R.L.S. AND COLVIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 113, 16 May 1927, Page 15

R.L.S. AND COLVIN.

LIVELY WARS IN SAMOA.

GOSSIP OF THE BEACH,

REFERENCES TO AUCKLAND.

' He-rending some of "Yailima Letters" j 9 a particularly interesting sparemonicnt.s occupation revived for me by. tho cabled news of the death of Sir Sidney Colvin. Half-forgotten episodes o f tho lively wars in Samoa and the perilous days of the young 'nineties at incidents that were of special concern to us in Auckland, are recalled by a dip into the epistles which Stevenson (crived with such zest to his great friend jn London. The gossip of the beach that JS.L.S. seems to have specially reserved jor Colvin's eye is always entertaining; often it is done with such artistry that though "writ private" it was with some thought for the public's ultimate readIng as well as Colvin's. Stevenson'e humour was ofttimes of the "'pawky" kind. Recounting his adventures at a little international social gathering at Apia in 1892, he wrote to Colvin:— "The German Firm have taken my look ('A Footnote to History , ) like angels, and the result is that Lloyd (Osbourne) and, I were down there at dinner on Saturday, where we partook of fifteen several dishes and eight distinct forms of intoxicating drink. To the credit of Germany I must say there was not a shadow of a headache the next morning. I seem to have done as well as my neighbours, for I hear one of the clerks expressed the next morning a gratified surprise that Mr. Stevenson stood his drink so well. It is a strange thing that any race can still find joy in.such athletic exercises."

There are sundry passing references to Auckland in the R.L.S.-Colvin correspondence. It -was in February, 1893, that "Fanny, Belle, and I started out for a month's lark," from Apia for Sydney. This was in the mail steamer Jfariposa, and it was on the arrival of that liner at Auckland that Stevenson iaw Sir George Grey, whom he had long wished to meet. He wrote to Colvin: *Have seen a great deal of Sir George Grey; what a wonderful old historic figure to be walking on your arm and recalling ancient events and instances! It makes a man small, and yet the extent to which he approved what I had done —or rather have tried to do — encouraged me. Sir George is an expert, at least he knows these races; h<3 is not a small employee with an inkpot and a Whittaker."