541: The United States. Having few natural resources, the islands' wealth is based on a service economy , as well as some fishing and agriculture . Of the 29 atolls, 24 of them are inhabited. Bikini Atoll is an atoll in the Marshall Islands. There are 23 islands in the Bikini Atoll. The islands of Bokonijien, Aerokojlol and part of Nam were destroyed during nuclear tests that occurred there. The islands are composed of low coral limestone and sand. The average elevation

2698-786: The Yap islands occurred in 1625. In the early 17th century Spain colonized Guam , the Northern Marianas and the Caroline Islands (what would later become the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau), creating the Spanish East Indies , which was governed from the Spanish Philippines . When Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue visited the Marshall Islands in 1817, he noted that Marshallese families practiced infanticide after

2769-412: The airflow, like an aircraft delta wing, but rather lies with the lower spar nearly parallel to the water, the airflow is not symmetrical. However, the presence of the water, close to the lower spar and parallel to it, makes the airflow behave roughly like the airflow over half of a delta wing, as though a "reflection" in the water provided the other half (apart from a narrow gap near the water, which causes

2840-501: The ancestors of the Polynesian people . Further migrations by other Austronesians also followed, likely from Sulawesi , settling Palau and Yap by around 1000 BCE. The details of this colonization, however, are not very well known. In 200 BCE, a loosely connected group of Lapita colonists from Island Melanesia also migrated back northwards, settling the islands of eastern Micronesia almost simultaneously. This region became

2911-630: The birth of a third child as a form of population planning due to frequent famines . In 1819, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions —a Protestant group—brought their Puritan ways to Polynesia. Soon after, the Hawaiian Missionary Society was founded and sent missionaries into Micronesia. Conversion was not met with as much opposition, as the local religions were less developed (at least according to Western ethnographic accounts). In contrast, it took until

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2982-497: The center of another wave of migrations radiating outwards, reconnecting them with other settled islands in western Micronesia. Around 800 CE, a second wave of migrants from Southeast Asia arrived in the Marianas, beginning what is now known as the Latte period . These new settlers built large structures with distinctive capped stone pillars known as haligi . They also reintroduced rice (which did not survive earlier voyages), making

3053-614: The central volcano and coral reefs around it. The Yap Islands host a number of endemic bird species, including the Yap monarch and the Olive white-eye , in addition to four other restricted-range bird species. The endangered Yap flying-fox , though often considered a subspecies of the Pelew flying fox or the Mariana fruit bat , is also endemic to Yap. The region has a tropical marine climate moderated by seasonal northeast trade winds . There

3124-410: The chain with Kosrae being the most eastern; and Palau consisting of 250 islands on the western side. The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands, arranged in an approximate north-to-south line. In a geographical sense, the equator serves as the dividing line between the northern Gilbert Islands and the southern Gilbert Islands. The Republic of Kiribati contains all of

3195-434: The contrary represents a disparate ensemble, with no real deep unity. In fact, "Micronesian people" does not exist as a subset of the sea-migrating Austronesian people , who may also include the Polynesian people and the hypothetical Australo-Melanesian or " Melanesian people". Human settlement of Micronesia began several millennia ago. Based on the current scientific consensus, the Austronesian peoples originated from

3266-410: The converging point moved further forward on the hull. This new configuration required a loose "prop" in the middle of the hull to hold the spars up, as well as rope supports on the windward side. This allowed more sail area (and thus more power) while keeping the center of effort low and thus making the boats more stable. The prop was later converted into fixed or removable canted masts where the spars of

3337-570: The crab claw sail. In western Indonesia , the crab claw sail reappeared as a recent development. Traditionally the people from western Indonesian islands had shifted to the tanja sail, but starting in the 19th century the Madurese people developed the lete sail. " Lete " actually means lateen, but the existence of pekaki (lower spar/boom) indicates that the layar lete is crab claw sail. Modern wind tunnel studies of sail types show that crab sail performance improves over Bermuda rigs , as

3408-504: The end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th centuries for missionaries to fully convert the inhabitants of Melanesia; however, a comparison of the cultural contrast must take into account the fact that Melanesia has always had deadly strains of malaria present in various degrees and distributions throughout its history (see De Rays Expedition ) and up to the present; conversely, Micronesia does not have—and never seems to have had—any malarial mosquitos nor pathogens on any of its islands in

