SAMOA AND ITS PEOPLE.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XI, Issue 34, 26 August 1893, Page 121

SAMOA AND ITS PEOPLE.

(CONTINUED FROM LAST ISSUE). IN our last issue we gave portraits of some of those chiefly concerned in the recent fighting at Samoa. We now follow on with one or two more pictures of interest. including a reproduction of the latest photograph of the monarch Malietoa in his kingly regimentals. It may not be the coat that makes the gentleman, but undoubtedly the uniform imparts an air of sovereignty to its wearer not noticeable in the picture given last week, which was an excellent portraitof thedusky king, albeit he has slightly aged since the portrait from which it was reproduced was taken. The new portrait, ‘ in state array,’ gives the idea of a benevolent personage, whereas in the younger photograph his majesty looks every whit as fierce as his warrior, Asi or Seumanutafa, of whom a large portrait is herewith given. The map shows not only Samoa but the Union Islands to which Mataafa was deported. Public interest still settling in Samoa, a biiif description of a short holiday spent in the islands will, without doubt, be acceptable. It is written by a gentleman who possesses descriptive abilities of a high order. Arriving off the coast of Apia—the largest town on the island—too late one evening to enter, as the harbour is surrounded by coral reefs, we steamed slowly up and down the coast until morning, when we came in and dropped anchor. Immediately our vessel was surrounded by natives in their c anoes— catamorans they are called; these boats are very narrow, more so than the kind used at the Sandwich Islands, but the natives seem perfectly at home in them, and though one expects to see them swamped with every passing wave, they are calmly indifferent, as they are equally at home in the water. THE SAMOAN MEN are very fine specimens of the genus homo— tall, broad, well developed, and possessing fine, agreeable features. They have the custom of applying lime to the hair, which makes them all red-headed ! There are various shades, from auburn to a darker shade which resembles sealskin. The hair is trimmed close on the crown of the head, leaving the front, sides, and back long, which, surmounting a really fine bronze face, produces a handsome effect. In the matter of clothing they are quite primitive, as for the most part they wear nothing but a strip of cloth wound about the waist, falling half-way to the knees. I’he original material used was tapa, and many use that now, but the majority have substituted calico, and as would be expected, choose large figures and brilliant colours. All the men are tatooed from the waist to the knees, the pattern being identical and very elaborate. A few wear garlands of flowers across the shoulder, and some head-dresses of leaves standing up like feathers. These, we understand, are chiefs. The Government proper is one of aristocracy, amounting almost to feudalism, and the people evidently have not much to do. That they are NOT A COMMERCIAL PEOPLE, and do not value their time highly is proven by the small stock in trade which will justify six or eight men in spending ten hours in disposing of it. For instance, one large canoe manned by fijteen men will spend a whole day about the ships with fruit to sell, and at their own prices three dollars will buy the entire supply. A basket of sixty-five large oranges can be bought for fifty cents. These oranges are green in appearance, with thick, bitter skin, but the pulp is firm, juicy and delicious, similar to those found at Bombay. Other tropical fruits abound, all good and proportionately cheap. Bread fruit when in season, during about half the year, is the staple article of food. At other times taro root and yams take its place. Oranges and limes grow in the greatest abundance, only a small percentage of the yield being consumed. Pine-apples are of fine flavour and grow to an immense size, many more than a foot long and weighing eight or ten pounds. Cotton and coffee of superior quality are raised on the plantations by foreigners,* but the natives have really little use for money, and without much effort on their part nature supplies all their needs. The trees, plants and sea give food, shelter, and clothing and their beverage, cava. It is difficult to induce them to work, because it is not necessary. They have well nigh escaped the curse of Adam, but they are literally like the ‘ lily of the field,’ in that * they toil not neither do they spin.’ And one cannot but be pleased with their simple, trusting good-nature and smiling faces.

•The labour on the plantations is performed by slaves (not in name) brought from the Fiji and Solomon Islands.

Entering the harbour, the view from the ship is superb. The mountains are densely covered with vegetation to their very summits. Palms and all tropical plants abound, and cocoanut trees, like sentinels on guard, wave their tall plumes above all. Apia has but one street, and is in the form of a crescent, following the shore of the bay upon which it is built. The foreigners occupy the centre, and the natives the two ends, one being the village of Malietoa’s followers, and the other those of his rival. There are about three hundred foreign, ers on the island, and we are told thirty of them are Americans. As we pass along the street every one we meet greets us with kalofa, just as at the Sandwich Islands one is greeted with Aloha, which means the same thing—good-day ! These HOUSES OK HUTS, BUILT OF BAMBOO, are very well constructed, the frame-work is firmly tied together, and the mats and thatching which form the roofs are really artistically woven. There are no walls, but when it becomes necessary to shut out wind, rain or sun, mats made of cocoanut leaves are let down. The floors are made of pebbles gathered from the beds of fresh w-ater streams which come down from the mountains. There appears to be a number of people to each hut, and when needful to form rooms tapa screens are hung up. They have no beds,

but sleep on mats spread upon the floor. One would suppose these would make anything but downy couches, but the natives evidently find them comfortable, for at any hour of the day some members of the family are sure to be found asleep. Their pillows—which consist of a length of bamboo supported at either end on legs—form a part of the very meagre furniture, the other part consisting of a strong box in which are kept the finery and valuables. The cross-beams overhead supply the storage room, and in each hut one finds bundles of tapa and mats for sale. Their stove is simply a hole scooped out of the floor and lined with large pebbles ; few cooking utensils are necessary, as in this they cook the bread fruit and fish which, with cocoanuts, bananas, and other fruit, form their principal diet. The bread fruit, in appearance like a large osage orange, when roasted tastes somewhat like sweet potato. The fish is baked in leaves, as at Hawaii. I must not forget to mention one indispensable article which every hut possesses, and that is, a cava bowl. CAVA, THE NATIONAL BEVERAGE OF SAMOA, is prepared from the root of one of the pepper plants. Formerly, and amongst some of the natives to this day, it was produced by filling the mouth with water, chewing the root, and collecting the saliva in bowls. That is said to be the beverage in perfection. This is modified however among (CONTINUED ON PAGE I .V.)