A FOOTNOTE TO HISTORYEIGHT YEARS OF TROUBLE IN SAMOAby Robert Louis Stevenson

PREFACE

An affair which might be deemed worthy of a note of a few lines in anygeneral history has been here expanded to the size of a volume or largepamphlet. The smallness of the scale, and the singularity of the mannersand events and many of the characters, considered, it is hoped that, inspite of its outlandish subject, the sketch may find readers. It hasbeen a task of difficulty. Speed was essential, or it might come toolate to be of any service to a distracted country. Truth, in the midstof conflicting rumours and in the dearth of printed material, was oftenhard to ascertain, and since most of those engaged were of my personalacquaintance, it was often more than delicate to express. I mustcertainly have erred often and much; it is not for want of trouble takennor of an impartial temper. And if my plain speaking shall cost me anyof the friends that I still count, I shall be sorry, but I need not beashamed. 

In one particular the spelling of Samoan words has been altered; and thecharacteristic nasal _n_ of the language written throughout _ng_ insteadof _g_. Thus I put Pango-Pango, instead of Pago-Pago; the sound beingthat of soft _ng_ in English, as in _singer_, not as in _finger_. 

R. L. S. VAILIMA, UPOLU, SAMOA. 

CHAPTER I--THE ELEMENTS OF DISCORD: NATIVE

The story I have to tell is still going on as I write; the characters arealive and active; it is a piece of contemporary history in the most exactsense. And yet, for all its actuality and the part played in it by mailsand telegraphs and iron war-ships, the ideas and the manners of thenative actors date back before the Roman Empire. They are Christians, church-goers, singers of hymns at family worship, hardy cricketers; theirbooks are printed in London by Spottiswoode, Trubner, or the TractSociety; but in most other points they are the contemporaries of ourtattooed ancestors who drove their chariots on the wrong side of theRoman wall. We have passed the feudal system; they are not yet clear ofthe patriarchal. We are in the thick of the age of finance; they are ina period of communism. And this makes them hard to understand. 

To us, with our feudal ideas, Samoa has the first appearance of a land ofdespotism. An elaborate courtliness marks the race alone amongPolynesians; terms of ceremony fly thick as oaths on board a ship;commoners my-lord each other when they meet--and urchins as they playmarbles. And for the real noble a whole private dialect is set apart. The common names for an axe, for blood, for bamboo, a bamboo knife, apig, food, entrails, and an oven are taboo in his presence, as the commonnames for a bug and for many offices and members of the body are taboo inthe drawing-rooms of English ladies. Special words are set apart for hisleg, his face, his hair, his belly, his eyelids, his son, his daughter, his wife, his wife's pregnancy, his wife's adultery, adultery with hiswife, his dwelling, his spear, his comb, his sleep, his dreams, hisanger, the mutual anger of several chiefs, his food, his pleasure ineating, the food and eating of his pigeons, his ulcers, his cough, hissickness, his recovery, his death, his being carried on a bier, theexhumation of his bones, and his skull after death. To address thesedemigods is quite a branch of knowledge, and he who goes to visit a highchief does well to make sure of the competence of his interpreter. Tocomplete the picture, the same word signifies the watching of a virginand the warding of a chief; and the same word means to cherish a chiefand to fondle a favourite child. 

Men like us, full of memories of feudalism, hear of a man so addressed, so flattered, and we leap at once to the conclusion that he is hereditaryand absolute. Hereditary he is; born of a great family, he must alwaysbe a man of mark; but yet his office is elective and (in a weak sense) isheld on good behaviour. Compare the case of a Highland chief: born oneof the great ones of his clan, he was sometimes appointed its chiefofficer and conventional father; was loved, and respected, and served, and fed, and died for implicitly, if he gave loyalty a chance; and yet ifhe sufficiently outraged clan sentiment, was liable to deposition. As toauthority, the parallel is not so close. Doubtless the Samoan chief, ifhe be popular, wields a great influence; but it is limited. Importantmatters are debated in a fono, or native parliament, with its feastingand parade, its endless speeches and polite genealogical allusions. Debated, I say--not decided; for even a small minority will often strikea clan or a province impotent. In the midst of these ineffectivecouncils the chief sits usually silent: a kind of a gagged audience forvillage orators. And the deliverance of the fono seems (for the moment)to be final. The absolute chiefs of Tahiti and Hawaii were addressed asplain John and Thomas; the chiefs of Samoa are surfeited with lip-honour, but the seat and extent of their actual authority is hard to find. 

It is so in the members of the state, and worse in the belly. The ideaof a sovereign pervades the air; the name we have; the thing we are notso sure of. And the process of election to the chief power is a mystery. Certain provinces have in their gift certain high titles, or _names_, asthey are called. These can only be attributed to the descendants ofparticular lines. Once granted, each name conveys at once theprincipality (whatever that be worth) of the province which bestows it, and counts as one suffrage towards the general sovereignty of Samoa. Tobe indubitable king, they say, or some of them say, --I find few inperfect harmony, --a man should resume five of these names in his ownperson. But the case is purely hypothetical; local jealousy forbids itsoccurrence. There are rival provinces, far more concerned in theprosecution of their rivalry than in the choice of a right man for king. If one of these shall have bestowed its name on competitor A, it will bethe signal and the sufficient reason for the other to bestow its name oncompetitor B or C. The majority of Savaii and that of Aana are thus inperennial opposition. Nor is this all. In 1881, Laupepa, the presentking, held the three names of Malietoa, Natoaitele, and Tamasoalii;Tamasese held that of Tuiaana; and Mataafa that of Tuiatua. Laupepa hadthus a majority of suffrages; he held perhaps as high a proportion as canbe hoped in these distracted islands; and he counted among the number thepreponderant name of Malietoa. Here, if ever, was an election. Here, ifa king were at all possible, was the king. And yet the natives were notsatisfied. Laupepa was crowned, March 19th; and next month, theprovinces of Aana and Atua met in joint parliament, and elected their owntwo princes, Tamasese and Mataafa, to an alternate monarchy, Tamasesetaking the first trick of two years. War was imminent, when the consulsinterfered, and any war were preferable to the terms of the peace whichthey procured. By the Lackawanna treaty, Laupepa was confirmed king, andTamasese set by his side in the nondescript office of vice-king. Thecompromise was not, I am told, without precedent; but it lacked allappearance of success. To the constitution of Samoa, which was alreadyall wheels and no horses, the consuls had added a fifth wheel. Inaddition to the old conundrum, "Who is the king?" they had supplied a newone, "What is the vice-king?"

Two royal lines; some cloudy idea of alternation between the two; anelectorate in which the vote of each province is immediately effectual, as regards itself, so that every candidate who attains one name becomes aperpetual and dangerous competitor for the other four: such are a few ofthe more trenchant absurdities. Many argue that the whole idea ofsovereignty is modern and imported; but it seems impossible that anythingso foolish should have been suddenly devised, and the constitution bearson its front the marks of dotage. 

But the king, once elected and nominated, what does he become? It may besaid he remains precisely as he was. Election to one of the five namesis significant; it brings not only dignity but power, and the holder issecure, from that moment, of a certain following in war. But I cannotfind that the further step of election to the kingship implies anythingworth mention. The successful candidate is now the _Tupu o Samoa_--muchgood may it do him! He can so sign himself on proclamations, which itdoes not follow that any one will heed. He can summon parliaments; itdoes not follow they will assemble. If he be too flagrantly disobeyed, he can go to war. But so he could before, when he was only the chief ofcertain provinces. His own provinces will support him, the provinces ofhis rivals will take the field upon the other part; just as before. Inso far as he is the holder of any of the five _names_, in short, he is aman to be reckoned with; in so far as he is king of Samoa, I cannot findbut what the president of a college debating society is a far moreformidable officer. And unfortunately, although the credit side of theaccount proves thus imaginary, the debit side is actual and heavy. Forhe is now set up to be the mark of consuls; he will be badgered to raisetaxes, to make roads, to punish crime, to quell rebellion: and how he isto do it is not asked. 

If I am in the least right in my presentation of this obscure matter, noone need be surprised to hear that the land is full of war and rumours ofwar. Scarce a year goes by but what some province is in arms, or sitssulky and menacing, holding parliaments, disregarding the king'sproclamations and planting food in the bush, the first step of militarypreparation. The religious sentiment of the people is indeed for peaceat any price; no pastor can bear arms; and even the layman who does so isdenied the sacraments. In the last war the college of Malua, where thepicked youth are prepared for the ministry, lost but a single student;the rest, in the bosom of a bleeding country, and deaf to the voices ofvanity and honour, peacefully pursued their studies. But if the churchlooks askance on war, the warrior in no extremity of need or passionforgets his consideration for the church. The houses and gardens of herministers stand safe in the midst of armies; a way is reserved forthemselves along the beach, where they may be seen in their white kiltsand jackets openly passing the lines, while not a hundred yards behindthe skirmishers will be exchanging the useless volleys of barbaricwarfare. Women are also respected; they are not fired upon; and they aresuffered to pass between the hostile camps, exchanging gossip, spreadingrumour, and divulging to either army the secret councils of the other. This is plainly no savage war; it has all the punctilio of the barbarian, and all his parade; feasts precede battles, fine dresses and songsdecorate and enliven the field; and the young soldier comes to campburning (on the one hand) to distinguish himself by acts of valour, and(on the other) to display his acquaintance with field etiquette. Thusafter Mataafa became involved in hostilities against the Germans, and hadanother code to observe beside his own, he was always asking his whiteadvisers if "things were done correctly. " Let us try to be as wise asMataafa, and to conceive that etiquette and morals differ in one countryand another. We shall be the less surprised to find Samoan war defacedwith some unpalatable customs. The childish destruction of fruit-treesin an enemy's country cripples the resources of Samoa; and the habit ofhead-hunting not only revolts foreigners, but has begun to exercise theminds of the natives themselves. Soon after the German heads were taken, Mr. Carne, Wesleyan missionary, had occasion to visit Mataafa's camp, andspoke of the practice with abhorrence. "Misi Kane, " said one chief, "wehave just been puzzling ourselves to guess where that custom came from. But, Misi, is it not so that when David killed Goliath, he cut off hishead and carried it before the king?"

With the civil life of the inhabitants we have far less to do; and yeteven here a word of preparation is inevitable. They are easy, merry, andpleasure-loving; the gayest, though by far from either the most capableor the most beautiful of Polynesians. Fine dress is a passion, and makesa Samoan festival a thing of beauty. Song is almost ceaseless. Theboatman sings at the oar, the family at evening worship, the girls atnight in the guest-house, sometimes the workman at his toil. No occasionis too small for the poets and musicians; a death, a visit, the day'snews, the day's pleasantry, will be set to rhyme and harmony. Even half-grown girls, the occasion arising, fashion words and train choruses ofchildren for its celebration. Song, as with all Pacific islanders, goeshand in hand with the dance, and both shade into the drama. Some of theperformances are indecent and ugly, some only dull; others are pretty, funny, and attractive. Games are popular. Cricket-matches, where ahundred played upon a side, endured at times for weeks, and ate up thecountry like the presence of an army. Fishing, the daily bath, flirtation; courtship, which is gone upon by proxy; conversation, whichis largely political; and the delights of public oratory, fill in thelong hours. 

But the special delight of the Samoan is the _malanga_. When people forma party and go from village to village, junketing and gossiping, they aresaid to go on a _malanga_. Their songs have announced their approach erethey arrive; the guest-house is prepared for their reception; the virginsof the village attend to prepare the kava bowl and entertain them withthe dance; time flies in the enjoyment of every pleasure which anislander conceives; and when the _malanga_ sets forth, the same welcomeand the same joys expect them beyond the next cape, where the nearestvillage nestles in its grove of palms. To the visitors it is all golden;for the hosts, it has another side. In one or two words of the languagethe fact peeps slyly out. The same word (_afemoeina_) expresses "a longcall" and "to come as a calamity"; the same word (_lesolosolou_)signifies "to have no intermission of pain" and "to have no cessation, asin the arrival of visitors"; and _soua_, used of epidemics, bears thesense of being overcome as with "fire, flood, or visitors. " But the gemof the dictionary is the verb _alovao_, which illustrates its pages likea humorous woodcut. It is used in the sense of "to avoid visitors, " butit means literally "hide in the wood. " So, by the sure hand of popularspeech, we have the picture of the house deserted, the _malanga_disappointed, and the host that should have been quaking in the bush. 

We are thus brought to the beginning of a series of traits of manners, highly curious in themselves, and essential to an understanding of thewar. In Samoa authority sits on the one hand entranced; on the other, property stands bound in the midst of chartered marauders. What propertyexists is vested in the family, not in the individual; and of the loosecommunism in which a family dwells, the dictionary may yet again help usto some idea. I find a string of verbs with the following senses: todeal leniently with, as in helping oneself from a family plantation; togive away without consulting other members of the family; to go tostrangers for help instead of to relatives; to take from relativeswithout permission; to steal from relatives; to have plantations robbedby relatives. The ideal of conduct in the family, and some of itsdepravations, appear here very plainly. The man who (in a native word ofpraise) is _mata-ainga_, a race-regarder, has his hand always open to hiskindred; the man who is not (in a native term of contempt) _noa_, knowsalways where to turn in any pinch of want or extremity of laziness. Beggary within the family--and by the less self-respecting, withoutit--has thus grown into a custom and a scourge, and the dictionary teemswith evidence of its abuse. Special words signify the begging of food, of uncooked food, of fish, of pigs, of pigs for travellers, of pigs forstock, of taro, of taro-tops, of taro-tops for planting, of tools, offlyhooks, of implements for netting pigeons, and of mats. It is true thebeggar was supposed in time to make a return, somewhat as by the Romancontract of _mutuum_. But the obligation was only moral; it could notbe, or was not, enforced; as a matter of fact, it was disregarded. Thelanguage had recently to borrow from the Tahitians a word for debt; whileby a significant excidence, it possessed a native expression for thefailure to pay--"to omit to make a return for property begged. " Conceivenow the position of the householder besieged by harpies, and all defencedenied him by the laws of honour. The sacramental gesture of refusal, his last and single resource, was supposed to signify "my house isdestitute. " Until that point was reached, in other words, the conductprescribed for a Samoan was to give and to continue giving. But it doesnot appear he was at all expected to give with a good grace. Thedictionary is well stocked with expressions standing ready, likemissiles, to be discharged upon the locusts--"troop of shamefaced ones, ""you draw in your head like a tern, " "you make your voice small like awhistle-pipe, " "you beg like one delirious"; and the verb _pongitai_, "tolook cross, " is equipped with the pregnant rider, "as at the sight ofbeggars. "

This insolence of beggars and the weakness of proprietors can only beillustrated by examples. We have a girl in our service to whom we hadgiven some finery, that she might wait at table, and (at her own request)some warm clothing against the cold mornings of the bush. She went on avisit to her family, and returned in an old tablecloth, her wholewardrobe having been divided out among relatives in the course of twenty-four hours. A pastor in the province of Atua, being a handy, busy man, bought a boat for a hundred dollars, fifty of which he paid down. Presently after, relatives came to him upon a visit and took a fancy tohis new possession. "We have long been wanting a boat, " said they. "Giveus this one. " So, when the visit was done, they departed in the boat. The pastor, meanwhile, travelled into Savaii the best way he could, solda parcel of land, and begged mats among his other relatives, to pay theremainder of the price of the boat which was no longer his. You mightthink this was enough; but some months later, the harpies, having brokena thwart, brought back the boat to be repaired and repainted by theoriginal owner. 

Such customs, it might be argued, being double-edged, will ultimatelyright themselves. But it is otherwise in practice. Such folk as thepastor's harpy relatives will generally have a boat, and will never havepaid for it; such men as the pastor may have sometimes paid for a boat, but they will never have one. It is there as it is with us at home: themeasure of the abuse of either system is the blackness of the individualheart. The same man, who would drive his poor relatives from his owndoor in England, would besiege in Samoa the doors of the rich; and theessence of the dishonesty in either case is to pursue one's own advantageand to be indifferent to the losses of one's neighbour. But theparticular drawback of the Polynesian system is to depress and staggerindustry. To work more is there only to be more pillaged; to save isimpossible. The family has then made a good day of it when all arefilled and nothing remains over for the crew of free-booters; and theinjustice of the system begins to be recognised even in Samoa. Onenative is said to have amassed a certain fortune; two clever lads haveindividually expressed to us their discontent with a system which taxesindustry to pamper idleness; and I hear that in one village of Savaii alaw has been passed forbidding gifts under the penalty of a sharp fine. 

Under this economic regimen, the unpopularity of taxes, which strike allat the same time, which expose the industrious to a perfect siege ofmendicancy, and the lazy to be actually condemned to a day's labour, maybe imagined without words. It is more important to note the concurrentrelaxation of all sense of property. From applying for help to kinsmenwho are scarce permitted to refuse, it is but a step to taking from them(in the dictionary phrase) "without permission"; from that to theft atlarge is but a hair's-breadth. 

CHAPTER II--THE ELEMENTS OF DISCORD: FOREIGN

The huge majority of Samoans, like other God-fearing folk in othercountries, are perfectly content with their own manners. And upon onecondition, it is plain they might enjoy themselves far beyond the averageof man. Seated in islands very rich in food, the idleness of the manyidle would scarce matter; and the provinces might continue to bestowtheir names among rival pretenders, and fall into war and enjoy that awhile, and drop into peace and enjoy that, in a manner highly to beenvied. But the condition--that they should be let alone--is now nolonger possible. More than a hundred years ago, and following closely onthe heels of Cook, an irregular invasion of adventurers began to swarmabout the isles of the Pacific. The seven sleepers of Polynesia stand, still but half aroused, in the midst of the century of competition. Andthe island races, comparable to a shopful of crockery launched upon thestream of time, now fall to make their desperate voyage among pots ofbrass and adamant. 

Apia, the port and mart, is the seat of the political sickness of Samoa. At the foot of a peaked, woody mountain, the coast makes a deep indent, roughly semicircular. In front the barrier reef is broken by the freshwater of the streams; if the swell be from the north, it enters almostwithout diminution; and the war-ships roll dizzily at their moorings, andalong the fringing coral which follows the configuration of the beach, the surf breaks with a continuous uproar. In wild weather, as the worldknows, the roads are untenable. Along the whole shore, which iseverywhere green and level and overlooked by inland mountain-tops, thetown lies drawn out in strings and clusters. The western horn isMulinuu, the eastern, Matautu; and from one to the other of theseextremes, I ask the reader to walk. He will find more of the history ofSamoa spread before his eyes in that excursion, than has yet beencollected in the blue-books or the white-books of the world. Mulinuu(where the walk is to begin) is a flat, wind-swept promontory, plantedwith palms, backed against a swamp of mangroves, and occupied by a rathermiserable village. The reader is informed that this is the properresidence of the Samoan kings; he will be the more surprised to observe aboard set up, and to read that this historic village is the property ofthe German firm. But these boards, which are among the commonestfeatures of the landscape, may be rather taken to imply that the claimhas been disputed. A little farther east he skirts the stores, offices, and barracks of the firm itself. Thence he will pass through Matafele, the one really town-like portion of this long string of villages, byGerman bars and stores and the German consulate; and reach the Catholicmission and cathedral standing by the mouth of a small river. The bridgewhich crosses here (bridge of Mulivai) is a frontier; behind is Matafele;beyond, Apia proper; behind, Germans are supreme; beyond, with but fewexceptions, all is Anglo-Saxon. Here the reader will go forward past thestores of Mr. Moors (American) and Messrs. MacArthur (English); past theEnglish mission, the office of the English newspaper, the English church, and the old American consulate, till he reaches the mouth of a largerriver, the Vaisingano. Beyond, in Matautu, his way takes him in theshade of many trees and by scattered dwellings, and presently brings himbeside a great range of offices, the place and the monument of a Germanwho fought the German firm during his life. His house (now he is dead)remains pointed like a discharged cannon at the citadel of his oldenemies. Fitly enough, it is at present leased and occupied byEnglishmen. A little farther, and the reader gains the eastern flankingangle of the bay, where stands the pilot-house and signal-post, andwhence he can see, on the line of the main coast of the island, theBritish and the new American consulates. 

The course of his walk will have been enlivened by a considerable to andfro of pleasure and business. He will have encountered many varieties ofwhites, --sailors, merchants, clerks, priests, Protestant missionaries intheir pith helmets, and the nondescript hangers-on of any island beach. And the sailors are sometimes in considerable force; but not theresidents. He will think at times there are more signboards than men toown them. It may chance it is a full day in the harbour; he will thenhave seen all manner of ships, from men-of-war and deep-sea packets tothe labour vessels of the German firm and the cockboat island schooner;and if he be of an arithmetical turn, he may calculate that there aremore whites afloat in Apia bay than whites ashore in the wholeArchipelago. On the other hand, he will have encountered all ranks ofnatives, chiefs and pastors in their scrupulous white clothes; perhapsthe king himself, attended by guards in uniform; smiling policemen withtheir pewter stars; girls, women, crowds of cheerful children. And hewill have asked himself with some surprise where these reside. Here andthere, in the back yards of European establishments, he may have had aglimpse of a native house elbowed in a corner; but since he left Mulinuu, none on the beach where islanders prefer to live, scarce one on the lineof street. The handful of whites have everything; the natives walk in aforeign town. A year ago, on a knoll behind a bar-room, he might haveobserved a native house guarded by sentries and flown over by thestandard of Samoa. He would then have been told it was the seat ofgovernment, driven (as I have to relate) over the Mulivai and from beyondthe German town into the Anglo-Saxon. To-day, he will learn it has beencarted back again to its old quarters. And he will think it significantthat the king of the islands should be thus shuttled to and fro in hischief city at the nod of aliens. And then he will observe a feature moresignificant still: a house with some concourse of affairs, policemen andidlers hanging by, a man at a bank-counter overhauling manifests, perhapsa trial proceeding in the front verandah, or perhaps the council breakingup in knots after a stormy sitting. And he will remember that he is inthe _Eleele Sa_, the "Forbidden Soil, " or Neutral Territory of thetreaties; that the magistrate whom he has just seen trying nativecriminals is no officer of the native king's; and that this, the onlyport and place of business in the kingdom, collects and administers itsown revenue for its own behoof by the hands of white councillors andunder the supervision of white consuls. Let him go further afield. Hewill find the roads almost everywhere to cease or to be made impassableby native pig-fences, bridges to be quite unknown, and houses of thewhites to become at once a rare exception. Set aside the Germanplantations, and the frontier is sharp. At the boundary of the _EleeleSa_, Europe ends, Samoa begins. Here, then, is a singular state ofaffairs: all the money, luxury, and business of the kingdom centred inone place; that place excepted from the native government andadministered by whites for whites; and the whites themselves holding itnot in common but in hostile camps, so that it lies between them like abone between two dogs, each growling, each clutching his own end. 

Should Apia ever choose a coat of arms, I have a motto ready: "EnterRumour painted full of tongues. " The majority of the natives doextremely little; the majority of the whites are merchants with some fourmails in the month, shopkeepers with some ten or twenty customers a day, and gossip is the common resource of all. The town hums to the day'snews, and the bars are crowded with amateur politicians. Some are office-seekers, and earwig king and consul, and compass the fall of officials, with an eye to salary. Some are humorists, delighted with the pleasureof faction for itself. "I never saw so good a place as this Apia, " saidone of these; "you can be in a new conspiracy every day!" Many, on theother hand, are sincerely concerned for the future of the country. Thequarters are so close and the scale is so small, that perhaps not any onecan be trusted always to preserve his temper. Every one tells everythinghe knows; that is our country sickness. Nearly every one has beenbetrayed at times, and told a trifle more; the way our sickness takes thepredisposed. And the news flies, and the tongues wag, and fists areshaken. Pot boil and caldron bubble!

Within the memory of man, the white people of Apia lay in the worstsqualor of degradation. They are now unspeakably improved, both men andwomen. To-day they must be called a more than fairly respectablepopulation, and a much more than fairly intelligent. The whole wouldprobably not fill the ranks of even an English half-battalion, yet thereare a surprising number above the average in sense, knowledge, andmanners. The trouble (for Samoa) is that they are all here after alivelihood. Some are sharp practitioners, some are famous (justly ornot) for foul play in business. Tales fly. One merchant warns youagainst his neighbour; the neighbour on the first occasion is found toreturn the compliment: each with a good circumstantial story to theproof. There is so much copra in the islands, and no more; a man's shareof it is his share of bread; and commerce, like politics, is herenarrowed to a focus, shows its ugly side, and becomes as personal asfisticuffs. Close at their elbows, in all this contention, stands thenative looking on. Like a child, his true analogue, he observes, apprehends, misapprehends, and is usually silent. As in a child, aconsiderable intemperance of speech is accompanied by some power ofsecrecy. News he publishes; his thoughts have often to be dug for. Helooks on at the rude career of the dollar-hunt, and wonders. He seesthese men rolling in a luxury beyond the ambition of native kings; hehears them accused by each other of the meanest trickery; he knows someof them to be guilty; and what is he to think? He is strongly consciousof his own position as the common milk-cow; and what is he to do? "Surelythese white men on the beach are not great chiefs?" is a common question, perhaps asked with some design of flattering the person questioned. Andone, stung by the last incident into an unusual flow of English, remarkedto me: "I begin to be weary of white men on the beach. "

But the true centre of trouble, the head of the boil of which Samoalanguishes, is the German firm. From the conditions of business, a greatisland house must ever be an inheritance of care; and it chances that thegreatest still afoot has its chief seat in Apia bay, and has sunk themain part of its capital in the island of Upolu. When its founder, JohnCaesar Godeffroy, went bankrupt over Russian paper and Westphalian iron, his most considerable asset was found to be the South Sea business. Thispassed (I understand) through the hands of Baring Brothers in London, andis now run by a company rejoicing in the Gargantuan name of the _DeutscheHandels und Plantagen Gesellschaft fur Sud-See Inseln zu Hamburg_. Thispiece of literature is (in practice) shortened to the D. H. And P. G. , the Old Firm, the German Firm, the Firm, and (among humorists) the LongHandle Firm. Even from the deck of an approaching ship, the island isseen to bear its signature--zones of cultivation showing in a more vividtint of green on the dark vest of forest. The total area in use is nearten thousand acres. Hedges of fragrant lime enclose, broad avenuesintersect them. You shall walk for hours in parks of palm-tree alleys, regular, like soldiers on parade; in the recesses of the hills you maystumble on a mill-house, toiling and trembling there, fathoms deep insuperincumbent forest. On the carpet of clean sward, troops of horsesand herds of handsome cattle may be seen to browse; and to one accustomedto the rough luxuriance of the tropics, the appearance is of fairyland. The managers, many of them German sea-captains, are enthusiastic in theirnew employment. Experiment is continually afoot: coffee and cacao, bothof excellent quality, are among the more recent outputs; and from oneplantation quantities of pineapples are sent at a particular season tothe Sydney markets. A hundred and fifty thousand pounds of Englishmoney, perhaps two hundred thousand, lie sunk in these magnificentestates. In estimating the expense of maintenance quite a fleet of shipsmust be remembered, and a strong staff of captains, supercargoes, overseers, and clerks. These last mess together at a liberal board; thewages are high, and the staff is inspired with a strong and pleasingsentiment of loyalty to their employers. 

Seven or eight hundred imported men and women toil for the company oncontracts of three or of five years, and at a hypothetical wage of a fewdollars in the month. I am now on a burning question: the labourtraffic; and I shall ask permission in this place only to touch it withthe tongs. Suffice it to say that in Queensland, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Hawaii it has been either suppressed or placed under close publicsupervision. In Samoa, where it still flourishes, there is no regulationof which the public receives any evidence; and the dirty linen of thefirm, if there be any dirty, and if it be ever washed at all, is washedin private. This is unfortunate, if Germans would believe it. But theyhave no idea of publicity, keep their business to themselves, ratheraffect to "move in a mysterious way, " and are naturally incensed bycriticisms, which they consider hypocritical, from men who would import"labour" for themselves, if they could afford it, and would probablymaltreat them if they dared. It is said the whip is very busy on some ofthe plantations; it is said that punitive extra-labour, by which thethrall's term of service is extended, has grown to be an abuse; and it iscomplained that, even where that term is out, much irregularity occurs inthe repatriation of the discharged. To all this I can say nothing, goodor bad. A certain number of the thralls, many of them wild negritos fromthe west, have taken to the bush, harbour there in a state partlybestial, or creep into the back quarters of the town to do a day'sstealthy labour under the nose of their proprietors. Twelve werearrested one morning in my own boys' kitchen. Farther in the bush, huts, small patches of cultivation, and smoking ovens, have been found byhunters. There are still three runaways in the woods of Tutuila, whitherthey escaped upon a raft. And the Samoans regard these dark-skinnedrangers with extreme alarm; the fourth refugee in Tutuila was shot down(as I was told in that island) while carrying off the virgin of avillage; and tales of cannibalism run round the country, and the nativesshudder about the evening fire. For the Samoans are not cannibals, donot seem to remember when they were, and regard the practice with adisfavour equal to our own. 

The firm is Gulliver among the Lilliputs; and it must not be forgotten, that while the small, independent traders are fighting for their ownhand, and inflamed with the usual jealousy against corporations, theGermans are inspired with a sense of the greatness of their affairs andinterests. The thought of the money sunk, the sight of these costly andbeautiful plantations, menaced yearly by the returning forest, and theresponsibility of administering with one hand so many conjunct fortunes, might well nerve the manager of such a company for desperate andquestionable deeds. Upon this scale, commercial sharpness has an air ofpatriotism; and I can imagine the man, so far from haggling over thescourge for a few Solomon islanders, prepared to oppress rival firms, overthrow inconvenient monarchs, and let loose the dogs of war. Whateverhe may decide, he will not want for backing. Every clerk will be eagerto be up and strike a blow; and most Germans in the group, whatever theymay babble of the firm over the walnuts and the wine, will rally roundthe national concern at the approach of difficulty. They are so few--Iam ashamed to give their number, it were to challenge contradiction--theyare so few, and the amount of national capital buried at their feet is sovast, that we must not wonder if they seem oppressed with greatness andthe sense of empire. Other whites take part in our brabbles, whiletemper holds out, with a certain schoolboy entertainment. In the Germansalone, no trace of humour is to be observed, and their solemnity isaccompanied by a touchiness often beyond belief. Patriotism flies inarms about a hen; and if you comment upon the colour of a Dutch umbrella, you have cast a stone against the German Emperor. I give one instance, typical although extreme. One who had returned from Tutuila on the mailcutter complained of the vermin with which she is infested. He wassuddenly and sharply brought to a stand. The ship of which he spoke, hewas reminded, was a German ship. 

John Caesar Godeffroy himself had never visited the islands; his sons andnephews came, indeed, but scarcely to reap laurels; and the mainspringand headpiece of this great concern, until death took him, was a certainremarkable man of the name of Theodor Weber. He was of an artful andcommanding character; in the smallest thing or the greatest, without fearor scruple; equally able to affect, equally ready to adopt, the mostengaging politeness or the most imperious airs of domination. It was hewho did most damage to rival traders; it was he who most harried theSamoans; and yet I never met any one, white or native, who did notrespect his memory. All felt it was a gallant battle, and the man agreat fighter; and now when he is dead, and the war seems to have goneagainst him, many can scarce remember, without a kind of regret, how muchdevotion and audacity have been spent in vain. His name still lives inthe songs of Samoa. One, that I have heard, tells of _Misi Ueba_ and abiscuit-box--the suggesting incident being long since forgotten. Anothersings plaintively how all things, land and food and property, passprogressively, as by a law of nature, into the hands of _Misi Ueba_, andsoon nothing will be left for Samoans. This is an epitaph the man wouldhave enjoyed. 

At one period of his career, Weber combined the offices of director ofthe firm and consul for the City of Hamburg. No question but he thendrove very hard. Germans admit that the combination was unfortunate; andit was a German who procured its overthrow. Captain Zembsch supersededhim with an imperial appointment, one still remembered in Samoa as "thegentleman who acted justly. " There was no house to be found, and the newconsul must take up his quarters at first under the same roof with Weber. On several questions, in which the firm was vitally interested, Zembschembraced the contrary opinion. Riding one day with an Englishman inVailele plantation, he was startled by a burst of screaming, leaped fromthe saddle, ran round a house, and found an overseer beating one of thethralls. He punished the overseer, and, being a kindly and perhaps not avery diplomatic man, talked high of what he felt and what he mightconsider it his duty to forbid or to enforce. The firm began to lookaskance at such a consul; and worse was behind. A number of deeds beingbrought to the consulate for registration, Zembsch detected certaintransfers of land in which the date, the boundaries, the measure, and theconsideration were all blank. He refused them with an indignation whichhe does not seem to have been able to keep to himself; and, whether ornot by his fault, some of these unfortunate documents became public. Itwas plain that the relations between the two flanks of the Germaninvasion, the diplomatic and the commercial, were strained to bursting. But Weber was a man ill to conquer. Zembsch was recalled; and from thattime forth, whether through influence at home, or by the solicitations ofWeber on the spot, the German consulate has shown itself very apt to playthe game of the German firm. That game, we may say, was twofold, --thefirst part even praiseworthy, the second at least natural. On the onepart, they desired an efficient native administration, to open up thecountry and punish crime; they wished, on the other, to extend their ownprovinces and to curtail the dealings of their rivals. In the first, they had the jealous and diffident sympathy of all whites; in the second, they had all whites banded together against them for their lives andlivelihoods. It was thus a game of _Beggar my Neighbour_ between a largemerchant and some small ones. Had it so remained, it would still havebeen a cut-throat quarrel. But when the consulate appeared to beconcerned, when the war-ships of the German Empire were thought to fetchand carry for the firm, the rage of the independent traders broke beyondrestraint. And, largely from the national touchiness and the intemperatespeech of German clerks, this scramble among dollar-hunters assumed theappearance of an inter-racial war. 

The firm, with the indomitable Weber at its head and the consulate at itsback--there has been the chief enemy at Samoa. No English reader canfail to be reminded of John Company; and if the Germans appear to havebeen not so successful, we can only wonder that our own blunders andbrutalities were less severely punished. Even on the field of Samoa, though German faults and aggressors make up the burthen of my story, theyhave been nowise alone. Three nations were engaged in this infinitesimalaffray, and not one appears with credit. They figure but as the threeruffians of the elder play-wrights. The United States have the cleanesthands, and even theirs are not immaculate. It was an ambiguous businesswhen a private American adventurer was landed with his pieces ofartillery from an American war-ship, and became prime minister to theking. It is true (even if he were ever really supported) that he wassoon dropped and had soon sold himself for money to the German firm. Iwill leave it to the reader whether this trait dignifies or not thewretched story. And the end of it spattered the credit alike of Englandand the States, when this man (the premier of a friendly sovereign) waskidnapped and deported, on the requisition of an American consul, by thecaptain of an English war-ship. I shall have to tell, as I proceed, ofvillages shelled on very trifling grounds by Germans; the like has beendone of late years, though in a better quarrel, by ourselves of England. I shall have to tell how the Germans landed and shed blood at Fangalii;it was only in 1876 that we British had our own misconceived littlemassacre at Mulinuu. I shall have to tell how the Germans bludgeonedMalietoa with a sudden call for money; it was something of the suddenestthat Sir Arthur Gordon himself, smarting under a sensible public affront, made and enforced a somewhat similar demand. 

CHAPTER III--THE SORROWS OF LAUPEPA, 1883 TO 1887

You ride in a German plantation and see no bush, no soul stirring; onlyacres of empty sward, miles of cocoa-nut alley: a desert of food. In theeyes of the Samoan the place has the attraction of a park for the holidayschoolboy, of a granary for mice. We must add the yet more livelyallurement of a haunted house, for over these empty and silent milesthere broods the fear of the negrito cannibal. For the Samoan besides, there is something barbaric, unhandsome, and absurd in the idea of thusgrowing food only to send it from the land and sell it. A man at homewho should turn all Yorkshire into one wheatfield, and annually burn hisharvest on the altar of Mumbo-Jumbo, might impress ourselves not muchotherwise. And the firm which does these things is quite extraneous, awen that might be excised to-morrow without loss but to itself; fewnatives drawing from it so much as day's wages; and the rest beholding init only the occupier of their acres. The nearest villages have sufferedmost; they see over the hedge the lands of their ancestors waving withuseless cocoa-palms; and the sales were often questionable, and muststill more often appear so to regretful natives, spinning and improvingyarns about the evening lamp. At the worst, then, to help oneself fromthe plantation will seem to a Samoan very like orchard-breaking to theBritish schoolboy; at the best, it will be thought a gallantRobin-Hoodish readjustment of a public wrong. 

