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Corpus Christi Festival - Grand Ceremony - Why not All Roman Catholics? - Feather-Worshippers - The Rival Lady Companies - Awkward Fix - Outrage at Magia - A Stubborn King - Diamond arrives with High Commissioner - Disposal of Fine - Murder of Labourer - Emblem of Civilization - Rehearsal a la Marwood - A Grisly Farce - Royal Prerogative - Ten Years on the Roads.

THE 7th of June was a great day with the Roman Catholics, being the festival of the Corpus Christi, for the celebration of which great preparations had been made. A most gorgeous lofty altar, quite twenty feet high, beautifully adorned with flowers and leaves, and brilliant with all the insignia of the faith, was erected in the church square. On every available point on the church, the houses round about, as also from numerous flag-poles, floated French tricolours and gay bunting; whilst above the altar, in the place of honour, loftily fluttered a grand standard, bearing the devices of the Romish Church and of the Society to which the Mission belonged. The entire ground was made beautiful at no stinted expense of labour, whole trees had been transferred from the living bush to assist, whilst fresh, in the general decorations; and, commencing from the church door, round the altar were raised on poles high walls of Tapa, screening the faithful from the heretical gaze.

At the time appointed, the communicants flocked down from all sides to the scene of action, either in gorgeous procession with crosses and all sorts of sacred emblematical banners flying, or dressed in their best, marched there by themselves in evident satisfaction, to assist in the day's pageant.

The nuns' procession with the girls' school was, as usual, well worthy of regard, as it moved down from the convent in long kaleidoscopic line, gay with muslins and sashes of every bright hue under the sun; some of the smaller girls proudly bearing, in addition to other superfluities, gauze wings of angelic type.

High Mass over, the whole company moved out in a showy procession, headed by - I was going to say - a black beadle, but I mean a brown one, rejoicing in all the terrible and absurd splendour of an enormous cocked-hat, gold-laced coat, and knee-breeches, with a huge, halbert in hand, a facsimile, barring the face, of the awful personage to be seen in continental churches. Preceded by a phalanx of Samoan boys in white surplices, swinging their smoking censers, scattering flowers in the path, and every now and then turning round and bending the knee, came Monseigneur the Bishop in full canonicals, with mitre, staff, and all the insignia of Popish ceremonial, surrounded by his acolytes and chaplains of various degrees, chanting the appropriate hymns. After him followed his flock, looking by no means so sedate as the serious nature of the occasion they were celebrating -would warrant, but all conscious that they were taking part in one of the best shows of the season.

Arrived at the high altar, the Bishop was carefully placed thereupon by his assistants, and, with their aid, performed a most impressive ceremony. Everything that was done was calculated to attract and capture the serious attention of so impulsively impressionable a people as the Samoans; and my great wonder is, that with all this sort of splendid parade, so dear to them, and so continually before them, the whole group does not become Roman Catholic; yet they number less than one-fifth of the whole population, and do not increase. Why it is so is not easily understandable, for in many other shows and processions, with the exception of strict church ceremonies, the Protestant natives join, and apparently enjoy themselves thoroughly, and will proudly carry flags with the best Papists in the mob; but the fact still remains, that they prefer the somewhat dismal semi-Presbyterianism they were first taught, to all. the attractions of the religious pomp and circumstance of the Romish Church.

With regard to the example given and the attraction of these grand processions, I was informed that they have given rise to the establishment, in one of the Line Islands, of an idolatrous sect called Feather Worshippers. These men, not having flags and emblems, amuse themselves with periodically marching about with bunches of feathers on sticks, as substitutes for the genuine articles, which the originators of the custom had frequently observed when serving their labourers' term in Samoa.

