The Marshall Islands lie east of the Caroline Islands, midway between Hawaii and New Guinea. The eastern chain, the Ratak, has 16 atolls; the western, the Ralik, 18. The atoll of Jaluit, which includes 50 islets, is the trade center for the archipelago, and lies in the Ralik chain. It has a native population of over 1000. Wotje, an important atoll of the Ratak chain, consists of 65 islets, surrounding an oval-shaped lagoon. The average stature for males is 65 inches, for females, 58.3 inches. These Micronesians are taller and lighter than the Melanesians and have rather straight hair.

These islands receive their name from the British Captain Marshall who explored them in 1788. The islands were originally discovered by the Spaniard, De Saavedra. Spain retained control until 1899 when she sold her Micronesian possessions to German. At the beginning of World War I those German holds were seized by Japan. The League of Nations later gave Japan a Mandate over these islands, as it gave Australia Mandate over most of the Melanesians. The Japanese thereupon controlled 623 islands of considerable size, together with 860 additional islets and reefs. All foreigners were rigidly excluded from these which Japan, contrary to her Mandate yet unopposed by the League, proceeded to fortify.

The Marshall group are the Jap bases closest to Hawaii and from them most likely was launched the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.

Remember Pearl Harbor
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The Caroline Islands form another (unable to read 1 word) archipelago which lies west of the Marshalls. They extend westward for 1,800 miles. They cover approximately 877 square miles distributed over nearly 50 groups, most of them atolls. Some of these islands are of volcanic origin and belong with the oceanic high islands. These islands like the Marshall passed from Spanish to German to Japanese control. It is said that the children greet one in the morning with the Japanese "Ohayo", the middle aged say "Guten Morgen," while the aged courteously extend a greeting in the familiar Spanish "Buenos dias."

Ponape is a large island, the largest in the Japanese mandated area, covering about 130 square miles. The lagoon surrounding it, in turn rimmed by a reef, provides a ship basin. Harbor landings are cut into the island of Ponape itself, the most important of which, Jokaj is a fortified islet 876 feet high in the lagoon.

The Japanese base at Truk, in the eastern Carolines, includes a large number of coral islets surrounding a lagoon and belted by a white reef. In places, the bottom of the lagoon drops away to unknown depth, providing adequate space for shipping and fleet anchorage.

At the very western end of the Carolines lies the island of Yap. It is about 500 miles southwest of Guam. Another fortified Japanese base, Yap actually consists of three islands plus a number of islets all located as part of an encircling band around a central lagoon 19 miles in diameter.
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