And there is more behind. Not only is theft from the plantationsregarded rather as a lark and peccadillo, the idea of theft in itself isnot very clearly present to these communists; and as to the punishment ofcrime in general, a great gulf of opinion divides the natives fromourselves. Indigenous punishments were short and sharp. Death, deportation by the primitive method of setting the criminal to sea in acanoe, fines, and in Samoa itself the penalty of publicly biting a hot, ill-smelling root, comparable to a rough forfeit in a children'sgame--these are approved. The offender is killed, or punished andforgiven. We, on the other hand, harbour malice for a period of years:continuous shame attaches to the criminal; even when he is doing hisbest--even when he is submitting to the worst form of torture, regularwork--he is to stand aside from life and from his family in dreadfulisolation. These ideas most Polynesians have accepted in appearance, asthey accept other ideas of the whites; in practice, they reduce it to afarce. I have heard the French resident in the Marquesas in talk withthe French gaoler of Tai-o-hae: "_Eh bien, ou sont vos prisonnieres_?--_Jecrois, mon commandant, qu'elles sont allees quelque part faire unevisite_. " And the ladies would be welcome. This is to take the mostsavage of Polynesians; take some of the most civilised. In Honolulu, convicts labour on the highways in piebald clothing, gruesome andridiculous; and it is a common sight to see the family of such an onetroop out, about the dinner hour, wreathed with flowers and in theirholiday best, to picnic with their kinsman on the public wayside. Theapplication of these outlandish penalties, in fact, transfers thesympathy to the offender. Remember, besides, that the clan system, andthat imperfect idea of justice which is its worst feature, are stilllively in Samoa; that it is held the duty of a judge to favour kinsmen, of a king to protect his vassals; and the difficulty of getting aplantation thief first caught, then convicted, and last of all punished, will appear. 

During the early 'eighties, the Germans looked upon this system withgrowing irritation. They might see their convict thrust in gaol by thefront door; they could never tell how soon he was enfranchised by theback; and they need not be the least surprised if they met him, a fewdays after, enjoying the delights of a _malanga_. It was a bandedconspiracy, from the king and the vice-king downward, to evade the lawand deprive the Germans of their profits. In 1883, accordingly, theconsul, Dr. Stuebel, extorted a convention on the subject, in terms ofwhich Samoans convicted of offences against German subjects were to beconfined in a private gaol belonging to the German firm. To Dr. Stuebelit seemed simple enough: the offenders were to be effectually punished, the sufferers partially indemnified. To the Samoans, the thing appearedno less simple, but quite different: "Malietoa was selling Samoans toMisi Ueba. " What else could be expected? Here was a private corporationengaged in making money; to it was delegated, upon a question of profitand loss, one of the functions of the Samoan crown; and those who makeanomalies must look for comments. Public feeling ran unanimous and high. Prisoners who escaped from the private gaol were not recaptured or notreturned and Malietoa hastened to build a new prison of his own, whitherhe conveyed, or pretended to convey, the fugitives. In October 1885 atrenchant state paper issued from the German consulate. Twentyprisoners, the consul wrote, had now been at large for eight months fromWeber's prison. It was pretended they had since then completed theirterm of punishment elsewhere. Dr. Stuebel did not seek to conceal hisincredulity; but he took ground beyond; he declared the point irrelevant. The law was to be enforced. The men were condemned to a certain periodin Weber's prison; they had run away; they must now be brought back and(whatever had become of them in the interval) work out the sentence. Doubtless Dr. Stuebel's demands were substantially just; but doubtlessalso they bore from the outside a great appearance of harshness; and whenthe king submitted, the murmurs of the people increased. 

But Weber was not yet content. The law had to be enforced; property, orat least the property of the firm, must be respected. And during anabsence of the consul's, he seems to have drawn up with his own hand, andcertainly first showed to the king, in his own house, a new convention. Weber here and Weber there. As an able man, he was perhaps in the rightto prepare and propose conventions. As the head of a trading company, heseems far out of his part to be communicating state papers to asovereign. The administration of justice was the colour, and I amwilling to believe the purpose, of the new paper; but its effect was todepose the existing government. A council of two Germans and two Samoanswere to be invested with the right to make laws and impose taxes as mightbe "desirable for the common interest of the Samoan government and theGerman residents. " The provisions of this council the king and vice-kingwere to sign blindfold. And by a last hardship, the Germans, whoreceived all the benefit, reserved a right to recede from the agreementon six months' notice; the Samoans, who suffered all the loss, were boundby it in perpetuity. I can never believe that my friend Dr. Stuebel hada hand in drafting these proposals; I am only surprised he should havebeen a party to enforcing them, perhaps the chief error in these islandsof a man who has made few. And they were enforced with a rigour thatseems injudicious. The Samoans (according to their own account) weredenied a copy of the document; they were certainly rated and threatened;their deliberation was treated as contumacy; two German war-ships lay inport, and it was hinted that these would shortly intervene. 

Succeed in frightening a child, and he takes refuge in duplicity. "Malietoa, " one of the chiefs had written, "we know well we are inbondage to the great governments. " It was now thought one tyrant mightbe better than three, and any one preferable to Germany. On the 5thNovember 1885, accordingly, Laupepa, Tamasese, and forty-eight highchiefs met in secret, and the supremacy of Samoa was secretly offered toGreat Britain for the second time in history. Laupepa and Tamasese stillfigured as king and vice-king in the eyes of Dr. Stuebel; in their own, they had secretly abdicated, were become private persons, and might dowhat they pleased without binding or dishonouring their country. On themorrow, accordingly, they did public humiliation in the dust before theconsulate, and five days later signed the convention. The last was done, it is claimed, upon an impulse. The humiliation, which it appeared tothe Samoans so great a thing to offer, to the practical mind of Dr. Stuebel seemed a trifle to receive; and the pressure was continued andincreased. Laupepa and Tamasese were both heavy, well-meaning, inconclusive men. Laupepa, educated for the ministry, still bears somemarks of it in character and appearance; Tamasese was in private of anamorous and sentimental turn, but no one would have guessed it from hissolemn and dull countenance. Impossible to conceive two less dashingchampions for a threatened race; and there is no doubt they were reducedto the extremity of muddlement and childish fear. It was drawing towardsnight on the 10th, when this luckless pair and a chief of the name ofTuiatafu, set out for the German consulate, still minded to temporise. Asthey went, they discussed their case with agitation. They could see thelights of the German war-ships as they walked--an eloquent reminder. Andit was then that Tamasese proposed to sign the convention. "It will giveus peace for the day, " said Laupepa, "and afterwards Great Britain mustdecide. "--"Better fight Germany than that!" cried Tuiatafu, speakingwords of wisdom, and departed in anger. But the two others proceeded ontheir fatal errand; signed the convention, writing themselves king andvice-king, as they now believed themselves to be no longer; and withchildish perfidy took part in a scene of "reconciliation" at the Germanconsulate. 

Malietoa supposed himself betrayed by Tamasese. Consul Churchward stateswith precision that the document was sold by a scribe for thirty-sixdollars. Twelve days later at least, November 22nd, the text of theaddress to Great Britain came into the hands of Dr. Stuebel. The Germansmay have been wrong before; they were now in the right to be angry. Theyhad been publicly, solemnly, and elaborately fooled; the treaty and thereconciliation were both fraudulent, with the broad, farcical fraudulencyof children and barbarians. This history is much from the outside; it isthe digested report of eye-witnesses; it can be rarely corrected fromstate papers; and as to what consuls felt and thought, or whatinstructions they acted under, I must still be silent or proceed byguess. It is my guess that Stuebel now decided Malietoa Laupepa to be aman impossible to trust and unworthy to be dealt with. And it is certainthat the business of his deposition was put in hand at once. Theposition of Weber, with his knowledge of things native, his prestige, andhis enterprising intellect, must have always made him influential withthe consul: at this juncture he was indispensable. Here was the deed tobe done; here the man of action. "Mr. Weber rested not, " says Laupepa. It was "like the old days of his own consulate, " writes Churchward. Hismessengers filled the isle; his house was thronged with chiefs andorators; he sat close over his loom, delightedly weaving the future. There was one thing requisite to the intrigue, --a native pretender; andthe very man, you would have said, stood waiting: Mataafa, titular ofAtua, descended from both the royal lines, late joint king with Tamasese, fobbed off with nothing in the time of the Lackawanna treaty, probablymortified by the circumstance, a chief with a strong following, and incharacter and capacity high above the native average. Yet when Weber'sspiriting was done, and the curtain rose on the set scene of thecoronation, Mataafa was absent, and Tamasese stood in his place. Malietoawas to be deposed for a piece of solemn and offensive trickery, and theman selected to replace him was his sole partner and accomplice in theact. For so strange a choice, good ground must have existed; but itremains conjectural: some supposing Mataafa scratched as too independent;others that Tamasese had indeed betrayed Laupepa, and his new advancementwas the price of his treachery. 

So these two chiefs began to change places like the scales of a balance, one down, the other up. Tamasese raised his flag (Jan. 28th, 1886) inLeulumoenga, chief place of his own province of Aana, usurped the styleof king, and began to collect and arm a force. Weber, by the admissionof Stuebel, was in the market supplying him with weapons; so were theAmericans; so, but for our salutary British law, would have been theBritish; for wherever there is a sound of battle, there will the tradersbe gathered together selling arms. A little longer, and we find Tamasesevisited and addressed as king and majesty by a German commodore. Meanwhile, for the unhappy Malietoa, the road led downward. He wasrefused a bodyguard. He was turned out of Mulinuu, the seat of hisroyalty, on a land claim of Weber's, fled across the Mulivai, and "hadthe coolness" (German expression) to hoist his flag in Apia. He wasasked "in the most polite manner, " says the same account--"in the mostdelicate manner in the world, " a reader of Marryat might be tempted toamend the phrase, --to strike his flag in his own capital; and on his"refusal to accede to this request, " Dr. Stuebel appeared himself withten men and an officer from the cruiser _Albatross_; a sailor climbedinto the tree and brought down the flag of Samoa, which was carefullyfolded, and sent, "in the most polite manner, " to its owner. The consulsof England and the States were there (the excellent gentlemen!) toprotest. Last, and yet more explicit, the German commodore who visitedthe be-titled Tamasese, addressed the king--we may surely say the lateking--as "the High Chief Malietoa. "

Had he no party, then? At that time, it is probable, he might havecalled some five-sevenths of Samoa to his standard. And yet he satthere, helpless monarch, like a fowl trussed for roasting. The blamelies with himself, because he was a helpless creature; it lies also withEngland and the States. Their agents on the spot preached peace (wherethere was no peace, and no pretence of it) with eloquence and iteration. Secretary Bayard seems to have felt a call to join personally in thesolemn farce, and was at the expense of a telegram in which he assuredthe sinking monarch it was "for the higher interests of Samoa" he shoulddo nothing. There was no man better at doing that; the advice camestraight home, and was devoutly followed. And to be just to the greatPowers, something was done in Europe; a conference was called, it wasagreed to send commissioners to Samoa, and the decks had to be hastilycleared against their visit. Dr. Stuebel had attached the municipalityof Apia and hoisted the German war-flag over Mulinuu; the American consul(in a sudden access of good service) had flown the stars and stripes overSamoan colours; on either side these steps were solemnly retracted. TheGermans expressly disowned Tamasese; and the islands fell into a periodof suspense, of some twelve months' duration, during which the seat ofthe history was transferred to other countries and escapes my purview. Here on the spot, I select three incidents: the arrival on the scene of anew actor, the visit of the Hawaiian embassy, and the riot on theEmperor's birthday. The rest shall be silence; only it must be borne inview that Tamasese all the while continued to strengthen himself inLeulumoenga, and Laupepa sat inactive listening to the song of consuls. 

_Captain Brandeis_. The new actor was Brandeis, a Bavarian captain ofartillery, of a romantic and adventurous character. He had served withcredit in war; but soon wearied of garrison life, resigned his battery, came to the States, found employment as a civil engineer, visited Cuba, took a sub-contract on the Panama canal, caught the fever, and came (forthe sake of the sea voyage) to Australia. He had that natural love forthe tropics which lies so often latent in persons of a northern birth;difficulty and danger attracted him; and when he was picked out forsecret duty, to be the hand of Germany in Samoa, there is no doubt but heaccepted the post with exhilaration. It is doubtful if a better choicecould have been made. He had courage, integrity, ideas of his own, andloved the employment, the people, and the place. Yet there was a fly inthe ointment. The double error of unnecessary stealth and of theimmixture of a trading company in political affairs, has vitiated, and inthe end defeated, much German policy. And Brandeis was introduced to theislands as a clerk, and sent down to Leulumoenga (where he was soondrilling the troops and fortifying the position of the rebel king) as anagent of the German firm. What this mystification cost in the end Ishall tell in another place; and even in the beginning, it deceived noone. Brandeis is a man of notable personal appearance; he looks the partallotted him; and the military clerk was soon the centre of observationand rumour. Malietoa wrote and complained of his presence to Becker, whohad succeeded Dr. Stuebel in the consulate. Becker replied, "I havenothing to do with the gentleman Brandeis. Be it well known that thegentleman Brandeis has no appointment in a military character, butresides peaceably assisting the government of Leulumoenga in their work, for Brandeis is a quiet, sensible gentleman. " And then he promised tosend the vice-consul to "get information of the captain's doings": surelysupererogation of deceit. 

_The Hawaiian Embassy_. The prime minister of the Hawaiian kingdom was, at this period, an adventurer of the name of Gibson. He claimed, on thestrength of a romantic story, to be the heir of a great English house. Hehad played a part in a revolt in Java, had languished in Dutch fetters, and had risen to be a trusted agent of Brigham Young, the Utah president. It was in this character of a Mormon emissary that he first came to theislands of Hawaii, where he collected a large sum of money for the Churchof the Latter Day Saints. At a given moment, he dropped his saintshipand appeared as a Christian and the owner of a part of the island ofLanai. The steps of the transformation are obscure; they seem, at least, to have been ill-received at Salt Lake; and there is evidence to theeffect that he was followed to the islands by Mormon assassins. Hisfirst attempt on politics was made under the auspices of what is calledthe missionary party, and the canvass conducted largely (it is said withtears) on the platform at prayer-meetings. It resulted in defeat. Without any decency of delay he changed his colours, abjured the errorsof reform, and, with the support of the Catholics, rose to the chiefpower. In a very brief interval he had thus run through the gamut ofreligions in the South Seas. It does not appear that he was any moreparticular in politics, but he was careful to consult the character andprejudices of the late king, Kalakaua. That amiable, far fromunaccomplished, but too convivial sovereign, had a continued use formoney: Gibson was observant to keep him well supplied. Kalakaua (one ofthe most theoretical of men) was filled with visionary schemes for theprotection and development of the Polynesian race: Gibson fell in stepwith him; it is even thought he may have shared in his illusions. Theking and minister at least conceived between them a scheme of islandconfederation--the most obvious fault of which was that it came toolate--and armed and fitted out the cruiser _Kaimiloa_, nest-egg of thefuture navy of Hawaii. Samoa, the most important group stillindependent, and one immediately threatened with aggression, was chosenfor the scene of action. The Hon. John E. Bush, a half-caste Hawaiian, sailed (December 1887) for Apia as minister-plenipotentiary, accompaniedby a secretary of legation, Henry F. Poor; and as soon as she was readyfor sea, the war-ship followed in support. The expedition was futile inits course, almost tragic in result. The _Kaimiloa_ was from the first ascene of disaster and dilapidation: the stores were sold; the crewrevolted; for a great part of a night she was in the hands of mutineers, and the secretary lay bound upon the deck. The mission, installingitself at first with extravagance in Matautu, was helped at last out ofthe island by the advances of a private citizen. And they returned fromdreams of Polynesian independence to find their own city in the hands ofa clique of white shopkeepers, and the great Gibson once again in gaol. Yet the farce had not been quite without effect. It had encouraged thenatives for the moment, and it seems to have ruffled permanently thetemper of the Germans. So might a fly irritate Caesar. 

The arrival of a mission from Hawaii would scarce affect the composure ofthe courts of Europe. But in the eyes of Polynesians the little kingdomoccupies a place apart. It is there alone that men of their race enjoymost of the advantages and all the pomp of independence; news of Hawaiiand descriptions of Honolulu are grateful topics in all parts of theSouth Seas; and there is no better introduction than a photograph inwhich the bearer shall be represented in company with Kalakaua. Laupepawas, besides, sunk to the point at which an unfortunate begins to clutchat straws, and he received the mission with delight. Letters wereexchanged between him and Kalakaua; a deed of confederation was signed, 17th February 1887, and the signature celebrated in the new house of theHawaiian embassy with some original ceremonies. Malietoa Laupepa came, attended by his ministry, several hundred chiefs, two guards, and sixpolicemen. Always decent, he withdrew at an early hour; by those thatremained, all decency appears to have been forgotten; high chiefs wereseen to dance; and day found the house carpeted with slumbering grandees, who must be roused, doctored with coffee, and sent home. As a firstchapter in the history of Polynesian Confederation, it was hardlycheering, and Laupepa remarked to one of the embassy, with equal dignityand sense: "If you have come here to teach my people to drink, I wish youhad stayed away. "

The Germans looked on from the first with natural irritation that a powerof the powerlessness of Hawaii should thus profit by its undeniablefooting in the family of nations, and send embassies, and make believe tohave a navy, and bark and snap at the heels of the great German Empire. But Becker could not prevent the hunted Laupepa from taking refuge in anyhole that offered, and he could afford to smile at the fantastic orgie inthe embassy. It was another matter when the Hawaiians approached theintractable Mataafa, sitting still in his Atua government like Achillesin his tent, helping neither side, and (as the Germans suspected) keepingthe eggs warm for himself. When the _Kaimiloa_ steamed out of Apia onthis visit, the German war-ship _Adler_ followed at her heels; andMataafa was no sooner set down with the embassy than he was summoned andordered on board by two German officers. The step is one of thosetriumphs of temper which can only be admired. Mataafa is entertainingthe plenipotentiary of a sovereign power in treaty with his own king, andthe captain of a German corvette orders him to quit his guests. 

But there was worse to come. I gather that Tamasese was at the time inthe sulks. He had doubtless been promised prompt aid and a promptsuccess; he had seen himself surreptitiously helped, privately orderedabout, and publicly disowned; and he was still the king of nothing morethan his own province, and already the second in command of CaptainBrandeis. With the adhesion of some part of his native cabinet, andbehind the back of his white minister, he found means to communicate withthe Hawaiians. A passage on the _Kaimiloa_, a pension, and a home inHonolulu were the bribes proposed; and he seems to have been tempted. Aday was set for a secret interview. Poor, the Hawaiian secretary, and J. D. Strong, an American painter attached to the embassy in the surprisingquality of "Government Artist, " landed with a Samoan boat's-crew in Aana;and while the secretary hid himself, according to agreement, in theoutlying home of an English settler, the artist (ostensibly bent onphotography) entered the headquarters of the rebel king. It was a greatday in Leulumoenga; three hundred recruits had come in, a feast wascooking; and the photographer, in view of the native love of beingphotographed, was made entirely welcome. But beneath the friendlysurface all were on the alert. The secret had leaked out: Weber beheldhis plans threatened in the root; Brandeis trembled for the possession ofhis slave and sovereign; and the German vice-consul, Mr. Sonnenschein, had been sent or summoned to the scene of danger. 

It was after dark, prayers had been said and the hymns sung through allthe village, and Strong and the German sat together on the mats in thehouse of Tamasese, when the events began. Strong speaks German freely, afact which he had not disclosed, and he was scarce more amused thanembarrassed to be able to follow all the evening the dissension and thechanging counsels of his neighbours. First the king himself was missing, and there was a false alarm that he had escaped and was already closetedwith Poor. Next came certain intelligence that some of the ministry hadrun the blockade, and were on their way to the house of the Englishsettler. Thereupon, in spite of some protests from Tamasese, who triedto defend the independence of his cabinet, Brandeis gathered a posse ofwarriors, marched out of the village, brought back the fugitives, andclapped them in the corrugated iron shanty which served as gaol. Alongwith these he seems to have seized Billy Coe, interpreter to theHawaiians; and Poor, seeing his conspiracy public, burst with his boat's-crew into the town, made his way to the house of the native primeminister, and demanded Coe's release. Brandeis hastened to the spot, with Strong at his heels; and the two principals being both incensed, andStrong seriously alarmed for his friend's safety, there began among thema scene of great intemperance. At one point, when Strong suddenlydisclosed his acquaintance with German, it attained a high style ofcomedy; at another, when a pistol was most foolishly drawn, it borderedon drama; and it may be said to have ended in a mixed genus, when Poorwas finally packed into the corrugated iron gaol along with the forfeitedministers. Meanwhile the captain of his boat, Siteoni, of whom I shallhave to tell again, had cleverly withdrawn the boat's-crew at an earlystage of the quarrel. Among the population beyond Tamasese's marches, hecollected a body of armed men, returned before dawn to Leulumoenga, demolished the corrugated iron gaol, and liberated the Hawaiian secretaryand the rump of the rebel cabinet. No opposition was shown; anddoubtless the rescue was connived at by Brandeis, who had gained hispoint. Poor had the face to complain the next day to Becker; but tocompete with Becker in effrontery was labour lost. "You have beenrepeatedly warned, Mr. Poor, not to expose yourself among these savages, "said he. 

Not long after, the presence of the _Kaimiloa_ was made _a casus belli_by the Germans; and the rough-and-tumble embassy withdrew, on borrowedmoney, to find their own government in hot water to the neck. 

* * * * *

_The Emperor's Birthday_. It is possible, and it is alleged, that theGermans entered into the conference with hope. But it is certain theywere resolved to remain prepared for either fate. And I take the libertyof believing that Laupepa was not forgiven his duplicity; that, duringthis interval, he stood marked like a tree for felling; and that hisconduct was daily scrutinised for further pretexts of offence. On theevening of the Emperor's birthday, March 22nd, 1887, certain Germans werecongregated in a public bar. The season and the place considered, it isscarce cynical to assume they had been drinking; nor, so much beinggranted, can it be thought exorbitant to suppose them possibly in faultfor the squabble that took place. A squabble, I say; but I am willing tocall it a riot. And this was the new fault of Laupepa; this it is thatwas described by a German commodore as "the trampling upon by Malietoa ofthe German Emperor. " I pass the rhetoric by to examine the point ofliability. Four natives were brought to trial for this horrid fact: notbefore a native judge, but before the German magistrate of the tripartitemunicipality of Apia. One was acquitted, one condemned for theft, andtwo for assault. On appeal, not to Malietoa, but to the three consuls, the case was by a majority of two to one returned to the magistrate and(as far as I can learn) was then allowed to drop. Consul Becker himselflaid the chief blame on one of the policemen of the municipality, a half-white of the name of Scanlon. Him he sought to have discharged, but wasagain baffled by his brother consuls. Where, in all this, are we to finda corner of responsibility for the king of Samoa? Scanlon, the allegedauthor of the outrage, was a half-white; as Becker was to learn to hiscost, he claimed to be an American subject; and he was not even in theking's employment. Apia, the scene of the outrage, was outside theking's jurisdiction by treaty; by the choice of Germany, he was not somuch as allowed to fly his flag there. And the denial of justice (ifjustice were denied) rested with the consuls of Britain and the States. 

But when a dog is to be beaten, any stick will serve. In the meanwhile, on the proposition of Mr. Bayard, the Washington conference on Samoanaffairs was adjourned till autumn, so that "the ministers of Germany andGreat Britain might submit the protocols to their respectiveGovernments. " "You propose that the conference is to adjourn and not tobe broken up?" asked Sir Lionel West. "To adjourn for the reasonsstated, " replied Bayard. This was on July 26th; and, twenty-nine dayslater, by Wednesday the 24th of August, Germany had practically seizedSamoa. For this flagrant breach of faith one excuse is openly alleged;another whispered. It is openly alleged that Bayard had shown himselfimpracticable; it is whispered that the Hawaiian embassy was anexpression of American intrigue, and that the Germans only did as theywere done by. The sufficiency of these excuses may be left to thediscretion of the reader. But, however excused, the breach of faith waspublic and express; it must have been deliberately predetermined and itwas resented in the States as a deliberate insult. 

By the middle of August 1887 there were five sail of German war-ships inApia bay: the _Bismarck_, of 3000 tons displacement; the _Carola_, the_Sophie_, and the _Olga_, all considerable ships; and the beautiful_Adler_, which lies there to this day, kanted on her beam, dismantled, scarlet with rust, the day showing through her ribs. They waitedinactive, as a burglar waits till the patrol goes by. And on the 23rd, when the mail had left for Sydney, when the eyes of the world werewithdrawn, and Samoa plunged again for a period of weeks into heroriginal island-obscurity, Becker opened his guns. The policy was toocunning to seem dignified; it gave to conduct which would otherwise haveseemed bold and even brutally straightforward, the appearance of a timidambuscade; and helped to shake men's reliance on the word of Germany. Onthe day named, an ultimatum reached Malietoa at Afenga, whither he hadretired months before to avoid friction. A fine of one thousand dollarsand an _ifo_, or public humiliation, were demanded for the affair of theEmperor's birthday. Twelve thousand dollars were to be "paid quickly"for thefts from German plantations in the course of the last four years. "It is my opinion that there is nothing just or correct in Samoa whileyou are at the head of the government, " concluded Becker. "I shall be atAfenga in the morning of to-morrow, Wednesday, at 11 A. M. " The blow fellon Laupepa (in his own expression) "out of the bush"; the dilatory fellowhad seen things hang over so long, he had perhaps begun to suppose theymight hang over for ever; and here was ruin at the door. He rode at onceto Apia, and summoned his chiefs. The council lasted all night long. Many voices were for defiance. But Laupepa had grown inured to a policyof procrastination; and the answer ultimately drawn only begged for delaytill Saturday, the 27th. So soon as it was signed, the king took horseand fled in the early morning to Afenga; the council hastily dispersed;and only three chiefs, Selu, Seumanu, and Le Mamea, remained by thegovernment building, tremulously expectant of the result. 

By seven the letter was received. By 7. 30 Becker arrived in person, inquired for Laupepa, was evasively answered, and declared war on thespot. Before eight, the Germans (seven hundred men and six guns) cameashore and seized and hoisted German colours on the government building. The three chiefs had made good haste to escape; but a considerable bootywas made of government papers, fire-arms, and some seventeen thousandcartridges. Then followed a scene which long rankled in the minds of thewhite inhabitants, when the German marines raided the town in search ofMalietoa, burst into private houses, and were accused (I am willing tobelieve on slender grounds) of violence to private persons. 

On the morrow, the 25th, one of the German war-ships, which had beendespatched to Leulumoenga over night re-entered the bay, flying theTamasese colours at the fore. The new king was given a royal salute oftwenty-one guns, marched through the town by the commodore and a Germanguard of honour, and established on Mulinuu with two or three hundredwarriors. Becker announced his recognition to the other consuls. Thesereplied by proclaiming Malietoa, and in the usual mealy-mouthed manneradvised Samoans to do nothing. On the 27th martial law was declared; andon the 1st September the German squadron dispersed about the group, bearing along with them the proclamations of the new king. Tamasese wasnow a great man, to have five iron war-ships for his post-runners. Butthe moment was critical. The revolution had to be explained, the chiefspersuaded to assemble at a fono summoned for the 15th; and the shipscarried not only a store of printed documents, but a squad of Tamaseseorators upon their round. 

Such was the German _coup d'etat_. They had declared war with a squadronof five ships upon a single man; that man, late king of the group, was inhiding on the mountains; and their own nominee, backed by German guns andbayonets, sat in his stead in Mulinuu. 

One of the first acts of Malietoa, on fleeing to the bush, was to sendfor Mataafa twice: "I am alone in the bush; if you do not come quicklyyou will find me bound. " It is to be understood the men were nearkinsmen, and had (if they had nothing else) a common jealousy. At theurgent cry, Mataafa set forth from Falefa, and came to Mulinuu toTamasese. "What is this that you and the German commodore have decidedon doing?" he inquired. "I am going to obey the German consul, " repliedTamasese, "whose wish it is that I should be the king and that all Samoashould assemble here. " "Do not pursue in wrath against Malietoa, " saidMataafa "but try to bring about a compromise, and form a unitedgovernment. " "Very well, " said Tamasese, "leave it to me, and I willtry. " From Mulinuu, Mataafa went on board the _Bismarck_, and wasgraciously received. "Probably, " said the commodore, "we shall bringabout a reconciliation of all Samoa through you"; and then asked hisvisitor if he bore any affection to Malietoa. "Yes, " said Mataafa. "Andto Tamasese?" "To him also; and if you desire the weal of Samoa, youwill allow either him or me to bring about a reconciliation. " "If itwere my will, " said the commodore, "I would do as you say. But I have nowill in the matter. I have instructions from the Kaiser, and I cannot goback again from what I have been sent to do. " "I thought you would becommanded, " said Mataafa, "if you brought about the weal of Samoa. " "Iwill tell you, " said the commodore. "All shall go quietly. But there isone thing that must be done: Malietoa must be deposed. I will do nothingto him beyond; he will only be kept on board for a couple of months andbe well treated, just as we Germans did to the French chief [NapoleonIII. ] some time ago, whom we kept a while and cared for well. " Beckerwas no less explicit: war, he told Sewall, should not cease till theGermans had custody of Malietoa and Tamasese should be recognised. 

Meantime, in the Malietoa provinces, a profound impression was received. People trooped to their fugitive sovereign in the bush. Many natives inApia brought their treasures, and stored them in the houses of whitefriends. The Tamasese orators were sometimes ill received. Over inSavaii, they found the village of Satupaitea deserted, save for a fewlads at cricket. These they harangued, and were rewarded with ironicalapplause; and the proclamation, as soon as they had departed, was torndown. For this offence the village was ultimately burned by Germansailors, in a very decent and orderly style, on the 3rd September. Thiswas the dinner-bell of the fono on the 15th. The threat conveyed in theterms of the summons--"If any government district does not quickly obeythis direction, I will make war on that government district"--was thuscommented on and reinforced. And the meeting was in consequence wellattended by chiefs of all parties. They found themselves unarmed amongthe armed warriors of Tamasese and the marines of the German squadron, and under the guns of five strong ships. Brandeis rose; it was his firstopen appearance, the German firm signing its revolutionary work. Hiswords were few and uncompromising: "Great are my thanks that the chiefsand heads of families of the whole of Samoa are assembled here this day. It is strictly forbidden that any discussion should take place as towhether it is good or not that Tamasese is king of Samoa, whether at thisfono or at any future fono. I place for your signature the following:'_We inform all the people of Samoa of what follows: (1) The governmentof Samoa has been assumed by King Tuiaana Tamasese. (2) By order of theking, it was directed that a fono should take place to-day, composed ofthe chiefs and heads of families, and we have obeyed the summons. Wehave signed our names under this, 15th September_ 1887. " Needs mustunder all these guns; and the paper was signed, but not without opensullenness. The bearing of Mataafa in particular was long rememberedagainst him by the Germans. "Do you not see the king?" said thecommodore reprovingly. "His father was no king, " was the bold answer. Abolder still has been printed, but this is Mataafa's own recollection ofthe passage. On the next day, the chiefs were all ordered back to shakehands with Tamasese. Again they obeyed; but again their attitude wasmenacing, and some, it is said, audibly murmured as they gave theirhands. 

It is time to follow the poor Sheet of Paper (literal meaning of_Laupepa_), who was now to be blown so broadly over the face of earth. Assoon as news reached him of the declaration of war, he fled from Afengato Tanungamanono, a hamlet in the bush, about a mile and a half behindApia, where he lurked some days. On the 24th, Selu, his secretary, despatched to the American consul an anxious appeal, his majesty's "cryand prayer" in behalf of "this weak people. " By August 30th, the Germanshad word of his lurking-place, surrounded the hamlet under cloud ofnight, and in the early morning burst with a force of sailors on thehouses. The people fled on all sides, and were fired upon. One boy wasshot in the hand, the first blood of the war. But the king was nowhereto be found; he had wandered farther, over the woody mountains, thebackbone of the land, towards Siumu and Safata. Here, in a safe place, he built himself a town in the forest, where he received a continualstream of visitors and messengers. Day after day the German blue-jacketswere employed in the hopeless enterprise of beating the forests for thefugitive; day after day they were suffered to pass unhurt under the gunsof ambushed Samoans; day after day they returned, exhausted anddisappointed, to Apia. Seumanu Tafa, high chief of Apia, was known to bein the forest with the king; his wife, Fatuila, was seized, imprisoned inthe German hospital, and when it was thought her spirit was sufficientlyreduced, brought up for cross-examination. The wise lady confinedherself in answer to a single word. "Is your husband near Apia?" "Yes. ""Is he far from Apia?" "Yes. " "Is he with the king?" "Yes. " "Are heand the king in different places?" "Yes. " Whereupon the witness wasdischarged. About the 10th of September, Laupepa was secretly in Apia atthe American consulate with two companions. The German pickets wereclose set and visited by a strong patrol; and on his return, his partywas observed and hailed and fired on by a sentry. They ran away on allfours in the dark, and so doing plumped upon another sentry, whom Laupepagrappled and flung in a ditch; for the Sheet of Paper, although infirm ofcharacter, is, like most Samoans, of an able body. The second sentry(like the first) fired after his assailants at random in the dark; andthe two shots awoke the curiosity of Apia. On the afternoon of the 16th, the day of the hand-shakings, Suatele, a high chief, despatched two boysacross the island with a letter. They were most of the night upon theroad; it was near three in the morning before the sentries in the camp ofMalietoa beheld their lantern drawing near out of the wood; but the kingwas at once awakened. The news was decisive and the letter peremptory;if Malietoa did not give himself up before ten on the morrow, he was toldthat great sorrows must befall his country. I have not been able to drawLaupepa as a hero; but he is a man of certain virtues, which the Germanshad now given him an occasion to display. Without hesitation hesacrificed himself, penned his touching farewell to Samoa, and makingmore expedition than the messengers, passed early behind Apia to thebanks of the Vaisingano. As he passed, he detached a messenger toMataafa at the Catholic mission. Mataafa followed by the same road, andthe pair met at the river-side and went and sat together in a house. Allpresent were in tears. "Do not let us weep, " said the talking man, Lauati. "We have no cause for shame. We do not yield to Tamasese, butto the invincible strangers. " The departing king bequeathed the care ofhis country to Mataafa; and when the latter sought to console him withthe commodore's promises, he shook his head, and declared his assurancethat he was going to a life of exile, and perhaps to death. About twoo'clock the meeting broke up; Mataafa returned to the Catholic mission bythe back of the town; and Malietoa proceeded by the beach road to theGerman naval hospital, where he was received (as he owns, with perfectcivility) by Brandeis. About three, Becker brought him forth again. Asthey went to the wharf, the people wept and clung to their departingmonarch. A boat carried him on board the _Bismarck_, and he vanishedfrom his countrymen. Yet it was long rumoured that he still lay in theharbour; and so late as October 7th, a boy, who had been paddling roundthe _Carola_, professed to have seen and spoken with him. Here again theneedless mystery affected by the Germans bitterly disserved them. Theuncertainty which thus hung over Laupepa's fate, kept his namecontinually in men's mouths. The words of his farewell rang in theirears: "To all Samoa: On account of my great love to my country and mygreat affection to all Samoa, this is the reason that I deliver up mybody to the German government. That government may do as they wish tome. The reason of this is, because I do not desire that the blood ofSamoa shall be spilt for me again. But I do not know what is my offencewhich has caused their anger to me and to my country. " And then, apostrophising the different provinces: "Tuamasanga, farewell! Manonoand family, farewell! So, also, Salafai, Tutuila, Aana, and Atua, farewell! If we do not again see one another in this world, pray that wemay be again together above. " So the sheep departed with the halo of asaint, and men thought of him as of some King Arthur snatched intoAvilion. 

