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Meeting with Malietoa - Lauati the Talking Man - I am considered Native Property - Tuiatafu on my Objections - Samoan Oratorical Perseverance - A Tongafiti - German Official Recognition of Malietoa - Twenty-one Guns for the King - Mad after Two Years - Dulness of Life.

THIS morning had been appointed for my meeting with Malietoa, to explain to him my reasons for declining his service; and accordingly at ten o'clock his Majesty arrived, accompanied by about thirty of his, principal men, when after a general hand-shaking they seated themselves all round the room on the floor, the King only on a chair.

After the conventional pause, lasting quite a quarter of an hour, the proceedings were about to commence, when it was discovered that as usual each party had trusted to the other to provide an interpreter, and that consequently neither had done so.

One was found, however, in the person of the Chief of Police, our old friend ' Johnny Upolu;' and then the proceedings began. One of the King's men, Lauati, the chief talking-man of the Faasaalaleaga, in Savaii, arose, and gracefully posing himself, fly-flap on shoulder, both hands clasped on the head of his tall orator's staff, and leaning intently well forward, commenced his harangue.

The first ten minutes were quite taken up with nothing but compliments of the most fulsome flowery description, and then he burst forth in an impassioned yarn about how thankful they were to the Great Chief Sir A. H. Gordon, who had not forgotten his humble and worthless servants (tagata leaga) and who had kept the good promise he had made them in days gone by.

'Other men had promised them every assistance they required, and had taken their money to procure it; but they had invariably found that they had been made the victims of fine talk and lies, and had been robbed of the money they had procured so dearly by selling to foreigners their most cherished possessions.'

They hailed with joy the fortunate day that had brought me amongst them, and thanked from the very bottom of their hearts the great British Chief who was so good to Samoa as to order me to remain with them.

There was no mistake about the meaning of the word in the concluding sentence: 'order' it was, very distinctly emphasized too, showing, as I thought at the first meeting, that I was considered to be a sort of useful present that I had no right to withhold from them.

I told them that I was very sorry, but that could not be, as I considered that it was impossible for any one man to satisfactorily fulfil the multifarious duties that were expected of me, and would undertake no task so sure of certain failure, which would only leave them in a worse condition than before.

In rejoinder, this time from royalty itself, in the most polite manner in the world, I was asked why I thus disobeyed my Chief's command ? and did he not send me to help them in their difficulties ?

I tried to explain, amidst incredulous shakes of the head all round, that it was not as they imagined, but that it was left entirely to myself whether I would undertake their service or not; and by way of counterstroke, I asked them whether they would take any man that Sir Arthur Gordon might choose to send them ?

Without the slightest hesitation, they answered that they would, for they were sure that he would send no one who was not good for them, and would blindly accept anyone he might command (sic) to come.

They then resolved themselves into a committee, and held a very busy and talkative consultation with one another for quite half an hour, when on resuming, Tuiatafa, the Tuamasagan talking-man, remarked, that judging from my saying that it was in my power to refuse to help them, and my having done so, they imagined that I thought badly of them, or had listened to bad talk about their country. They would like to know what I had seen or heard wrong about them that had made me reject what, in all respect, they considered they had a right to, as they had understood from the great Chief s letter to them.

I told them that they were mistaken in the letter, and that I did not think badly of them, but quite the contrary; nor had, nor would I listen to anything bad of them, but judge for myself. Nevertheless, I must beg leave to decline the honour they wished to confer upon me.

One after the other now tackled me, each one with some new and cunning argument which evidently had been carefully rehearsed the night before, so like clockwork did they relieve one another in their attempts to tire me into acquiescence; and it was not until after about three hours' hard talking, a very small thing for them, that they ceased their persuasive efforts, and then only with strong hints that they had not given up their hopes, but intended to try again.

They would not be convinced that in declining their billet I was not disobeying orders and defrauding them of their right to my services, and this feeling, as my after-experience showed me, they kept up the whole time I was amongst them.

Untiring and incessant talking, as a means of obtaining compliance with their wishes, is a favourite dodge resorted to by Samoans, especially when the people they are addressing understand the language. They will try to bear them down with sheer weight of oratory, and are quite aware, in the case of Europeans, that their wonderful aptitude of address goes a great way in their favour. With the greatest facility of manner, and most delicate politeness of address, they will put forward their case in such a way that it must, from anybody but a mere brute, command the respect of a civil answer; this will lead to argument, and so they will work steadily on, one relieving the other, perhaps day after day, until patience becomes exhausted, and the recipient of all this oratory either throws up the whole affair in despair at ever arriving at an end to it, or the natives procure an adjournment of the question to some future time, which they consider to be almost as much a victory as if they had gained their desire at once. They are given in a most annoying degree to procrastination; whether for their good or evil it is just the same. They are never in a hurry about doing anything; and with them, tomorrow is a fitter day always than to-day.

