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Bad News from Tutuila - Manuma v. Lei - Old Grudges - Title Names - Declaration of War - Malietoa and the Consuls - Arrival of H.M.S. Miranda - Distinguished Old Soldier - Reception Fono - Words upon India - Battles in Tutuila - Entrance to Pango - Fagotogo - Butcher's Bill - Armed Natives - The Two Maugas on Board - Both Sides of a Big Gun - Very nearly a Fight on Quarter-deck - Return with Hostages.

IN the beginning of this month we had disturbing news from Tutuila, where it appeared that two of the chiefs of Pango Pango had come to loggerheads over who was the real owner of the name of 'Mauga', the ruling title over the whole bay. These two were separately known by the suffixes of 'Manuma' and 'Lei.' They had never lived quite peacefully together since the last war, having fought on opposite sides.

Mauga Lei, more a schemer than a warrior, very jealous of Mauga Manuma who, as the King's man, swaggered over him, and flew the Samoan standard at his town of 'Fagatogo' - laid claim to the sole right to the name of 'Mauga', which of course was resisted by ' Manuma', and resulted in the interchange of hard words.

'Lei' claimed the succession through being the son of the sister of the old 'Mauga,' a right which in some parts of Samoa is recognised, whilst 'Manuma' stood upon his right as direct heir and son of the late chief, duly named by him on dying. Titled names and claims thereunto have been more fruitful of wars, either for the actual ownership of lands or mere title, than any other subject in all periods of Samoan history.

There are two sorts of title names in use, equivalent to class distinctions in England, some of which carry considerable privileges with them-viz., local and family names; and immediately following these in rank comes the Sula Fale, or head of a family.

The first kind is given by the people of the place to the man whom they consider to be the fittest to hold it, perhaps the most successful warrior, or the wisest councillor; and although the name may be given to anyone, yet it is rarely bestowed out of certain families connected with the place, and traditionally supposed always to supply a man fit for the position. Should he after selection misbehave, the name may be taken away from him by the people, who will then appoint another in whom they have more trust. This custom of shifting the name from one man to another has given rise to many complications in land-claims, both intentional and accidental.

With regard to family names, it is optional with a father whether he leaves his name to his eldest son, or to any of his male children. He will, if so disposed, with the view of leaving the family affairs in abler hands, give his name to a perfect stranger, who thenceforward takes charge of the whole family, and is looked up to as its head. Such a man cannot, however, by will or otherwise, on dying, transfer the name to anyone else; it must of necessity revert to the eldest son or direct heir, who, in conjunction with the rest of the family, in case of the misbehaviour or indifference to the family interests of his father's nominee, can take the name away and retain it for himsel£ The advantages of a name axe very much counterbalanced by the duties' and responsibilities connected with it, the least of which is the feeding and housing of relations, however remote, whenever they may demand it. It also entails the principal expenditure in entertaining visitors.

Manuma and Lei at last got to blows, after a most curious interchange of letters, ending in one from Manuma, who had conducted his case with great fairness, declaxing that his opponent wrote letters that were not meant to be understood, and over which he did not intend to bother his head any more, but, should fight him-and he did.

His Majesty, taking a most serious view of the situation, asked the assistance of the Consuls in preventing the further spreading of this fighting; having no man-of-war in harbour or within reach, we were not able to help him, but promised we would do so on the first opportunity.

About noon on the 13th the cry of 'Sail ho!' brought all idlers to the beach to look at the pilot's flag-staff, on which floated the signal for a man-of-war in sight, and in about half an hour the Union Jack was run up, announcing one of John Bull's cruisers in the neighbourhood; and once again our hearts were gladdened with the sight of the meteor flag of Old England, of which too little is seen in these waters, floating proudly at the peak of H.M.S. Miranda. She had on board as passenger a distinguished old soldier, Sir Frederick Haines, the late Commander-in Chief in India, to whom the natives at once took an immense liking.

On the next day we paid an official visit to the King and Government, who at a full representative meeting received Captain Acland and Sir Frederick with all honours, and expressions of lively satisfaction at their visit.

After the usual compliments were paid and acknowledged, the King mentioned his trouble in Tutuila, and said that he had asked the Consuls to assist him once, and wished to do so again now a man-of-war was in harbour.