On board the _Bismarck_, the commodore shook hands with him, told him hewas to be "taken away from all the chiefs with whom he had beenaccustomed, " and had him taken to the wardroom under guard. The next dayhe was sent to sea in the _Adler_. There went with him his brother Moli, one Meisake, and one Alualu, half-caste German, to interpret. He wasrespectfully used; he dined in the stern with the officers, but the boysdined "near where the fire was. " They come to a "newly-formed place" inAustralia, where the _Albatross_ was lying, and a British ship, which heknew to be a man-of-war "because the officers were nicely dressed andwore epaulettes. " Here he was transhipped, "in a boat with a screen, "which he supposed was to conceal him from the British ship; and on boardthe _Albatross_ was sent below and told he must stay there till they hadsailed. Later, however, he was allowed to come on deck, where he foundthey had rigged a screen (perhaps an awning) under which he walked, looking at "the newly-formed settlement, " and admiring a big house "wherehe was sure the governor lived. " From Australia, they sailed some time, and reached an anchorage where a consul-general came on board, and whereLaupepa was only allowed on deck at night. He could then see the lightsof a town with wharves; he supposes Cape Town. Off the Cameroons theyanchored or lay-to, far at sea, and sent a boat ashore to see (hesupposes) that there was no British man-of-war. It was the next morningbefore the boat returned, when the _Albatross_ stood in and came toanchor near another German ship. Here Alualu came to him on deck andtold him this was the place. "That is an astonishing thing, " said he. "Ithought I was to go to Germany, I do not know what this means; I do notknow what will be the end of it; my heart is troubled. " Whereupon Alualuburst into tears. A little after, Laupepa was called below to thecaptain and the governor. The last addressed him: "This is my own place, a good place, a warm place. My house is not yet finished, but when itis, you shall live in one of my rooms until I can make a house for you. "Then he was taken ashore and brought to a tall, iron house. "This houseis regulated, " said the governor; "there is no fire allowed to burn init. " In one part of this house, weapons of the government were hung up;there was a passage, and on the other side of the passage, fiftycriminals were chained together, two and two, by the ankles. The windowswere out of reach; and there was only one door, which was opened at sixin the morning and shut again at six at night. All day he had hisliberty, went to the Baptist Mission, and walked about viewing thenegroes, who were "like the sand on the seashore" for number. At sixthey were called into the house and shut in for the night without beds orlights. "Although they gave me no light, " said he, with a smile, "Icould see I was in a prison. " Good food was given him: biscuits, "teamade with warm water, " beef, etc. ; all excellent. Once, in their walks, they spied a breadfruit tree bearing in the garden of an Englishmerchant, ran back to the prison to get a shilling, and came and offeredto purchase. "I am not going to sell breadfruit to you people, " said themerchant; "come and take what you like. " Here Malietoa interruptedhimself to say it was the only tree bearing in the Cameroons. "Thegovernor had none, or he would have given it to me. " On the passage fromthe Cameroons to Germany, he had great delight to see the cliffs ofEngland. He saw "the rocks shining in the sun, and three hours later wassurprised to find them sunk in the heavens. " He saw also wharves andimmense buildings; perhaps Dover and its castle. In Hamburg, afterbreakfast, Mr. Weber, who had now finally "ceased from troubling" Samoa, came on board, and carried him ashore "suitably" in a steam launch to "alarge house of the government, " where he stayed till noon. At noon Webertold him he was going to "the place where ships are anchored that go toSamoa, " and led him to "a very magnificent house, with carriages insideand a wonderful roof of glass"; to wit, the railway station. They werebenighted on the train, and then went in "something with a house, drawnby horses, which had windows and many decks"; plainly an omnibus. Here(at Bremen or Bremerhaven, I believe) they stayed some while in "a houseof five hundred rooms"; then were got on board the _Nurnberg_ (as theyunderstood) for Samoa, anchored in England on a Sunday, were joined _enroute_ by the famous Dr. Knappe, passed through "a narrow passage wherethey went very slow and which was just like a river, " and beheld withexhilarated curiosity that Red Sea of which they had learned so much intheir Bibles. At last, "at the hour when the fires burn red, " they cameto a place where was a German man-of-war. Laupepa was called, with oneof the boys, on deck, when he found a German officer awaiting him, and asteam launch alongside, and was told he must now leave his brother and goelsewhere. "I cannot go like this, " he cried. "You must let me see mybrother and the other old men"--a term of courtesy. Knappe, who seemsalways to have been good-natured, revised his orders, and consented notonly to an interview, but to allow Moli to continue to accompany theking. So these two were carried to the man-of-war, and sailed many aday, still supposing themselves bound for Samoa; and lo! she came to acountry the like of which they had never dreamed of, and cast anchor inthe great lagoon of Jaluit; and upon that narrow land the exiles were seton shore. This was the part of his captivity on which he looked backwith the most bitterness. It was the last, for one thing, and he wasworn down with the long suspense, and terror, and deception. He couldnot bear the brackish water; and though "the Germans were still good tohim, and gave him beef and biscuit and tea, " he suffered from the lack ofvegetable food. 

Such is the narrative of this simple exile. I have not sought to correctit by extraneous testimony. It is not so much the facts that arehistorical, as the man's attitude. No one could hear this tale as heoriginally told it in my hearing--I think none can read it as herecondensed and unadorned--without admiring the fairness and simplicity ofthe Samoan; and wondering at the want of heart--or want of humour--in somany successive civilised Germans, that they should have continued tosurround this infant with the secrecy of state. 

CHAPTER IV--BRANDEIS

_September '87 to August '88_

So Tamasese was on the throne, and Brandeis behind it; and I have now todeal with their brief and luckless reign. That it was the reign ofBrandeis needs not to be argued: the policy is throughout that of anable, over-hasty white, with eyes and ideas. But it should be borne inmind that he had a double task, and must first lead his sovereign, beforehe could begin to drive their common subjects. Meanwhile, he himself wasexposed (if all tales be true) to much dictation and interference, and tosome "cumbrous aid, " from the consulate and the firm. And to one ofthese aids, the suppression of the municipality, I am inclined toattribute his ultimate failure. 

The white enemies of the new regimen were of two classes. In the firststood Moors and the employes of MacArthur, the two chief rivals of thefirm, who saw with jealousy a clerk (or a so-called clerk) of theircompetitors advanced to the chief power. The second class, that of theofficials, numbered at first exactly one. Wilson, the English actingconsul, is understood to have held strict orders to help Germany. Commander Leary, of the _Adams_, the American captain, when he arrived, on the 16th October, and for some time after, seemed devoted to theGerman interest, and spent his days with a German officer, Captain VonWidersheim, who was deservedly beloved by all who knew him. Thereremains the American consul-general, Harold Marsh Sewall, a young man ofhigh spirit and a generous disposition. He had obeyed the orders of hisgovernment with a grudge; and looked back on his past action with regretalmost to be called repentance. From the moment of the declaration ofwar against Laupepa, we find him standing forth in bold, consistent, andsometimes rather captious opposition, stirring up his government at homewith clear and forcible despatches, and on the spot grasping at everyopportunity to thrust a stick into the German wheels. For some while, heand Moors fought their difficult battle in conjunction; in the course ofwhich, first one, and then the other, paid a visit home to reason withthe authorities at Washington; and during the consul's absence, there wasfound an American clerk in Apia, William Blacklock, to perform the dutiesof the office with remarkable ability and courage. The three names justbrought together, Sewall, Moors, and Blacklock, make the head and frontof the opposition; if Tamasese fell, if Brandeis was driven forth, if thetreaty of Berlin was signed, theirs is the blame or the credit. 

To understand the feelings of self-reproach and bitterness with whichSewall took the field, the reader must see Laupepa's letter of farewellto the consuls of England and America. It is singular that this far frombrilliant or dignified monarch, writing in the forest, in heaviness ofspirit and under pressure for time, should have left behind him not onlyone, but two remarkable and most effective documents. The farewell tohis people was touching; the farewell to the consuls, for a man of thecharacter of Sewall, must have cut like a whip. "When the chief Tamaseseand others first moved the present troubles, " he wrote, "it was my wishto punish them and put an end to the rebellion; but I yielded to theadvice of the British and American consuls. Assistance and protectionwas repeatedly promised to me and my government, if I abstained frombringing war upon my country. Relying upon these promises, I did not putdown the rebellion. Now I find that war has been made upon me by theEmperor of Germany, and Tamasese has been proclaimed king of Samoa. Idesire to remind you of the promises so frequently made by yourgovernment, and trust that you will so far redeem them as to cause thelives and liberties of my chiefs and people to be respected. "

Sewall's immediate adversary was, of course, Becker. I have formed anopinion of this gentleman, largely from his printed despatches, which Iam at a loss to put in words. Astute, ingenious, capable, at momentsalmost witty with a kind of glacial wit in action, he displayed in thecourse of this affair every description of capacity but that which isalone useful and which springs from a knowledge of men's natures. Itchanced that one of Sewall's early moves played into his hands, and hewas swift to seize and to improve the advantage. The neutral territoryand the tripartite municipality of Apia were eyesores to the Germanconsulate and Brandeis. By landing Tamasese's two or three hundredwarriors at Mulinuu, as Becker himself owns, they had infringed thetreaties, and Sewall entered protest twice. There were two ways ofescaping this dilemma: one was to withdraw the warriors; the other, bysome hocus-pocus, to abrogate the neutrality. And the second hadsubsidiary advantages: it would restore the taxes of the richest districtin the islands to the Samoan king; and it would enable them to substituteover the royal seat the flag of Germany for the new flag of Tamasese. Itis true (and it was the subject of much remark) that these two couldhardly be distinguished by the naked eye; but their effects weredifferent. To seat the puppet king on German land and under Germancolours, so that any rebellion was constructive war on Germany, was atrick apparently invented by Becker, and which we shall find was repeatedand persevered in till the end. 

Otto Martin was at this time magistrate in the municipality. The postwas held in turn by the three nationalities; Martin had served far beyondhis term, and should have been succeeded months before by an American. Tomake the change it was necessary to hold a meeting of the municipalboard, consisting of the three consuls, each backed by an assessor. Andfor some time these meetings had been evaded or refused by the Germanconsul. As long as it was agreed to continue Martin, Becker had attendedregularly; as soon as Sewall indicated a wish for his removal, Beckertacitly suspended the municipality by refusing to appear. This policywas now the more necessary; for if the whole existence of themunicipality were a check on the freedom of the new government, it wasplainly less so when the power to enforce and punish lay in German hands. For some while back the Malietoa flag had been flown on the municipalbuilding: Becker denies this; I am sorry; my information obliges me tosuppose he is in error. Sewall, with post-mortem loyalty to the past, insisted that this flag should be continued. And Becker immediately madehis point. He declared, justly enough, that the proposal was hostile, and argued that it was impossible he should attend a meeting under a flagwith which his sovereign was at war. Upon one occasion of urgency, hewas invited to meet the two other consuls at the British consulate; eventhis he refused; and for four months the municipality slumbered, Martinstill in office. In the month of October, in consequence, the Britishand American ratepayers announced they would refuse to pay. Beckerdoubtless rubbed his hands. On Saturday, the 10th, the chief Tamaseu, aMalietoa man of substance and good character, was arrested on a charge oftheft believed to be vexatious, and cast by Martin into the municipalprison. He sent to Moors, who was his tenant and owed him money at thetime, for bail. Moors applied to Sewall, ranking consul. After somesearch, Martin was found and refused to consider bail before the Mondaymorning. Whereupon Sewall demanded the keys from the gaoler, acceptedMoors's verbal recognisances, and set Tamaseu free. 

Things were now at a deadlock; and Becker astonished every one byagreeing to a meeting on the 14th. It seems he knew what to expect. Writing on the 13th at least, he prophesies that the meeting will be heldin vain, that the municipality must lapse, and the government of Tamasesestep in. On the 14th, Sewall left his consulate in time, and walked somepart of the way to the place of meeting in company with Wilson, theEnglish pro-consul. But he had forgotten a paper, and in an evil hourreturned for it alone. Wilson arrived without him, and Becker broke upthe meeting for want of a quorum. There was some unedifying disputationas to whether he had waited ten or twenty minutes, whether he had beenofficially or unofficially informed by Wilson that Sewall was on the way, whether the statement had been made to himself or to Weber {1} in answerto a question, and whether he had heard Wilson's answer or only Weber'squestion: all otiose; if he heard the question, he was bound to havewaited for the answer; if he heard it not, he should have put it himself;and it was the manifest truth that he rejoiced in his occasion. "Sir, "he wrote to Sewall, "I have the honour to inform you that, to my regret, I am obliged to consider the municipal government to be provisionally inabeyance since you have withdrawn your consent to the continuation of Mr. Martin in his position as magistrate, and since you have refused to takepart in the meeting of the municipal board agreed to for the purpose ofelecting a magistrate. The government of the town and district of themunicipality rests, as long as the municipality is in abeyance, with theSamoan government. The Samoan government has taken over theadministration, and has applied to the commander of the imperial Germansquadron for assistance in the preservation of good order. " This letterwas not delivered until 4 P. M. By three, sailors had been landed. Already German colours flew over Tamasese's headquarters at Mulinuu, andGerman guards had occupied the hospital, the German consulate, and themunicipal gaol and court-house, where they stood to arms under the flagof Tamasese. The same day Sewall wrote to protest. Receiving no reply, he issued on the morrow a proclamation bidding all Americans look tohimself alone. On the 26th, he wrote again to Becker, and on the 27threceived this genial reply: "Sir, your high favour of the 26th of thismonth, I give myself the honour of acknowledging. At the same time Iacknowledge the receipt of your high favour of the 14th October in replyto my communication of the same date, which contained the information ofthe suspension of the arrangements for the municipal government. " Therethe correspondence ceased. And on the 18th January came the last step ofthis irritating intrigue when Tamasese appointed a judge--and the judgeproved to be Martin. 

Thus was the adventure of the Castle Municipal achieved by Sir Becker thechivalrous. The taxes of Apia, the gaol, the police, all passed into thehands of Tamasese-Brandeis; a German was secured upon the bench; and theGerman flag might wave over her puppet unquestioned. But there is a lawof human nature which diplomatists should be taught at school, and itseems they are not; that men can tolerate bare injustice, but not thecombination of injustice and subterfuge. Hence the chequered career ofthe thimble-rigger. Had the municipality been seized by open force, there might have been complaint, it would not have aroused the samelasting grudge. 

This grudge was an ill gift to bring to Brandeis, who had trouble enoughin front of him without. He was an alien, he was supported by the gunsof alien war-ships, and he had come to do an alien's work, highly needfulfor Samoa, but essentially unpopular with all Samoans. The law to beenforced, causes of dispute between white and brown to be eliminated, taxes to be raised, a central power created, the country opened up, thenative race taught industry: all these were detestable to the natives, and to all of these he must set his hand. The more I learn of his briefterm of rule, the more I learn to admire him, and to wish we had hislike. 

In the face of bitter native opposition, he got some roads accomplished. He set up beacons. The taxes he enforced with necessary vigour. By the6th of January, Aua and Fangatonga, districts in Tutuila, having made adifficulty, Brandeis is down at the island in a schooner, with the_Adler_ at his heels, seizes the chief Maunga, fines the recalcitrantdistricts in three hundred dollars for expenses, and orders all to be inby April 20th, which if it is not, "not one thing will be done, " heproclaimed, "but war declared against you, and the principal chiefs takento a distant island. " He forbade mortgages of copra, a frequent sourceof trickery and quarrel; and to clear off those already contracted, passed a severe but salutary law. Each individual or family was first topay off its own obligation; that settled, the free man was to pay for theindebted village, the free village for the indebted province, and oneisland for another. Samoa, he declared, should be free of debt within ayear. Had he given it three years, and gone more gently, I believe itmight have been accomplished. To make it the more possible, he sought tointerdict the natives from buying cotton stuffs and to oblige them todress (at least for the time) in their own tapa. He laid the beginningsof a royal territorial army. The first draft was in his hands drilling. But it was not so much on drill that he depended; it was his hope tokindle in these men an _esprit de corps_, which should weaken the oldlocal jealousies and bonds, and found a central or national party in theislands. Looking far before, and with a wisdom beyond that of manymerchants, he had condemned the single dependence placed on copra for thenational livelihood. His recruits, even as they drilled, were taught toplant cacao. Each, his term of active service finished, should return tohis own land and plant and cultivate a stipulated area. Thus, as theyoung men continued to pass through the army, habits of discipline andindustry, a central sentiment, the principles of the new culture, andactual gardens of cacao, should be concurrently spread over the face ofthe islands. 

Tamasese received, including his household expenses, 1960 dollars a year;Brandeis, 2400. All such disproportions are regrettable, but this is notextreme: we have seen horses of a different colour since then. And theTamaseseites, with true Samoan ostentation, offered to increase thesalary of their white premier: an offer he had the wisdom and goodfeeling to refuse. A European chief of police received twelve hundred. There were eight head judges, one to each province, and appeal lay fromthe district judge to the provincial, thence to Mulinuu. From allsalaries (I gather) a small monthly guarantee was withheld. The army wasto cost from three to four thousand, Apia (many whites refusing to paytaxes since the suppression of the municipality) might cost threethousand more: Sir Becker's high feat of arms coming expensive (it willbe noticed) even in money. The whole outlay was estimated attwenty-seven thousand; and the revenue forty thousand: a sum Samoa iswell able to pay. 

Such were the arrangements and some of the ideas of this strong, ardent, and sanguine man. Of criticisms upon his conduct, beyond the generalconsent that he was rather harsh and in too great a hurry, few arearticulate. The native paper of complaints was particularly childish. Out of twenty-three counts, the first two refer to the private characterof Brandeis and Tamasese. Three complain that Samoan officials were keptin the dark as to the finances; one, of the tapa law; one, of the directappointment of chiefs by Tamasese-Brandeis, the sort of mistake intowhich Europeans in the South Seas fall so readily; one, of the enforcedlabour of chiefs; one, of the taxes; and one, of the roads. This I maygive in full from the very lame translation in the American white book. "The roads that were made were called the Government Roads; they were sixfathoms wide. Their making caused much damage to Samoa's lands and whatwas planted on it. The Samoans cried on account of their lands, whichwere taken high-handedly and abused. They again cried on account of theloss of what they had planted, which was now thrown away in a high-handedway, without any regard being shown or question asked of the owner of theland, or any compensation offered for the damage done. This wasdifferent with foreigners' land; in their case permission was first askedto make the roads; the foreigners were paid for any destruction made. "The sting of this count was, I fancy, in the last clause. No less thansix articles complain of the administration of the law; and I believethat was never satisfactory. Brandeis told me himself he was never yetsatisfied with any native judge. And men say (and it seems to fit inwell with his hasty and eager character) that he would legislate by wordof mouth; sometimes forget what he had said; and, on the same questionarising in another province, decide it perhaps otherwise. I gather, onthe whole, our artillery captain was not great in law. Two articlesrefer to a matter I must deal with more at length, and rather from thepoint of view of the white residents. 

The common charge against Brandeis was that of favouring the German firm. Coming as he did, this was inevitable. Weber had bought Steinberger withhard cash; that was matter of history. The present government he did noteven require to buy, having founded it by his intrigues, and introducedthe premier to Samoa through the doors of his own office. And the effectof the initial blunder was kept alive by the chatter of the clerks in bar-rooms, boasting themselves of the new government and prophesyingannihilation to all rivals. The time of raising a tax is the harvest ofthe merchants; it is the time when copra will be made, and must be sold;and the intention of the German firm, first in the time of Steinberger, and again in April and May, 1888, with Brandeis, was to seize and handlethe whole operation. Their chief rivals were the Messrs. MacArthur; andit seems beyond question that provincial governors more than once issuedorders forbidding Samoans to take money from "the New Zealand firm. "These, when they were brought to his notice, Brandeis disowned, and he isentitled to be heard. No man can live long in Samoa and not have hishonesty impugned. But the accusations against Brandeis's veracity areboth few and obscure. I believe he was as straight as his sword. Thegovernors doubtless issued these orders, but there were plenty besidesBrandeis to suggest them. Every wandering clerk from the firm's office, every plantation manager, would be dinning the same story in the nativeear. And here again the initial blunder hung about the neck of Brandeis, a ton's weight. The natives, as well as the whites, had seen theirpremier masquerading on a stool in the office; in the eyes of thenatives, as well as in those of the whites, he must always have retainedthe mark of servitude from that ill-judged passage; and they would beinclined to look behind and above him, to the great house of _Misi Ueba_. The government was like a vista of puppets. People did not trouble withTamasese, if they got speech with Brandeis; in the same way, they mightnot always trouble to ask Brandeis, if they had a hint direct from _MisiUeba_. In only one case, though it seems to have had many developments, do I find the premier personally committed. The MacArthurs claimed thecopra of Fasitotai on a district mortgage of three hundred dollars. TheGerman firm accepted a mortgage of the whole province of Aana, claimedthe copra of Fasitotai as that of a part of Aana, and were supported bythe government. Here Brandeis was false to his own principle, thatpersonal and village debts should come before provincial. But the caseoccurred before the promulgation of the law, and was, as a matter offact, the cause of it; so the most we can say is that he changed hismind, and changed it for the better. If the history of his government beconsidered--how it originated in an intrigue between the firm and theconsulate, and was (for the firm's sake alone) supported by the consulatewith foreign bayonets--the existence of the least doubt on the man'saction must seem marvellous. We should have looked to find him playingopenly and wholly into their hands; that he did not, implies greatindependence and much secret friction; and I believe (if the truth wereknown) the firm would be found to have been disgusted with thestubbornness of its intended tool, and Brandeis often impatient of thedemands of his creators. 

But I may seem to exaggerate the degree of white opposition. And it istrue that before fate overtook the Brandeis government, it appeared toenjoy the fruits of victory in Apia; and one dissident, the unconquerableMoors, stood out alone to refuse his taxes. But the victory was inappearance only; the opposition was latent; it found vent in talk, andthus reacted on the natives; upon the least excuse, it was ready to flameforth again. And this is the more singular because some were far fromout of sympathy with the native policy pursued. When I met CaptainBrandeis, he was amazed at my attitude. "Whom did you find in Apia totell you so much good of me?" he asked. I named one of my informants. "He?" he cried. "If he thought all that, why did he not help me?" Itold him as well as I was able. The man was a merchant. He beheld inthe government of Brandeis a government created by and for the firm whowere his rivals. If Brandeis were minded to deal fairly, where was theprobability that he would be allowed? If Brandeis insisted and werestrong enough to prevail, what guarantee that, as soon as the governmentwere fairly accepted, Brandeis might not be removed? Here was theattitude of the hour; and I am glad to find it clearly set forth in adespatch of Sewall's, June 18th, 1888, when he commends the law againstmortgages, and goes on: "Whether the author of this law will carry outthe good intentions which he professes--whether he will be allowed to doso, if he desires, against the opposition of those who placed him inpower and protect him in the possession of it--may well be doubted. "Brandeis had come to Apia in the firm's livery. Even while he promisedneutrality in commerce, the clerks were prating a different story in thebar-rooms; and the late high feat of the knight-errant, Becker, hadkilled all confidence in Germans at the root. By these three impolicies, the German adventure in Samoa was defeated. 

I imply that the handful of whites were the true obstacle, not thethousands of malcontent Samoans; for had the whites frankly acceptedBrandeis, the path of Germany was clear, and the end of their policy, however troublesome might be its course, was obvious. But this is not tosay that the natives were content. In a sense, indeed, their oppositionwas continuous. There will always be opposition in Samoa when taxes areimposed; and the deportation of Malietoa stuck in men's throats. TuiatuaMataafa refused to act under the new government from the beginning, andTamasese usurped his place and title. As early as February, I find himsigning himself "Tuiaana _Tuiatua_ Tamasese, " the first step on adangerous path. Asi, like Mataafa, disclaimed his chiefship and declaredhimself a private person; but he was more rudely dealt with. Germansailors surrounded his house in the night, burst in, and dragged thewomen out of the mosquito nets--an offence against Samoan manners. NoAsi was to be found; but at last they were shown his fishing-lights onthe reef, rowed out, took him as he was, and carried him on board a man-of-war, where he was detained some while between-decks. At last, January16th, after a farewell interview over the ship's side with his wife, hewas discharged into a ketch, and along with two other chiefs, Maunga andTuiletu-funga, deported to the Marshalls. The blow struck fear upon allsides. Le Mamea (a very able chief) was secretly among the malcontents. His family and followers murmured at his weakness; but he continued, throughout the duration of the government, to serve Brandeis withtrembling. A circus coming to Apia, he seized at the pretext for escape, and asked leave to accept an engagement in the company. "I will notallow you to make a monkey of yourself, " said Brandeis; and the phrasehad a success throughout the islands, pungent expressions being so muchadmired by the natives that they cannot refrain from repeating them, evenwhen they have been levelled at themselves. The assumption of the Atua_name_ spread discontent in that province; many chiefs from thence wereconvicted of disaffection, and condemned to labour with their hands uponthe roads--a great shock to the Samoan sense of the becoming, which wasrendered the more sensible by the death of one of the number at his task. Mataafa was involved in the same trouble. His disaffected speech at ameeting of Atua chiefs was betrayed by the girls that made the kava, andthe man of the future was called to Apia on safe-conduct, but, after aninterview, suffered to return to his lair. The peculiarly tendertreatment of Mataafa must be explained by his relationship to Tamasese. Laupepa was of Malietoa blood. The hereditary retainers of the Tupuawould see him exiled even with some complacency. But Mataafa was Tupuahimself; and Tupua men would probably have murmured, and would perhapshave mutinied, had he been harshly dealt with. 

The native opposition, I say, was in a sense continuous. And it keptcontinuously growing. The sphere of Brandeis was limited to Mulinuu andthe north central quarters of Upolu--practically what is shown upon themap opposite. There the taxes were expanded; in the out-districts, menpaid their money and saw no return. Here the eye and hand of thedictator were ready to correct the scales of justice; in theout-districts, all things lay at the mercy of the native magistrates, andtheir oppressions increased with the course of time and the experience ofimpunity. In the spring of the year, a very intelligent observer hadoccasion to visit many places in the island of Savaii. "Our lives arenot worth living, " was the burthen of the popular complaint. "We aregroaning under the oppression of these men. We would rather die thancontinue to endure it. " On his return to Apia, he made haste tocommunicate his impressions to Brandeis. Brandeis replied in an epigram:"Where there has been anarchy in a country, there must be oppression fora time. " But unfortunately the terms of the epigram may be reversed; andpersonal supervision would have been more in season than wit. The sameobserver who conveyed to him this warning thinks that, if Brandeis hadhimself visited the districts and inquired into complaints, the blowmight yet have been averted and the government saved. At last, upon acertain unconstitutional act of Tamasese, the discontent took life andfire. The act was of his own conception; the dull dog was ambitious. Brandeis declares he would not be dissuaded; perhaps his adviser did notseriously try, perhaps did not dream that in that welter ofcontradictions, the Samoan constitution, any one point would beconsidered sacred. I have told how Tamasese assumed the title ofTuiatua. In August 1888 a year after his installation, he took a moreformidable step and assumed that of Malietoa. This name, as I have said, is of peculiar honour; it had been given to, it had never been takenfrom, the exiled Laupepa; those in whose grant it lay, stood punctiliousupon their rights; and Tamasese, as the representative of their naturalopponents, the Tupua line, was the last who should have had it. Andthere was yet more, though I almost despair to make it thinkable byEuropeans. Certain old mats are handed down, and set huge store by; theymay be compared to coats of arms or heirlooms among ourselves; and to thehorror of more than one-half of Samoa, Tamasese, the head of the Tupua, began collecting Malietoa mats. It was felt that the cup was full, andmen began to prepare secretly for rebellion. The history of the month ofAugust is unknown to whites; it passed altogether in the covert of thewoods or in the stealthy councils of Samoans. One ominous sign was to benoted; arms and ammunition began to be purchased or inquired about; andthe more wary traders ordered fresh consignments of material of war. Butthe rest was silence; the government slept in security; and Brandeis wassummoned at last from a public dinner, to find rebellion organised, thewoods behind Apia full of insurgents, and a plan prepared, and in thevery article of execution, to surprise and seize Mulinuu. The timelydiscovery averted all; and the leaders hastily withdrew towards the southside of the island, leaving in the bush a rear-guard under a young man ofthe name of Saifaleupolu. According to some accounts, it scarce numberedforty; the leader was no great chief, but a handsome, industrious lad whoseems to have been much beloved. And upon this obstacle Brandeis fell. It is the man's fault to be too impatient of results; his publicintention to free Samoa of all debt within the year, depicts him; andinstead of continuing to temporise and let his enemies weary anddisperse, he judged it politic to strike a blow. He struck it, with whatseemed to be success, and the sound of it roused Samoa to rebellion. 

About two in the morning of August 31st, Apia was wakened by menmarching. Day came, and Brandeis and his war-party were already longdisappeared in the woods. All morning belated Tamaseseites were still tobe seen running with their guns. All morning shots were listened for invain; but over the top of the forest, far up the mountain, smoke was forsome time observed to hang. About ten a dead man was carried in, lashedunder a pole like a dead pig, his rosary (for he was a Catholic) hangingnearly to the ground. Next came a young fellow wounded, sitting in arope swung from a pole; two fellows bearing him, two running behind for arelief. At last about eleven, three or four heavy volleys and a greatshouting were heard from the bush town Tanungamanono; the affair wasover, the victorious force, on the march back, was there celebrating itsvictory by the way. Presently after, it marched through Apia, five orsix hundred strong, in tolerable order and strutting with the ludicrousassumption of the triumphant islander. Women who had been buying breadran and gave them loaves. At the tail end came Brandeis himself, smokinga cigar, deadly pale, and with perhaps an increase of his usual nervousmanner. One spoke to him by the way. He expressed his sorrow the actionhad been forced on him. "Poor people, it's all the worse for them!" hesaid. "It'll have to be done another way now. " And it was supposed byhis hearer that he referred to intervention from the German war-ships. Hemeant, he said, to put a stop to head-hunting; his men had taken two thatday, he added, but he had not suffered them to bring them in, and theyhad been left in Tanungamanono. Thither my informant rode, was attractedby the sound of wailing, and saw in a house the two heads washed andcombed, and the sister of one of the dead lamenting in the island fashionand kissing the cold face. Soon after, a small grave was dug, the headswere buried in a beef box, and the pastor read the service. The body ofSaifaleupolu himself was recovered unmutilated, brought down from theforest, and buried behind Apia. 

The same afternoon, the men of Vaimaunga were ordered to report inMulinuu, where Tamasese's flag was half-masted for the death of a chiefin the skirmish. Vaimaunga is that district of Taumasanga which includesthe bay and the foothills behind Apia; and both province and district arestrong Malietoa. Not one man, it is said, obeyed the summons. Nightcame, and the town lay in unusual silence; no one abroad; the blinds downaround the native houses, the men within sleeping on their arms; the oldwomen keeping watch in pairs. And in the course of the two followingdays all Vaimaunga was gone into the bush, the very gaoler setting freehis prisoners and joining them in their escape. Hear the words of thechiefs in the 23rd article of their complaint: "Some of the chiefs fledto the bush from fear of being reported, fear of German men-of-war, constantly being accused, etc. , and Brandeis commanded that they were tobe shot on sight. This act was carried out by Brandeis on the 31st dayof August, 1888. After this we evaded these laws; we could not standthem; our patience was worn out with the constant wickedness of Tamaseseand Brandeis. We were tired out and could stand no longer the acts ofthese two men. "

So through an ill-timed skirmish, two severed heads, and a dead body, therule of Brandeis came to a sudden end. We shall see him a while longerfighting for existence in a losing battle; but his government--take itfor all in all, the most promising that has ever been in these unluckyislands--was from that hour a piece of history. 

CHAPTER V--THE BATTLE OF MATAUTU

_September 1888_

The revolution had all the character of a popular movement. Many of thehigh chiefs were detained in Mulinuu; the commons trooped to the bushunder inferior leaders. A camp was chosen near Faleula, threateningMulinuu, well placed for the arrival of recruits and close to a Germanplantation from which the force could be subsisted. Manono came, allTuamasanga, much of Savaii, and part of Aana, Tamasese's own governmentand titular seat. Both sides were arming. It was a brave day for thetrader, though not so brave as some that followed, when a singlecartridge is said to have been sold for twelve cents currency--betweennine and ten cents gold. Yet even among the traders a strong partyfeeling reigned, and it was the common practice to ask a purchaser uponwhich side he meant to fight. 

On September 5th, Brandeis published a letter: "To the chiefs ofTuamasanga, Manono, and Faasaleleanga in the Bush: Chiefs, by authorityof his majesty Tamasese, the king of Samoa, I make known to you all thatthe German man-of-war is about to go together with a Samoan fleet for thepurpose of burning Manono. After this island is all burnt, 'tis good ifthe people return to Manono and live quiet. To the people ofFaasaleleanga I say, return to your houses and stop there. The same tothose belonging to Tuamasanga. If you obey this instruction, then youwill all be forgiven; if you do not obey, then all your villages will beburnt like Manono. These instructions are made in truth in the sight ofGod in the Heaven. " The same morning, accordingly, the _Adler_ steamedout of the bay with a force of Tamasese warriors and some native boats intow, the Samoan fleet in question. Manono was shelled; the Tamasesewarriors, under the conduct of a Manono traitor, who paid before manydays the forfeit of his blood, landed and did some damage, but weredriven away by the sight of a force returning from the mainland; no onewas hurt, for the women and children, who alone remained on the island, found a refuge in the bush; and the _Adler_ and her acolytes returned thesame evening. The letter had been energetic; the performance fell belowthe programme. The demonstration annoyed and yet re-assured theinsurgents, and it fully disclosed to the Germans a new enemy. 

Captain Yon Widersheim had been relieved. His successor, Captain Fritze, was an officer of a different stamp. I have nothing to say of him butgood; he seems to have obeyed the consul's requisitions with secretdistaste; his despatches were of admirable candour; but his habits wereretired, he spoke little English, and was far indeed from inheriting vonWidersheim's close relations with Commander Leary. It is believed byGermans that the American officer resented what he took to be neglect. Imention this, not because I believe it to depict Commander Leary, butbecause it is typical of a prevailing infirmity among Germans in Samoa. Touchy themselves, they read all history in the light of personalaffronts and tiffs; and I find this weakness indicated by the big thumbof Bismarck, when he places "sensitiveness to smalldisrespects--_Empfindlichkeit ueber Mangel an Respect_, " among the causesof the wild career of Knappe. Whatever the cause, at least, the nativeshad no sooner taken arms than Leary appeared with violence upon thatside. As early as the 3rd, he had sent an obscure but menacing despatchto Brandeis. On the 6th, he fell on Fritze in the matter of the Manonobombardment. "The revolutionists, " he wrote, "had an armed force in thefield within a few miles of this harbour, when the vessels under yourcommand transported the Tamasese troops to a neighbouring island with theavowed intention of making war on the isolated homes of the women andchildren of the enemy. Being the only other representative of a navalpower now present in this harbour, for the sake of humanity I herebyrespectfully and solemnly protest in the name of the United States ofAmerica and of the civilised world in general against the use of anational war-vessel for such services as were yesterday rendered by theGerman corvette _Adler_. " Fritze's reply, to the effect that he is underthe orders of the consul and has no right of choice, reads even humble;perhaps he was not himself vain of the exploit, perhaps not prepared tosee it thus described in words. From that moment Leary was in the frontof the row. His name is diagnostic, but it was not required; on everystep of his subsequent action in Samoa Irishman is writ large; over allhis doings a malign spirit of humour presided. No malice was too smallfor him, if it were only funny. When night signals were made fromMulinuu, he would sit on his own poop and confound them with gratuitousrockets. He was at the pains to write a letter and address it to "theHigh Chief Tamasese"--a device as old at least as the wars of RobertBruce--in order to bother the officials of the German post-office, inwhose hands he persisted in leaving it, although the address was death tothem and the distribution of letters in Samoa formed no part of theirprofession. His great masterwork of pleasantry, the Scanlon affair, mustbe narrated in its place. And he was no less bold than comical. The_Adams_ was not supposed to be a match for the _Adler_; there was noglory to be gained in beating her; and yet I have heard naval officersmaintain she might have proved a dangerous antagonist in narrow watersand at short range. Doubtless Leary thought so. He was continuallydaring Fritze to come on; and already, in a despatch of the 9th, I findBecker complaining of his language in the hearing of German officials, and how he had declared that, on the _Adler_ again interfering, he wouldinterfere himself, "if he went to the bottom for it--_und wenn seinSchiff dabei zu Grunde ginge_. " Here is the style of opposition whichhas the merit of being frank, not that of being agreeable. Becker wasannoying, Leary infuriating; there is no doubt that the tempers in theGerman consulate were highly ulcerated; and if war between the twocountries did not follow, we must set down the praise to the forbearanceof the German navy. This is not the last time that I shall have tosalute the merits of that service. 

