Stevenson at Vailima

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2089, 24 January 1896, Page 3

Stevenson at Vailima

Mr Lloyd Osborne, the stepson of the late Robert Louis Stevenson, contributes to the October "Scribner' an exceedingly interesting article on the novelist's home life at Vailima. Stevenson knew when he left England that he had turned his back for ever on the Old World. Whatever the future held in store for him it could be no worse than what he was leaving:— "I can remember (says Mr Osborne) the few minutes allowed him each day in the open air when the thin sunshine of South England permitted ; his despairing face, the bitterness of the sou Id too big for words "when this little liberty was perforce refused him. I recall him saying : "I do not ask for health, but I will go anywhere, live anywhere if I can enjoy the ordinary existence of a human being." Mr Osborne used to remind him of this when at times his Samoan exile lay heavy upon him and his eyes turned longingly to home. Years passed in health resorts and crowded cities made Mr Stevenson greedy of landowning when the opportunity came to him, and he took care that no row of villas in the uncertain future should mar his vistas of sea, nor press their back gardens into his plantation In Samoa:—"A rough shanty was built, a pony bought, a German in decayed circumstances engaged as cook, and Mr Stevenson took up his quarters on the first clearing, and began pioneer life with an undaunted heart. For months he lived in a most distracting fashion, and threw himself with ardor into the work of felling, clearing, and opening his acres to cultivation. Gangs of Samoans were busy the whole day long, and the rough." overgrown path from town flattened beneath the tread of many feet. Plants and scantling lined it for upwards of a mile, representing the various stages of his industry and the various misfortunes that had overtaken the noble savage in its labors." The little leisure of the planter was spent in studying the language, in teaching his overseer Engfishv decimals and history, and in acquainting himself first hand with the amazing inconsistencies that make up the Samoan character." , Naturally, it came to pass in \ ailima Uiat a new family was started, with Mr Stevenson for its house-chief and the tradition of devotions and service transferred bodily from bamoan life into that of his household:—"Noneknew better than Mr Stevenson, a Celt and a Scotchman, how to foster and encourage this innovation, and our family soon began to acquire a status in the land. The Stuart tartan kilt, our uniform or. high days and holidays, became a thing of pride to the wearer and the badge of his high connection, and the "mamalu" of prestige of Vailima was to be supported and upheld by every son of the house. Truth suffered occasionally at the hands of the more zealous, and I can trace many mis-statements and exaggerations that have crept into print to the misguided though laudable ardour of our clansmen."

A friend of Stevenson's af>tly described Vailima as "an Irish castle of ]B2O. minus the dirt." One of the secrets of Mr Stevenson's popularity was that he was a consistent partisan of Mataafa. "the ill-fated rebel king. a man of high and noble character, who, though beaten and crushed by the Government forces, was nevertheless looked up to and covertly admired by all Samoa" "When the British man-of-war brought the unfortunate ex-king to Apia with many of his chiefs, it was Mr Stevenson that first boarded the ahip with sympathy and assistance; it was Mr Stevenson that lighted the great ovens, and brought down his men weighted with food baskets, when all were afraid and stood aloof; it was Mr Stevenson that attended to the political prisoners in the noisome gaol after they had been flogged through the streets and foully mishandled under the very guns of the men-of-war ; it was Mr Stevenson that brought and paid the doctor, that had the stinking prison cleansed, that fed the starving wretches from his own pocket until officialdom was shamed and terrified into action." These things, says Mr Osborne, made a deep impression at the time ,and will never be altogether forgotten.—"Westminster."