A DAY AT APIA, SAMOA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 227, 26 September 1898, Page 6

A DAY AT APIA, SAMOA.

By Walter Burke, F.K.P.S.

In the early morning we sighted low-lying islands clotted charmingly nbout. In appearance they are similar to our New Zealand coast, but are greener; and as we get closer in we see the vegetation is different. For an hour cr two we coast along. Here and there light smoke may be seen rising in nooks near the shore and along the tops of the hills, probably a thfra'snnd feet at the highest part, drifting fogs and mists, ever changing shape, come and go. Getting closer in, and with a glass, we can distinguish the plantations on the slopes, and down near the shore the Consulate flags are flying. The island is surounded with the usual coral reef, marked by a row of broken water; but there is apparently no entrance; but shortly a pilot boat rowed by most picturesque boys comes in sight, and the pilot, a long, lanklooking Yankee, with his papers tied in a handkerchief, comes aboard. The entrance is picked up and we steam slowly in to anchorage. We can now see a warship and the rust-eaten and battered hull of the ill-fated German warship Eder, one of those wrecked when the Calliope stemmed the gale.

Now the hoarse roar of the anchorchain marks the limit of our journey for the present. The ship is quickly surrounded by innumerable shore boats, a steam-tug, eta. The shore boats are notable. Here is the British Consul's boat, manned by Samoan boys clad in what looks like a Turkey red blouse and turban. Now the American Consul's boat, his rowers resplendent in red, white,and blue, with the Stars and Stripes flying gaily astern. A moment I after ami the boat of 11.1.G.M.5. Buzzard comes, alongside and the Police boat. Then dozens of native boats and catamarans, manned by the most picturesque natives you can imagine. In form they are superb, with great soft eyes and masses of dark hair, sometimes coated with lime in order to bleach it a reddish tint. They are clad only in a waistcloth, while the women, for distinction, wear a sort of blouse. In a moment they rush aboard, armed with curios of'every possible description and sales quickly ensue. The passengers, who are as anxious to get away as the natives are to board us, dispute the right-of-way, and a portly Samoan policeman, clad in a white uniform, endeavours, with a baton, to regulate the traffic. But the boys, used to climbing- like monkeys, swarm up all around and litter the deck with their belongings, each of the principal ones securing a space on which to display his or her wares. Baskets of pineapple's and oranges, bundles of bananas, great strings of necklaces, handsome models of native cunoes, fancy decorative waistcloths, hats made from bark, dyed all the colours of the rainbow, and made up in the latest Parisian mode, new kava bowls, which are the most expensive of all curios, but unless showing a whitish deposit inside, a thing- to be shunned, war clubs, made to sell, sticks formed of the heart of the cocoanut palm, fans of many quaint designs, cheap and good, great rolls of tappa, the native cloth, decorated in an infinite variety of patterns, big baskets of coral, pearly white, and smaller ones of the red variety, which is scarcer, rings, cleverly made of tortoiseshell and inlaid with various designs in metal, some being very good indeed, sea shells, mostly of the brown-spot-ted varieties, but some few being of better quality, and numerous other things too numerous to particularise. Half-v&y down the gangway a strapping- boy grabbed my bag and remarked, interrogatively, 'You come my boat?' which I was only too happy to'agree to. He had considerable difficulty in convincing- several other boys that I was his particular property, and at times I thought there would be a row; but I have found since that it takes a lot to make a Samoan angry. We got in the boat, my belongings strewed around, and the word is given to let go. In a moment the sky, a minute before clear blue., is overcast, and down comes a perfect tropical shower, rain so warm that you are unable at first to understand it. I* ' feels as if someone was sprinkling you with warm water from a watering can—a hand illustration, but true. However, it did not last long, and before we reached the shore, about half a mile distant, it was over. Then the boy, who has regarded me with curiosity, asks: 'You take photo?' 'Yes.' 'You want someone carry and help you?' 'Yes.' And a bargain is struck that for three shillings he is to be my faithful slave for the time we are ashore. He proudly dons my various bags till he looks like an itinerant photographer. Hand camera, camera bag, hand camera bag and mackintosh was not a bad load, but he seemed as proud as Punch. We struck straight out to the back of the 'township, which straggles intermittently for about a mile along the shore, and entering a large hut, found a number of women engaged in various occupations, one squatting down ironing European white shirts with charcoal irons, an intermixture of savagery and civilisation that was amusing. Their houses are merely sheds, with dome-shaped roofs, thatched with thick thatch. They are open on every side and the floor raised a few inches above the outside and covered with fine shingle. On this shingle their mats are spread and at night here they sleep in one common room. If the weather is inclement mats are also hung outside. All around them are their goods and chattels, few and far between. Nearly every hut appears to contain a big ship's chest, probably relics of the famous hurricane. On the rafters are rolls of tappa, in which most of the wealth of a. Samoan is invested. Now, as we have time to look around, we see the vegetation closely —graceful cocoanut palms, .cast some small shade, and lower down- the bananas, with immense leaves, almost large enough to shelter a single per-