3479-687: The ethnicities of Micronesia feel closer to some groups in Melanesia , or the Philippines . A good example of this are the Yapese people who are related to Austronesian tribes in the northern Philippines . Genetics also show a significant number of Micronesian have Japanese paternal ancestry: 9.5% of males from Micronesia as well as 0.2% in East Timor carry the Haplogroup D-M55 . There are also substantial Asian communities found across

3550-637: The identical name for the overall region). The Gilbert Islands (along with the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands in Polynesia) comprise the Republic of Kiribati . The Mariana Islands are affiliated with the United States; some of them belong to the U.S. Territory of Guam and the rest belong to the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands . The island of Nauru is its own sovereign nation. The Marshall Islands all belong to

3621-568: The islands of the Indo-Pacific . From 2000 BCE they assimilated (or were assimilated by) the earlier populations on the islands in their migration pathway. The earliest known contact of Europeans with Micronesia was in 1521, when Magellan expedition landed in the Marianas . Jules Dumont d'Urville is usually credited with coining the term "Micronesia" in 1832, but in fact, Louis Domeny de Rienzi  [ fr ] used this term

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3692-462: The lateen sail may have been introduced to Arab sailors via contact with Austronesian crab claw sails. A third theory however, concludes that lateen sails were originally Mediterranean and that Portuguese sailors introduced the lateen sail to Asian waters, starting with Vasco da Gama 's arrival in India in 1500. This means that the development of lateen sails in western sailors were not influenced by

3763-466: The loss of the administrative center of Manila and indefensible after the loss of two Spanish fleets in the war. The Spanish government therefore decided to sell the remaining islands to a new colonial power: the German Empire . The treaty, which was signed by Spanish Prime Minister Francisco Silvela on 12 February 1899, transferred the Caroline Islands (Kosrae in the east to Palau in the west),

3834-405: The ocean, where the wind is stronger and steadier. This increases the heeling moment : the sails tend to blow the watercraft over. For this reason, crab claws are typically used on multihulls , which resist heeling more strongly. Due to the construction of the sail, a symmetrical boat with a crab claw does not tack , and instead the sail is shunted . In a shunt, the sail is unfixed from the bow,

3905-404: The other side of it is fixed to the stern, and the mast rake is also reversed. After this conversion, the bow becomes the stern and vice versa. The vessel therefore always has the ama outrigger (and sidestay , if there is one) to windward, and has no bad tack , traveling equally well in both directions. In a proa , the forward intersection of the spars is placed towards the bow. The sail

3976-527: The past. In the Spanish–American War , Spain lost many of its remaining colonies. In the Pacific, the United States took possession of the Spanish Philippines and Guam. On 17 January 1899, the United States also took possession of unclaimed and uninhabited Wake Island. This left Spain with the remainder of the Spanish East Indies, about 6,000 tiny islands that were sparsely populated and not very productive. These islands were ungovernable after

4047-403: The primary income is the sale of fishing rights to foreign nations that harvest tuna using huge purse seiners . A few Japanese long liners still ply the waters. The crews aboard fishing fleets contribute little to the local economy since their ships typically set sail loaded with stores and provisions that are cheaper than local goods. Additional money comes in from government grants, mostly from

4118-430: The primary source of individual income. Additional individual income comes mainly from government jobs and work within shops and restaurants. The tourist industry consists mainly of scuba divers that come to see the coral reefs, do wall dives and visit sunken ships from WWII. Major stops for scuba divers in approximate order are Palau, Chuuk, Yap and Pohnpei. Some private yacht owners visit the area for months or years at

4189-443: The region, most notably in the Northern Mariana Islands where they form the majority and smaller communities of Europeans who have migrated from the United States or are descendants of settlers during European colonial rule in Micronesia. Though they are all geographically part of the same region, they all have very different colonial histories. The US-administered areas of Micronesia have a unique experience that sets them apart from