The official palaver finished, we rose to go; but they would not hear of it until Sir Frederick Haines had spoken a word or two to them about the Indians, of whom they had read a great deal in the newspapers.

The General made them a short and very friendly speech, to which they listened with the greatest attention, treasuring up especially the account of the millions of natives who in India lived contentedly under British rule.

Malietoa lost no time in preferring the request for help, of which he had given us notice; and on Saturday, the 17th of November, it was agreed between the three Consuls that Malietoa's request should be granted, and H.M.S. Miranda being the only man-of-war in port, that she should proceed to Tutuila, and endeavour to put an end to the fighting. Two engagements had been fought, in which some twenty or thirty had been killed and wounded, one town completely burnt, and another partially so. The King was afraid that if the disturbance was allowed to continue it would spread over the whole group. I was requested to go with the Miranda, and act in the name of the other Consuls in endeavouring to put an end to the danger.

During the afternoon, the German gunboat Hyena arrived, when it was thought that the success of the expedition would be greatly enhanced by her accompanying the Miranda. The two flags being seen together, bound on the same errand, could not fail to have the greatest moral effect upon the belligerents,

At half-past nine in the evening, the Miranda slowly steamed out through the passage, closely followed by the Hyena, with the German Consul on board. We also carried two native commissioners, sent by the King to convey his commands to the fighters, which were to the effect that both the chiefs who were at war should cease fighting, and come to Apia to reside for a year, during which time he would assemble a court, and make full inquiry into their rival claims. These two chiefs were Seumanutafa, the Governor of the Tuamasanoa the central province of Upolu, a man of influence; and Lavati, a talkingman from the King's native district 'Faasaaleleanga,' in Savaii, and perhaps the finest orator in all Samoa, which is saying a great deal in a country where all men can speak.

The next morning we were standing into Leone Bay, quite close to shore, so as to give the people a chance of seeing us pass along towards Pango Pango, in order that they might go overland to that place if they wished to meet us.

Arrived off there, we had a very fine view of the two mountains standing on either side of the entrance to the harbour, each, I should say, quite two thousand feet in height.

About one o'clock, p.m., we slowly steamed through the entrance, here nearly three-quarters of a mile wide; and passing by a pretty little island called Goat Island, we dropped anchor in twenty-one fathoms of water, almost a third of a mile from shore on either side, whilst the head of the bay was to be seen about a mile farther on. Although no harbour could be more completely land-locked and windsheltered, the reports from all sides, I am afraid, are much exaggerated; yet, all the same, the harbour is a very complete one for steam-ships. It is most effectually protected from the wind by the precipitous hills that surround it, and, if not quite capable of containing comfortably that very hackneyed quantity, 'the united navies of the world,' a very large amount of shipping of any known size could shelter there with ease and safety.

The scenery is at the same time grand and pleasing. On all sides, but especially on the west. the hills spring straight out from the water almost perpendicularly, rising to a great height, densely covered with dark bush. Wherever there is any place that may be termed a beach, there is built a cluster of houses, or even a single house, just as the space available will admit. On a little level ground on the east side is situated the village of Fagatogo, the headquarters of Mauga-Manuma. At the very end of the harbour is, or rather was, the village of Pago, the town belonging to the rival candidate. We had anchored right abreast of Fagatogo, over which floated the Samoan flag. At the north end of the little bay is the village, a collection of some twenty or thirty houses in the usual Samoan style. The eastern end looked rather the worse for wear, having been burnt down two days before, when Mauga-Lei, as in duty bound, returned the visit that Mauga-Manuma had previously made to Pago. Half of it, however, was still in good repair, the intentions of the visitors having been successfully resisted before they got through with their work.

As soon as we found where the two belligerent chiefs were, and had ascertained somewhat of the nature of their quarrel, we sent a letter on shore to say we wished them to come at different times next day, to hear what we had to tell them. We found that they had already indulged in two fights, killing some twelve outright and wounding a great many more. They ingenuously informed us that they had arranged for another rencontre to-morrow, which, out of respect for us visitors, they would put of for a day or two.

At the bottom of the harbour is, or rather was, the village of Pago, the residence of Mauga-Lei; but beyond sundry heaps of ashes, the former town was represented only by the church, and the native teacher's house. There was nothing else standing; Mauga-Manuma's war-party had had a parallel effect to that of a cloud of locusts in a corn-field. He was so very complete in his work that he even burnt the houses of several of his own men in Pago.