On the 4th of August, when returning home from a municipal meeting, I was surprised to see my room in full possession of a brilliant company of Samoan girls in gala-dress, who turned out to be the 'Iluma,' or company of ladies from a neighbouring town, who had called to pay me a ceremonious visit - a great and unexpected honour. In every large Samoan town there is always one house set apart for the single ladies, who reside there together, forming a sort of corporation of themselves; and who, when acting as a body in paying a compliment, are supposed to be conferring an exalted honour on the fortunate recipient. Of course it was all sm-fles and fulsome praises to commence with; and I was just beginning to enter into the spirit of the thing, and to think of returning their torrents of compliments with something more substantial-in the way of light refreshments-when, to my horror, I saw a rival company filing in through the orange-trees, evidently with the intent of conferring on me a double ration of the infliction I was already suffering from.

No doubt if they had seen me employed as I then was, they would have gone on and deferred the happy moment to some future time; but, as bad luck would have it, they were too near for their pride to suffer them to turn back when they realized that they were in the, enemies' immediate presence; and I soon had two mobs of extremely jealous females seated in the same room within scratching-distance of one another. It was quite suffering enough to have to amuse and talk to about a score of lively girls at the same time, even when they displayed the most angelic of tempers; but when that number becomes doubled, and the angelic qualities are changed to jealous bitterness, roused up to sneering-point, the position of the entertainer is somewhat awkward.

They were most provokingly polite to one another, but war to the knife could plainly be seen in the sharp glances they threw every now and then from camp to camp; and many scornful shrugs of the shoulders of the 'don't -think-much - of-you' style were indulged in, duly returned by the object honoured with the doubtful attention. It was a truly awful situation, and not to be described in words.

In vain, time after time, I tried, with all the delicacies I had at my command, to promote friendly relations between them. Everything offered, which under more fortunate conditions they would have been merry over, was haughtily refused by both parties. My portrait gallery and tinned salmon were both good draws under ordinary conditions; the latter is the best and most powerful bribe for Samoans, but had temporarily lost its attraction; for my visitors, who would do nothing but stare, say nothing but personalities, appeared to be defiantly determined to see each other out, even if the visit lasted a month.

Two hours of this was sufficient to tire anyone, and neither party showing the smallest inclination to move, I suddenly discovered that I had important diplomatic business down town; and apologizing for leaving, at the same time making a virtue of necessity, and requesting them to make themselves at home in my absence, I left them to their own devices and took refuge at the doctor's.

I did not emerge thence until after dark, when, cautiously approaching my erstwhile invested abode, I was gratefully surprised at finding my furniture unsmashed and without traces of a desperate engagement . I don't know how long they remained after my departure, or which side left the first. I never heard the last of the dreadful rencontre, but on every available occasion got abused by one or the other for not having ejected their rivals.

About the middle of August I experienced the first and only difficulty that I ever had with the King, caused by his refusing to afford me means of redress for the misbehaviour of some of his people, who had forcibly taken possession of a British plantation and had committed great damage there.

I went to his Majesty three times, and requested him to take steps to put matters straight; saying that I would be contented with the damage being made good, leaving it to him to punish the offenders. It was of no use; he was quite stubborn, so I reluctantly had to make formal complaint to the authorities in Fiji.

The day after the departure of the mail I was sent for to recall the complaint, as redress would be given; but, of course, it was too late, and the upshot was that one fine morning H.M.S. Diamond, with the Consul-General on board, arrived, and the now penitent disturbers of the peace were fined five hundred dollars, which they laughingly paid the same evening, very jubilant at having got off so cheaply. This money was never taken away from the group, but left in charge of the Consul, to be devoted to the native benefit in procuring medicines and doctor's attendance for those unable to pay for such boons. It must not be thought that this fine was inflicted without inquiry, at which great regret was expressed that they should have acted in such a manner, the excuse being the lies that had been told.

After all was over, including the usual shaking hands, it was amusing to see the arch-culprit - the chief who had headed the riot - slide up with the rest and forgive his judge with a hearty grasp of the hand before the latter knew who it was.