son, and immense; bunches of bananas that would tax a man's strength to lift, bread fruit trees, mummy apples, and dozens of others, while the flowers and variegated leaves of the trees simply defy description. Great blumps of yellow and crimson Hibiscus, with flowers as large as small saucers. Cosmeas, simply growing wild, and quite a1 weed. Among the grass is one that has the same habit as our Piri-Piri, or 'Biddy-bid.' It grows rankly, and cloth pants are quickly covered to the knee. The seed 'is much more tenacious than the PiriPiri, as I know to my cost. Close by, in a more open shed than the others, a man is engaged in cooking. He sits, surrounded by green leaves' I think of the banana, cut up. Near him is a large bowl, containing some white thick fluid, like starch. He takes two or three leaves, makes a ! dent in the centre, scoops up half a cocoauut full of the liquid, tips it into the leaves quickly, rolls others around the parcel and tosses it inside, and strange to say there is no leakage. By him was about a wheelbarrowfull of these delicacies. Near the pile was an enormous heap of bananas, ready peeled. They cook in the same way as the Maoris. The natives then broke open green cocoanuts in a clever way, forming a cup to drink from. The milk usually seen in the coeoamit retailed in New Zealand is quite different. Here the nut is quite full of a delicious cool drink, quite refreshing;. More cocoanuts were wanted and a boy quickly swarmed up a tall palm in a most marvellous way, simply jumping up. Arrived ut the top he broke off the number required, threw them down' and quickly swarmed down again. Nearly every Samoan carries an umbrella, though, why they require one is difficult to say, for with their scarcity of clothing a wetting would not matter very much. Malietoa, King of Samoa, lives in the village on the right of the town, and an interview with him is very difficult to arrange without the intervention of one of the Consuls. His palace is a European cottage of about five rooms, and next to it is his native house. Close by is the monument erected to the memory of those sailors who were drowned in the hurricane. Beaching the town again we find • that the- passengers are beginning to wend their way to the boats, and crowds of natives, with heaps of curios, which have fallen sadly in price, block the way to pester one to buy with a persistency worthy of a better cause. My 'boy' leaves me hurriedly to see after some possible passengers, and I see my precious things 'dumped' on the wharf, while he drops over the side into the Hvater and superintends the loading. In a few minutes he returns, seeks the seclusion of a quiet corner, takes off his waisteloth, wrings it out, replaces it, and is once more at my service. It is, however, time to get aboard again; the rain pelts down similar to what it was in the morning. Only a tropical downpour, however, and before we reach the ship it is over. Arrived on board, we find the business of the curio sellers still progressing, and as a further attraction dozens of native boys and girls take to the water and the passengers throw money, for which they dive. It is amusing to sec probably n dozen expectant faces watching the fall of a coin, and us it reaches the water the whole turn turtle and dive after it, the successful oup. when the hubbub of struggling hands and feet is over, showing the coin glistening in his palm. It is quickly transferred. to the mouth, to be retransferred as opportunity offers, to the corner of the waistcloth, which is the Samoan boy's bank.

There is a bim as the anchor is weighed. One by one the shore boats leave. The last' cargo lighter casts off. The hatches are battened down, and we steam out of the reef as sea and sky are tinged with crimson from the dying rays of a tropical sun. So ends as enjoyable a day of freshness and novelty as I ever remember spending—one that will live green in my memory for many many years.