The defeat and death of Saifaleupolu and the burning of Manono had thuspassed off without the least advantage to Tamasese. But he still heldthe significant position of Mulinuu, and Brandeis was strenuous to makeit good. The whole peninsula was surrounded with a breastwork; acrossthe isthmus it was six feet high and strengthened with a ditch; and thebeach was staked against landing. Weber's land claim--the same that nowbroods over the village in the form of a signboard--then appeared in amore military guise; the German flag was hoisted, and German sailorsmanned the breastwork at the isthmus--"to protect German property" andits trifling parenthesis, the king of Samoa. Much vigilance reigned and, in the island fashion, much wild firing. And in spite of all, desertionwas for a long time daily. The detained high chiefs would go to thebeach on the pretext of a natural occasion, plunge in the sea, andswimming across a broad, shallow bay of the lagoon, join the rebels onthe Faleula side. Whole bodies of warriors, sometimes hundreds strong, departed with their arms and ammunition. On the 7th of September, forinstance, the day after Leary's letter, Too and Mataia left with theircontingents, and the whole Aana people returned home in a body to hold aparliament. Ten days later, it is true, a part of them returned to theirduty; but another part branched off by the way and carried theirservices, and Tamasese's dear-bought guns, to Faleula. 

On the 8th, there was a defection of a different kind, but yet sensible. The High Chief Seumanu had been still detained in Mulinuu under anxiousobservation. His people murmured at his absence, threatened to "takeaway his name, " and had already attempted a rescue. The adventure wasnow taken in hand by his wife Faatulia, a woman of much sense and spiritand a strong partisan; and by her contrivance, Seumanu gave his guardiansthe slip and rejoined his clan at Faleula. This process of winnowing wasof course counterbalanced by another of recruitment. But the harshnessof European and military rule had made Brandeis detested and Tamaseseunpopular with many; and the force on Mulinuu is thought to have donelittle more than hold its own. Mataafa sympathisers set it down at abouttwo or three thousand. I have no estimate from the other side; butBecker admits they were not strong enough to keep the field in the open. 

The political significance of Mulinuu was great, but in a military sensethe position had defects. If it was difficult to carry, it was easy toblockade: and to be hemmed in on that narrow finger of land were aninglorious posture for the monarch of Samoa. The peninsula, besides, wasscant of food and destitute of water. Pressed by these considerations, Brandeis extended his lines till he had occupied the whole foreshore ofApia bay and the opposite point, Matautu. His men were thus drawn outalong some three nautical miles of irregular beach, everywhere with theirbacks to the sea, and without means of communication or mutual supportexcept by water. The extension led to fresh sorrows. The Tamasese menquartered themselves in the houses of the absent men of the Vaimaunga. Disputes arose with English and Americans. Leary interposed in a loudvoice of menace. It was said the firm profited by the confusion tobuttress up imperfect land claims; I am sure the other whites would notbe far behind the firm. Properties were fenced in, fences and houseswere torn down, scuffles ensued. The German example at Mulinuu wasfollowed with laughable unanimity; wherever an Englishman or an Americanconceived himself to have a claim, he set up the emblem of his country;and the beach twinkled with the flags of nations. 

All this, it will be observed, was going forward in that neutralterritory, sanctified by treaty against the presence of armed Samoans. The insurgents themselves looked on in wonder: on the 4th, trembling totransgress against the great Powers, they had written for a delimitationof the _Eleele Sa_; and Becker, in conversation with the British consul, replied that he recognised none. So long as Tamasese held the ground, this was expedient. But suppose Tamasese worsted, it might prove awkwardfor the stores, mills, and offices of a great German firm, thus bared ofshelter by the act of their own consul. 

On the morning of the 9th September, just ten days after the death ofSaifaleupolu, Mataafa, under the name of Malietoa To'oa Mataafa, wascrowned king at Faleula. On the 11th he wrote to the British andAmerican consuls: "Gentlemen, I write this letter to you two very humblyand entreatingly, on account of this difficulty that has come before me. I desire to know from you two gentlemen the truth where the boundaries ofthe neutral territory are. You will observe that I am now at Vaimoso [astep nearer the enemy], and I have stopped here until I knew what you sayregarding the neutral territory. I wish to know where I can go, andwhere the forbidden ground is, for I do not wish to go on any neutralterritory, or on any foreigner's property. I do not want to offend anyof the great Powers. Another thing I would like. Would it be possiblefor you three consuls to make Tamasese remove from German property? for Iam in awe of going on German land. " He must have received a replyembodying Becker's renunciation of the principle, at once; for he brokecamp the same day, and marched eastward through the bush behind Apia. 

Brandeis, expecting attack, sought to improve his indefensible position. He reformed his centre by the simple expedient of suppressing it. Apiawas evacuated. The two flanks, Mulinuu and Matautu, were still held andfortified, Mulinuu (as I have said) to the isthmus, Matautu on a linefrom the bayside to the little river Fuisa. The centre was representedby the trajectory of a boat across the bay from one flank to another, andwas held (we may say) by the German war-ship. Mataafa decided (I amassured) to make a feint on Matautu, induce Brandeis to deplete Mulinuuin support, and then fall upon and carry that. And there is no doubt inmy mind that such a plan was bruited abroad, for nothing but a belief init could explain the behaviour of Brandeis on the 12th. That it wasseriously entertained by Mataafa I stoutly disbelieve; the German flagand sailors forbidding the enterprise in Mulinuu. So that we may callthis false intelligence the beginning and the end of Mataafa's strategy. 

The whites who sympathised with the revolt were uneasy and impatient. They will still tell you, though the dates are there to show them wrong, that Mataafa, even after his coronation, delayed extremely: a proof ofhow long two days may seem to last when men anticipate events. On theevening of the 11th, while the new king was already on the march, one ofthese walked into Matautu. The moon was bright. By the way he observedthe native houses dark and silent; the men had been about a fortnight inthe bush, but now the women and children were gone also; at which hewondered. On the sea-beach, in the camp of the Tamaseses, the solitudewas near as great; he saw three or four men smoking before the Britishconsulate, perhaps a dozen in all; the rest were behind in the bush upontheir line of forts. About the midst he sat down, and here a woman drewnear to him. The moon shone in her face, and he knew her for ahouseholder near by, and a partisan of Mataafa's. She looked about heras she came, and asked him, trembling, what he did in the camp ofTamasese. He was there after news, he told her. She took him by thehand. "You must not stay here, you will get killed, " she said. "Thebush is full of our people, the others are watching them, fighting maybegin at any moment, and we are both here too long. " So they set offtogether; and she told him by the way that she had came to the hostilecamp with a present of bananas, so that the Tamasese men might spare herhouse. By the Vaisingano they met an old man, a woman, and a child; andthese also she warned and turned back. Such is the strange part playedby women among the scenes of Samoan warfare, such were the liberties thenpermitted to the whites, that these two could pass the lines, talktogether in Tamasese's camp on the eve of an engagement, and pass forthagain bearing intelligence, like privileged spies. And before a fewhours the white man was in direct communication with the opposinggeneral. The next morning he was accosted "about breakfast-time" by twonatives who stood leaning against the pickets of a public-house, wherethe Siumu road strikes in at right angles to the main street of Apia. They told him battle was imminent, and begged him to pass a little wayinland and speak with Mataafa. The road is at this point broad andfairly good, running between thick groves of cocoa-palm and breadfruit. Afew hundred yards along this the white man passed a picket of four armedwarriors, with red handkerchiefs and their faces blackened in the form ofa full beard, the Mataafa rallying signs for the day; a little fartheron, some fifty; farther still, a hundred; and at last a quarter of a mileof them sitting by the wayside armed and blacked. 

Near by, in the verandah of a house on a knoll, he found Mataafa seatedin white clothes, a Winchester across his knees. His men, he said, werestill arriving from behind, and there was a turning movement in operationbeyond the Fuisa, so that the Tamaseses should be assailed at the samemoment from the south and east. And this is another indication that theattack on Matautu was the true attack; had any design on Mulinuu been inthe wind, not even a Samoan general would have detached these troops uponthe other side. While they still spoke, five Tamasese women were broughtin with their hands bound; they had been stealing "our" bananas. 

All morning the town was strangely deserted, the very children gone. Asense of expectation reigned, and sympathy for the attack was expressedpublicly. Some men with unblacked faces came to Moors's store forbiscuit. A native woman, who was there marketing, inquired after thenews, and, hearing that the battle was now near at hand, "Give them twomore tins, " said she; "and don't put them down to my husband--he wouldgrowl; put them down to me. " Between twelve and one, two white menwalked toward Matautu, finding as they went no sign of war until they hadpassed the Vaisingano and come to the corner of a by-path leading to thebush. Here were four blackened warriors on guard, --the extreme left wingof the Mataafa force, where it touched the waters of the bay. Thence theline (which the white men followed) stretched inland among bush andmarsh, facing the forts of the Tamaseses. The warriors lay as yetinactive behind trees; but all the young boys and harlots of Apia toiledin the front upon a trench, digging with knives and cocoa-shells; and acontinuous stream of children brought them water. The young sappersworked crouching; from the outside only an occasional head, or a handemptying a shell of earth, was visible; and their enemies looked on inertfrom the line of the opposing forts. The lists were not yet prepared, the tournament was not yet open; and the attacking force was suffered tothrow up works under the silent guns of the defence. But there is an endeven to the delay of islanders. As the white men stood and looked, theTamasese line thundered into a volley; it was answered; the crowd ofsilent workers broke forth in laughter and cheers; and the battle hadbegun. 

Thenceforward, all day and most of the next night, volley followedvolley; and pounds of lead and pounds sterling of money continued to beblown into the air without cessation and almost without result. Colonelde Coetlogon, an old soldier, described the noise as deafening. Theharbour was all struck with shots; a man was knocked over on the Germanwar-ship; half Apia was under fire; and a house was pierced beyond theMulivai. All along the two lines of breastwork, the entrenched enemiesexchanged this hail of balls; and away on the east of the battle thefusillade was maintained, with equal spirit, across the narrow barrier ofthe Fuisa. The whole rear of the Tamaseses was enfiladed by this flankfire; and I have seen a house there, by the river brink, that was riddledwith bullets like a piece of worm-eaten wreck-wood. At this point of thefield befell a trait of Samoan warfare worth recording. Taiese (brotherto Siteoni already mentioned) shot a Tamasese man. He saw him fall, and, inflamed with the lust of glory, passed the river single-handed in thatstorm of missiles to secure the head. On the farther bank, as was butnatural, he fell himself; he who had gone to take a trophy remained toafford one; and the Mataafas, who had looked on exulting in the prospectof a triumph, saw themselves exposed instead to a disgrace. Then roseone Vingi, passed the deadly water, swung the body of Taiese on his back, and returned unscathed to his own side, the head saved, the corpse filledwith useless bullets. 

At this rate of practice, the ammunition soon began to run low, and froman early hour of the afternoon, the Malietoa stores were visited bycustomers in search of more. An elderly man came leaping and cheering, his gun in one hand, a basket of three heads in the other. A fellow cameshot through the forearm. "It doesn't hurt now, " he said, as he boughthis cartridges; "but it will hurt to-morrow, and I want to fight while Ican. " A third followed, a mere boy, with the end of his nose shot off:"Have you any painkiller? give it me quick, so that I can get back tofight. " On either side, there was the same delight in sound and smokeand schoolboy cheering, the same unsophisticated ardour of battle; andthe misdirected skirmish proceeded with a din, and was illustrated withtraits of bravery that would have fitted a Waterloo or a Sedan. 

I have said how little I regard the alleged plan of battle. At least itwas now all gone to water. The whole forces of Mataafa had leaked out, man by man, village by village, on the so-called false attack. They wereall pounding for their lives on the front and the left flank of Matautu. About half-past three they enveloped the right flank also. The defenderswere driven back along the beach road as far as the pilot station at theturn of the land. From this also they were dislodged, stubbornlyfighting. One, it is told, retreated to his middle in the lagoon; stoodthere, loading and firing, till he fell; and his body was found on themorrow pierced with four mortal wounds. The Tamasese force was nowenveloped on three sides; it was besides almost cut off from the sea; andacross its whole rear and only way of retreat a fire of hostile bulletscrossed from east and west, in the midst of which men were surprised toobserve the birds continuing to sing, and a cow grazed all afternoonunhurt. Doubtless here was the defence in a poor way; but then theattack was in irons. For the Mataafas about the pilot house couldscarcely advance beyond without coming under the fire of their own menfrom the other side of the Fuisa; and there was not enough organisation, perhaps not enough authority, to divert or to arrest that fire. 

The progress of the fight along the beach road was visible from Mulinuu, and Brandeis despatched ten boats of reinforcements. They crossed theharbour, paused for a while beside the _Adler_--it is supposed forammunition--and drew near the Matautu shore. The Mataafa men lay closeamong the shore-side bushes, expecting their arrival; when a silly lad, in mere lightness of heart, fired a shot in the air. My native friend, Mrs. Mary Hamilton, ran out of her house and gave the culprit a goodshaking: an episode in the midst of battle as incongruous as the grazingcow. But his sillier comrades followed his example; a harmless volleywarned the boats what they might expect; and they drew back and passedoutside the reef for the passage of the Fuisa. Here they came under thefire of the right wing of the Mataafas on the river-bank. The beach, raked east and west, appeared to them no place to land on. And they hungoff in the deep water of the lagoon inside the barrier reef, feeblyfusillading the pilot house. 

Between four and five, the Fabeata regiment (or folk of that village) onthe Mataafa left, which had been under arms all day, fell to be withdrawnfor rest and food; the Siumu regiment, which should have relieved it, wasnot ready or not notified in time; and the Tamaseses, gallantly profitingby the mismanagement, recovered the most of the ground in their properright. It was not for long. They lost it again, yard by yard and fromhouse to house, till the pilot station was once more in the hands of theMataafas. This is the last definite incident in the battle. Thevicissitudes along the line of the entrenchments remain concealed from usunder the cover of the forest. Some part of the Tamasese position thereappears to have been carried, but what part, or at what hour, or whetherthe advantage was maintained, I have never learned. Night and rain, butnot silence, closed upon the field. The trenches were deep in mud; butthe younger folk wrecked the houses in the neighbourhood, carried theroofs to the front, and lay under them, men and women together, through along night of furious squalls and furious and useless volleys. Meanwhilethe older folk trailed back into Apia in the rain; they talked as theywent of who had fallen and what heads had been taken upon eitherside--they seemed to know by name the losses upon both; and drenched withwet and broken with excitement and fatigue, they crawled into theverandahs of the town to eat and sleep. The morrow broke grey anddrizzly, but as so often happens in the islands, cleared up into aglorious day. During the night, the majority of the defenders had takenadvantage of the rain and darkness and stolen from their fortsunobserved. The rallying sign of the Tamaseses had been a whitehandkerchief. With the dawn, the de Coetlogons from the Englishconsulate beheld the ground strewn with these badges discarded; and closeby the house, a belated turncoat was still changing white for red. Matautu was lost; Tamasese was confined to Mulinuu; and by nine o'clocktwo Mataafa villages paraded the streets of Apia, taking possession. Thecost of this respectable success in ammunition must have been enormous;in life it was but small. Some compute forty killed on either side, others forty on both, three or four being women and one a white man, master of a schooner from Fiji. Nor was the number even of the woundedat all proportionate to the surprising din and fury of the affair whileit lasted. 

CHAPTER VI--LAST EXPLOITS OF BECKER

_September-November_ 1888

Brandeis had held all day by Mulinuu, expecting the reported real attack. He woke on the 13th to find himself cut off on that unwatered promontory, and the Mataafa villagers parading Apia. The same day Fritze received aletter from Mataafa summoning him to withdraw his party from the isthmus;and Fritze, as if in answer, drew in his ship into the small harbourclose to Mulinuu, and trained his port battery to assist in the defence. From a step so decisive, it might be thought the German plans wereunaffected by the disastrous issue of the battle. I conceive nothingwould be further from the truth. Here was Tamasese penned on Mulinuuwith his troops; Apia, from which alone these could be subsisted, in thehands of the enemy; a battle imminent, in which the German vessel mustapparently take part with men and battery, and the buildings of theGerman firm were apparently destined to be the first target of fire. Unless Becker re-established that which he had so lately and so artfullythrown down--the neutral territory--the firm would have to suffer. If here-established it, Tamasese must retire from Mulinuu. If Becker savedhis goose, he lost his cabbage. Nothing so well depicts the man'seffrontery as that he should have conceived the design of saving both, --ofre-establishing only so much of the neutral territory as should hamperMataafa, and leaving in abeyance all that could incommode Tamasese. Bydrawing the boundary where he now proposed, across the isthmus, heprotected the firm, drove back the Mataafas out of almost all that theyhad conquered, and, so far from disturbing Tamasese, actually fortifiedhim in his old position. 

The real story of the negotiations that followed we shall perhaps neverlearn. But so much is plain: that while Becker was thus outwardlystraining decency in the interest of Tamasese, he was privatelyintriguing, or pretending to intrigue, with Mataafa. In his despatch ofthe 11th, he had given an extended criticism of that chieftain, whom hedepicts as very dark and artful; and while admitting that his assumptionof the name of Malietoa might raise him up followers, predicted that hecould not make an orderly government or support himself long in solepower "without very energetic foreign help. " Of what help was the consulthinking? There was no helper in the field but Germany. On the 15th hehad an interview with the victor; told him that Tamasese's was the onlygovernment recognised by Germany, and that he must continue to recogniseit till he received "other instructions from his government, whom he wasnow advising of the late events"; refused, accordingly, to withdraw theguard from the isthmus; and desired Mataafa, "until the arrival of thesefresh instructions, " to refrain from an attack on Mulinuu. One thing oftwo: either this language is extremely perfidious, or Becker waspreparing to change sides. The same detachment appears in his despatchof October 7th. He computes the losses of the German firm with an easycheerfulness. If Tamasese get up again (_gelingt die Wiederherstellungder Regierung Tamasese's_), Tamasese will have to pay. If not, thenMataafa. This is not the language of a partisan. The tone ofindifference, the easy implication that the case of Tamasese was alreadydesperate, the hopes held secretly forth to Mataafa and secretly reportedto his government at home, trenchantly contrast with his externalconduct. At this very time he was feeding Tamasese; he had Germansailors mounting guard on Tamasese's battlements; the German war-ship layclose in, whether to help or to destroy. If he meant to drop the causeof Tamasese, he had him in a corner, helpless, and could stifle himwithout a sob. If he meant to rat, it was to be with every condition ofsafety and every circumstance of infamy. 

Was it conceivable, then, that he meant it? Speaking with a gentlemanwho was in the confidence of Dr. Knappe: "Was it not a pity, " I asked, "that Knappe did not stick to Becker's policy of supporting Mataafa?""You are quite wrong there; that was not Knappe's doing, " was the reply. "Becker had changed his mind before Knappe came. " Why, then, had hechanged it? This excellent, if ignominious, idea once entertained, whywas it let drop? It is to be remembered there was another German in thefield, Brandeis, who had a respect, or rather, perhaps, an affection, forTamasese, and who thought his own honour and that of his country engagedin the support of that government which they had provoked and founded. Becker described the captain to Laupepa as "a quiet, sensible gentleman. "If any word came to his ears of the intended manoeuvre, Brandeis wouldcertainly show himself very sensible of the affront; but Becker mighthave been tempted to withdraw his former epithet of quiet. Some suchpassage, some such threatened change of front at the consulate, opposedwith outcry, would explain what seems otherwise inexplicable, the bitter, indignant, almost hostile tone of a subsequent letter from Brandeis toKnappe--"Brandeis's inflammatory letter, " Bismarck calls it--theproximate cause of the German landing and reverse at Fangalii. 

But whether the advances of Becker were sincere or not--whether hemeditated treachery against the old king or was practising treachery uponthe new, and the choice is between one or other--no doubt but hecontrived to gain his points with Mataafa, prevailing on him to changehis camp for the better protection of the German plantations, andpersuading him (long before he could persuade his brother consuls) toaccept that miraculous new neutral territory of his, with a piece cut outfor the immediate needs of Tamasese. 

During the rest of September, Tamasese continued to decline. On the 19thone village and half of another deserted him; on the 22nd two more. Onthe 21st the Mataafas burned his town of Leulumoenga, his own splendidhouse flaming with the rest; and there are few things of which a nativethinks more, or has more reason to think well, than of a fine Samoanhouse. Tamasese women and children were marched up the same day fromAtua, and handed over with their sleeping-mats to Mulinuu: a mostunwelcome addition to a party already suffering from want. By the 20th, they were being watered from the _Adler_. On the 24th the Manono fleetof sixteen large boats, fortified and rendered unmanageable with tons offirewood, passed to windward to intercept supplies from Atua. By the27th the hungry garrison flocked in great numbers to draw rations at theGerman firm. On the 28th the same business was repeated with a differentissue. Mataafas crowded to look on; words were exchanged, blowsfollowed; sticks, stones, and bottles were caught up; the detestedBrandeis, at great risk, threw himself between the lines and expostulatedwith the Mataafas--his only personal appearance in the wars, if thiscould be called war. The same afternoon, the Tamasese boats got in withprovisions, having passed to seaward of the lumbering Manono fleet; andfrom that day on, whether from a high degree of enterprise on the oneside or a great lack of capacity on the other, supplies were maintainedfrom the sea with regularity. Thus the spectacle of battle, or at leastof riot, at the doors of the German firm was not repeated. But thememory must have hung heavy on the hearts, not of the Germans only, butof all Apia. The Samoans are a gentle race, gentler than any in Europe;we are often enough reminded of the circumstance, not always by theirfriends. But a mob is a mob, and a drunken mob is a drunken mob, and adrunken mob with weapons in its hands is a drunken mob with weapons inits hands, all the world over: elementary propositions, which some of usupon these islands might do worse than get by rote, but which must havebeen evident enough to Becker. And I am amazed by the man's constancy, that, even while blows were going at the door of that German firm whichhe was in Samoa to protect, he should have stuck to his demands. Tendays before, Blacklock had offered to recognise the old territory, including Mulinuu, and Becker had refused, and still in the midst ofthese "alarums and excursions, " he continued to refuse it. 

On October 2nd, anchored in Apia bay H. B. M. S. _Calliope_, Captain Kane, carrying the flag of Rear-Admiral Fairfax, and the gunboat _Lizard_, Lieutenant-Commander Pelly. It was rumoured the admiral had come torecognise the government of Tamasese, I believe in error. And at leastthe day for that was quite gone by; and he arrived not to salute theking's accession, but to arbitrate on his remains. A conference of theconsuls and commanders met on board the _Calliope_, October 4th, Fritzealone being absent, although twice invited: the affair touched politics, his consul was to be there; and even if he came to the meeting (so heexplained to Fairfax) he would have no voice in its deliberations. Theparties were plainly marked out: Blacklock and Leary maintaining theiroffer of the old neutral territory, and probably willing to expand or tocontract it to any conceivable extent, so long as Mulinuu was stillincluded; Knappe offered (if the others liked) to include "the wholeeastern end of the island, " but quite fixed upon the one point thatMulinuu should be left out; the English willing to meet either view, andsingly desirous that Apia should be neutralised. The conclusion wasforegone. Becker held a trump card in the consent of Mataafa; Blacklockand Leary stood alone, spoke with all ill grace, and could not long holdout. Becker had his way; and the neutral boundary was chosen just wherehe desired: across the isthmus, the firm within, Mulinuu without. He didnot long enjoy the fruits of victory. 

On the 7th, three days after the meeting, one of the Scanlons (well-knownand intelligent half-castes) came to Blacklock with a complaint. TheScanlon house stood on the hither side of the Tamasese breastwork, justinside the newly accepted territory, and within easy range of the firm. Armed men, to the number of a hundred, had issued from Mulinuu, had"taken charge" of the house, had pointed a gun at Scanlon's head, and hadtwice "threatened to kill" his pigs. I hear elsewhere of some effects(_Gegenstande_) removed. At the best a very pale atrocity, though weshall find the word employed. Germans declare besides that Scanlon wasno American subject; they declare the point had been decided by court-martial in 1875; that Blacklock had the decision in the consulararchives; and that this was his reason for handing the affair to Leary. It is not necessary to suppose so. It is plain he thought little of thebusiness; thought indeed nothing of it; except in so far as armed men hadentered the neutral territory from Mulinuu; and it was on this groundalone, and the implied breach of Becker's engagement at the conference, that he invited Leary's attention to the tale. The impish ingenuity ofthe commander perceived in it huge possibilities of mischief. He took upthe Scanlon outrage, the atrocity of the threatened pigs; and with thatpoor instrument--I am sure, to his own wonder--drove Tamasese out ofMulinuu. It was "an intrigue, " Becker complains. To be sure it was; butwho was Becker to be complaining of intrigue?

On the 7th Leary laid before Fritze the following conundrum: "As thenatives of Mulinuu appear to be under the protection of the ImperialGerman naval guard belonging to the vessel under your command, I have thehonour to request you to inform me whether or not they are under suchprotection? Amicable relations, " pursued the humorist, "amicablerelations exist between the government of the United States and HisImperial German Majesty's government, but we do not recognise Tamasese'sgovernment, and I am desirous of locating the responsibility forviolations of American rights. " Becker and Fritze lost no time inexplanation or denial, but went straight to the root of the matter andsought to buy off Scanlon. Becker declares that every reparation wasoffered. Scanlon takes a pride to recapitulate the leases and thesituations he refused, and the long interviews in which he was temptedand plied with drink by Becker or Beckmann of the firm. No doubt, inshort, that he was offered reparation in reason and out of reason, and, being thoroughly primed, refused it all. Meantime some answer must bemade to Leary; and Fritze repeated on the 8th his oft-repeated assurancesthat he was not authorised to deal with politics. The same day Learyretorted: "The question is not one of diplomacy nor of politics. It isstrictly one of military jurisdiction and responsibility. Under theshadow of the German fort at Mulinuu, " continued the hyperbolicalcommander, "atrocities have been committed. . . . And I again have thehonour respectfully to request to be informed whether or not the armednatives at Mulinuu are under the protection of the Imperial German navalguard belonging to the vessel under your command. " To this no answer wasvouchsafed till the 11th, and then in the old terms; and meanwhile, onthe 10th, Leary got into his gaiters--the sure sign, as was both said andsung aboard his vessel, of some desperate or some amusing service--andwas set ashore at the Scanlons' house. Of this he took possession at thehead of an old woman and a mop, and was seen from the Tamasese breastworkdirecting operations and plainly preparing to install himself there in amilitary posture. So much he meant to be understood; so much he meant tocarry out, and an armed party from the _Adams_ was to have garrisoned onthe morrow the scene of the atrocity. But there is no doubt he managedto convey more. No doubt he was a master in the art of loose speaking, and could always manage to be overheard when he wanted; and by this, orsome other equally unofficial means, he spread the rumour that on themorrow he was to bombard. 

The proposed post, from its position, and from Leary's well-establishedcharacter as an artist in mischief, must have been regarded by theGermans with uneasiness. In the bombardment we can scarce suppose themto have believed. But Tamasese must have both believed and trembled. Theprestige of the European Powers was still unbroken. No native would thenhave dreamed of defying these colossal ships, worked by mysteriouspowers, and laden with outlandish instruments of death. None would havedreamed of resisting those strange but quite unrealised Great Powers, understood (with difficulty) to be larger than Tonga and Samoa puttogether, and known to be prolific of prints, knives, hard biscuit, picture-books, and other luxuries, as well as of overbearing men andinconsistent orders. Laupepa had fallen in ill-blood with one of them;his only idea of defence had been to throw himself in the arms ofanother; his name, his rank, and his great following had not been able topreserve him; and he had vanished from the eyes of men--as the Samoanthinks of it, beyond the sky. Asi, Maunga, Tuiletu-funga, had followedhim in that new path of doom. We have seen how carefully Mataafa stillwalked, how he dared not set foot on the neutral territory till assuredit was no longer sacred, how he withdrew from it again as soon as itssacredness had been restored, and at the bare word of a consul (howevergilded with ambiguous promises) paused in his course of victory and lefthis rival unassailed in Mulinuu. And now it was the rival's turn. Hitherto happy in the continued support of one of the white Powers, henow found himself--or thought himself--threatened with war by no lessthan two others. 

Tamasese boats as they passed Matautu were in the habit of firing on theshore, as like as not without particular aim, and more in high spiritsthan hostility. One of these shots pierced the house of a Britishsubject near the consulate; the consul reported to Admiral Fairfax; and, on the morning of the 10th, the admiral despatched Captain Kane of the_Calliope_ to Mulinuu. Brandeis met the messenger with voluble excusesand engagements for the future. He was told his explanations weresatisfactory so far as they went, but that the admiral's message was toTamasese, the _de facto_ king. Brandeis, not very well assured of hispuppet's courage, attempted in vain to excuse him from appearing. No _defacto_ king, no message, he was told: produce your _de facto_ king. AndTamasese had at last to be produced. To him Kane delivered his errand:that the _Lizard_ was to remain for the protection of British subjects;that a signalman was to be stationed at the consulate; that, on anyfurther firing from boats, the signalman was to notify the _Lizard_ andshe to fire one gun, on which all boats must lower sail and comealongside for examination and the detection of the guilty; and that, "inthe event of the boats not obeying the gun, the admiral would not beresponsible for the consequences. " It was listened to by Brandeis andTamasese "with the greatest attention. " Brandeis, when it was done, desired his thanks to the admiral for the moderate terms of his message, and, as Kane went to his boat, repeated the expression of his gratitudeas though he meant it, declaring his own hands would be thus strengthenedfor the maintenance of discipline. But I have yet to learn of anygratitude on the part of Tamasese. Consider the case of the poor owlishman hearing for the first time our diplomatic commonplaces. The admiralwould not be answerable for the consequences. Think of it! A devil of aposition for a _de facto_ king. And here, the same afternoon, was Learyin the Scanlon house, mopping it out for unknown designs by the hands ofan old woman, and proffering strange threats of bloodshed. Scanlon andhis pigs, the admiral and his gun, Leary and his bombardment, --what akettle of fish!

I dwell on the effect on Tamasese. Whatever the faults of Becker, he wasnot timid; he had already braved so much for Mulinuu that I cannot butthink he might have continued to hold up his head even after the outrageof the pigs, and that the weakness now shown originated with the king. Late in the night, Blacklock was wakened to receive a despatch addressedto Leary. "You have asked that I and my government go away from Mulinuu, because you pretend a man who lives near Mulinuu and who is under yourprotection, has been threatened by my soldiers. As your Excellency hasforbidden the man to accept any satisfaction, and as I do not wish tomake war against the United States, I shall remove my government fromMulinuu to another place. " It was signed by Tamasese, but I think moreheads than his had wagged over the direct and able letter. On themorning of the 11th, accordingly, Mulinuu the much defended lay desert. Tamasese and Brandeis had slipped to sea in a schooner; their troops hadfollowed them in boats; the German sailors and their war-flag hadreturned on board the _Adler_; and only the German merchant flag blewthere for Weber's land-claim. Mulinuu, for which Becker had intrigued solong and so often, for which he had overthrown the municipality, forwhich he had abrogated and refused and invented successive schemes ofneutral territory, was now no more to the Germans than a veryunattractive, barren peninsula and a very much disputed land-claim of Mr. Weber's. It will scarcely be believed that the tale of the Scanlonoutrages was not yet finished. Leary had gained his point, but Scanlonhad lost his compensation. And it was months later, and this time in theshape of a threat of bombardment in black and white, that Tamasese heardthe last of the absurd affair. Scanlon had both his fun and his money, and Leary's practical joke was brought to an artistic end. 

Becker sought and missed an instant revenge. Mataafa, a devout Catholic, was in the habit of walking every morning to mass from his camp at Vaialabeyond Matautu to the mission at the Mulivai. He was sometimes escortedby as many as six guards in uniform, who displayed their proficiency indrill by perpetually shifting arms as they marched. Himself, meanwhile, paced in front, bareheaded and barefoot, a staff in his hand, in thecustomary chief's dress of white kilt, shirt, and jacket, and with aconspicuous rosary about his neck. Tall but not heavy, with eager eyesand a marked appearance of courage and capacity, Mataafa makes anadmirable figure in the eyes of Europeans; to those of his countrymen, hemay seem not always to preserve that quiescence of manner which isthought becoming in the great. On the morning of October 16th he reachedthe mission before day with two attendants, heard mass, had coffee withthe fathers, and left again in safety. The smallness of his following wemay suppose to have been reported. He was scarce gone, at least, beforeBecker had armed men at the mission gate and came in person seeking him. 

The failure of this attempt doubtless still further exasperated theconsul, and he began to deal as in an enemy's country. He had marinesfrom the _Adler_ to stand sentry over the consulate and parade thestreets by threes and fours. The bridge of the Vaisingano, which cuts inhalf the English and American quarters, he closed by proclamation andadvertised for tenders to demolish it. On the 17th Leary and Pellylanded carpenters and repaired it in his teeth. Leary, besides, hadmarines under arms, ready to land them if it should be necessary toprotect the work. But Becker looked on without interference, perhapsglad enough to have the bridge repaired; for even Becker may not alwayshave offended intentionally. Such was now the distracted posture of thelittle town: all government extinct, the German consul patrolling it witharmed men and issuing proclamations like a ruler, the two other Powersdefying his commands, and at least one of them prepared to use force inthe defiance. Close on its skirts sat the warriors of Mataafa, perhapsfour thousand strong, highly incensed against the Germans, having all togain in the seizure of the town and firm, and, like an army in a fairytale, restrained by the air-drawn boundary of the neutral ground. 

I have had occasion to refer to the strange appearance in these islandsof an American adventurer with a battery of cannon. The adventurer waslong since gone, but his guns remained, and one of them was now to makefresh history. It had been cast overboard by Brandeis on the outer reefin the course of this retreat; and word of it coming to the ears of theMataafas, they thought it natural that they should serve themselves theheirs of Tamasese. On the 23rd a Manono boat of the kind called_taumualua_ dropped down the coast from Mataafa's camp, called in broadday at the German quarter of the town for guides, and proceeded to thereef. Here, diving with a rope, they got the gun aboard; and the nightbeing then come, returned by the same route in the shallow water alongshore, singing a boat-song. It will be seen with what childlike reliancethey had accepted the neutrality of Apia bay; they came for the gunwithout concealment, laboriously dived for it in broad day under the eyesof the town and shipping, and returned with it, singing as they went. OnGrevsmuhl's wharf, a light showed them a crowd of German blue-jacketsclustered, and a hail was heard. "Stop the singing so that we may hearwhat is said, " said one of the chiefs in the _taumualua_. The songceased; the hail was heard again, "_Au mai le fana_--bring the gun"; andthe natives report themselves to have replied in the affirmative, anddeclare that they had begun to back the boat. It is perhaps not needfulto believe them. A volley at least was fired from the wharf, at aboutfifty yards' range and with a very ill direction, one bullet whistlingover Pelly's head on board the _Lizard_. The natives jumped overboard;and swimming under the lee of the _taumualua_ (where they escaped asecond volley) dragged her towards the east. As soon as they were out ofrange and past the Mulivai, the German border, they got on board and(again singing--though perhaps a different song) continued their returnalong the English and American shore. Off Matautu they were hailed fromthe seaward by one of the _Adler's_ boats, which had been suddenlydespatched on the sound of the firing or had stood ready all evening tosecure the gun. The hail was in German; the Samoans knew not what itmeant, but took the precaution to jump overboard and swim for land. Twovolleys and some dropping shot were poured upon them in the water; butthey dived, scattered, and came to land unhurt in different quarters ofMatautu. The volleys, fired inshore, raked the highway, a British housewas again pierced by numerous bullets, and these sudden sounds of warscattered consternation through the town. 

