Note 1 — Letters from Father Mateo Gisbert to the Reverend Fathers and Brothers of Veruela

The Carolinas were discovered first by the Portuguese navigator, Diogo da Rocha, in 1525, and different groups of them were seen by early Spanish navigators. In 1686, one of them was discovered by the Spanish admiral, Francisco Lezcano, who named it Carolina, in honor of Cárlos II, and the whole archipelago finally took its name from it. They number about 525 islands counting reefs and uninhabited rocks, and contain about 525 square miles. In the beginning of the eighteenth century they were entirely abandoned by Spain, and were only brought back to public notice in the beginning of the nineteenth century through several scientific expeditions. Gradually German commercial interests became paramount, and in 1885 the German flag was hoisted in the island of Yap in the presence of two Spanish gunboats. The pope arbitrating on the matter declared that the islands belonged to Spain, but gave special privileges to Germany. In 1899, the Carolinas, Palaos, and all of the Ladrones except Guam were ceded to Germany in payment of 16,750,000 marks. See Montero y Vidal’s Archipiélago, pp. 483–505 (who gives the propositions submitted by the pope); Gregorio Miguel’s Estudio sobre las islas Carolinas; and New International Encyclopædia.