Lamotrek Island is one of three islands that make up the low coral atoll of Lamotrek, the other two islands, Pugue and Falaite, are presently uninhabited though it is believed that people lived on them at the time of the first recorded discovery of Lamotrek in 1797 by Captain James Wilson in the ship "Duff." Politically and geographically, Lamotrek Atoll belongs to Yap State in the Caroline Islands of the Federated States of Micronesia (see Map 1 above), but linguistic and cultural evidence indicates that Lamotrek was settled not from the West but from the East. Lamotrek Island averages no more than three to four feet above sea level. The population is reduced to around 300 persons nine months out of the year when students leave to go Woleai Atoll, located about 300 miles to the West, to attend the nearest outer island high school, and others travel to attend the high school on Ulithi Atoll, some 300 miles further. Ship service to Lamotrek is irregular and uncertain, averaging about four to six contacts in the course of a year. The main exports are dried coconut meat, traditional woven textiles and coconut fiber sennit.