A.—3.

1890. NEW ZEALAND.

FEDERATION AND ANNEXATION. (FURTHER PAPERS RELATING TO THE PACIFIC ISLANDS.) [In continuation of A.-2, 1889.]

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

No. 1. Memorandum from the Agent-General to the Hon. the Premier. 7, Westminster Chambers, London, S.W., 20th September, 1889. Return of King 'Malietoa. —I beg to attach hereto, for the information of the Hon. the Minister some extracts from the Times on the subject of the return of King Malietoa to Samoa. F. D. Bell.

Enclosures. [Extract from the Times, Tuesday, 17th September, 1889.] Auckland, 16th September. Samoa.—The latest reports from Samoa announce that Malietoa, the King who was dethroned and deported by the Germans, but has since been restored to his native land, and Mataafa, who disputed with Tamasese the succession to Malietoa's throne, have gone to the Island of Manono, where they will remain until the decisions of the Berlin Conference have taken definite shape. The German Consul at Apia has notified Tamasese that the German Government is precluded from giving especial support to any one party.

[Extract from the Times, Friday, 20th September, 1889.j The Beturn op Malietoa. Apia, Samoa, 13th August. On the 18th September, 1887, Malietoa Laupapa, King of Samoa, was deported in the German warship " Adler," and was taken a prisoner first to the Cameroon Islands, afterwards to Hamburg, and finally to Jaluit, in the Marshall Islands. The " Adler " now lies a wreck on the reef in the harbour of Apia, and Malietoa, according to the terms of the Berlin Conference, has been returned to the place from whence he was kidnapped. It is understood here that Malietoa was to be restored as King. But the German authorities were not disposed to eat any humble-pie in the shape of an official landing, or to give a chance of any demonstration amongst the native or English and American residents. He was put ashore like an outlaw, instead of a great chief. The gunboat " Wulf," which brought Malietoa and his companions in exile from the Marshalls, was purposely timed to arrive here on Sunday last, the 11th August. No people in the world respect the Sabbath so much as these Pacific Islanders. Nowhere is attendance at church so generally observed. On Malietoa's departure, as he walked down the beach road to the wharf with the German Consul, the people crowded round him, kissing his hand, imploring him not to give himself up. If he had raised his hand there were enough armed warriors ready in the native village behind Apia to massacre the German marines and carry off their King into the bush again. .But Malietoa had written, " I deliver up my body to the German Government that the blood of Samoa shall not be spilt for me." Weak in raany things, he was still strong to suffer ; and to sa-ve bloodshed he kept his word in surrendering to the German authorities. But he surrendered as a King, his herald crying out" before him, the people mourning and Grouching to their knees as he passed. And, with the knowledge that he was sacrificing himself for his country's good, the triumph was to Malietoa, and not to the Germans. They meant to give no chance for a repetition of such a scene, for the exiled King was sneaked ashore like a smuggler. I—A. ?>.