4260-467: The resilient and salt-resistant pandanus leaves. These sails allowed Austronesians to embark on long-distance voyaging. In some cases, however, they were one-way voyages. The failure of pandanus to establish populations in Easter Island and New Zealand is believed to have isolated their settlements from the rest of Polynesia. Because of the crab claw sail's more ancient origin, there is also

4331-470: The rest of the Pacific. Micronesia has great economic dependency on its former or current motherlands, something only comparable to the French Pacific. Sometimes, the term American Micronesia is used to acknowledge the difference in cultural heritage. A 2011 survey found that 93.1% of Micronesian are Christians ; a survey in 2022 showed that 99% were Christian. It is thought that ancestors of

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4402-402: The sail. The traditional and historic mat sails used for Austranesian sails has no reinforcement of the sail material along the edges. Since mat sails are not as strong as other sail materials, such as canvas, it is important that the spars provide the necessary reinforcement of the edges. The crab claw may also traditionally be constructed with curved spars, giving the edges of the sail along

4473-484: The sails were actually suspended by a halyard from the masthead. This type of sail is most refined in Micronesian proas which could reach very high speeds. These configurations are sometimes known as the "crane sprit" or the "crane spritsail". Micronesian, Island Melanesian, and Polynesian single-outrigger vessels also used this canted mast configuration to uniquely develop shunting , where canoes are symmetrical from front to back and change end-to-end when sailing against

4544-405: The sails were lowered. There are several distinct types of crab claw rigs, but unlike western rigs, they do not have fixed conventional names. The need to propel larger and more heavily laden boats led to the increase in vertical sail. However this introduced more instability to the vessels. In addition to the unique invention of outriggers to solve this, the sails were also leaned backwards and

4615-411: The separate island nation of Nauru , along with other distinctly separate islands and smaller island groups. The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago consisting of about 500 small coral islands , north of New Guinea and east of the Philippines . The Carolines consist of two nations: the Federated States of Micronesia , consisting of approximately 600 islands on the eastern side of

4686-468: The spars a convex shape, while the leech of the sail is often quite concave to keep it stiff on the trailing edge. These features give it its distinct, claw-like shape. Modern crab claws generally have straighter spars and a less convex leech, which gives more sail area for a given length of spar. Spars may taper towards the leech. The structure helps the sail to spill gusts. The crab claw characteristically widens upwards, putting more sail area higher above

4757-526: The upper spar, is braced up so high that it is nearly parallel to the mast (as in a gunter rig ). The paepae, the lower spar/boom, points well above the horizontal, unlike the boom of most gunter rigs and gaff rigs . The two spars can be brought together or pulled apart with control lines. The mast is fixed and stayed. The crab claw sail is something of an enigma. It has been demonstrated to produce very large amounts of lift when reaching, and overall seems superior to any other simple sail plan (this discounts

4828-433: The use of specialised sails such as spinnakers ). C. A. Marchaj, a researcher who has experimented extensively with both modern rigs for racing sailboats and traditional sailing rigs from around the world, has done wind tunnel testing of scale models of crab claw rigs. One popular but disputed theory is that the crab claw wing works like a delta wing , generating vortex lift . Since the crab claw does not lie symmetrically to

4899-423: The wind. The conversion of the prop to a fixed mast led to the much later invention of the tanja sail (also known variously and misleadingly as the canted square sail, canted rectangular sail, boomed lugsail, or balance lugsail). Tanja sails were rigged similarly to crab claw sails and also had spars on both the head and the foot of the sails; but they were square or rectangular with the spars not converging into

4970-412: The wind. They evolved from "V"-shaped perpendicular square sails (a "double sprit") in which the two spars converge at the base of the hull. The simplest form of the crab claw sail (also with the widest distribution) is composed of a triangular sail supported by two light spars (sometimes erroneously called " sprits ") on each side. They were originally mastless, and the entire assembly was taken down when

5041-499: Was made during the sixteenth century, although often initial encounters were very brief. Documents relating to the 1525 voyage of Diogo da Rocha suggest that he made the first European contact with inhabitants of the Caroline Islands, possibly staying on the Ulithi atoll for four months and encountering Yap . Marshall Islanders were encountered by the expedition of Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón in 1529. Other contact with

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