Two British subjects, Hetherington-Carruthers, a solicitor, and Maben, aland-surveyor--the first being in particular a man well versed in thenative mind and language--hastened at once to their consul; assured himthe Mataafas would be roused to fury by this onslaught in the neutralzone, that the German quarter would be certainly attacked, and the restof the town and white inhabitants exposed to a peril very difficult ofestimation; and prevailed upon him to intrust them with a mission to theking. By the time they reached headquarters, the warriors were alreadytaking post round Matafele, and the agitation of Mataafa himself wasbetrayed in the fact that he spoke with the deputation standing and gunin hand: a breach of high-chief dignity perhaps unparalleled. The usualresult, however, followed: the whites persuaded the Samoan; and theattack was countermanded, to the benefit of all concerned, and not leastof Mataafa. To the benefit of all, I say; for I do not think the Germanswere that evening in a posture to resist; the liquor-cellars of the firmmust have fallen into the power of the insurgents; and I will repeat myformula that a mob is a mob, a drunken mob is a drunken mob, and adrunken mob with weapons in its hands is a drunken mob with weapons inits hands, all the world over. 

In the opinion of some, then, the town had narrowly escaped destruction, or at least the miseries of a drunken sack. To the knowledge of all, theair of the neutral territory had once more whistled with bullets. And itwas clear the incident must have diplomatic consequences. Leary andPelly both protested to Fritze. Leary announced he should report theaffair to his government "as a gross violation of the principles ofinternational law, and as a breach of the neutrality. " "I positivelydecline the protest, " replied Fritze, "and cannot fail to express myastonishment at the tone of your last letter. " This was trenchant. Itmay be said, however, that Leary was already out of court; that, afterthe night signals and the Scanlon incident, and so many other acts ofpractical if humorous hostility, his position as a neutral was no betterthan a doubtful jest. The case with Pelly was entirely different; andwith Pelly, Fritze was less well inspired. In his first note, he was onthe old guard; announced that he had acted on the requisition of hisconsul, who was alone responsible on "the legal side"; and declinedaccordingly to discuss "whether the lives of British subjects were indanger, and to what extent armed intervention was necessary. " Pellyreplied judiciously that he had nothing to do with political matters, being only responsible for the safety of Her Majesty's ships under hiscommand and for the lives and property of British subjects; that he hadconsidered his protest a purely naval one; and as the matter stood couldonly report the case to the admiral on the station. "I have the honour, "replied Fritze, "to refuse to entertain the protest concerning the safetyof Her Britannic Majesty's ship _Lizard_ as being a naval matter. Thesafety of Her Majesty's ship _Lizard_ was never in the least endangered. This was guaranteed by the disciplined fire of a few shots under thedirection of two officers. " This offensive note, in view of Fritze'scareful and honest bearing among so many other complications, may beattributed to some misunderstanding. His small knowledge of Englishperhaps failed him. But I cannot pass it by without remarking how fartoo much it is the custom of German officials to fall into this style. Itmay be witty, I am sure it is not wise. It may be sometimes necessary tooffend for a definite object, it can never be diplomatic to offendgratuitously. 

Becker was more explicit, although scarce less curt. And his defence maybe divided into two statements: first, that the _taumualua_ wasproceeding to land with a hostile purpose on Mulinuu; second, that theshots complained of were fired by the Samoans. The second may bedismissed with a laugh. Human nature has laws. And no men hithertodiscovered, on being suddenly challenged from the sea, would have turnedtheir backs upon the challenger and poured volleys on the friendly shore. The first is not extremely credible, but merits examination. The storyof the recovered gun seems straightforward; it is supported by muchtestimony, the diving operations on the reef seem to have been watchedfrom shore with curiosity; it is hard to suppose that it does not roughlyrepresent the fact. And yet if any part of it be true, the whole ofBecker's explanation falls to the ground. A boat which had skirted thewhole eastern coast of Mulinuu, and was already opposite a wharf inMatafele, and still going west, might have been guilty on a thousandpoints--there was one on which she was necessarily innocent; she wasnecessarily innocent of proceeding on Mulinuu. Or suppose the divingoperations, and the native testimony, and Pelly's chart of the boat'scourse, and the boat itself, to be all stages of some epidemichallucination or steps in a conspiracy--suppose even a second _taumualua_to have entered Apia bay after nightfall, and to have been fired uponfrom Grevsmuhl's wharf in the full career of hostilities againstMulinuu--suppose all this, and Becker is not helped. At the time of thefirst fire, the boat was off Grevsmuhl's wharf. At the time of thesecond (and that is the one complained of) she was off Carruthers's wharfin Matautu. Was she still proceeding on Mulinuu? I trow not. Thedanger to German property was no longer imminent, the shots had beenfired upon a very trifling provocation, the spirit implied was that ofdesigned disregard to the neutrality. Such was the impression here onthe spot; such in plain terms the statement of Count Hatzfeldt to LordSalisbury at home: that the neutrality of Apia was only "to prevent thenatives from fighting, " not the Germans; and that whatever Becker mighthave promised at the conference, he could not "restrict Germanwar-vessels in their freedom of action. "

There was nothing to surprise in this discovery; and had events beenguided at the same time with a steady and discreet hand, it might havepassed with less observation. But the policy of Becker was felt to benot only reckless, it was felt to be absurd also. Sudden nocturnalonfalls upon native boats could lead, it was felt, to no good end whetherof peace or war; they could but exasperate; they might prove, in amoment, and when least expected, ruinous. To those who knew how nearlyit had come to fighting, and who considered the probable result, thefuture looked ominous. And fear was mingled with annoyance in the mindsof the Anglo-Saxon colony. On the 24th, a public meeting appealed to theBritish and American consuls. At half-past seven in the evening guardswere landed at the consulates. On the morrow they were each fortifiedwith sand-bags; and the subjects informed by proclamation that theseasylums stood open to them on any alarm, and at any hour of the day ornight. The social bond in Apia was dissolved. The consuls, like baronsof old, dwelt each in his armed citadel. The rank and file of the whitenationalities dared each other, and sometimes fell to on the street likerival clansmen. And the little town, not by any fault of theinhabitants, rather by the act of Becker, had fallen back in civilisationabout a thousand years. 

There falls one more incident to be narrated, and then I can close withthis ungracious chapter. I have mentioned the name of the new Englishconsul. It is already familiar to English readers; for the gentleman whowas fated to undergo some strange experiences in Apia was the same deCoetlogon who covered Hicks's flank at the time of the disaster in thedesert, and bade farewell to Gordon in Khartoum before the investment. The colonel was abrupt and testy; Mrs. De Coetlogon was too exclusive forsociety like that of Apia; but whatever their superficial disabilities, it is strange they should have left, in such an odour of unpopularity, aplace where they set so shining an example of the sterling virtues. Thecolonel was perhaps no diplomatist; he was certainly no lawyer; but hedischarged the duties of his office with the constancy and courage of anold soldier, and these were found sufficient. He and his wife had noambition to be the leaders of society; the consulate was in their time nohouse of feasting; but they made of it that house of mourning to whichthe preacher tells us it is better we should go. At an early date afterthe battle of Matautu, it was opened as a hospital for the wounded. TheEnglish and Americans subscribed what was required for its support. Pellyof the _Lizard_ strained every nerve to help, and set up tents on thelawn to be a shelter for the patients. The doctors of the English andAmerican ships, and in particular Dr. Oakley of the _Lizard_, showedthemselves indefatigable. But it was on the de Coetlogons that thedistress fell. For nearly half a year, their lawn, their verandah, sometimes their rooms, were cumbered with the sick and dying, their earswere filled with the complaints of suffering humanity, their time was tooshort for the multiplicity of pitiful duties. In Mrs. De Coetlogon, andher helper, Miss Taylor, the merit of this endurance was perhaps to belooked for; in a man of the colonel's temper, himself painfullysuffering, it was viewed with more surprise, if with no more admiration. Doubtless all had their reward in a sense of duty done; doubtless, also, as the days passed, in the spectacle of many traits of gratitude andpatience, and in the success that waited on their efforts. Out of ahundred cases treated, only five died. They were all well-behaved, though full of childish wiles. One old gentleman, a high chief, wasseized with alarming symptoms of belly-ache whenever Mrs. De Coetlogonwent her rounds at night: he was after brandy. Others were insatiablefor morphine or opium. A chief woman had her foot amputated underchloroform. "Let me see my foot! Why does it not hurt?" she cried. "Ithurt so badly before I went to sleep. " Siteoni, whose name has beenalready mentioned, had his shoulder-blade excised, lay the longest ofany, perhaps behaved the worst, and was on all these grounds thefavourite. At times he was furiously irritable, and would rail upon hisfamily and rise in bed until he swooned with pain. Once on the balconyhe was thought to be dying, his family keeping round his mat, his fatherexhorting him to be prepared, when Mrs. De Coetlogon brought him roundagain with brandy and smelling-salts. After discharge, he returned upona visit of gratitude; and it was observed, that instead of comingstraight to the door, he went and stood long under his umbrella on thatspot of ground where his mat had been stretched and he had endured painso many months. Similar visits were the rule, I believe withoutexception; and the grateful patients loaded Mrs. De Coetlogon with giftswhich (had that been possible in Polynesia) she would willingly havedeclined, for they were often of value to the givers. 

The tissue of my story is one of rapacity, intrigue, and the triumphs oftemper; the hospital at the consulate stands out almost alone as anepisode of human beauty, and I dwell on it with satisfaction. But it wasnot regarded at the time with universal favour; and even to-day itsinstitution is thought by many to have been impolitic. It was opened, itstood open, for the wounded of either party. As a matter of fact it wasnever used but by the Mataafas, and the Tamaseses were cared forexclusively by German doctors. In the progressive decivilisation of thetown, these duties of humanity became thus a ground of quarrel. When theMataafa hurt were first brought together after the battle of Matautu, andsome more or less amateur surgeons were dressing wounds on a green by thewayside, one from the German consulate went by in the road. "Why don'tyou let the dogs die?" he asked. "Go to hell, " was the rejoinder. Suchwere the amenities of Apia. But Becker reserved for himself the extremeexpression of this spirit. On November 7th hostilities began againbetween the Samoan armies, and an inconclusive skirmish sent a fresh cropof wounded to the de Coetlogons. Next door to the consulate, some nativehouses and a chapel (now ruinous) stood on a green. Chapel and houseswere certainly Samoan, but the ground was under a land-claim of theGerman firm; and de Coetlogon wrote to Becker requesting permission (incase it should prove necessary) to use these structures for his wounded. Before an answer came, the hospital was startled by the appearance of acase of gangrene, and the patient was hastily removed into the chapel. Arebel laid on German ground--here was an atrocity! The day before hisown relief, November 11th, Becker ordered the man's instant removal. Byhis aggressive carriage and singular mixture of violence and cunning, hehad already largely brought about the fall of Brandeis, and forced intoan attitude of hostility the whole non-German population of the islands. Now, in his last hour of office, by this wanton buffet to his Englishcolleague, he prepared a continuance of evil days for his successor. Ifthe object of diplomacy be the organisation of failure in the midst ofhate, he was a great diplomatist. And amongst a certain party on thebeach he is still named as the ideal consul. 

CHAPTER VII--THE SAMOAN CAMPS

_November_ 1888

When Brandeis and Tamasese fled by night from Mulinuu, they carried theirwandering government some six miles to windward, to a position aboveLotoanuu. For some three miles to the eastward of Apia, the shores ofUpolu are low and the ground rises with a gentle acclivity, much of whichwaves with German plantations. A barrier reef encloses a lagoon passablefor boats: and the traveller skims there, on smooth, many-tintedshallows, between the wall of the breakers on the one hand, and on theother a succession of palm-tree capes and cheerful beach-side villages. Beyond the great plantation of Vailele, the character of the coast ischanged. The barrier reef abruptly ceases, the surf beats direct uponthe shore; and the mountains and untenanted forest of the interiordescend sheer into the sea. The first mountain promontory is Letongo. The bay beyond is called Laulii, and became the headquarters of Mataafa. And on the next projection, on steep, intricate ground, veiled in forestand cut up by gorges and defiles, Tamasese fortified his lines. Thisgreenwood citadel, which proved impregnable by Samoan arms, may beregarded as his front; the sea covered his right; and his rear extendedalong the coast as far as Saluafata, and thus commanded and drew upon arich country, including the plain of Falefa. 

He was left in peace from 11th October till November 6th. But hisadversary is not wholly to be blamed for this delay, which depended uponisland etiquette. His Savaii contingent had not yet come in, and to havemoved again without waiting for them would have been surely to offend, perhaps to lose them. With the month of November they began to arrive:on the 2nd twenty boats, on the 3rd twenty-nine, on the 5th seventeen. Onthe 6th the position Mataafa had so long occupied on the skirts of Apiawas deserted; all that day and night his force kept streaming eastward toLaulii; and on the 7th the siege of Lotoanuu was opened with a briskskirmish. 

Each side built forts, facing across the gorge of a brook. An endlessfusillade and shouting maintained the spirit of the warriors; and atnight, even if the firing slackened, the pickets continued to exchangefrom either side volleys of songs and pungent pleasantries. Nearerhostilities were rendered difficult by the nature of the ground, wheremen must thread dense bush and clamber on the face of precipices. Apiawas near enough; a man, if he had a dollar or two, could walk in before abattle and array himself in silk or velvet. Casualties were not common;there was nothing to cast gloom upon the camps, and no more danger thanwas required to give a spice to the perpetual firing. For the youngwarriors it was a period of admirable enjoyment. But the anxiety ofMataafa must have been great and growing. His force was nowconsiderable. It was scarce likely he should ever have more. That heshould be long able to supply them with ammunition seemed incredible; atthe rates then or soon after current, hundreds of pounds sterling mightbe easily blown into the air by the skirmishers in the course of a fewdays. And in the meanwhile, on the mountain opposite, his outnumberedadversary held his ground unshaken. 

By this time the partisanship of the whites was unconcealed. Americanssupplied Mataafa with ammunition; English and Americans openly subscribedtogether and sent boat-loads of provisions to his camp. One such boatstarted from Apia on a day of rain; it was pulled by six oars, threebeing paid by Moors, three by the MacArthurs; Moors himself and a clerkof the MacArthurs' were in charge; and the load included not only beefand biscuit, but three or four thousand rounds of ammunition. They cameashore in Laulii, and carried the gift to Mataafa. While they were yetin his house a bullet passed overhead; and out of his door they could seethe Tamasese pickets on the opposite hill. Thence they made their way tothe left flank of the Mataafa position next the sea. A Tamasesebarricade was visible across the stream. It rained, but the warriorscrowded in their shanties, squatted in the mud, and maintained an excitedconversation. Balls flew; either faction, both happy as lords, spottingfor the other in chance shots, and missing. One point is characteristicof that war; experts in native feeling doubt if it will characterise thenext. The two white visitors passed without and between the lines to arocky point upon the beach. The person of Moors was well known; thepurpose of their coming to Laulii must have been already bruited abroad;yet they were not fired upon. From the point they spied a crow's nest, or hanging fortification, higher up; and, judging it was a good positionfor a general view, obtained a guide. He led them up a steep side of themountain, where they must climb by roots and tufts of grass; and comingto an open hill-top with some scattered trees, bade them wait, let himdraw the fire, and then be swift to follow. Perhaps a dozen ballswhistled about him ere he had crossed the dangerous passage and droppedon the farther side into the crow's-nest; the white men, brisklyfollowing, escaped unhurt. The crow's-nest was built like a bartizan onthe precipitous front of the position. Across the ravine, perhaps atfive hundred yards, heads were to be seen popping up and down in a fortof Tamesese's. On both sides the same enthusiasm without council, thesame senseless vigilance, reigned. Some took aim; some blazed beforethem at a venture. Now--when a head showed on the other side--one wouldtake a crack at it, remarking that it would never do to "miss a chance. "Now they would all fire a volley and bob down; a return volley rangacross the ravine, and was punctually answered: harmless as lawn-tennis. The whites expostulated in vain. The warriors, drunken with noise, madeanswer by a fresh general discharge and bade their visitors run while itwas time. Upon their return to headquarters, men were covering the frontwith sheets of coral limestone, two balls having passed through the housein the interval. Mataafa sat within, over his kava bowl, unmoved. Thepicture is of a piece throughout: excellent courage, super-excellentfolly, a war of school-children; expensive guns and cartridges used likesquibs or catherine-wheels on Guy Fawkes's Day. 

On the 20th Mataafa changed his attack. Tamasese's front was seeminglyimpregnable. Something must be tried upon his rear. There was his bread-basket; a small success in that direction would immediately curtail hisresources; and it might be possible with energy to roll up his line alongthe beach and take the citadel in reverse. The scheme was carried out asmight be expected from these childish soldiers. Mataafa, always uneasyabout Apia, clung with a portion of his force to Laulii; and thus, hadthe foe been enterprising, exposed himself to disaster. The expeditionfell successfully enough on Saluafata and drove out the Tamaseses with aloss of four heads; but so far from improving the advantage, yieldedimmediately to the weakness of the Samoan warrior, and ranged farthereast through unarmed populations, bursting with shouts and blackenedfaces into villages terrified or admiring, making spoil of pigs, burninghouses, and destroying gardens. The Tamasese had at first evacuatedseveral beach towns in succession, and were still in retreat on Lotoanuu;finding themselves unpursued, they reoccupied them one after another, andre-established their lines to the very borders of Saluafata. Night fell;Mataafa had taken Saluafata, Tamasese had lost it; and that was all. Butthe day came near to have a different and very singular issue. Thevillage was not long in the hands of the Mataafas, when a schooner, flying German colours, put into the bay and was immediately surrounded bytheir boats. It chanced that Brandeis was on board. Word of it had goneabroad, and the boats as they approached demanded him with threats. Thelate premier, alone, entirely unarmed, and a prey to natural and painfulfeelings, concealed himself below. The captain of the schooner remainedon deck, pointed to the German colours, and defied approaching boats. Again the prestige of a great Power triumphed; the Samoans fell backbefore the bunting; the schooner worked out of the bay; Brandeis escaped. He himself apprehended the worst if he fell into Samoan hands; it is mydiffident impression that his life would have been safe. 

On the 22nd, a new German war-ship, the _Eber_, of tragic memory, came toApia from the Gilberts, where she had been disarming turbulent islands. The rest of that day and all night she loaded stores from the firm, andon the morrow reached Saluafata bay. Thanks to the misconduct of theMataafas, the most of the foreshore was still in the hands of theTamaseses; and they were thus able to receive from the _Eber_ both thestores and weapons. The weapons had been sold long since to Tarawa, Apaiang, and Pleasant Island; places unheard of by the general reader, where obscure inhabitants paid for these instruments of death in money orin labour, misused them as it was known they would be misused, and hadbeen disarmed by force. The _Eber_ had brought back the guns to a Germancounter, whence many must have been originally sold; and was hereengaged, like a shopboy, in their distribution to fresh purchasers. Suchis the vicious circle of the traffic in weapons of war. Another aid of amore metaphysical nature was ministered by the _Eber_ to Tamasese, in theshape of uncountable German flags. The full history of this epidemic ofbunting falls to be told in the next chapter. But the fact has to bechronicled here, for I believe it was to these flags that we owe thevisit of the _Adams_, and my next and best authentic glance into a nativecamp. The _Adams_ arrived in Saluafata on the 26th. On the morrow Learyand Moors landed at the village. It was still occupied by Mataafas, mostly from Manono and Savaii, few in number, high in spirit. TheTamasese pickets were meanwhile within musket range; there was maintaineda steady sputtering of shots; and yet a party of Tamasese women were hereon a visit to the women of Manono, with whom they sat talking andsmoking, under the fire of their own relatives. It was reported thatLeary took part in a council of war, and promised to join with hisbroadside in the next attack. It is certain he did nothing of the sort:equally certain that, in Tamasese circles, he was firmly credited withhaving done so. And this heightens the extraordinary character of what Ihave now to tell. Prudence and delicacy alike ought to have forbid thecamp of Tamasese to the feet of either Leary or Moors. Moors was theoriginal--there was a time when he had been the only--opponent of thepuppet king. Leary had driven him from the seat of government; it wasbut a week or two since he had threatened to bombard him in his presentrefuge. Both were in close and daily council with his adversary, and itwas no secret that Moors was supplying the latter with food. They werepartisans; it lacked but a hair that they should be called belligerents;it were idle to try to deny they were the most dangerous of spies. Andyet these two now sailed across the bay and landed inside the Tamaseselines at Salelesi. On the very beach they had another glimpse of theartlessness of Samoan war. Hitherto the Tamasese fleet, being hardy andunencumbered, had made a fool of the huge floating forts upon the otherside; and here they were toiling, not to produce another boat on theirown pattern in which they had always enjoyed the advantage, but to make anew one the type of their enemies', of which they had now proved theuselessness for months. It came on to rain as the Americans landed; andthough none offered to oppose their coming ashore, none invited them totake shelter. They were nowise abashed, entered a house unbidden, andwere made welcome with obvious reserve. The rain clearing off, they setforth westward, deeper into the heart of the enemies' position. Three orfour young men ran some way before them, doubtless to give warning; andLeary, with his indomitable taste for mischief, kept inquiring as he wentafter "the high chief" Tamasese. The line of the beach was onecontinuous breastwork; some thirty odd iron cannon of all sizes andpatterns stood mounted in embrasures; plenty grape and canister layready; and at every hundred yards or so the German flag was flying. Thenumbers of the guns and flags I give as I received them, though they testmy faith. At the house of Brandeis--a little, weatherboard house, crammed at the time with natives, men, women, and squallingchildren--Leary and Moors again asked for "the high chief, " and, wereagain assured that he was farther on. A little beyond, the road ran inone place somewhat inland, the two Americans had gone down to the line ofthe beach to continue their inspection of the breastwork, when Brandeishimself, in his shirt-sleeves and accompanied by several German officers, passed them by the line of the road. The two parties saluted in silence. Beyond Eva Point there was an observable change for the worse in thereception of the Americans; some whom they met began to mutter at Moors;and the adventurers, with tardy but commendable prudence, desisted fromtheir search after the high chief, and began to retrace their steps. Onthe return, Suatele and some chiefs were drinking kava in a "big house, "and called them in to join--their only invitation. But the night wasclosing, the rain had begun again: they stayed but for civility, andreturned on board the _Adams_, wet and hungry, and I believe delightedwith their expedition. It was perhaps the last as it was certainly oneof the most extreme examples of that divinity which once hedged the whitein Samoa. The feeling was already different in the camp of Mataafa, where the safety of a German loiterer had been a matter of extremeconcern. Ten days later, three commissioners, an Englishman, anAmerican, and a German, approached a post of Mataafas, were challenged byan old man with a gun, and mentioned in answer what they were. "_IfeaSiamani_? Which is the German?" cried the old gentleman, dancing, andwith his finger on the trigger; and the commissioners stood somewhile ina very anxious posture, till they were released by the opportune arrivalof a chief. It was November the 27th when Leary and Moors completedtheir absurd excursion; in about three weeks an event was to befall whichchanged at once, and probably for ever, the relations of the natives andthe whites. 

By the 28th Tamasese had collected seventeen hundred men in the trenchesbefore Saluafata, thinking to attack next day. But the Mataafasevacuated the place in the night. At half-past five on the morning ofthe 29th a signal-gun was fired in the trenches at Laulii, and theTamasese citadel was assaulted and defended with a fury new amongSamoans. When the battle ended on the following day, one or moreoutworks remained in the possession of Mataafa. Another had been takenand lost as many as four times. Carried originally by a mixed force fromSavaii and Tuamasanga, the victors, instead of completing fresh defencesor pursuing their advantage, fell to eat and smoke and celebrate theirvictory with impromptu songs. In this humour a rally of the Tamasesessmote them, drove them out pell-mell, and tumbled them into the ravine, where many broke their heads and legs. Again the work was taken, againlost. Ammunition failed the belligerents; and they fought hand to handin the contested fort with axes, clubs, and clubbed rifles. Thesustained ardour of the engagement surprised even those who were engaged;and the butcher's bill was counted extraordinary by Samoans. On December1st the women of either side collected the headless bodies of the dead, each easily identified by the name tattooed on his forearm. Mataafa isthought to have lost sixty killed; and the de Coetlogons' hospitalreceived three women and forty men. The casualties on the Tamasese sidecannot be accepted, but they were presumably much less. 

CHAPTER VIII--AFFAIRS OF LAULII AND FANGALII

_November-December_ 1888

For Becker I have not been able to conceal my distaste, for he seems tome both false and foolish. But of his successor, the unfortunatelyfamous Dr. Knappe, we may think as of a good enough fellow drivendistraught. Fond of Samoa and the Samoans, he thought to bring peace andenjoy popularity among the islanders; of a genial, amiable, and sanguinetemper, he made no doubt but he could repair the breach with the Englishconsul. Hope told a flattering tale. He awoke to find himselfexchanging defiances with de Coetlogon, beaten in the field by Mataafa, surrounded on the spot by general exasperation, and disowned from home byhis own government. The history of his administration leaves on the mindof the student a sentiment of pity scarcely mingled. 

On Blacklock he did not call, and, in view of Leary's attitude, may beexcused. But the English consul was in a different category. England, weary of the name of Samoa, and desirous only to see peace established, was prepared to wink hard during the process and to welcome the result ofany German settlement. It was an unpardonable fault in Becker to havekicked and buffeted his ready-made allies into a state of jealousy, anger, and suspicion. Knappe set himself at once to efface theseimpressions, and the English officials rejoiced for the moment in thechange. Between Knappe and de Coetlogon there seems to have been mutualsympathy; and, in considering the steps by which they were led at lastinto an attitude of mutual defiance, it must be remembered that both themen were sick, --Knappe from time to time prostrated with that formidablecomplaint, New Guinea fever, and de Coetlogon throughout his whole stayin the islands continually ailing. 

Tamasese was still to be recognised, and, if possible, supported: suchwas the German policy. Two days after his arrival, accordingly, Knappeaddressed to Mataafa a threatening despatch. The German plantation wassuffering from the proximity of his "war-party. " He must withdraw fromLaulii at once, and, whithersoever he went, he must approach no Germanproperty nor so much as any village where there was a German trader. Byfive o'clock on the morrow, if he were not gone, Knappe would turn uponhim "the attention of the man-of-war" and inflict a fine. The sameevening, November 14th, Knappe went on board the _Adler_, which began toget up steam. 

Three months before, such direct intervention on the part of Germanywould have passed almost without protest; but the hour was now gone by. Becker's conduct, equally timid and rash, equally inconclusive andoffensive, had forced the other nations into a strong feeling of commoninterest with Mataafa. Even had the German demands been moderate, deCoetlogon could not have forgotten the night of the _taumualua_, nor howMataafa had relinquished, at his request, the attack upon the Germanquarter. Blacklock, with his driver of a captain at his elbow, was notlikely to lag behind. And Mataafa having communicated Knappe's letter, the example of the Germans was on all hands exactly followed; the consulshastened on board their respective war-ships, and these began to get upsteam. About midnight, in a pouring rain, Pelly communicated to Fritzehis intention to follow him and protect British interests; and Knappereplied that he would come on board the _Lizard_ and see de Coetlogonpersonally. It was deep in the small hours, and de Coetlogon had beenlong asleep, when he was wakened to receive his colleague; but he startedup with an old soldier's readiness. The conference was long. DeCoetlogon protested, as he did afterwards in writing, against Knappe'sclaim: the Samoans were in a state of war; they had territorial rights;it was monstrous to prevent them from entering one of their own villagesbecause a German trader kept the store; and in case property suffered, aclaim for compensation was the proper remedy. Knappe argued that thiswas a question between Germans and Samoans, in which de Coetlogon hadnothing to see; and that he must protect German property according to hisinstructions. To which de Coetlogon replied that he was himself in thesame attitude to the property of the British; that he understood Knappeto be intending hostilities against Laulii; that Laulii was mortgaged tothe MacArthurs; that its crops were accordingly British property; andthat, while he was ever willing to recognise the territorial rights ofthe Samoans, he must prevent that property from being molested "by anyother nation. " "But if a German man-of-war does it?" asked Knappe. --"Weshall prevent it to the best of our ability, " replied the colonel. It isto the credit of both men that this trying interview should have beenconducted and concluded without heat; but Knappe must have returned tothe _Adler_ with darker anticipations. 

At sunrise on the morning of the 15th, the three ships, each loaded withits consul, put to sea. It is hard to exaggerate the peril of theforenoon that followed, as they lay off Laulii. Nobody desired acollision, save perhaps the reckless Leary; but peace and war trembled inthe balance; and when the _Adler_, at one period, lowered her gun ports, war appeared to preponderate. It proved, however, to be a last--andtherefore surely an unwise--extremity. Knappe contented himself withvisiting the rival kings, and the three ships returned to Apia beforenoon. Beyond a doubt, coming after Knappe's decisive letter of the daybefore, this impotent conclusion shook the credit of Germany among thenatives of both sides; the Tamaseses fearing they were deserted, theMataafas (with secret delight) hoping they were feared. And it gave animpetus to that ridiculous business which might have earned for the wholeepisode the name of the war of flags. British and American flags hadbeen planted the night before, and were seen that morning flying overwhat they claimed about Laulii. British and American passengers, on theway up and down, pointed out from the decks of the war-ships, withgenerous vagueness, the boundaries of problematical estates. Ten dayslater, the beach of Saluafata bay fluttered (as I have told in the lastchapter) with the flag of Germany. The Americans riposted with a claimto Tamasese's camp, some small part of which (says Knappe) did reallybelong to "an American nigger. " The disease spread, the flags weremultiplied, the operations of war became an egg-dance among miniatureneutral territories; and though all men took a hand in these proceedings, all men in turn were struck with their absurdity. Mullan, Leary'ssuccessor, warned Knappe, in an emphatic despatch, not to squander anddiscredit the solemnity of that emblem which was all he had to be adefence to his own consulate. And Knappe himself, in his despatch ofMarch 21st, 1889, castigates the practice with much sense. But this wasafter the tragicomic culmination had been reached, and the burnt rags ofone of these too-frequently mendacious signals gone on a progress toWashington, like Caesar's body, arousing indignation where it came. Tosuch results are nations conducted by the patent artifices of a Becker. 

The discussion of the morning, the silent menace and defiance of thevoyage to Laulii, might have set the best-natured by the ears. ButKnappe and de Coetlogon took their difference in excellent part. On themorrow, November 16th, they sat down together with Blacklock inconference. The English consul introduced his colleagues, who shookhands. If Knappe were dead-weighted with the inheritance of Becker, Blacklock was handicapped by reminiscences of Leary; it is the more tothe credit of this inexperienced man that he should have maintained inthe future so excellent an attitude of firmness and moderation, and thatwhen the crash came, Knappe and de Coetlogon, not Knappe and Blacklock, were found to be the protagonists of the drama. The conference wasfutile. The English and American consuls admitted but one cure of theevils of the time: that the farce of the Tamasese monarchy should cease. It was one which the German refused to consider. And the agentsseparated without reaching any result, save that diplomatic relations hadbeen restored between the States and Germany, and that all three wereconvinced of their fundamental differences. 

Knappe and de Coetlogon were still friends; they had disputed anddiffered and come within a finger's breadth of war, and they were stillfriends. But an event was at hand which was to separate them for ever. On December 4th came the _Royalist_, Captain Hand, to relieve the_Lizard_. Pelly of course had to take his canvas from the consulatehospital; but he had in charge certain awnings belonging to the_Royalist_, and with these they made shift to cover the wounded, at thattime (after the fight at Laulii) more than usually numerous. Alieutenant came to the consulate, and delivered (as I have received it)the following message: "Captain Hand's compliments, and he says you mustget rid of these niggers at once, and he will help you to do it. "Doubtless the reply was no more civil than the message. The promised"help, " at least, followed promptly. A boat's crew landed and theawnings were stripped from the wounded, Hand himself standing on thecolonel's verandah to direct operations. It were fruitless to discussthis passage from the humanitarian point of view, or from that of formalcourtesy. The mind of the new captain was plainly not directed to theseobjects. But it is understood that he considered the existence of ahospital a source of irritation to Germans and a fault in policy. Hisown rude act proved in the result far more impolitic. The hospital hadnow been open some two months, and de Coetlogon was still on friendlyterms with Knappe, and he and his wife were engaged to dine with him thatday. By the morrow that was practically ended. For the rape of theawnings had two results: one, which was the fault of de Coetlogon, not atall of Hand, who could not have foreseen it; the other which it was hisduty to have seen and prevented. The first was this: the de Coetlogonsfound themselves left with their wounded exposed to the inclemencies ofthe season; they must all be transported into the house and verandah; inthe distress and pressure of this task, the dinner engagement was toolong forgotten; and a note of excuse did not reach the German consulatebefore the table was set, and Knappe dressed to receive his visitors. Thesecond consequence was inevitable. Captain Hand was scarce landed ere itbecame public (was "_sofort bekannt_, " writes Knappe) that he and theconsul were in opposition. All that had been gained by the demonstrationat Laulii was thus immediately cast away; de Coetlogon's prestige waslessened; and it must be said plainly that Hand did less than nothing torestore it. Twice indeed he interfered, both times with success; andonce, when his own person had been endangered, with vehemence; but duringall the strange doings I have to narrate, he remained in close intimacywith the German consulate, and on one occasion may be said to have actedas its marshal. After the worst is over, after Bismarck has told Knappethat "the protests of his English colleague were grounded, " that his ownconduct "has not been good, " and that in any dispute which may arise he"will find himself in the wrong, " Knappe can still plead in his defencethat Captain Hand "has always maintained friendly intercourse with theGerman authorities. " Singular epitaph for an English sailor. In thiscomplicity on the part of Hand we may find the reason--and I had almostsaid, the excuse--of much that was excessive in the bearing of theunfortunate Knappe. 

On the 11th December, Mataafa received twenty-eight thousand cartridges, brought into the country in salt-beef kegs by the British ship_Richmond_. This not only sharpened the animosity between whites;following so closely on the German fizzle at Laulii, it raised aconvulsion in the camp of Tamasese. On the 13th Brandeis addressed toKnappe his famous and fatal letter. I may not describe it as a letter ofburning words, but it is plainly dictated by a burning heart. Tamaseseand his chiefs, he announces, are now sick of the business, and ready tomake peace with Mataafa. They began the war relying upon German help;they now see and say that "_e faaalo Siamani i Peritania ma America_, that Germany is subservient to England and the States. " It is grimlygiven to be understood that the despatch is an ultimatum, and a lastchance is being offered for the recreant ally to fulfil her pledge. Tomake it more plain, the document goes on with a kind of bilious irony:"The two German war-ships now in Samoa are here for the protection ofGerman property alone; and when the _Olga_ shall have arrived" [shearrived on the morrow] "the German war-ships will continue to do againstthe insurgents precisely as little as they have done heretofore. " Plantflags, in fact. 