In connection with the late disturbances on the plantation, the occupiers had sent in such a fearfully great bill for damage done-pitched in such very high figures - that I had been directed to go down to the scene of action and verify the items; and accordingly, getting my 'boat's crew together, I started off, taking with me as interpreter a most intelligent native named 'Selu,' one of Malietoa's secretaries.

Arrived at Fasitootai, I was warmly received by Saga, the Governor of the province, who, although he was the man who would have been the most benefited had the land returned to native hands, refused to join or let his men do so. No persuasion would induce any of the rioters to come and talk the matter over, although I sent word that I was there only for their benefit. Not one would come anywhere near me, and on my trying to approach in person the guilty ones hid in the bush. I explained to those remaining that if I wanted to know who were the men I could easily ascertain.

It was of no use, however; they said that I was very wise, etc., but that the culprits would not yet come and talk to me, as 'their shame was not over so I had to go on with my inspection without their help. The value of what they had devoured, of course, I could not estimate; but in all other items I found, as has ever been shamefully usual in white claims for compensation against Samoans, that values had been pitched some three and four hundred per cent above reality.

Whilst strolling about the premises of the late trader, who had deserted the place, I came upon a tombstone bearing the name of a Britisher who had been dead for some years. I thought it was such a strange article to find in a store, where it could be of no possible use to any living man, that I made inquiries, and found that, as it had not been paid for, the man through whom it was ordered had retained it. It was the first instance that I ever heard of such a thing being in pawn. Before going away I found out the poor waifs grave, had it weeded, and erected the stone thereon.

It became now the Germans' turn for a little excitement, which took the form of a murder of one of their black labourers by a Samoan, who, after shooting the boy, strolled quietly back to his village, shouting out that he had killed a 'black pig.'

Of course, there was a great to-do about it, and the Samoans did all they could to avoid serious notice being taken of such a trifle as killing such trash; but it could not be permitted, and pressure at last induced them to hold a trial. At the German Consul's request, to give his efforts a moral support in the assertion of the principle that murder should not remain unpunished, both British and American Consuls attended the trial. The evidence was most conclusive that a deliberate murder had been committed; but when the time came for the judges to give their decision, not a word could be got from them on the real subject, but all sorts of excuses ingenious and otherwise-were made to avoid the unpleasant task. In vain, over and over again, they were told that it was their duty to find the prisoner either guilty or innocent, yet they would give no decision. If they found the prisoner guilty, their countrymen in general would condemn them for punishing an act which they looked upon as of no more importance than crushing a cockroach; whilst if they found him innocent, they knew they would have to deal with the Germans, and not only that, but be accused of being unfit for self-government in not being able to carry out their own laws. In this quandary they adopted the old Samoan plan of tiring out the prosecution, hoping that something, in the course of time, would turn up to help them out of their uncomfortable position. It took three entire days before the judges could see fit to deliver their sentence, and most reluctantly condemned the murderer to be hanged.

There was now nothing left but to carry the dread sentence of the law into execution; and at the Samoans' earnest request, for the sake of humanity and decency, the whole arrangements were entrusted to the Municipal Magistrate, who had had some experience in such matters in the old days in Fiji. In a short time a novel sort of erection appeared, standing conspicuously on the public 'Malae' at 'Mulinuu;' and, from that time forward, no wandering stranger suddenly cast on shore could accuse Samoa of not being able to display their widely acknowledged sign of civilization - a 'most comfortable gallows,' as my conductor in Hobart Town Gaol described his pet apparatus, when I was on a visit of inspection to that place.

