O’Keefe’s schooner Queen spends three months at Yap loading copra.
What happened
O’Keefe’s trade rested on a deal with Yapese chiefs: his ships carried the large limestone discs of stone money (rai) that Yapese quarried in Palau, and the stones were released to their owners only after full payment in copra. The Queen was one of a string of sailing vessels he added to his fleet between 1876 and 1880.
Who’s who
- David O’KeefeIrish-born trader on Yap who shipped Palauan stone money in exchange for copra from the 1870s.