Here was Knappe's opportunity, could he have stooped to seize it. I findit difficult to blame him that he could not. Far from being soinglorious as the treachery once contemplated by Becker, the acceptanceof this ultimatum would have been still in the nature of a disgrace. Brandeis's letter, written by a German, was hard to swallow. It wouldhave been hard to accept that solution which Knappe had so recently andso peremptorily refused to his brother consuls. And he was tempted, onthe other hand, by recent changes. There was no Pelly to support deCoetlogon, who might now be disregarded. Mullan, Leary's successor, evenif he were not precisely a Hand, was at least no Leary; and even ifMullan should show fight, Knappe had now three ships and could defy orsink him without danger. Many small circumstances moved him in the samedirection. The looting of German plantations continued; the whole forceof Mataafa was to a large extent subsisted from the crops of Vailele; andarmed men were to be seen openly plundering bananas, breadfruit, andcocoa-nuts under the walls of the plantation building. On the night ofthe 13th the consulate stable had been broken into and a horse removed. On the 16th there was a riot in Apia between half-castes and sailors fromthe new ship _Olga_, each side claiming that the other was the worse ofdrink, both (for a wager) justly. The multiplication of flags and littleneutral territories had, besides, begun to irritate the Samoans. Theprotests of German settlers had been received uncivilly. On the 16th theMataafas had again sought to land in Saluafata bay, with the manifestintention to attack the Tamaseses, or (in other words) "to trespass onGerman lands, covered, as your Excellency knows, with flags. " I quotefrom his requisition to Fritze, December 17th. Upon all theseconsiderations, he goes on, it is necessary to bring the fighting to anend. Both parties are to be disarmed and returned to theirvillages--Mataafa first. And in case of any attempt upon Apia, the roadsthither are to be held by a strong landing-party. Mataafa was to bedisarmed first, perhaps rightly enough in his character of the lastinsurgent. Then was to have come the turn of Tamasese; but it does notappear the disarming would have had the same import or have been goneabout in the same way. Germany was bound to Tamasese. No honest manwould dream of blaming Knappe because he sought to redeem his country'sword. The path he chose was doubtless that of honour, so far as honourwas still left. But it proved to be the road to ruin. 

Fritze, ranking German officer, is understood to have opposed themeasure. His attitude earned him at the time unpopularity among hiscountry-people on the spot, and should now redound to his credit. It isto be hoped he extended his opposition to some of the details. If itwere possible to disarm Mataafa at all, it must be done rather byprestige than force. A party of blue-jackets landed in Samoan bush, andexpected to hold against Samoans a multiplicity of forest paths, hadtheir work cut out for them. And it was plain they should be landed inthe light of day, with a discouraging openness, and even with parade. Tosneak ashore by night was to increase the danger of resistance and tominimise the authority of the attack. The thing was a bluff, and it isimpossible to bluff with stealth. Yet this was what was tried. Alanding-party was to leave the _Olga_ in Apia bay at two in the morning;the landing was to be at four on two parts of the foreshore of Vailele. At eight they were to be joined by a second landing-party from the_Eber_. By nine the Olgas were to be on the crest of Letongo Mountain, and the Ebers to be moving round the promontory by the seaward paths, "with measures of precaution, " disarming all whom they encountered. Therewas to be no firing unless fired upon. At the appointed hour (or perhapslater) on the morning of the 19th, this unpromising business was put inhand, and there moved off from the _Olga_ two boats with some fifty blue-jackets between them, and a _praam_ or punt containing ninety, --the boatsand the whole expedition under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Jaeckel, the praam under Lieutenant Spengler. The men had each forty rounds, oneday's provisions, and their flasks filled. 

In the meanwhile, Mataafa sympathisers about Apia were on the alert. Knappe had informed the consuls that the ships were to put to sea nextday for the protection of German property; but the Tamaseses had beenless discreet. "To-morrow at the hour of seven, " they had cried to theiradversaries, "you will know of a difficulty, and our guns shall be madegood in broken bones. " An accident had pointed expectation towards Apia. The wife of Le Mamea washed for the German ships--a perquisite, Isuppose, for her husband's unwilling fidelity. She sent a man with linenon board the _Adler_, where he was surprised to see Le Mamea in person, and to be himself ordered instantly on shore. The news spread. If Mameawere brought down from Lotoanuu, others might have come at the same time. Tamasese himself and half his army might perhaps lie concealed on boardthe German ships. And a watch was accordingly set and warriors collectedalong the line of the shore. One detachment lay in some rifle-pits bythe mouth of the Fuisa. They were commanded by Seumanu; and with hisparty, probably as the most contiguous to Apia, was thewar-correspondent, John Klein. Of English birth, but naturalisedAmerican, this gentleman had been for some time representing the _NewYork World_ in a very effective manner, always in the front, living inthe field with the Samoans, and in all vicissitudes of weather, toilingto and fro with his despatches. His wisdom was perhaps not equal to hisenergy. He made himself conspicuous, going about armed to the teeth in aboat under the stars and stripes; and on one occasion, when he supposedhimself fired upon by the Tamaseses, had the petulance to empty hisrevolver in the direction of their camp. By the light of the moon, whichwas then nearly down, this party observed the _Olga's_ two boats and thepraam, which they described as "almost sinking with men, " the boatskeeping well out towards the reef, the praam at the moment apparentlyheading for the shore. An extreme agitation seems to have reigned in therifle-pits. What were the newcomers? What was their errand? Were theyGermans or Tamaseses? Had they a mind to attack? The praam was hailedin Samoan and did not answer. It was proposed to fire upon her ere shedrew near. And at last, whether on his own suggestion or that ofSeumanu, Klein hailed her in English, and in terms of unnecessarymelodrama. "Do not try to land here, " he cried. "If you do, your bloodwill be upon your head. " Spengler, who had never the least intention totouch at the Fuisa, put up the head of the praam to her true course andcontinued to move up the lagoon with an offing of some seventy or eightyyards. Along all the irregularities and obstructions of the beach, across the mouth of the Vaivasa, and through the startled village ofMatafangatele, Seumanu, Klein, and seven or eight others raced to keepup, spreading the alarm and rousing reinforcements as they went. Presently a man on horse-back made his appearance on the opposite beachof Fangalii. Klein and the natives distinctly saw him signal with alantern; which is the more strange, as the horseman (Captain Hufnagel, plantation manager of Vailele) had never a lantern to signal with. Thepraam kept in. Many men in white were seen to stand up, step overboard, and wade to shore. At the same time the eye of panic descried abreastwork of "foreign stone" (brick) upon the beach. Samoans areprepared to-day to swear to its existence, I believe conscientiously, although no such thing was ever made or ever intended in that place. Thehour is doubtful. "It was the hour when the streak of dawn is seen, thehour known in the warfare of heathen times as the hour of the nightattack, " says the Mataafa official account. A native whom I met on thefield declared it was at cock-crow. Captain Hufnagel, on the other hand, is sure it was long before the day. It was dark at least, and the moondown. Darkness made the Samoans bold; uncertainty as to the compositionand purpose of the landing-party made them desperate. Fire was opened onthe Germans, one of whom was here killed. The Germans returned it, andeffected a lodgment on the beach; and the skirmish died again to silence. It was at this time, if not earlier, that Klein returned to Apia. 

Here, then, were Spengler and the ninety men of the praam, landed on thebeach in no very enviable posture, the woods in front filled withunnumbered enemies, but for the time successful. Meanwhile, Jaeckel andthe boats had gone outside the reef, and were to land on the other sideof the Vailele promontory, at Sunga, by the buildings of the plantation. It was Hufnagel's part to go and meet them. His way led straight intothe woods and through the midst of the Samoans, who had but now ceasedfiring. He went in the saddle and at a foot's pace, feeling speed andconcealment to be equally helpless, and that if he were to fall at all, he had best fall with dignity. Not a shot was fired at him; no effortmade to arrest him on his errand. As he went, he spoke and even jestedwith the Samoans, and they answered in good part. One fellow wasleaping, yelling, and tossing his axe in the air, after the way of anexcited islander. "_Faimalosi_! go it!" said Hufnagel, and the fellowlaughed and redoubled his exertions. As soon as the boats entered thelagoon, fire was again opened from the woods. The fifty blue-jacketsjumped overboard, hove down the boats to be a shield, and dragged themtowards the landing-place. In this way, their rations, and (what wasmore unfortunate) some of their miserable provision of forty rounds gotwetted; but the men came to shore and garrisoned the plantation housewithout a casualty. Meanwhile the sound of the firing from Sungaimmediately renewed the hostilities at Fangalii. The civilians on shoredecided that Spengler must be at once guided to the house, and Haideln, the surveyor, accepted the dangerous errand. Like Hufnagel, he wassuffered to pass without question through the midst of these platonicenemies. He found Spengler some way inland on a knoll, disastrouslyengaged, the woods around him filled with Samoans, who were continuouslyreinforced. In three successive charges, cheering as they ran, the blue-jackets burst through their scattered opponents, and made good theirjunction with Jaeckel. Four men only remained upon the field, the otherwounded being helped by their comrades or dragging themselves painfullyalong. 

The force was now concentrated in the house and its immediate patch ofgarden. Their rear, to the seaward, was unmolested; but on three sidesthey were beleaguered. On the left, the Samoans occupied and fired fromsome of the plantation offices. In front, a long rising crest of land inthe horse-pasture commanded the house, and was lined with the assailants. And on the right, the hedge of the same paddock afforded them a dangerouscover. It was in this place that a Samoan sharpshooter was knocked overby Jaeckel with his own hand. The fire was maintained by the Samoans inthe usual wasteful style. The roof was made a sieve; the balls passedclean through the house; Lieutenant Sieger, as he lay, already dying, onHufnagel's bed, was despatched with a fresh wound. The Samoans showedthemselves extremely enterprising: pushed their lines forward, venturedbeyond cover, and continually threatened to envelop the garden. Thrice, at least, it was necessary to repel them by a sally. The men werebrought into the house from the rear, the front doors were thrownsuddenly open, and the gallant blue-jackets issued cheering: necessary, successful, but extremely costly sorties. Neither could these be pushedfar. The foes were undaunted; so soon as the sailors advanced at alldeep in the horse-pasture, the Samoans began to close in upon bothflanks; and the sally had to be recalled. To add to the dangers of theGerman situation, ammunition began to run low; and the cartridge-boxes ofthe wounded and the dead had been already brought into use before, atabout eight o'clock, the _Eber_ steamed into the bay. Her commander, Wallis, threw some shells into Letongo, one of which killed five menabout their cooking-pot. The Samoans began immediately to withdraw;their movements were hastened by a sortie, and the remains of the landing-party brought on board. This was an unfortunate movement; it gave anirremediable air of defeat to what might have been else claimed for amoderate success. The blue-jackets numbered a hundred and forty alltold; they were engaged separately and fought under the worst conditions, in the dark and among woods; their position in the house was scarcetenable; they lost in killed and wounded fifty-six, --forty per cent. ; andtheir spirit to the end was above question. Whether we think of the poorsailor lads, always so pleasantly behaved in times of peace, or whetherwe call to mind the behaviour of the two civilians, Haideln and Hufnagel, we can only regret that brave men should stand to be exposed upon so poora quarrel, or lives cast away upon an enterprise so hopeless. 

News of the affair reached Apia early, and Moors, always curious of thesespectacles of war, was immediately in the saddle. Near Matafangatele hemet a Manono chief, whom he asked if there were any German dead. "Ithink there are about thirty of them knocked over, " said he. "Have youtaken their heads?" asked Moors. "Yes, " said the chief. "Some foolishpeople did it, but I have stopped them. We ought not to cut off theirheads when they do not cut off ours. " He was asked what had been donewith the heads. "Two have gone to Mataafa, " he replied, "and one isburied right under where your horse is standing, in a basket wrapped intapa. " This was afterwards dug up, and I am told on native authoritythat, besides the three heads, two ears were taken. Moors next asked theManono man how he came to be going away. "The man-of-war is throwingshells, " said he. "When they stopped firing out of the house, we stoppedfiring also; so it was as well to scatter when the shells began. Wecould have killed all the white men. I wish they had been Tamaseses. "This is an _ex parte_ statement, and I give it for such; but the courseof the affair, and in particular the adventures of Haideln and Hufnagel, testify to a surprising lack of animosity against the Germans. About thesame time or but a little earlier than this conversation, the same spiritwas being displayed. Hufnagel, with a party of labour, had gone out tobring in the German dead, when he was surprised to be suddenly fired onfrom the wood. The boys he had with him were not negritos, butPolynesians from the Gilbert Islands; and he suddenly remembered thatthese might be easily mistaken for a detachment of Tamaseses. Biddinghis boys conceal themselves in a thicket, this brave man walked into theopen. So soon as he was recognised, the firing ceased, and the labourersfollowed him in safety. This is chivalrous war; but there was a side toit less chivalrous. As Moors drew nearer to Vailele, he began to meetSamoans with hats, guns, and even shirts, taken from the German sailors. With one of these who had a hat and a gun he stopped and spoke. The hatwas handed up for him to look at; it had the late owner's name on theinside. "Where is he?" asked Moors. "He is dead; I cut his head off. ""You shot him?" "No, somebody else shot him in the hip. When I came, heput up his hands, and cried: 'Don't kill me; I am a Malietoa man. ' I didnot believe him, and I cut his head off. . . . . . Have you any ammunition tofit that gun?" "I do not know. " "What has become of thecartridge-belt?" "Another fellow grabbed that and the cartridges, and hewon't give them to me. " A dreadful and silly picture of barbaric war. The words of the German sailor must be regarded as imaginary: how was thepoor lad to speak native, or the Samoan to understand German? When Moorscame as far as Sunga, the _Eber_ was yet in the bay, the smoke of battlestill lingered among the trees, which were themselves marked with athousand bullet-wounds. But the affair was over, the combatants, Germanand Samoan, were all gone, and only a couple of negrito labour boyslurked on the scene. The village of Letongo beyond was equally silent;part of it was wrecked by the shells of the _Eber_, and still smoked; theinhabitants had fled. On the beach were the native boats, perhaps fivethousand dollars' worth, deserted by the Mataafas and overlooked by theGermans, in their common hurry to escape. Still Moors held eastward bythe sea-paths. It was his hope to get a view from the other side of thepromontory, towards Laulii. In the way he found a house hidden in thewood and among rocks, where an aged and sick woman was being tended byher elderly daughter. Last lingerers in that deserted piece of coast, they seemed indifferent to the events which had thus left them solitary, and, as the daughter said, did not know where Mataafa was, nor whereTamasese. 

It is the official Samoan pretension that the Germans fired first atFangalii. In view of all German and some native testimony, the text ofFritze's orders, and the probabilities of the case, no honest mind willbelieve it for a moment. Certainly the Samoans fired first. Ascertainly they were betrayed into the engagement in the agitation of themoment, and it was not till afterwards that they understood what they haddone. Then, indeed, all Samoa drew a breath of wonder and delight. Theinvincible had fallen; the men of the vaunted war-ships had been met inthe field by the braves of Mataafa: a superstition was no more. Conceivethis people steadily as schoolboys; and conceive the elation in anyschool if the head boy should suddenly arise and drive the rector fromthe schoolhouse. I have received one instance of the feeling instantlyaroused. There lay at the time in the consular hospital an old chief whowas a pet of the colonel's. News reached him of the glorious event; hewas sick, he thought himself sinking, sent for the colonel, and gave himhis gun. "Don't let the Germans get it, " said the old gentleman, andhaving received a promise, was at peace. 

CHAPTER IX--"FUROR CONSULARIS"

_December_ 1888 _to March_ 1889

Knappe, in the _Adler_, with a flag of truce at the fore, was enteringLaulii Bay when the _Eber_ brought him the news of the night's reverse. His heart was doubtless wrung for his young countrymen who had beenbutchered and mutilated in the dark woods, or now lay suffering, and someof them dying, on the ship. And he must have been startled as herecognised his own position. He had gone too far; he had stumbled intowar, and, what was worse, into defeat; he had thrown away German livesfor less than nothing, and now saw himself condemned either to acceptdefeat, or to kick and pummel his failure into something like success;either to accept defeat, or take frenzy for a counsellor. Yesterday, incold blood, he had judged it necessary to have the woods to the westwardguarded lest the evacuation of Laulii should prove only the peril ofApia. To-day, in the irritation and alarm of failure, he forgot ordespised his previous reasoning, and, though his detachment was beat backto the ships, proceeded with the remainder of his maimed design. Theonly change he made was to haul down the flag of truce. He had now nowish to meet with Mataafa. Words were out of season, shells must speak. 

At this moment an incident befell him which must have been trying to hisself-command. The new American ship _Nipsic_ entered Laulii Bay; hercommander, Mullan, boarded the _Adler_ to protest, succeeded in wrestingfrom Knappe a period of delay in order that the women might be spared, and sent a lieutenant to Mataafa with a warning. The camp was alreadyexcited by the news and the trophies of Fangalii. Already Tamasese andLotoanuu seemed secondary objectives to the Germans and Apia. Mullan'smessage put an end to hesitation. Laulii was evacuated. The troopsstreamed westward by the mountain side, and took up the same day a strongposition about Tanungamanono and Mangiangi, some two miles behind Apia, which they threatened with the one hand, while with the other theycontinued to draw their supplies from the devoted plantations of theGerman firm. Laulii, when it was shelled, was empty. The British flagswere, of course, fired upon; and I hear that one of them was struck down, but I think every one must be privately of the mind that it was firedupon and fell, in a place where it had little business to be shown. 

Such was the military epilogue to the ill-judged adventure of Fangalii;it was difficult for failure to be more complete. But the otherconsequences were of a darker colour and brought the whites immediatelyface to face in a spirit of ill-favoured animosity. Knappe was mourningthe defeat and death of his country-folk, he was standing aghast over theruin of his own career, when Mullan boarded him. The successor of Learyserved himself, in that bitter moment, heir to Leary's part. And inMullan, Knappe saw more even than the successor of Leary, --he saw in himthe representative of Klein. Klein had hailed the praam from the rifle-pits; he had there uttered ill-chosen words, unhappily prophetic; it iseven likely that he was present at the time of the first fire. To accusehim of the design and conduct of the whole attack was but a step forward;his own vapouring served to corroborate the accusation; and it was notlong before the German consulate was in possession of sworn nativetestimony in support. The worth of native testimony is small, the worthof white testimony not overwhelming; and I am in the painful position ofnot being able to subscribe either to Klein's own account of the affairor to that of his accusers. Klein was extremely flurried; his interestas a reporter must have tempted him at first to make the most of hisshare in the exploit, the immediate peril in which he soon found himselfto stand must have at least suggested to him the idea of minimising it;one way and another, he is not a good witness. As for the natives, theywere no doubt cross-examined in that hall of terror, the Germanconsulate, where they might be trusted to lie like schoolboys, or (if thereader prefer it) like Samoans. By outside white testimony, it remainsestablished for me that Klein returned to Apia either before orimmediately after the first shots. That he ever sought or was everallowed a share in the command may be denied peremptorily; but it is morethan likely that he expressed himself in an excited manner and with ahighly inflammatory effect upon his hearers. He was, at least, severelypunished. The Germans, enraged by his provocative behaviour and whatthey thought to be his German birth, demanded him to be tried beforecourt-martial; he had to skulk inside the sentries of the Americanconsulate, to be smuggled on board a war-ship, and to be carried almostby stealth out of the island; and what with the agitations of his mind, and the results of a marsh fever contracted in the lines of Mataafa, reached Honolulu a very proper object of commiseration. Nor was Kleinthe only accused: de Coetlogon was himself involved. As the boats passedMatautu, Knappe declares a signal was made from the British consulate. Perhaps we should rather read "from its neighbourhood"; since, in thegeneral warding of the coast, the point of Matautu could scarce have beenneglected. On the other hand, there is no doubt that the Samoans, in theanxiety of that night of watching and fighting, crowded to the friendlyconsul for advice. Late in the night, the wounded Siteoni, lying on thecolonel's verandah, one corner of which had been blinded down that hemight sleep, heard the coming and going of bare feet and the voices ofeager consultation. And long after, a man who had been discharged fromthe colonel's employment took upon himself to swear an affidavit as tothe nature of the advice then given, and to carry the document to theGerman consul. It was an act of private revenge; it fell long out ofdate in the good days of Dr. Stuebel, and had no result but to discreditthe gentleman who volunteered it. Colonel de Coetlogon had his faults, but they did not touch his honour; his bare word would always outweigh awaggon-load of such denunciations; and he declares his behaviour on thatnight to have been blameless. The question was besides inquired into onthe spot by Sir John Thurston, and the colonel honourably acquitted. Butduring the weeks that were now to follow, Knappe believed the contrary;he believed not only that Moors and others had supplied ammunition andKlein commanded in the field, but that de Coetlogon had made the signalof attack; that though his blue-jackets had bled and fallen against thearms of Samoans, these were supplied, inspired, and marshalled byAmericans and English. 

The legend was the more easily believed because it embraced and wasfounded upon so much truth. Germans lay dead, the German wounded groanedin their cots; and the cartridges by which they fell had been sold by anAmerican and brought into the country in a British bottom. Had thetransaction been entirely mercenary, it would already have been hard toswallow; but it was notoriously not so. British and Americans werenotoriously the partisans of Mataafa. They rejoiced in the result ofFangalii, and so far from seeking to conceal their rejoicing, paraded anddisplayed it. Calumny ran high. Before the dead were buried, while thewounded yet lay in pain and fever, cowardly accusations of cowardice werelevelled at the German blue-jackets. It was said they had broken and runbefore their enemies, and that they had huddled helpless like sheep inthe plantation house. Small wonder if they had; small wonder had theybeen utterly destroyed. But the fact was heroically otherwise; and thesedastard calumnies cut to the blood. They are not forgotten; perhaps theywill never be forgiven. 

In the meanwhile, events were pressing towards a still more trenchantopposition. On the 20th, the three consuls met and parted withoutagreement, Knappe announcing that he had lost men and must take thematter in his own hands to avenge their death. On the 21st the _Olga_came before Matafangatele, ordered the delivery of all arms within thehour, and at the end of that period, none being brought, shelled andburned the village. The shells fell for the most part innocuous; aneyewitness saw children at play beside the flaming houses; not a soul wasinjured; and the one noteworthy event was the mutilation of CaptainHamilton's American flag. In one sense an incident too small to bechronicled, in another this was of historic interest and import. Theserags of tattered bunting occasioned the display of a new sentiment in theUnited States; and the republic of the West, hitherto so apathetic andunwieldy, but already stung by German nonchalance, leaped to its feet forthe first time at the news of this fresh insult. As though to make theinefficiency of the war-ships more apparent, three shells were throwninland at Mangiangi; they flew high over the Mataafa camp, where thenatives could "hear them singing" as they flew, and fell behind in thedeep romantic valley of the Vaisingano. Mataafa had been alreadysummoned on board the _Adler_; his life promised if he came, declared "indanger" if he came not; and he had declined in silence the unattractiveinvitation. These fresh hostile acts showed him that the worst had come. He was in strength, his force posted along the whole front of themountain behind Apia, Matautu occupied, the Siumu road lined up to thehouses of the town with warriors passionate for war. The occasion wasunique, and there is no doubt that he designed to seize it. The same dayof this bombardment, he sent word bidding all English and Americans weara black band upon their arm, so that his men should recognise and sparethem. The hint was taken, and the band worn for a continuance of days. To have refused would have been insane; but to consent was unhappily tofeed the resentment of the Germans by a fresh sign of intelligence withtheir enemies, and to widen the breach between the races by a fresh and ascarce pardonable mark of their division. The same day again the Germansrepeated one of their earlier offences by firing on a boat within theharbour. Times were changed; they were now at war and in peril, therigour of military advantage might well be seized by them and pardoned byothers; but it so chanced that the bullets flew about the ears of CaptainHand, and that commander is said to have been insatiable of apologies. The affair, besides, had a deplorable effect on the inhabitants. A blackband (they saw) might protect them from the Mataafas, not fromundiscriminating shots. Panic ensued. The war-ships were open toreceive the fugitives, and the gentlemen who had made merry over Fangaliiwere seen to thrust each other from the wharves in their eagerness toflee Apia. I willingly drop the curtain on the shameful picture. 

Meanwhile, on the German side of the bay, a more manly spirit wasexhibited in circumstances of alarming weakness. The plantation managersand overseers had all retreated to Matafele, only one (I understand)remaining at his post. The whole German colony was thus collected in onespot, and could count and wonder at its scanty numbers. Knappe declares(to my surprise) that the war-ships could not spare him more than fiftymen a day. The great extension of the German quarter, he goes on, didnot "allow a full occupation of the outer line"; hence they had shrunkinto the western end by the firm buildings, and the inhabitants werewarned to fall back on this position, in the case of an alert. So thathe who had set forth, a day or so before, to disarm the Mataafas in theopen field, now found his resources scarce adequate to garrison thebuildings of the firm. But Knappe seemed unteachable by fate. It isprobable he thought he had

 "Already waded in so deep, Returning were as tedious as go o'er";

it is certain that he continued, on the scene of his defeat and in themidst of his weakness, to bluster and menace like a conqueror. Activewar, which he lacked the means of attempting, was continually threatened. On the 22nd he sought the aid of his brother consuls to maintain theneutral territory against Mataafa; and at the same time, as thoughmeditating instant deeds of prowess, refused to be bound by it himself. This singular proposition was of course refused: Blacklock remarking thathe had no fear of the natives, if these were let alone; de Coetlogonrefusing in the circumstances to recognise any neutral territory at all. In vain Knappe amended and baited his proposal with the offer of forty-eight or ninety-six hours' notice, according as his objective should benear or within the boundary of the _Eleele Sa_. It was rejected; and helearned that he must accept war with all its consequences--and not thatwhich he desired--war with the immunities of peace. 

This monstrous exigence illustrates the man's frame of mind. It has beenstill further illuminated in the German white-book by printing alongsideof his despatches those of the unimpassioned Fritze. On January 8th theconsulate was destroyed by fire. Knappe says it was the work ofincendiaries, "without doubt"; Fritze admits that "everything seems toshow" it was an accident. "Tamasese's people fit to bear arms, " writesKnappe, "are certainly for the moment equal to Mataafa's, " thoughrestrained from battle by the lack of ammunition. "As for Tamasese, "says Fritze of the same date, "he is now but a phantom--_dient er nur alsGespenst_. His party, for practical purposes, is no longer large. Theypretend ammunition to be lacking, but what they lack most is good-will. Captain Brandeis, whose influence is now small, declares they can nolonger sustain a serious engagement, and is himself in the intention ofleaving Samoa by the _Lubeck_ of the 5th February. " And Knappe, in thesame despatch, confutes himself and confirms the testimony of his navalcolleague, by the admission that "the re-establishment of Tamasese'sgovernment is, under present circumstances, not to be thought of. "Plainly, then, he was not so much seeking to deceive others, as he washimself possessed; and we must regard the whole series of his acts anddespatches as the agitations of a fever. 

The British steamer _Richmond_ returned to Apia, January 15th. On thelast voyage she had brought the ammunition already so frequently referredto; as a matter of fact, she was again bringing contraband of war. It isnecessary to be explicit upon this, which served as spark to so great aflame of scandal. Knappe was justified in interfering; he would havebeen worthy of all condemnation if he had neglected, in his posture ofsemi-investment, a precaution so elementary; and the manner in which heset about attempting it was conciliatory and almost timid. He applied toCaptain Hand, and begged him to accept himself the duty of "controlling"the discharge of the _Richmond's_ cargo. Hand was unable to move withouthis consul; and at night an armed boat from the Germans boarded, searched, and kept possession of, the suspected ship. The next day, asby an after-thought, war and martial law were proclaimed for the SamoanIslands, the introduction of contraband of war forbidden, and ships andboats declared liable to search. "All support of the rebels will bepunished by martial law, " continued the proclamation, "no matter to whatnationality the person [_Thater_] may belong. "

Hand, it has been seen, declined to act in the matter of the _Richmond_without the concurrence of his consul; but I have found no evidence thateither Hand or Knappe communicated with de Coetlogon, with whom they wereboth at daggers drawn. First the seizure and next the proclamation seemto have burst on the English consul from a clear sky; and he wrote on thesame day, throwing doubt on Knappe's authority to declare war. Knappereplied on the 20th that the Imperial German Government had been at waras a matter of fact since December 19th, and that it was only for theconvenience of the subjects of other states that he had been empowered tomake a formal declaration. "From that moment, " he added, "martial lawprevails in Samoa. " De Coetlogon instantly retorted, declining martiallaw for British subjects, and announcing a proclamation in that sense. Instantly, again, came that astonishing document, Knappe's rejoinder, without pause, without reflection--the pens screeching on the paper, themessengers (you would think) running from consulate to consulate: "I havehad the honour to receive your Excellency's [_Hochwohlgeboren_] agreeablecommunication of to-day. Since, on the ground of received instructions, martial law has been declared in Samoa, British subjects as well asothers fall under its application. I warn you therefore to abstain fromsuch a proclamation as you announce in your letter. It will be such apiece of business as shall make yourself answerable under martial law. Besides, your proclamation will be disregarded. " De Coetlogon of courseissued his proclamation at once, Knappe retorted with another, and nightclosed on the first stage of this insane collision. I hear the Germanconsul was on this day prostrated with fever; charity at least mustsuppose him hardly answerable for his language. 

Early on the 21st, Mr. Mansfield Gallien, a passing traveller, was seizedin his berth on board the _Richmond_, and carried, half-dressed, on boarda German war-ship. His offence was, in the circumstances and after theproclamation, substantial. He had gone the day before, in the spirit ofa tourist to Mataafa's camp, had spoken with the king, and had evenrecommended him an appeal to Sir George Grey. Fritze, I gather, had beenlong uneasy; this arrest on board a British ship fitted the measure. Doubtless, as he had written long before, the consul alone wasresponsible "on the legal side"; but the captain began to ask himself, "What next?"--telegraphed direct home for instructions, "Is arrest offoreigners on foreign vessels legal?"--and was ready, at a word fromCaptain Hand, to discharge his dangerous prisoner. The word in question(so the story goes) was not without a kind of wit. "I wish you would setthat man ashore, " Hand is reported to have said, indicating Gallien; "Iwish you would set that man ashore, to save me the trouble. " The sameday de Coetlogon published a proclamation requesting captains to submitto search for contraband of war. 

On the 22nd the _Samoa Times and South Sea Advertiser_ was suppressed byorder of Fritze. I have hitherto refrained from mentioning the singlepaper of our islands, that I might deal with it once for all. It is ofcourse a tiny sheet; but I have often had occasion to wonder at theability of its articles, and almost always at the decency of its tone. Officials may at times be a little roughly, and at times a littlecaptiously, criticised; private persons are habitually respected; andthere are many papers in England, and still more in the States, even ofleading organs in chief cities, that might envy, and would do well toimitate, the courtesy and discretion of the _Samoa Times_. Yet theeditor, Cusack, is only an amateur in journalism, and a carpenter bytrade. His chief fault is one perhaps inevitable in so small aplace--that he seems a little in the leading of a clique; but hisinterest in the public weal is genuine and generous. One man's meat isanother man's poison: Anglo-Saxons and Germans have been differentlybrought up. To our galled experience the paper appears moderate; to theiruntried sensations it seems violent. We think a public man fair game; wethink it a part of his duty, and I am told he finds it a part of hisreward, to be continually canvassed by the press. For the Germans, onthe other hand, an official wears a certain sacredness; when he is calledover the coals, they are shocked, and (if the official be a German) feelthat Germany itself has been insulted. The _Samoa Times_ had been long amountain of offence. Brandeis had imported from the colonies anotherprinter of the name of Jones, to deprive Cusack of the governmentprinting. German sailors had come ashore one day, wild with offendedpatriotism, to punish the editor with stripes, and the result wasdelightfully amusing. The champions asked for the English printer. Theywere shown the wrong man, and the blows intended for Cusack had hailed onthe shoulders of his rival Jones. On the 12th, Cusack had reprinted anarticle from a San Francisco paper; the Germans had complained; and deCoetlogon, in a moment of weakness, had fined the editor twenty pounds. The judgment was afterwards reversed in Fiji; but even at the time it hadnot satisfied the Germans. And so now, on the third day of martial law, the paper was suppressed. Here we have another of these internationalobscurities. To Fritze the step seemed natural and obvious; for Anglo-Saxons it was a hand laid upon the altar; and the month was scarce outbefore the voice of Senator Frye announced to his colleagues that freespeech had been suppressed in Samoa. 

Perhaps we must seek some similar explanation for Fritze's short-livedcode, published and withdrawn the next day, the 23rd. Fritze himself wasin no humour for extremities. He was much in the position of alieutenant who should perceive his captain urging the ship upon therocks. It is plain he had lost all confidence in his commanding officer"upon the legal side"; and we find him writing home with anxious candour. He had understood that martial law implied military possession; he was inmilitary possession of nothing but his ship, and shrewdly suspected thathis martial jurisdiction should be confined within the same limits. "Asa matter of fact, " he writes, "we do not occupy the territory, and cannotgive foreigners the necessary protection, because Mataafa and his peoplecan at any moment forcibly interrupt me in my jurisdiction. " Yet in theeyes of Anglo-Saxons the severity of his code appeared burlesque. I givebut three of its provisions. The crime of inciting German troops "by anymeans, as, for instance, informing them of proclamations by the enemy, "was punishable with death; that of "publishing or secretly distributinganything, whether printed or written, bearing on the war, " with prison ordeportation; and that of calling or attending a public meeting, unlesspermitted, with the same. Such were the tender mercies of Knappe, lurking in the western end of the German quarter, where Mataafa could "atany moment" interrupt his jurisdiction. 

On the 22nd (day of the suppression of the _Times_) de Coetlogon wrote toinquire if hostilities were intended against Great Britain, which Knappeon the same day denied. On the 23rd de Coetlogon sent a complaint ofhostile acts, such as the armed and forcible entry of the _Richmond_before the declaration and arrest of Gallien. In his reply, dated the24th, Knappe took occasion to repeat, although now with moreself-command, his former threat against de Coetlogon. "I am still of theopinion, " he writes, "that even foreign consuls are liable to theapplication of martial law, if they are guilty of offences against thebelligerent state. " The same day (24th) de Coetlogon complained thatFletcher, manager for Messrs. MacArthur, had been summoned by Fritze. Inanswer, Knappe had "the honour to inform your Excellency that since thedeclaration of the state of war, British subjects are liable to martiallaw, and Mr. Fletcher will be arrested if he does not appear. " Here, then, was the gauntlet thrown down, and de Coetlogon was burning toaccept it. Fletcher's offence was this. Upon the 22nd a steamer hadcome in from Wellington, specially chartered to bring German despatchesto Apia. The rumour came along with her from New Zealand that in thesedespatches Knappe would find himself rebuked, and Fletcher was accused ofhaving "interested himself in the spreading of this rumour. " His arrestwas actually ordered, when Hand succeeded in persuading him to surrender. At the German court, the case was dismissed "_wegen Nichtigkeit_"; andthe acute stage of these distempers may be said to have ended. Blessedare the peacemakers. Hand had perhaps averted a collision. What is morecertain, he had offered to the world a perfectly original reading of thepart of British seaman. 

Hand may have averted a collision, I say; but I am tempted to believeotherwise. I am tempted to believe the threat to arrest Fletcher was thelast mutter of the declining tempest and a mere sop to Knappe'sself-respect. I am tempted to believe the rumour in question wassubstantially correct, and the steamer from Wellington had really broughtthe German consul grounds for hesitation, if not orders to retreat. Ibelieve the unhappy man to have awakened from a dream, and to have readominous writing on the wall. An enthusiastic popularity surrounded himamong the Germans. It was natural. Consul and colony had passed throughan hour of serious peril, and the consul had set the example of undauntedcourage. He was entertained at dinner. Fritze, who was known to havesecretly opposed him, was scorned and avoided. But the clerks of theGerman firm were one thing, Prince Bismarck was another; and on a coldreview of these events, it is not improbable that Knappe may have enviedthe position of his naval colleague. It is certain, at least, that heset himself to shuffle and capitulate; and when the blow fell, he wasable to reply that the martial law business had in the meanwhile comeright; that the English and American consular courts stood open forordinary cases and that in different conversations with Captain Hand, "who has always maintained friendly intercourse with the Germanauthorities, " it had been repeatedly explained that only the supply ofweapons and ammunition, or similar aid and support, was to come underGerman martial law. Was it weapons or ammunition that Fletcher hadsupplied? But it is unfair to criticise these wrigglings of anunfortunate in a false position. 