Whilst this was in course of construction, a curious performance was going on in the Court House, greatly to the wonderment of the passing natives. It was nothing less than the police rehearsal of the final scene on the scaffold for the morrow, entered into with the greatest interest in the latest and most approved Marwoodian fashion. Adorning the palings was an ugly rope with a particularly nasty-looking knot and noose at one end of it, which a policeman was vigorously anointing with soft soap. Inside the house were three performers industriously at work on some mysterious rites, really practising the pinioning and turning off of the culprit. One-to make things as natural as life - would be ironed, and stand in a corner representing the murderer in the condemned cell; the other two, with the necessary straps in their hands, would then approach, and, knocking off the shackles, proceed to pinion him. This done, they would march slowly to the middle of the room - for the nonce to represent the drop - on which the patient being carefully placed, the pantomime of adjusting the noose was gone through by one of the attendants, who, putting his hand in his pocket, would produce a real white cap and draw it over the prisoner's head;. whilst, at the same time, the other policeman adjusted the final strap on his legs. They would then both smartly step on one side, go through the motion of knocking away the bolt, and then continue the drill until they were thoroughly expert, and sure of conducting the morrow's business with accuracy and expedition.

The same evening, whilst sitting on the veranda in the grateful cool of the glorious starlit night, after a busy, hot, and by no means agreeable day, several native friends of mine came and told me that their man would not be hung the next morning; but they would not give me any explanation of why the sentence, which, we had all been preaching to them, involved so important a principle, would not be carried out. It was quite impossible to think - knowing, as I did, the nature of the Samoans - that they would dream of rescuing the culprit, so that it could only be that the prosecution had determined not to insist upon the full penalty being exacted, and, foreseeing some sort of theatrical coup for the morrow, I made up my mind not to form one of the 'corps de theatre,' and had reason to congratulate myself on my determination. In the meantime, some sort of rumour had got abroad that things were not going to be as they were originally intended, which took the form of a rescue to be made at the last moment. This added greatly to the general interest, and caused many who would otherwise have stopped away to flock to the approaching grisly ceremonial, knowing that if a rescue were attempted, there would be no danger from the natives; but whether the Magistrate in whose charge the prisoner was, and who was provided against all emergencies, would permit it calmly or not, was quite another affair. A large space round the gallows-the platform of which stood quite twelve feet high, reached by a steep ladder from the back, and over which frowned the fatal beam, with its pendent noose dangling ominously therefrom, carefully guarded by a grim-looking native Jack Ketch was roped off It enclosed the temporary prison, in which the culprit sat smoking very unconcernedly in the midst of his escort; and well he might be tranquil, for he was one of the two or three who knew the whole approaching performance to be a pre-arranged farce.

The Magistrate, as in command of the executive, was to take the word from the German Consul, who had been the prosecutor throughout the case, and he was under orders not to proceed to extremities until he received the signal.

The time fixed arrived, the irons were struck off, the criminal still taking no interest in the proceedings; and being pinioned with a dexterity reflecting great credit upon the drilling of the day before, the mournful procession moved off, and stood motionless at the foot of the ladder.

The spectators now one and all imagined that the dread sentence, 'a life for a life,' was about to be carried out; but in obedience to a signal the further dead march of the living man was arrested, and instead of mounting the ladder from whence he would never have returned alive, he was ordered to sit down and wait. The German Consul then proceeded to the King, who was sitting in an adjoining house, and besought him to exercise the prerogative of royalty and pardon the culprit. This was of course done, and thus all the stirring excitement of the week ended in smoke.

In order to show the native labourers from other islands that whilst away from their homes in German employment they would receive German protection, a number of the murdered man's relations and fellow countrymen from the same plantation were brought up to see the slayer of their friend pay the penalty of the law, and were afforded reserved seats close to the scaffold for that purpose. They had scarcely time to show their great disgust at the result of all the fuss just over, before a party of Samoans, the relations of the culprit, came forward with two boxes of cloth, and humbling themselves before the astonished savages, presented these to them as payment for the life, sacrificed, which, however, they scornfully refused, and left the ground disgusted with the turn affairs had taken.

The prisoner's sentence was commuted to ten years' hard labour, of which he did not serve ten minutes, but was soon seen to be gadding about as gay as ever, and just as unconcerned as he was when awaiting his suspension; and the consequence of all the bother was that this man became the leader in his town, and highly respected by all who knew his many sterling qualities.

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