Pohnpei’s whites fall back to about fifty as islanders take over trade; the beachcomber era ends.

What happened

Hezel says the beachcomber era ended in the Carolines around 1870 as whaling declined, island populations fell, missionaries gained influence and islanders took over their own trade. The “real death blow” was the company trader, supplied by company schooners; many of the remaining whites on Pohnpei took jobs with the firms.