In a despatch of the 23rd, which has not been printed, Knappe had toldhis story: how he had declared war, subjected foreigners to martial law, and been received with a counter-proclamation by the English consul; andhow (in an interview with Mataafa chiefs at the plantation house ofMotuotua, of which I cannot find the date) he had demanded the cession ofarms and of ringleaders for punishment, and proposed to assume thegovernment of the islands. On February 12th he received Bismarck'sanswer: "You had no right to take foreigners from the jurisdiction oftheir consuls. The protest of your English colleague is grounded. Indisputes which may arise from this cause you will find yourself in thewrong. The demand formulated by you, as to the assumption of thegovernment of Samoa by Germany, lay outside of your instructions and ofour design. Take it immediately back. If your telegram is here rightlyunderstood, I cannot call your conduct good. " It must be a hard heartthat does not sympathise with Knappe in the hour when he received thisdocument. Yet it may be said that his troubles were still in thebeginning. Men had contended against him, and he had not prevailed; hewas now to be at war with the elements, and find his name identified withan immense disaster. 

One more date, however, must be given first. It was on February 27ththat Fritze formally announced martial law to be suspended, and himselfto have relinquished the control of the police. 

CHAPTER X--THE HURRICANE

_March_ 1889

The so-called harbour of Apia is formed in part by a recess of the coast-line at Matautu, in part by the slim peninsula of Mulinuu, and in part bythe fresh waters of the Mulivai and Vaisingano. The barrier reef--thatsingular breakwater that makes so much of the circuit of Pacificislands--is carried far to sea at Matautu and Mulinuu; inside of thesetwo horns it runs sharply landward, and between them it is burst ordissolved by the fresh water. The shape of the enclosed anchorage may becompared to a high-shouldered jar or bottle with a funnel mouth. Itssides are almost everywhere of coral; for the reef not only bounds it toseaward and forms the neck and mouth, but skirting about the beach, itforms the bottom also. As in the bottle of commerce, the bottom is re-entrant, and the shore-reef runs prominently forth into the basin andmakes a dangerous cape opposite the fairway of the entrance. Danger is, therefore, on all hands. The entrance gapes three cables wide at thenarrowest, and the formidable surf of the Pacific thunders both outsideand in. There are days when speech is difficult in the chambers of shore-side houses; days when no boat can land, and when men are broken bystroke of sea against the wharves. As I write these words, three milesin the mountains, and with the land-breeze still blowing from the islandsummit, the sound of that vexed harbour hums in my ears. Such a creek inmy native coast of Scotland would scarce be dignified with the mark of ananchor in the chart; but in the favoured climate of Samoa, and with themechanical regularity of the winds in the Pacific, it forms, for ten oreleven months out of the twelve, a safe if hardly a commodious port. Theill-found island traders ride there with their insufficient moorings theyear through, and discharge, and are loaded, without apprehension. Ofdanger, when it comes, the glass gives timely warning; and that anymodern war-ship, furnished with the power of steam, should have been lostin Apia, belongs not so much to nautical as to political history. 

The weather throughout all that winter (the turbulent summer of theislands) was unusually fine, and the circumstance had been commented onas providential, when so many Samoans were lying on their weapons in thebush. By February it began to break in occasional gales. On February10th a German brigantine was driven ashore. On the 14th the samemisfortune befell an American brigantine and a schooner. On both thesedays, and again on the 7th March, the men-of-war must steam to theiranchors. And it was in this last month, the most dangerous of thetwelve, that man's animosities crowded that indentation of the reef withcostly, populous, and vulnerable ships. 

I have shown, perhaps already at too great a length, how violentlypassion ran upon the spot; how high this series of blunders and mishapshad heated the resentment of the Germans against all other nationalitiesand of all other nationalities against the Germans. But there was onecountry beyond the borders of Samoa where the question had aroused ascarce less angry sentiment. The breach of the Washington Congress, theevidence of Sewall before a sub-committee on foreign relations, theproposal to try Klein before a military court, and the rags of CaptainHamilton's flag, had combined to stir the people of the States to anunwonted fervour. Germany was for the time the abhorred of nations. Germans in America publicly disowned the country of their birth. InHonolulu, so near the scene of action, German and American young men fellto blows in the street. In the same city, from no traceable source, andupon no possible authority, there arose a rumour of tragic news to arriveby the next occasion, that the _Nipsic_ had opened fire on the _Adler_, and the _Adler_ had sunk her on the first reply. Punctually on the dayappointed, the news came; and the two nations, instead of being plungedinto war, could only mingle tears over the loss of heroes. 

By the second week in March three American ships were in Apia bay, --the_Nipsic_, the _Vandalia_, and the _Trenton_, carrying the flag of Rear-Admiral Kimberley; three German, --the _Adler_, the _Eber_, and the_Olga_; and one British, --the _Calliope_, Captain Kane. Six merchant-men, ranging from twenty-five up to five hundred tons, and a number ofsmall craft, further encumbered the anchorage. Its capacity is estimatedby Captain Kane at four large ships; and the latest arrivals, the_Vandalia_ and _Trenton_, were in consequence excluded, and lay withoutin the passage. Of the seven war-ships, the seaworthiness of two wasquestionable: the _Trenton's_, from an original defect in herconstruction, often reported, never remedied--her hawse-pipes leading inon the berth-deck; the _Eber's_, from an injury to her screw in the blowof February 14th. In this overcrowding of ships in an open entry of thereef, even the eye of the landsman could spy danger; andCaptain-Lieutenant Wallis of the _Eber_ openly blamed and lamented, notmany hours before the catastrophe, their helpless posture. Temper oncemore triumphed. The army of Mataafa still hung imminent behind the town;the German quarter was still daily garrisoned with fifty sailors from thesquadron; what was yet more influential, Germany and the States, at leastin Apia bay, were on the brink of war, viewed each other with looks ofhatred, and scarce observed the letter of civility. On the day of theadmiral's arrival, Knappe failed to call on him, and on the morrow calledon him while he was on shore. The slight was remarked and resented, andthe two squadrons clung more obstinately to their dangerous station. 

On the 15th the barometer fell to 29. 11 in. By 2 P. M. This was themoment when every sail in port should have escaped. Kimberley, who flewthe only broad pennant, should certainly have led the way: he clung, instead, to his moorings, and the Germans doggedly followed his example:semi-belligerents, daring each other and the violence of heaven. Kane, less immediately involved, was led in error by the report of residentsand a fallacious rise in the glass; he stayed with the others, amisjudgment that was like to cost him dear. All were moored, as is thecustom in Apia, with two anchors practically east and west, clear hawseto the north, and a kedge astern. Topmasts were struck, and the shipsmade snug. The night closed black, with sheets of rain. By midnight itblew a gale; and by the morning watch, a tempest. Through what remainedof darkness, the captains impatiently expected day, doubtful if they weredragging, steaming gingerly to their moorings, and afraid to steam toomuch. 

Day came about six, and presented to those on shore a seizing andterrific spectacle. In the pressure of the squalls the bay was obscuredas if by midnight, but between them a great part of it was clearly ifdarkly visible amid driving mist and rain. The wind blew into theharbour mouth. Naval authorities describe it as of hurricane force. Ithad, however, few or none of the effects on shore suggested by thatominous word, and was successfully withstood by trees and buildings. Theagitation of the sea, on the other hand, surpassed experience anddescription. Seas that might have awakened surprise and terror in themidst of the Atlantic ranged bodily and (it seemed to observers) almostwithout diminution into the belly of that flask-shaped harbour; and thewar-ships were alternately buried from view in the trough, or seenstanding on end against the breast of billows. 

The _Trenton_ at daylight still maintained her position in the neck ofthe bottle. But five of the remaining ships tossed, already close to thebottom, in a perilous and helpless crowd; threatening ruin to each otheras they tossed; threatened with a common and imminent destruction on thereefs. Three had been already in collision: the _Olga_ was injured inthe quarter, the _Adler_ had lost her bowsprit; the _Nipsic_ had lost hersmoke-stack, and was making steam with difficulty, maintaining her firewith barrels of pork, and the smoke and sparks pouring along the level ofthe deck. For the seventh war-ship the day had come too late; the _Eber_had finished her last cruise; she was to be seen no more save by the eyesof divers. A coral reef is not only an instrument of destruction, but aplace of sepulchre; the submarine cliff is profoundly undercut, andpresents the mouth of a huge antre in which the bodies of men and thehulls of ships are alike hurled down and buried. The _Eber_ had draggedanchors with the rest; her injured screw disabled her from steamingvigorously up; and a little before day she had struck the front of thecoral, come off, struck again, and gone down stern foremost, oversettingas she went, into the gaping hollow of the reef. Of her whole complementof nearly eighty, four souls were cast alive on the beach; and the bodiesof the remainder were, by the voluminous outpouring of the floodedstreams, scoured at last from the harbour, and strewed naked on theseaboard of the island. 

Five ships were immediately menaced with the same destruction. The_Eber_ vanished--the four poor survivors on shore--read a dreadfulcommentary on their danger; which was swelled out of all proportion bythe violence of their own movements as they leaped and fell among thebillows. By seven the _Nipsic_ was so fortunate as to avoid the reef andbeach upon a space of sand; where she was immediately deserted by hercrew, with the assistance of Samoans, not without loss of life. By abouteight it was the turn of the _Adler_. She was close down upon the reef;doomed herself, it might yet be possible to save a portion of her crew;and for this end Captain Fritze placed his reliance on the very hugenessof the seas that threatened him. The moment was watched for with theanxiety of despair, but the coolness of disciplined courage. As she roseon the fatal wave, her moorings were simultaneously slipped; she broachedto in rising; and the sea heaved her bodily upward and cast her down witha concussion on the summit of the reef, where she lay on her beam-ends, her back broken, buried in breaching seas, but safe. Conceive a table:the _Eber_ in the darkness had been smashed against the rim and flungbelow; the _Adler_, cast free in the nick of opportunity, had been thrownupon the top. Many were injured in the concussion; many tossed into thewater; twenty perished. The survivors crept again on board their ship, as it now lay, and as it still remains, keel to the waves, a monument ofthe sea's potency. In still weather, under a cloudless sky, in thoseseasons when that ill-named ocean, the Pacific, suffers its vexed shoresto rest, she lies high and dry, the spray scarce touching her--the hugeststructure of man's hands within a circuit of a thousand miles--tossed upthere like a schoolboy's cap upon a shelf; broken like an egg; a thing todream of. 

The unfriendly consuls of Germany and Britain were both that morning inMatautu, and both displayed their nobler qualities. De Coetlogon, thegrim old soldier, collected his family and kneeled with them in an agonyof prayer for those exposed. Knappe, more fortunate in that he wascalled to a more active service, must, upon the striking of the _Adler_, pass to his own consulate. From this he was divided by the Vaisingano, now a raging torrent, impetuously charioting the trunks of trees. Akelpie might have dreaded to attempt the passage; we may conceive thisbrave but unfortunate and now ruined man to have found a natural joy inthe exposure of his life; and twice that day, coming and going, he bravedthe fury of the river. It was possible, in spite of the darkness of thehurricane and the continual breaching of the seas, to remark humanmovements on the _Adler_; and by the help of Samoans, always noblyforward in the work, whether for friend or enemy, Knappe sought long toget a line conveyed from shore, and was for long defeated. The shoreguard of fifty men stood to their arms the while upon the beach, uselessthemselves, and a great deterrent of Samoan usefulness. It was perhapsimpossible that this mistake should be avoided. What more natural, tothe mind of a European, than that the Mataafas should fall upon theGermans in this hour of their disadvantage? But they had no otherthought than to assist; and those who now rallied beside Knappe braved(as they supposed) in doing so a double danger, from the fury of the seaand the weapons of their enemies. About nine, a quarter-master swamashore, and reported all the officers and some sixty men alive but inpitiable case; some with broken limbs, others insensible from thedrenching of the breakers. Later in the forenoon, certain valorousSamoans succeeded in reaching the wreck and returning with a line; but itwas speedily broken; and all subsequent attempts proved unavailing, thestrongest adventurers being cast back again by the bursting seas. Thenceforth, all through that day and night, the deafened survivors mustcontinue to endure their martyrdom; and one officer died, it was supposedfrom agony of mind, in his inverted cabin. 

Three ships still hung on the next margin of destruction, steamingdesperately to their moorings, dashed helplessly together. The_Calliope_ was the nearest in; she had the _Vandalia_ close on her portside and a little ahead, the _Olga_ close a-starboard, the reef under herheel; and steaming and veering on her cables, the unhappy ship fencedwith her three dangers. About a quarter to nine she carried away the_Vandalia's_ quarter gallery with her jib-boom; a moment later, the_Olga_ had near rammed her from the other side. By nine the _Vandalia_dropped down on her too fast to be avoided, and clapped her stern underthe bowsprit of the English ship, the fastenings of which were burstasunder as she rose. To avoid cutting her down, it was necessary for the_Calliope_ to stop and even to reverse her engines; and her rudder was atthe moment--or it seemed so to the eyes of those on board--within tenfeet of the reef. "Between the _Vandalia_ and the reef" (writes Kane, inhis excellent report) "it was destruction. " To repeat Fritze's manoeuvrewith the _Adler_ was impossible; the _Calliope_ was too heavy. The onepossibility of escape was to go out. If the engines should stand, ifthey should have power to drive the ship against wind and sea, if sheshould answer the helm, if the wheel, rudder, and gear should hold out, and if they were favoured with a clear blink of weather in which to seeand avoid the outer reef--there, and there only, were safety. Upon thiscatalogue of "ifs" Kane staked his all. He signalled to the engineer forevery pound of steam--and at that moment (I am told) much of themachinery was already red-hot. The ship was sheered well to starboard ofthe _Vandalia_, the last remaining cable slipped. For a time--and therewas no onlooker so cold-blooded as to offer a guess at its duration--the_Calliope_ lay stationary; then gradually drew ahead. The highest speedclaimed for her that day is of one sea-mile an hour. The question oftimes and seasons, throughout all this roaring business, is obscured by adozen contradictions; I have but chosen what appeared to be the mostconsistent; but if I am to pay any attention to the time named by AdmiralKimberley, the _Calliope_, in this first stage of her escape, must havetaken more than two hours to cover less than four cables. As she thuscrept seaward, she buried bow and stem alternately under the billows. 

In the fairway of the entrance the flagship _Trenton_ still held on. Herrudder was broken, her wheel carried away; within she was flooded withwater from the peccant hawse-pipes; she had just made the signal "firesextinguished, " and lay helpless, awaiting the inevitable end. Betweenthis melancholy hulk and the external reef Kane must find a path. Steering within fifty yards of the reef (for which she was actuallyheaded) and her foreyard passing on the other hand over the _Trenton's_quarter as she rolled, the _Calliope_ sheered between the rival dangers, came to the wind triumphantly, and was once more pointed for the sea andsafety. Not often in naval history was there a moment of more sickeningperil, and it was dignified by one of those incidents that reconcile thechronicler with his otherwise abhorrent task. From the doomed flagshipthe Americans hailed the success of the English with a cheer. It was ledby the old admiral in person, rang out over the storm with holidayvigour, and was answered by the Calliopes with an emotion easilyconceived. This ship of their kinsfolk was almost the last externalobject seen from the _Calliope_ for hours; immediately after, the mistsclosed about her till the morrow. She was safe at sea again--_una demultis_--with a damaged foreyard, and a loss of all the ornamental workabout her bow and stern, three anchors, one kedge-anchor, fourteenlengths of chain, four boats, the jib-boom, bobstay, and bands andfastenings of the bowsprit. 

Shortly after Kane had slipped his cable, Captain Schoonmaker, despairingof the _Vandalia_, succeeded in passing astern of the _Olga_, in the hopeto beach his ship beside the _Nipsic_. At a quarter to eleven her sterntook the reef, her hand swung to starboard, and she began to fill andsettle. Many lives of brave men were sacrificed in the attempt to get aline ashore; the captain, exhausted by his exertions, was swept from deckby a sea; and the rail being soon awash, the survivors took refuge in thetops. 

Out of thirteen that had lain there the day before, there were now buttwo ships afloat in Apia harbour, and one of these was doomed to be thebane of the other. About 3 P. M. The _Trenton_ parted one cable, andshortly after a second. It was sought to keep her head to wind withstorm-sails and by the ingenious expedient of filling the rigging withseamen; but in the fury of the gale, and in that sea, perturbed alike bythe gigantic billows and the volleying discharges of the rivers, therudderless ship drove down stern foremost into the inner basin; ranging, plunging, and striking like a frightened horse; drifting on destructionfor herself and bringing it to others. Twice the _Olga_ (still wellunder command) avoided her impact by the skilful use of helm and engines. But about four the vigilance of the Germans was deceived, and the shipscollided; the _Olga_ cutting into the _Trenton's_ quarters, first fromone side, then from the other, and losing at the same time two of her owncables. Captain von Ehrhardt instantly slipped the remainder of hismoorings, and setting fore and aft canvas, and going full steam ahead, succeeded in beaching his ship in Matautu; whither Knappe, recalled bythis new disaster, had returned. The berth was perhaps the best in theharbour, and von Ehrhardt signalled that ship and crew were in security. 

The _Trenton_, guided apparently by an under-tow or eddy from thedischarge of the Vaisingano, followed in the course of the _Nipsic_ and_Vandalia_, and skirted south-eastward along the front of the shore reef, which her keel was at times almost touching. Hitherto she had broughtdisaster to her foes; now she was bringing it to friends. She hadalready proved the ruin of the _Olga_, the one ship that had rid out thehurricane in safety; now she beheld across her course the submerged_Vandalia_, the tops filled with exhausted seamen. Happily the approachof the _Trenton_ was gradual, and the time employed to advantage. Rocketsand lines were thrown into the tops of the friendly wreck; the approachof danger was transformed into a means of safety; and before the shipsstruck, the men from the _Vandalia's_ main and mizzen masts, which wentimmediately by the board in the collision, were already mustered on the_Trenton's_ decks. Those from the foremast were next rescued; and theflagship settled gradually into a position alongside her neighbour, against which she beat all night with violence. Out of the crew of the_Vandalia_ forty-three had perished; of the four hundred and fifty onboard the _Trenton_, only one. 

The night of the 16th was still notable for a howling tempest andextraordinary floods of rain. It was feared the wreck could scarcecontinue to endure the breaching of the seas; among the Germans, the fateof those on board the _Adler_ awoke keen anxiety; and Knappe, on thebeach of Matautu, and the other officers of his consulate on that ofMatafele, watched all night. The morning of the 17th displayed a sceneof devastation rarely equalled: the _Adler_ high and dry, the _Olga_ and_Nipsic_ beached, the _Trenton_ partly piled on the _Vandalia_ andherself sunk to the gun-deck; no sail afloat; and the beach heaped highwith the _debris_ of ships and the wreck of mountain forests. Already, before the day, Seumanu, the chief of Apia, had gallantly ventured forthby boat through the subsiding fury of the seas, and had succeeded incommunicating with the admiral; already, or as soon after as the dawnpermitted, rescue lines were rigged, and the survivors were withdifficulty and danger begun to be brought to shore. And soon thecheerful spirit of the admiral added a new feature to the scene. Surrounded as he was by the crews of two wrecked ships, he paraded theband of the _Trenton_, and the bay was suddenly enlivened with thestrains of "Hail Columbia. "

During a great part of the day the work of rescue was continued, withmany instances of courage and devotion; and for a long time succeeding, the almost inexhaustible harvest of the beach was to be reaped. In thefirst employment, the Samoans earned the gratitude of friend and foe; inthe second, they surprised all by an unexpected virtue, that of honesty. The greatness of the disaster, and the magnitude of the treasure nowrolling at their feet, may perhaps have roused in their bosoms an emotiontoo serious for the rule of greed, or perhaps that greed was for themoment satiated. Sails that twelve strong Samoans could scarce drag fromthe water, great guns (one of which was rolled by the sea on the body ofa man, the only native slain in all the hurricane), an infinite wealth ofrope and wood, of tools and weapons, tossed upon the beach. Yet I havenever heard that much was stolen; and beyond question, much was veryhonestly returned. On both accounts, for the saving of life and therestoration of property, the government of the United States showedthemselves generous in reward. A fine boat was fitly presented toSeumanu; and rings, watches, and money were lavished on all who hadassisted. The Germans also gave money at the rate (as I receive thetale) of three dollars a head for every German saved. The obligation wasin this instance incommensurably deep, those with whom they were at warhad saved the German blue-jackets at the venture of their lives; Knappewas, besides, far from ungenerous; and I can only explain the niggardfigure by supposing it was paid from his own pocket. In one case, atleast, it was refused. "I have saved three Germans, " said the rescuer;"I will make you a present of the three. "

The crews of the American and German squadrons were now cast, still in abellicose temper, together on the beach. The discipline of the Americanswas notoriously loose; the crew of the _Nipsic_ had earned a characterfor lawlessness in other ports; and recourse was had to stringent andindeed extraordinary measures. The town was divided in two camps, towhich the different nationalities were confined. Kimberley had hisquarter sentinelled and patrolled. Any seaman disregarding a challengewas to be shot dead; any tavern-keeper who sold spirits to an Americansailor was to have his tavern broken and his stock destroyed. Many ofthe publicans were German; and Knappe, having narrated these rigorous butnecessary dispositions, wonders (grinning to himself over his despatch)how far these Americans will go in their assumption of jurisdiction overGermans. Such as they were, the measures were successful. Theincongruous mass of castaways was kept in peace, and at last shipped inpeace out of the islands. 

Kane returned to Apia on the 19th, to find the _Calliope_ the solesurvivor of thirteen sail. He thanked his men, and in particular theengineers, in a speech of unusual feeling and beauty, of which one whowas present remarked to another, as they left the ship, "This has been ameans of grace. " Nor did he forget to thank and compliment the admiral;and I cannot deny myself the pleasure of transcribing from Kimberley'sreply some generous and engaging words. "My dear captain, " he wrote, "your kind note received. You went out splendidly, and we all felt fromour hearts for you, and our cheers came with sincerity and admiration forthe able manner in which you handled your ship. We could not have beengladder if it had been one of our ships, for in a time like that I cantruly say with old Admiral Josiah Latnall, 'that blood is thicker thanwater. '" One more trait will serve to build up the image of this typicalsea-officer. A tiny schooner, the _Equator_, Captain Edwin Reid, dear tomyself from the memories of a six months' cruise, lived out upon the highseas the fury of that tempest which had piled with wrecks the harbour ofApia, found a refuge in Pango-Pango, and arrived at last in the desolatedport with a welcome and lucrative cargo of pigs. The admiral was glad tohave the pigs; but what most delighted the man's noble and childish soul, was to see once more afloat the colours of his country. 

Thus, in what seemed the very article of war, and within the duration ofa single day, the sword-arm of each of the two angry Powers was broken;their formidable ships reduced to junk; their disciplined hundreds to ahorde of castaways, fed with difficulty, and the fear of whose misconductmarred the sleep of their commanders. Both paused aghast; both had timeto recognise that not the whole Samoan Archipelago was worth the loss inmen and costly ships already suffered. The so-called hurricane of March16th made thus a marking epoch in world-history; directly, and at once, it brought about the congress and treaty of Berlin; indirectly, and by aprocess still continuing, it founded the modern navy of the States. Coming years and other historians will declare the influence of that. 

CHAPTER XI--LAUPEPA AND MATAAFA

1889-1892

With the hurricane, the broken war-ships, and the stranded sailors, I amat an end of violence, and my tale flows henceforth among carpetincidents. The blue-jackets on Apia beach were still jealously heldapart by sentries, when the powers at home were already seeking apeaceable solution. It was agreed, so far as might be, to obliterate twoyears of blundering; and to resume in 1889, and at Berlin, thosenegotiations which had been so unhappily broken off at Washington in1887. The example thus offered by Germany is rare in history; in thecareer of Prince Bismarck, so far as I am instructed, it should standunique. On a review of these two years of blundering, bullying, andfailure in a little isle of the Pacific, he seems magnanimously to haveowned his policy was in the wrong. He left Fangalii unexpiated; sufferedthat house of cards, the Tamasese government, to fall by its own frailtyand without remark or lamentation; left the Samoan question openly andfairly to the conference: and in the meanwhile, to allay the local heatsengendered by Becker and Knappe, he sent to Apia that invaluable publicservant, Dr. Stuebel. I should be a dishonest man if I did not beartestimony to the loyalty since shown by Germans in Samoa. Their positionwas painful; they had talked big in the old days, now they had to singsmall. Even Stuebel returned to the islands under the prejudice of anunfortunate record. To the minds of the Samoans his name represented thebeginning of their sorrows; and in his first term of office he hadunquestionably driven hard. The greater his merit in the surprisingsuccess of the second. So long as he stayed, the current of affairsmoved smoothly; he left behind him on his departure all men at peace; andwhether by fortune, or for the want of that wise hand of guidance, he wasscarce gone before the clouds began to gather once more on our horizon. 

Before the first convention, Germany and the States hauled down theirflags. It was so done again before the second; and Germany, by a stillmore emphatic step of retrogression, returned the exile Laupepa to hisnative shores. For two years the unfortunate man had trembled andsuffered in the Cameroons, in Germany, in the rainy Marshalls. When heleft (September 1887) Tamasese was king, served by five iron war-ships;his right to rule (like a dogma of the Church) was placed outsidedispute; the Germans were still, as they were called at that last tearfulinterview in the house by the river, "the invincible strangers"; thethought of resistance, far less the hope of success, had not yet dawnedon the Samoan mind. He returned (November 1889) to a changed world. TheTupua party was reduced to sue for peace, Brandeis was withdrawn, Tamasese was dying obscurely of a broken heart; the German flag no longerwaved over the capital; and over all the islands one figure stoodsupreme. During Laupepa's absence this man had succeeded him in all hishonours and titles, in tenfold more than all his power and popularity. Hewas the idol of the whole nation but the rump of the Tamaseses, and ofthese he was already the secret admiration. In his position there wasbut one weak point, --that he had even been tacitly excluded by theGermans. Becker, indeed, once coquetted with the thought of patronisinghim; but the project had no sequel, and it stands alone. In every otherjuncture of history the German attitude has been the same. Choose whomyou will to be king; when he has failed, choose whom you please tosucceed him; when the second fails also, replace the first: upon the onecondition, that Mataafa be excluded. "_Pourvu qu'il sache signer_!"--anofficial is said to have thus summed up the qualifications necessary in aSamoan king. And it was perhaps feared that Mataafa could do no more andmight not always do so much. But this original diffidence was heightenedby late events to something verging upon animosity. Fangalii wasunavenged: the arms of Mataafa were

 _Nondum inexpiatis uncta cruoribus_, Still soiled with the unexpiated blood

of German sailors; and though the chief was not present in the field, norcould have heard of the affair till it was over, he had reaped from itcredit with his countrymen and dislike from the Germans. 

I may not say that trouble was hoped. I must say--if it were not feared, the practice of diplomacy must teach a very hopeful view of human nature. Mataafa and Laupepa, by the sudden repatriation of the last, foundthemselves face to face in conditions of exasperating rivalry. The onereturned from the dead of exile to find himself replaced and excelled. The other, at the end of a long, anxious, and successful struggle, beheldhis only possible competitor resuscitated from the grave. The qualitiesof both, in this difficult moment, shone out nobly. I feel I seem alwaysless than partial to the lovable Laupepa; his virtues are perhaps notthose which chiefly please me, and are certainly not royal; but he foundon his return an opportunity to display the admirable sweetness of hisnature. The two entered into a competition of generosity, for which Ican recall no parallel in history, each waiving the throne for himself, each pressing it upon his rival; and they embraced at last a compromisethe terms of which seem to have been always obscure and are now disputed. Laupepa at least resumed his style of King of Samoa; Mataafa retainedmuch of the conduct of affairs, and continued to receive much of theattendance and respect befitting royalty; and the two Malietoas, with somany causes of disunion, dwelt and met together in the same town likekinsmen. It was so, that I first saw them; so, in a house set about withsentries--for there was still a haunting fear of Germany, --that I heardthem relate their various experience in the past; heard Laupepa tell withtouching candour of the sorrows of his exile, and Mataafa with mirthfulsimplicity of his resources and anxieties in the war. The relation wasperhaps too beautiful to last; it was perhaps impossible but the titularking should grow at last uneasily conscious of the _maire de palais_ athis side, or the king-maker be at last offended by some shadow ofdistrust or assumption in his creature. I repeat the words king-makerand creature; it is so that Mataafa himself conceives of their relation:surely not without justice; for, had he not contended and prevailed, andbeen helped by the folly of consuls and the fury of the storm, Laupepamust have died in exile. 

Foreigners in these islands know little of the course of native intrigue. Partly the Samoans cannot explain, partly they will not tell. Ask howmuch a master can follow of the puerile politics in any school; so muchand no more we may understand of the events which surround and menace uswith their results. The missions may perhaps have been to blame. Missionaries are perhaps apt to meddle overmuch outside their discipline;it is a fault which should be judged with mercy; the problem is sometimesso insidiously presented that even a moderate and able man is betrayedbeyond his own intention; and the missionary in such a land as Samoa issomething else besides a minister of mere religion; he representscivilisation, he is condemned to be an organ of reform, he could scarceevade (even if he desired) a certain influence in political affairs. Andit is believed, besides, by those who fancy they know, that the effectiveforce of division between Mataafa and Laupepa came from the nativesrather than from whites. Before the end of 1890, at least, it began tobe rumoured that there was dispeace between the two Malietoas; anddoubtless this had an unsettling influence throughout the islands. Butthere was another ingredient of anxiety. The Berlin convention had longclosed its sittings; the text of the Act had been long in our hands;commissioners were announced to right the wrongs of the land question, and two high officials, a chief justice and a president, to guide policyand administer law in Samoa. Their coming was expected with animpatience, with a childishness of trust, that can hardly be exaggerated. Months passed, these angel-deliverers still delayed to arrive, and theimpatience of the natives became changed to an ominous irritation. Theyhave had much experience of being deceived, and they began to think theywere deceived again. A sudden crop of superstitious stories buzzed aboutthe islands. Rivers had come down red; unknown fishes had been taken onthe reef and found to be marked with menacing runes; a headless lizardcrawled among chiefs in council; the gods of Upolu and Savaii made war bynight, they swam the straits to battle, and, defaced by dreadful wounds, they had besieged the house of a medical missionary. Readers willremember the portents in mediaeval chronicles, or those in _Julius Caesar_when

 "Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds In ranks and squadrons. "

And doubtless such fabrications are, in simple societies, a naturalexpression of discontent; and those who forge, and even those who spreadthem, work towards a conscious purpose. 

Early in January 1891 this period of expectancy was brought to an end bythe arrival of Conrad Cedarcrantz, chief justice of Samoa. The event washailed with acclamation, and there was much about the new official toincrease the hopes already entertained. He was seen to be a man ofculture and ability; in public, of an excellent presence--in private, ofa most engaging cordiality. But there was one point, I scarce knowwhether to say of his character or policy, which immediately anddisastrously affected public feeling in the islands. He had an aversion, part judicial, part perhaps constitutional, to haste; and he announcedthat, until he should have well satisfied his own mind, he should donothing; that he would rather delay all than do aught amiss. It wasimpossible to hear this without academical approval; impossible to hearit without practical alarm. The natives desired to see activity; theydesired to see many fair speeches taken on a body of deeds and works ofbenefit. Fired by the event of the war, filled with impossible hopes, they might have welcomed in that hour a ruler of the stamp of Brandeis, breathing hurry, perhaps dealing blows. And the chief justice, unconscious of the fleeting opportunity, ripened his opinionsdeliberately in Mulinuu; and had been already the better part of half ayear in the islands before he went through the form of opening his court. The curtain had risen; there was no play. A reaction, a chill sense ofdisappointment, passed about the island; and intrigue, one momentsuspended, was resumed. 

In the Berlin Act, the three Powers recognise, on the threshold, "theindependence of the Samoan government, and the free right of the nativesto elect their chief or king and choose their form of government. " True, the text continues that, "in view of the difficulties that surround anelection in the present disordered condition of the government, " MalietoaLaupepa shall be recognised as king, "unless the three Powers shall bycommon accord otherwise declare. " But perhaps few natives have followedit so far, and even those who have, were possibly all cast abroad againby the next clause: "and his successor shall be duly elected according tothe laws and customs of Samoa. " The right to elect, freely given in onesentence, was suspended in the next, and a line or so further on appearedto be reconveyed by a side-wind. The reason offered for suspension wasludicrously false; in May 1889, when Sir Edward Malet moved the matter inthe conference, the election of Mataafa was not only certain to have beenpeaceful, it could not have been opposed; and behind the English puppetit was easy to suspect the hand of Germany. No one is more swift tosmell trickery than a Samoan; and the thought, that, under the long, bland, benevolent sentences of the Berlin Act, some trickery lay lurking, filled him with the breath of opposition. Laupepa seems never to havebeen a popular king. Mataafa, on the other hand, holds an unrivalledposition in the eyes of his fellow-countrymen; he was the hero of thewar, he had lain with them in the bush, he had borne the heat and burthenof the day; they began to claim that he should enjoy more largely thefruits of victory; his exclusion was believed to be a stroke of Germanvengeance, his elevation to the kingship was looked for as the fittingcrown and copestone of the Samoan triumph; and but a little after thecoming of the chief justice, an ominous cry for Mataafa began to arise inthe islands. It is difficult to see what that official could have donebut what he did. He was loyal, as in duty bound, to the treaty and toLaupepa; and when the orators of the important and unruly islet of Manonodemanded to his face a change of kings, he had no choice but to refusethem, and (his reproof being unheeded) to suspend the meeting. Whetherby any neglect of his own or the mere force of circumstance, he failed, however, to secure the sympathy, failed even to gain the confidence, ofMataafa. The latter is not without a sense of his own abilities or ofthe great service he has rendered to his native land. He felt himselfneglected; at the very moment when the cry for his elevation rangthroughout the group he thought himself made little of on Mulinuu; and hebegan to weary of his part. In this humour, he was exposed to atemptation which I must try to explain, as best I may be able, toEuropeans. 

The bestowal of the great name, Malietoa, is in the power of the districtof Malie, some seven miles to the westward of Apia. The most noisy andconspicuous supporters of that party are the inhabitants of Manono. Hencein the elaborate, allusive oratory of Samoa, Malie is always referred toby the name of _Pule_ (authority) as having the power of the name, andManono by that of _Ainga_ (clan, sept, or household) as forming theimmediate family of the chief. But these, though so important, are onlysmall communities; and perhaps the chief numerical force of the Malietoasinhabits the island of Savaii. Savaii has no royal name to bestow, allthe five being in the gift of different districts of Upolu; but she hasthe weight of numbers, and in these latter days has acquired a certainforce by the preponderance in her councils of a single man, the oratorLauati. The reader will now understand the peculiar significance of adeputation which should embrace Lauati and the orators of both Malie andManono, how it would represent all that is most effective on the Malietoaside, and all that is most considerable in Samoan politics, except theopposite feudal party of the Tupua. And in the temptation brought tobear on Mataafa, even the Tupua was conjoined. Tamasese was dead. Hisfollowers had conceived a not unnatural aversion to all Germans, fromwhich only the loyal Brandeis is excepted; and a not unnatural admirationfor their late successful adversary. Men of his own blood and clan, menwhom he had fought in the field, whom he had driven from Matautu, who hadsmitten him back time and again from before the rustic bulwarks ofLotoanuu, they approached him hand in hand with their ancestral enemiesand concurred in the same prayer. The treaty (they argued) was notcarried out. The right to elect their king had been granted them; or ifthat were denied or suspended, then the right to elect "his successor. "They were dissatisfied with Laupepa, and claimed, "according to the lawsand customs of Samoa, " duly to appoint another. The orators of Maliedeclared with irritation that their second appointment was alone validand Mataafa the sole Malietoa; the whole body of malcontents named him astheir choice for king; and they requested him in consequence to leaveApia and take up his dwelling in Malie, the name-place of Malietoa; astep which may be described, to European ears, as placing before thecountry his candidacy for the crown. 