The adjournment gives them opportunities for preparing what they call a 'tongafiti' -a manufactured word of their own, signifying a scheme. They make no disguise about the matter, but will openly tell you that they are going to prepare a 'tongafiti 'during the adjournment. This word has a curious origin, and consists merely of the names of the two groups the Samoans have always had most relations with, Tonga and Fiji-in their language spelt Toga and Fiti. In their communication with the people of these two groups, they have found themselves to be inferior in cunning to them, and have always suffered in consequence; the realization of which has caused them to associate the names of Tonga and Fiji with everything that is wily or sly, and to embody this meaning in the one word 'tongafiti.' It is, however, not always to be taken in its evil sense, as from long usage it has lost somewhat of its primitive value, and is used as an equivalent to our words 'method' or means,' and appears in their Bible.

At times when I have had to find fault with natives and insist upon their doing at once certain necessary things, I have been told, laughingly, by them when all was over: 'Ah, Sirsewatti! it would not have been thus if you understood our language; well, at all events, it would not have been finished so soon.'

On leaving, the King thanked me for my goodwill towards him and his people, remarking that I was the very first 'papalag' who had openly told them his real thoughts when an official position in the Samoan Government was at his disposal.

A few days afterwards a great Fono was assembled for the purpose of receiving the German Emperor's official recognition of Malietoa Laupepa's. sovereignty over the whole of Samoa.

Arriving at Mulinuu, we were first received by the King and Vice-King in one of the houses on the public square. It was the first time that I had seen the latter gentleman, by name 'Tupua Tamasese,' who had been in opposition to Malietoa during the late wars as rival claimant to regal honours; but in comparison with him was as a Satyr to Hyperion, and whatever his family rights might have been, his appearance was dead against him.

He and his party, of course, did not like this performance; but he did not publicly show it beyond keeping his following, which formed the parliamentary opposition, in a separate mob by themselves. After partaking of the inevitable Kava, we were ushered out to the Malae - public square - and seated right and left of the King; the Vice-King, as leader of the opposition, I suppose, taking up his place on what would answer for the opposition benches with us, at the head of his separately situated party.

The German man-of-war Carola, with her gayest colours flying, lying of in the harbour, was ready, on signal being made at the proper time, to add to the dignity of the occasion by giving a royal salute.

All prepared, the German Consul, in full naval uniform and wearing numerous decorations, stood forth and read out loud in English, Germany's formal recognition of Malietoa Laupepa's sovereignty over all Samoa, together with a few remarks upon past relations and future hopes; and then shaking hands with his Majesty, in which he was joined by the other Consuls, British and American, he tendered his personal congratulations. At the same moment the Carola, with the Samoan flag flying at the main, thundered out her ratification of the important event with twenty-one guns.

One would have thought that so important a ceremony, with all the efforts made to enhance it, would have occasioned some popular expression of feeling, either assentient or dissentient, but none of any sort was shown.

The whole parliament and onlooking crowd of natives sat as still as deaf mutes, staring fixedly straight before them like so many wooden people, appearing to take the whole impressive ceremony as a bore; a sort of foreign dose that had to be swallowed whether they liked it or not, and the sooner over, so much the quicker they would be left alone to manage their own affairs. The British and American recognition, when made, took place without any ceremony whatever, beyond a personal visit of the respective Consuls in a private manner to deliver their home letters of congratulation.

Everything now for a long time was very dull with whites and natives alike, and beyond a few earthquakes of mild type, nothing stirred to vary the monotony of the place. It was, besides, about the worst season of the year, when even old stagers get seedy, and in consequence very growly. The heat at this time of the year is felt very much, no regular doctoring trade-breeze blowing to temper the rays of the brazen sun now almost right overhead; and night or day the heat appeared to remain the same, whilst mosquitoes and flies combined together to drive one mad, with continually brushing away their venomous attacks.

It is a common saying here that after two years' sojourn in Samoa a man becomes hopelessly mad; but with all the foregoing discomforts and annoyances, in addition to the sorrows of acclimatization I was then undergoing, I was very much afraid that for me the regulation period would be considerably shortened The saying goes on to predict that. the patient might recover if he should not stop over the third year; but that if he does, it is far better for him to sell his trousers, oil himself, and take to native life altogether, for he is of no use anywhere else; and when one comes to observe the cabbage-like sort of existence some people lead in the islands, there may seem to be some truth in it.

Two or three times a week in the evening we had cricket or lawn-tennis; but such parodies on the real thing-the former played on a rough grass road, and the latter in a veritable sand-pit!

This sport in such a climate was looked upon by outsiders in the case of the two years' performers as nothing out of the way, they being qualified for irresponsibility; but with people like myself, under the statute date, hereditary mental aberration was at once assumed. Neither love nor money would persuade a Samoan or anyone of other than British nationality to join us in either game.

I could discover no Samoan outdoor games that a foreigner could join in, but shall deal with this subject in the next chapter.

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