I do not know when the proposal was first made. Doubtless thedisaffection grew slowly, every trifle adding to its force; doubtlessthere lingered for long a willingness to give the new government a trial. The chief justice at least had been nearly five months in the country, and the president, Baron Senfft von Pilsach, rather more than a monthbefore the mine was sprung. On May 31, 1891, the house of Mataafa wasfound empty, he and his chiefs had vanished from Apia, and, what wasworse, three prisoners, liberated from the gaol, had accompanied them intheir secession; two being political offenders, and the third (accused ofmurder) having been perhaps set free by accident. Although the step hadbeen discussed in certain quarters, it took all men by surprise. Theinhabitants at large expected instant war. The officials awakened from adream to recognise the value of that which they had lost. Mataafa atVaiala, where he was the pledge of peace, had perhaps not always beendeemed worthy of particular attention; Mataafa at Malie was seen, twelvehours too late, to be an altogether different quantity. With excess ofzeal on the other side, the officials trooped to their boats andproceeded almost in a body to Malie, where they seem to have employedevery artifice of flattery and every resource of eloquence upon thefugitive high chief. These courtesies, perhaps excessive in themselves, had the unpardonable fault of being offered when too late. Mataafashowed himself facile on small issues, inflexible on the main; herestored the prisoners, he returned with the consuls to Apia on a flyingvisit; he gave his word that peace should be preserved--a pledge in whichperhaps no one believed at the moment, but which he has since noblyredeemed. On the rest he was immovable; he had cast the die, he haddeclared his candidacy, he had gone to Malie. Thither, after his visitto Apia, he returned again; there he has practically since resided. 

Thus was created in the islands a situation, strange in the beginning, and which, as its inner significance is developed, becomes daily strangerto observe. On the one hand, Mataafa sits in Malie, assumes a regalstate, receives deputations, heads his letters "Government of Samoa, "tacitly treats the king as a co-ordinate; and yet declares himself, andin many ways conducts himself, as a law-abiding citizen. On the other, the white officials in Mulinuu stand contemplating the phenomenon witheyes of growing stupefaction; now with symptoms of collapse, now withaccesses of violence. For long, even those well versed in island mannersand the island character daily expected war, and heard imaginary drumsbeat in the forest. But for now close upon a year, and against everystress of persuasion and temptation, Mataafa has been the bulwark of ourpeace. Apia lay open to be seized, he had the power in his hand, hisfollowers cried to be led on, his enemies marshalled him the same way byimpotent examples; and he has never faltered. Early in the day, a whiteman was sent from the government of Mulinuu to examine and report uponhis actions: I saw the spy on his return; "It was only our rebel thatsaved us, " he said, with a laugh. There is now no honest man in theislands but is well aware of it; none but knows that, if we have enjoyedduring the past eleven months the conveniences of peace, it is due to theforbearance of "our rebel. " Nor does this part of his conduct standalone. He calls his party at Malie the government, --"ourgovernment, "--but he pays his taxes to the government at Mulinuu. Hetakes ground like a king; he has steadily and blandly refused to obey allorders as to his own movements or behaviour; but upon requisition hesends offenders to be tried under the chief justice. 

We have here a problem of conduct, and what seems an image ofinconsistency, very hard at the first sight to be solved by any European. Plainly Mataafa does not act at random. Plainly, in the depths of hisSamoan mind, he regards his attitude as regular and constitutional. Itmay be unexpected, it may be inauspicious, it may be undesirable; but hethinks it--and perhaps it is--in full accordance with those "laws andcustoms of Samoa" ignorantly invoked by the draughtsmen of the BerlinAct. The point is worth an effort of comprehension; a man's life may yetdepend upon it. Let us conceive, in the first place, that there are fiveseparate kingships in Samoa, though not always five different kings; andthat though one man, by holding the five royal names, might become kingin _all parts_ of Samoa, there is perhaps no such matter as a kingship ofall Samoa. He who holds one royal name would be, upon this view, as mucha sovereign person as he who should chance to hold the other four; hewould have less territory and fewer subjects, but the like independenceand an equal royalty. Now Mataafa, even if all debatable points weredecided against him, is still Tuiatua, and as such, on this hypothesis, asovereign prince. In the second place, the draughtsmen of the Act, waxing exceeding bold, employed the word "election, " and implicitlyjustified all precedented steps towards the kingship according with the"customs of Samoa. " I am not asking what was intended by the gentlemenwho sat and debated very benignly and, on the whole, wisely in Berlin; Iam asking what will be understood by a Samoan studying their literarywork, the Berlin Act; I am asking what is the result of taking a word outof one state of society, and applying it to another, of which the writersknow less than nothing, and no European knows much. Several interpretersand several days were employed last September in the fruitless attempt toconvey to the mind of Laupepa the sense of the word "resignation. " Whatcan a Samoan gather from the words, _election_? _election of a king_?_election of a king according to the laws and customs of Samoa_? Whatare the electoral measures, what is the method of canvassing, likely tobe employed by two, three, four, or five, more or less absoluteprincelings, eager to evince each other? And who is to distinguish sucha process from the state of war? In such international--or, I shouldsay, interparochial--differences, the nearest we can come towardsunderstanding is to appreciate the cloud of ambiguity in which allparties grope--

 "Treading the crude consistence, half on foot, Half flying. "

Now, in one part of Mataafa's behaviour his purpose is beyond mistake. Towards the provisions of the Berlin Act, his desire to be formallyobedient is manifest. The Act imposed the tax. He has paid his taxes, although he thus contributes to the ways and means of his immediaterival. The Act decreed the supreme court, and he sends his partisans tobe tried at Mulinuu, although he thus places them (as I shall haveoccasion to show) in a position far from wholly safe. From this literalconformity, in matters regulated, to the terms of the Berlinplenipotentiaries, we may plausibly infer, in regard to the rest, a noless exact observance of the famous and obscure "laws and customs ofSamoa. "

But though it may be possible to attain, in the study, to some suchadumbration of an understanding, it were plainly unfair to expect it ofofficials in the hurry of events. Our two white officers haveaccordingly been no more perspicacious than was to be looked for, and Ithink they have sometimes been less wise. It was not wise in thepresident to proclaim Mataafa and his followers rebels and their estatesconfiscated. Such words are not respectable till they repose on force;on the lips of an angry white man, standing alone on a small promontory, they were both dangerous and absurd; they might have provoked ruin;thanks to the character of Mataafa, they only raised a smile and damagedthe authority of government. And again it is not wise in the governmentof Mulinuu to have twice attempted to precipitate hostilities, once inSavaii, once here in the Tuamasanga. The fate of the Savaii attempt Inever heard; it seems to have been stillborn. The other passed under myeyes. A war-party was armed in Apia, and despatched across the islandagainst Mataafa villages, where it was to seize the women and children. It was absent for some days, engaged in feasting with those whom it wentout to fight; and returned at last, innocuous and replete. In thisfortunate though undignified ending we may read the fact that the nativeson Laupepa's side are sometimes more wise than their advisers. Indeed, for our last twelve months of miraculous peace under what seem to be tworival kings, the credit is due first of all to Mataafa, and second to thehalf-heartedness, or the forbearance, or both, of the natives in theother camp. The voice of the two whites has ever been for war. Theyhave published at least one incendiary proclamation; they have armed andsent into the field at least one Samoan war-party; they have continuallybesieged captains of war-ships to attack Malie, and the captains of thewar-ships have religiously refused. Thus in the last twelve months ourEuropean rulers have drawn a picture of themselves, as bearded like thepard, full of strange oaths, and gesticulating like semaphores; whileover against them Mataafa reposes smilingly obstinate, and their ownretainers surround them, frowningly inert. Into the question of motive Irefuse to enter; but if we come to war in these islands, and with nofresh occasion, it will be a manufactured war, and one that has beenmanufactured, against the grain of opinion, by two foreigners. 

For the last and worst of the mistakes on the Laupepa side it would beunfair to blame any but the king himself. Capable both of virtuousresolutions and of fits of apathetic obstinacy, His Majesty is usuallythe whip-top of competitive advisers; and his conduct is so unstable asto wear at times an appearance of treachery which would surprise himselfif he could see it. Take, for example, the experience of LieutenantUlfsparre, late chief of police, and (so to speak) commander of theforces. His men were under orders for a certain hour; he found himselfalmost alone at the place of muster, and learned the king had sent thesoldiery on errands. He sought an audience, explained that he was hereto implant discipline, that (with this purpose in view) his men couldonly receive orders through himself, and if that condition were notagreed to and faithfully observed, he must send in his papers. The kingwas as usual easily persuaded, the interview passed and ended to thesatisfaction of all parties engaged--and the bargain was kept for oneday. On the day after, the troops were again dispersed as post-runners, and their commander resigned. With such a sovereign, I repeat, it wouldbe unfair to blame any individual minister for any specific fault. Andyet the policy of our two whites against Mataafa has appeared uniformlyso excessive and implacable, that the blame of the last scandal is laidgenerally at their doors. It is yet fresh. Lauati, towards the end oflast year, became deeply concerned about the situation; and by greatpersonal exertions and the charms of oratory brought Savaii and Manonointo agreement upon certain terms of compromise: Laupepa still to beking, Mataafa to accept a high executive office comparable to that of ourown prime minister, and the two governments to coalesce. IntractableManono was a party. Malie was said to view the proposal withresignation, if not relief. Peace was thought secure. The night beforethe king was to receive Lauati, I met one of his company, --the familychief, Iina, --and we shook hands over the unexpected issue of ourtroubles. What no one dreamed was that Laupepa would refuse. And hedid. He refused undisputed royalty for himself and peace for theseunhappy islands; and the two whites on Mulinuu rightly or wrongly got theblame of it. 

But their policy has another and a more awkward side. About the time ofthe secession to Malie, many ugly things were said; I will not repeatthat which I hope and believe the speakers did not wholly mean; let itsuffice that, if rumour carried to Mataafa the language I have heard usedin my own house and before my own native servants, he would be highlyjustified in keeping clear of Apia and the whites. One gentleman whoseopinion I respect, and am so bold as to hope I may in some points modify, will understand the allusion and appreciate my reserve. About the sametime there occurred an incident, upon which I must be more particular. _A_ was a gentleman who had long been an intimate of Mataafa's, and hadrecently (upon account, indeed, of the secession to Malie) more or lesswholly broken off relations. To him came one whom I shall call _B_ witha dastardly proposition. It may have been _B_'s own, in which case hewere the more unpardonable; but from the closeness of his intercoursewith the chief justice, as well as from the terms used in the interview, men judged otherwise. It was proposed that _A_ should simulate a renewalof the friendship, decoy Mataafa to a suitable place, and have him therearrested. What should follow in those days of violent speech was at theleast disputable; and the proposal was of course refused. "You do notunderstand, " was the base rejoinder. "_You_ will have no discredit. TheGermans are to take the blame of the arrest. " Of course, upon thetestimony of a gentleman so depraved, it were unfair to hang a dog; andboth the Germans and the chief justice must be held innocent. But thechief justice has shown that he can himself be led, by his animosityagainst Mataafa, into questionable acts. Certain natives of Malie wereaccused of stealing pigs; the chief justice summoned them throughMataafa; several were sent, and along with them a written promise that, if others were required, these also should be forthcoming uponrequisition. Such as came were duly tried and acquitted; and Mataafa'soffer was communicated to the chief justice, who made a formal answer, and the same day (in pursuance of his constant design to have Malieattacked by war-ships) reported to one of the consuls that his warrantwould not run in the country and that certain of the accused had beenwithheld. At least, this is not fair dealing; and the next instance Ihave to give is possibly worse. For one blunder the chief justice isonly so far responsible, in that he was not present where it seems heshould have been, when it was made. He had nothing to do with the sillyproscription of the Mataafas; he has always disliked the measure; and itoccurred to him at last that he might get rid of this dangerous absurdityand at the same time reap a further advantage. Let Mataafa leave Maliefor any other district in Samoa; it should be construed as an act ofsubmission and the confiscation and proscription instantly recalled. Thiswas certainly well devised; the government escaped from their own falseposition, and by the same stroke lowered the prestige of theiradversaries. But unhappily the chief justice did not put all his eggs inone basket. Concurrently with these negotiations he began again to movethe captain of one of the war-ships to shell the rebel village; thecaptain, conceiving the extremity wholly unjustified, not only refusedthese instances, but more or less publicly complained of their beingmade; the matter came to the knowledge of the white resident who was atthat time playing the part of intermediary with Malie; and he, in naturalanger and disgust, withdrew from the negotiation. These duplicities, always deplorable when discovered, are never more fatal than with menimperfectly civilised. Almost incapable of truth themselves, theycherish a particular score of the same fault in whites. And Mataafa isbesides an exceptional native. I would scarce dare say of any Samoanthat he is truthful, though I seem to have encountered the phenomenon;but I must say of Mataafa that he seems distinctly and consistentlyaverse to lying. 

For the affair of the Manono prisoners, the chief justice is only againin so far answerable as he was at the moment absent from the seat of hisduties; and the blame falls on Baron Senfft von Pilsach, president of themunicipal council. There were in Manono certain dissidents, loyal toLaupepa. Being Manono people, I daresay they were very annoying to theirneighbours; the majority, as they belonged to the same island, were themore impatient; and one fine day fell upon and destroyed the houses andharvests of the dissidents "according to the laws and customs of Samoa. "The president went down to the unruly island in a war-ship and was landedalone upon the beach. To one so much a stranger to the mansuetude ofPolynesians, this must have seemed an act of desperation; and the baron'sgallantry met with a deserved success. The six ringleaders, acting inMataafa's interest, had been guilty of a delict; with Mataafa's approval, they delivered themselves over to be tried. On Friday, September 4, 1891, they were convicted before a native magistrate and sentenced to sixmonths' imprisonment; or, I should rather say, detention; for it wasexpressly directed that they were to be used as gentlemen and not asprisoners, that the door was to stand open, and that all their wishesshould be gratified. This extraordinary sentence fell upon the accusedlike a thunderbolt. There is no need to suppose perfidy, where acareless interpreter suffices to explain all; but the six chiefs claim tohave understood their coming to Apia as an act of submission merelyformal, that they came in fact under an implied indemnity, and that thepresident stood pledged to see them scatheless. Already, on their wayfrom the court-house, they were tumultuously surrounded by friends andclansmen, who pressed and cried upon them to escape; Lieutenant Ulfsparremust order his men to load; and with that the momentary effervescencedied away. Next day, Saturday, 5th, the chief justice took his departurefrom the islands--a step never yet explained and (in view of the doingsof the day before and the remonstrances of other officials) hard tojustify. The president, an amiable and brave young man of singularinexperience, was thus left to face the growing difficulty by himself. The clansmen of the prisoners, to the number of near upon a hundred, layin Vaiusu, a village half way between Apia and Malie; there they talkedbig, thence sent menacing messages; the gaol should be broken in thenight, they said, and the six martyrs rescued. Allowance is to be madefor the character of the people of Manono, turbulent fellows, boastful oftongue, but of late days not thought to be answerably bold in person. Yetthe moment was anxious. The government of Mulinuu had gained animportant moral victory by the surrender and condemnation of the chiefs;and it was needful the victory should be maintained. The guard upon thegaol was accordingly strengthened; a war-party was sent to watch theVaiusu road under Asi; and the chiefs of the Vaimaunga were notified toarm and assemble their men. It must be supposed the president wasdoubtful of the loyalty of these assistants. He turned at least to thewar-ships, where it seems he was rebuffed; thence he fled into the armsof the wrecker gang, where he was unhappily more successful. Thegovernment of Washington had presented to the Samoan king the wrecks ofthe _Trenton_ and the _Vandalia_; an American syndicate had been formedto break them up; an experienced gang was in consequence settled in Apiaand the report of submarine explosions had long grown familiar in theears of residents. From these artificers the president obtained a supplyof dynamite, the needful mechanism, and the loan of a mechanic; the gaolwas mined, and the Manono people in Vaiusu were advertised of the fact ina letter signed by Laupepa. Partly by the indiscretion of the mechanic, who had sought to embolden himself (like Lady Macbeth) with liquor forhis somewhat dreadful task, the story leaked immediately out and raised avery general, or I might say almost universal, reprobation. Some blamedthe proposed deed because it was barbarous and a foul example to setbefore a race half barbarous itself; others because it was illegal;others again because, in the face of so weak an enemy, it appearedpitifully pusillanimous; almost all because it tended to precipitate andembitter war. In the midst of the turmoil he had raised, and under theimmediate pressure of certain indignant white residents, the baron fellback upon a new expedient, certainly less barbarous, perhaps no morelegal; and on Monday afternoon, September 7th, packed his six prisonerson board the cutter _Lancashire Lass_, and deported them to theneighbouring low-island group of the Tokelaus. We watched her put to seawith mingled feelings. Anything were better than dynamite, but this wasnot good. The men had been summoned in the name of law; they hadsurrendered; the law had uttered its voice; they were under one sentenceduly delivered; and now the president, by no right with which we wereacquainted, had exchanged it for another. It was perhaps no lessfortunate, though it was more pardonable in a stranger, that he hadincreased the punishment to that which, in the eyes of Samoans, ranksnext to death, --exile from their native land and friends. And the_Lancashire Lass_ appeared to carry away with her into the uttermostparts of the sea the honour of the administration and the prestige of thesupreme court. 

The policy of the government towards Mataafa has thus been of a piecethroughout; always would-be violent, it has been almost always defacedwith some appearance of perfidy or unfairness. The policy of Mataafa(though extremely bewildering to any white) appears everywhere consistentwith itself, and the man's bearing has always been calm. But torepresent the fulness of the contrast, it is necessary that I should givesome description of the two capitals, or the two camps, and the ways andmeans of the regular and irregular government. 

_Mulinuu_. Mulinuu, the reader may remember, is a narrow finger of landplanted in cocoa-palms, which runs forth into the lagoon perhaps threequarters of a mile. To the east is the bay of Apia. To the west, thereis, first of all, a mangrove swamp, the mangroves excellently green, themud ink-black, and its face crawled upon by countless insects and blackand scarlet crabs. Beyond the swamp is a wide and shallow bay of thelagoon, bounded to the west by Faleula Point. Faleula is the nextvillage to Malie; so that from the top of some tall palm in Malie itshould be possible to descry against the eastern heavens the palms ofMulinuu. The trade wind sweeps over the low peninsula and cleanses itfrom the contagion of the swamp. Samoans have a quaint phrase in theirlanguage; when out of health, they seek exposed places on the shore "toeat the wind, " say they; and there can be few better places for such adiet than the point of Mulinuu. 

Two European houses stand conspicuous on the harbour side; in Europe theywould seem poor enough, but they are fine houses for Samoa. One is new;it was built the other day under the apologetic title of a GovernmentHouse, to be the residence of Baron Senfft. The other is historical; itwas built by Brandeis on a mortgage, and is now occupied by the chiefjustice on conditions never understood, the rumour going uncontradictedthat he sits rent free. I do not say it is true, I say it goesuncontradicted; and there is one peculiarity of our officials in anutshell, --their remarkable indifference to their own character. Fromthe one house to the other extends a scattering village for the Faipuleor native parliament men. In the days of Tamasese this was a braveplace, both his own house and those of the Faipule good, and the wholeexcellently ordered and approached by a sanded way. It is now like aneglected bush-town, and speaks of apathy in all concerned. But thechief scandal of Mulinuu is elsewhere. The house of the president standsjust to seaward of the isthmus, where the watch is set nightly, and armedmen guard the uneasy slumbers of the government. On the landward sidethere stands a monument to the poor German lads who fell at Fangalii, just beyond which the passer-by may chance to observe a little housestanding back-ward from the road. It is such a house as a commoner mightuse in a bush village; none could dream that it gave shelter even to afamily chief; yet this is the palace of Malietoa-Natoaitele-TamasoaliiLaupepa, king of Samoa. As you sit in his company under this humbleshelter, you shall see, between the posts, the new house of thepresident. His Majesty himself beholds it daily, and the tenor of histhoughts may be divined. The fine house of a Samoan chief is hisappropriate attribute; yet, after seventeen months, the government (wellhoused themselves) have not yet found--have not yet sought--a roof-treefor their sovereign. And the lodging is typical. I take up thepresident's financial statement of September 8, 1891. I find the king'sallowance to figure at seventy-five dollars a month; and I find that heis further (though somewhat obscurely) debited with the salaries ofeither two or three clerks. Take the outside figure, and the sumexpended on or for His Majesty amounts to ninety-five dollars in themonth. Lieutenant Ulfsparre and Dr. Hagberg (the chief justice's Swedishfriends) drew in the same period one hundred and forty and one hundreddollars respectively on account of salary alone. And it should beobserved that Dr. Hagberg was employed, or at least paid, from governmentfunds, in the face of His Majesty's express and reiterated protest. Inanother column of the statement, one hundred and seventy-five dollars andseventy-five cents are debited for the chief justice's travellingexpenses. I am of the opinion that if His Majesty desired (or dared) totake an outing, he would be asked to bear the charge from his allowance. But although I think the chief justice had done more nobly to pay forhimself, I am far from denying that his excursions were well meant; heshould indeed be praised for having made them; and I leave the charge outof consideration in the following statement. 

 ON THE ONE HAND

 Salary of Chief Justice Cedarkrantz $500 Salary of President Baron Senfft von Pilsach (about) 415 Salary of Lieutenant Ulfsparre, Chief of Police 140 Salary of Dr. Hagberg, Private Secretary to the Chief Justice 100

 Total monthly salary to four whites, one of them paid against His Majesty's protest $1155

 ON THE OTHER HAND

 Total monthly payments to and for His Majesty the King, including allowance and hire of three clerks, one of these placed under the rubric of extraordinary expenses $95

This looks strange enough and mean enough already. But we have ground ofcomparison in the practice of Brandeis. 

 Brandeis, white prime minister $200 Tamasese (about) 160 White Chief of Police 100

Under Brandeis, in other words, the king received the second highestallowance on the sheet; and it was a good second, and the third was a badthird. And it must be borne in mind that Tamasese himself was pointedand laughed at among natives. Judge, then, what is muttered of Laupepa, housed in his shanty before the president's doors like Lazarus before thedoors of Dives; receiving not so much of his own taxes as the privatesecretary of the law officer; and (in actual salary) little more thanhalf as much as his own chief of police. It is known besides that he hasprotested in vain against the charge for Dr. Hagberg; it is known that hehas himself applied for an advance and been refused. Money is certainlya grave subject on Mulinuu; but respect costs nothing, and thriftyofficials might have judged it wise to make up in extra politeness forwhat they curtailed of pomp or comfort. One instance may suffice. Laupepa appeared last summer on a public occasion; the president wasthere and not even the president rose to greet the entrance of thesovereign. Since about the same period, besides, the monarch must bedescribed as in a state of sequestration. A white man, an Irishman, thetrue type of all that is most gallant, humorous, and reckless in hiscountry, chose to visit His Majesty and give him some excellent advice(to make up his difference with Mataafa) couched unhappily in vivid andfigurative language. The adviser now sleeps in the Pacific, but the evilthat he chanced to do lives after him. His Majesty was greatly (and Imust say justly) offended by the freedom of the expressions used; heappealed to his white advisers; and these, whether from want of thoughtor by design, issued an ignominious proclamation. Intending visitors tothe palace must appear before their consuls and justify their business. The majesty of buried Samoa was henceforth only to be viewed (like aprivate collection) under special permit; and was thus at once cut offfrom the company and opinions of the self respecting. To retain anydignity in such an abject state would require a man of very differentvirtues from those claimed by the not unvirtuous Laupepa. He is notdesigned to ride the whirlwind or direct the storm, rather to be theornament of private life. He is kind, gentle, patient as Job, conspicuously well-intentioned, of charming manners; and when he pleases, he has one accomplishment in which he now begins to be alone--I mean thathe can pronounce correctly his own beautiful language. 

The government of Brandeis accomplished a good deal and was continuallyand heroically attempting more. The government of our two whites hasconfined itself almost wholly to paying and receiving salaries. Theyhave built, indeed, a house for the president; they are believed (if thatbe a merit) to have bought the local newspaper with government funds; andtheir rule has been enlivened by a number of scandals, into which I feelwith relief that it is unnecessary I should enter. Even if the threePowers do not remove these gentlemen, their absurd and disastrousgovernment must perish by itself of inanition. Native taxes (exceptperhaps from Mataafa, true to his own private policy) have long beenbeyond hope. And only the other day (May 6th, 1892), on the expressedground that there was no guarantee as to how the funds would be expended, and that the president consistently refused to allow the verification ofhis cash balances, the municipal council has negatived the proposal tocall up further taxes from the whites. All is well that ends even ill, so that it end; and we believe that with the last dollar we shall see thelast of the last functionary. Now when it is so nearly over, we canafford to smile at this extraordinary passage, though we must still sighover the occasion lost. 

* * * * *

_Malie_. The way to Malie lies round the shores of Faleula bay andthrough a succession of pleasant groves and villages. The road, one ofthe works of Brandeis, is now cut up by pig fences. Eight times you mustleap a barrier of cocoa posts; the take-off and the landing both in apatch of mire planted with big stones, and the stones sometimes reddenedwith the blood of horses that have gone before. To make these obstaclesmore annoying, you have sometimes to wait while a black boar clamberssedately over the so-called pig fence. Nothing can more thoroughlydepict the worst side of the Samoan character than these useless barrierswhich deface their only road. It was one of the first orders issued bythe government of Mulinuu after the coming of the chief justice, to havethe passage cleared. It is the disgrace of Mataafa that the thing is notyet done. 

The village of Malie is the scene of prosperity and peace. In a verygood account of a visit there, published in the _Australasian_, thewriter describes it to be fortified; she must have been deceived by theappearance of some pig walls on the shore. There is no fortification, noparade of war. I understand that from one to five hundred fighting menare always within reach; but I have never seen more than five togetherunder arms, and these were the king's guard of honour. A Sabbath quietbroods over the well-weeded green, the picketed horses, the troops ofpigs, the round or oval native dwellings. Of these there are asurprising number, very fine of their sort: yet more are in the building;and in the midst a tall house of assembly, by far the greatest Samoanstructure now in these islands, stands about half finished and alreadymakes a figure in the landscape. No bustle is to be observed, but thework accomplished testifies to a still activity. 

The centre-piece of all is the high chief himself, Malietoa-Tuiatua-Tuiaana Mataafa, king--or not king--or king-claimant--ofSamoa. All goes to him, all comes from him. Native deputations bringhim gifts and are feasted in return. White travellers, to theirindescribable irritation, are (on his approach) waved from his path byhis armed guards. He summons his dancers by the note of a bugle. Hesits nightly at home before a semicircle of talking-men from manyquarters of the islands, delivering and hearing those ornate and elegantorations in which the Samoan heart delights. About himself and all hissurroundings there breathes a striking sense of order, tranquillity, andnative plenty. He is of a tall and powerful person, sixty years of age, white-haired and with a white moustache; his eyes bright and quiet; hisjaw perceptibly underhung, which gives him something of the expression ofa benevolent mastiff; his manners dignified and a thought insinuating, with an air of a Catholic prelate. He was never married, and a naturaldaughter attends upon his guests. Long since he made a vow ofchastity, --"to live as our Lord lived on this earth" and Polynesiansreport with bated breath that he has kept it. On all such points, trueto his Catholic training, he is inclined to be even rigid. Lauati, thepivot of Savaii, has recently repudiated his wife and taken a fairer; andwhen I was last in Malie, Mataafa (with a strange superiority to his owninterests) had but just despatched a reprimand. In his immediate circle, in spite of the smoothness of his ways, he is said to be more respectedthan beloved; and his influence is the child rather of authority thanpopularity. No Samoan grandee now living need have attempted that whichhe has accomplished during the last twelve months with unimpairedprestige, not only to withhold his followers from war, but to send themto be judged in the camp of their enemies on Mulinuu. And it is a matterof debate whether such a triumph of authority were ever possible before. Speaking for myself, I have visited and dwelt in almost every seat of thePolynesian race, and have met but one man who gave me a strongerimpression of character and parts. 

About the situation, Mataafa expresses himself with unshaken peace. Tothe chief justice he refers with some bitterness; to Laupepa, with asmile, as "my poor brother. " For himself, he stands upon the treaty, andexpects sooner or later an election in which he shall be raised to thechief power. In the meanwhile, or for an alternative, he would willinglyembrace a compromise with Laupepa; to which he would probably add onecondition, that the joint government should remain seated at Malie, asensible but not inconvenient distance from white intrigues and whiteofficials. One circumstance in my last interview particularly pleasedme. The king's chief scribe, Esela, is an old employe under Tamasese, and the talk ran some while upon the character of Brandeis. Loyalty inthis world is after all not thrown away; Brandeis was guilty, in Samoaneyes, of many irritating errors, but he stood true to Tamasese; in thecourse of time a sense of this virtue and of his general uprightness hasobliterated the memory of his mistakes; and it would have done his heartgood if he could have heard his old scribe and his old adversary join inpraising him. "Yes, " concluded Mataafa, "I wish we had Planteisa backagain. " _A quelque chose malheur est bon_. So strong is the impressionproduced by the defects of Cedarcrantz and Baron Senfft, that I believeMataafa far from singular in this opinion, and that the return of theupright Brandeis might be even welcome to many. 

I must add a last touch to the picture of Malie and the pretender's life. About four in the morning, the visitor in his house will be awakened bythe note of a pipe, blown without, very softly and to a soothing melody. This is Mataafa's private luxury to lead on pleasant dreams. We have abird here in Samoa that about the same hour of darkness sings in thebush. The father of Mataafa, while he lived, was a great friend andprotector to all living creatures, and passed under the by-name of _theKing of Birds_. It may be it was among the woodland clients of the sirethat the son acquired his fancy for this morning music. 

* * * * *

I have now sought to render without extenuation the impressions received:of dignity, plenty, and peace at Malie, of bankruptcy and distraction atMulinuu. And I wish I might here bring to an end ungrateful labours. ButI am sensible that there remain two points on which it would be improperto be silent. I should be blamed if I did not indicate a practicalconclusion; and I should blame myself if I did not do a little justice tothat tried company of the Land Commissioners. 

The Land Commission has been in many senses unfortunate. The originalGerman member, a gentleman of the name of Eggert, fell early intoprecarious health; his work was from the first interrupted, he was atlast (to the regret of all that knew him) invalided home; and hissuccessor had but just arrived. In like manner, the first Americancommissioner, Henry C. Ide, a man of character and intelligence, wasrecalled (I believe by private affairs) when he was but just settlinginto the spirit of the work; and though his place was promptly filled byex-Governor Ormsbee, a worthy successor, distinguished by strong andvivacious common sense, the break was again sensible. The Englishcommissioner, my friend Bazett Michael Haggard, is thus the only one whohas continued at his post since the beginning. And yet, in spite ofthese unusual changes, the Commission has a record perhaps unrivalledamong international commissions. It has been unanimous practically fromthe first until the last; and out of some four hundred cases disposed of, there is but one on which the members were divided. It was the moreunfortunate they should have early fallen in a difficulty with the chiefjustice. The original ground of this is supposed to be a difference ofopinion as to the import of the Berlin Act, on which, as a layman, itwould be unbecoming if I were to offer an opinion. But it must alwaysseem as if the chief justice had suffered himself to be irritated beyondthe bounds of discretion. It must always seem as if his original attemptto deprive the commissioners of the services of a secretary and the useof a safe were even senseless; and his step in printing and posting aproclamation denying their jurisdiction were equally impolitic andundignified. The dispute had a secondary result worse than itself. Thegentleman appointed to be Natives' Advocate shared the chief justice'sopinion, was his close intimate, advised with him almost daily, anddrifted at last into an attitude of opposition to his colleagues. Hesuffered himself besides (being a layman in law) to embrace the interestof his clients with something of the warmth of a partisan. Disagreeablescenes occurred in court; the advocate was more than once reproved, hewas warned that his consultations with the judge of appeal tended todamage his own character and to lower the credit of the appellate court. Having lost some cases on which he set importance, it should seem that hespoke unwisely among natives. A sudden cry of colour prejudice went up;and Samoans were heard to assure each other that it was useless to appearbefore the Land Commission, which was sworn to support the whites. 

This deplorable state of affairs was brought to an end by the departurefrom Samoa of the Natives' Advocate. He was succeeded _pro tempore_ by ayoung New Zealander, E. W. Gurr, not much more versed in law thanhimself, and very much less so in Samoan. Whether by more skill orbetter fortune, Gurr has been able in the course of a few weeks torecover for the natives several important tracts of land; and theprejudice against the Commission seems to be abating as fast as it arose. I should not omit to say that, in the eagerness of the original advocate, there was much that was amiable; nor must I fail to point out how muchthere was of blindness. Fired by the ardour of pursuit, he seems to haveregarded his immediate clients as the only natives extant and the epitomeand emblem of the Samoan race. Thus, in the case that was the mostexclaimed against as "an injustice to natives, " his client, Puaauli, wascertainly nonsuited. But in that intricate affair who lost the money?The German firm. And who got the land? Other natives. To twist such adecision into evidence, either of a prejudice against Samoans or apartiality to whites, is to keep one eye shut and have the otherbandaged. 

And lastly, one word as to the future. Laupepa and Mataafa stand overagainst each other, rivals with no third competitor. They may be said tohold the great name of Malietoa in commission; each has borne the style, each exercised the authority, of a Samoan king; one is secure of thesmall but compact and fervent following of the Catholics, the other hasthe sympathies of a large part of the Protestant majority, and upon anysign of Catholic aggression would have more. With men so nearlybalanced, it may be asked whether a prolonged successful exercise ofpower be possible for either. In the case of the feeble Laupepa, it iscertainly not; we have the proof before us. Nor do I think we shouldjudge, from what we see to-day, that it would be possible, or wouldcontinue to be possible, even for the kingly Mataafa. It is always theeasier game to be in opposition. The tale of David and Saul wouldinfallibly be re-enacted; once more we shall have two kings in theland, --the latent and the patent; and the house of the first will becomeonce more the resort of "every one that is in distress, and every onethat is in debt, and every one that is discontented. " Against such oddsit is my fear that Mataafa might contend in vain; it is beyond the boundsof my imagination that Laupepa should contend at all. Foreign ships andbayonets is the cure proposed in Mulinuu. And certainly, if people athome desire that money should be thrown away and blood shed in Samoa, aneffect of a kind, and for the time, may be produced. Its nature andprospective durability I will ask readers of this volume to forecast forthemselves. There is one way to peace and unity: that Laupepa andMataafa should be again conjoined on the best terms procurable. Theremay be other ways, although I cannot see them; but not even malevolence, not even stupidity, can deny that this is one. It seems, indeed, soobvious, and sure, and easy, that men look about with amazement andsuspicion, seeking some hidden motive why it should not be adopted. 

To Laupepa's opposition, as shown in the case of the Lauati scheme, nodweller in Samoa will give weight, for they know him to be as putty inthe hands of his advisers. It may be right, it may be wrong, but we aremany of us driven to the conclusion that the stumbling-block is Fangalii, and that the memorial of that affair shadows appropriately the house of aking who reigns in right of it. If this be all, it should not trouble uslong. Germany has shown she can be generous; it now remains for her onlyto forget a natural but certainly ill-grounded prejudice, and allow tohim, who was sole king before the plenipotentiaries assembled, and whowould be sole king to-morrow if the Berlin Act could be rescinded, afitting share of rule. The future of Samoa should lie thus in the handsof a single man, on whom the eyes of Europe are already fixed. Greatconcerns press on his attention; the Samoan group, in his view, is but asa grain of dust; and the country where he reigns has bled on too manyaugust scenes of victory to remember for ever a blundering skirmish inthe plantation of Vailele. It is to him--to the sovereign of the wiseStuebel and the loyal Brandeis, --that I make my appeal. 

_May_ 25, 1892. 

FOOTNOTES

{1} Brother and successor of Theodor.