The next morning, the 19th, we went on shore early for a fresh-water bath at Pago, where a small river ran into the bay, and to inspect the scene of battle.

Manuma certainly had made a clean sweep; and it was very sad to see the cocoa-nut, bread-fruit and other food trees destroyed on all sides. A lot of noble savages were scattered about the village, all carrying firearms of some sort or another, from the homely single-barrel shot-gun to the seventeen-shot Winchester. There was not the least excitement amongst these gentlemen; they one and all spoke about more fighting in just as ordinary a manner as they would about their breakfast. After a short talk with the maid of the village, who had just come over the hill from Fugasa, a village on the other side of the island, we returned on board to prepare to receive our visitors.

About ten o'clock of came Mauga-Lei with his talking-man-it is not the correct thing for a chief of note to talk for himself. He at once started of at score, a long dissertation about his right to the title in dispute, which was, however, cut short by our informing him that we were not here to settle that question, but to stop his fighting, and to convey to him the order of the King, which was then handed him to read and answer. After considering the matter for about a quarter of an hour he replied that he would obey, and go to Upolu with us ' to remain one year. He then left to prepare for departure.

About two o'clock the other fighter, Mauga-Manuma, came on board to hear what we had to say to him. He was a much more picturesque and. practical-looking warrior than his opponent, who is more learned than robust. Manuma and his attendants looked as useful a lot of pirates as anyone might wish to see. We then repeated all we had told the other man, and went through the ceremony of presenting the King's orders, with the same result of his promising to comply with them. The two fighters and their people were then allowed to go on shore; but, thinking it advisable before leaving that there should be some sort of general recognition of the restoration of peace, both parties were requested to come on board the next day and become formally reconciled.

The next morning at the appointed time our friends arrived, each chief with a considerably increased retinue. To prevent a possible emeute, one faction boarded the ship on the port side, the other on the starboard, and they were told off to corresponding sides of the quarter-deck-a great gun in the centre, trailed fore and aft, very appropriately dividing the two.

Coming off I noticed that some few of the young bucks were in full war-costume, with their faces painted black, indicative of their having slain a man-not quite suitable for a peace party, where they were sure to meet with the relations of the defunct - so I ordered them to wash off their colours before coming on the ship. They obeyed without the slightest hesitation. Any other distinctively warlike symbol was also laid aside; but we did not object to their clubs, which they carried in the manner of a cane, though their glances at one another showed that it would take but very little to induce them to use the clubs for their legitimate purpose of pounding one another to jelly.

Sitting on the deck, each chief, closely attended by his talking-man, slightly in advance of his party, they formed a most picturesque, hard, and useful-looking gang, and thoroughly Samoan. Not a scrap of European costume was to be seen upon them; their lava-lavas (waist-cloths), the only garment they wore, were of tappa (native cloth); their bodies were shining with oil and adorned with garlands of high-scented leaves and bright-hued flowers and berries.

In spite of the nature of the meeting-intended to bring deadly opponents together to reunite the ruptured bonds of brotherly love-the side-glances which they every now and then threw at one another over and under the separating midship-gun were obviously anything but pacific. Whether they loved one another or not, it was our intention that, at least. they should go through the form of reconciliation, being sure that with the removal of the two chiefs they would settle down in peace until their return.

Through the Rev. Mr. Phillips, of the London Missionary Society, who had volunteered to come with us from Apia in the capacity of interpreter, and whose influential presence was of the greatest value, he having been resident for a number of years amongst these very people, we addressed the assembly, pointing out to them that this sort of disturbance could no longer be endured, calculated as it was to set the whole group of islands once more in a blaze from end to end, and destroy all the good work that had been achieved during the four last years' peace. Thinking that perhaps if they gave us the trouble of visiting them again on the same errand all might not end quite so peacefully, we asked them to shake hands and live quietly together for the future.

The great fear now was that, in their replies to us, they would wander off into argument-a practice very Samoan - over the merits and demerits of the cause of quarrel, which might, instead of consolidating a peace, inaugurate a renewed little war. And so it very nearly turned out. One side had no sooner begun a speech through its talking-man than such an argument as was feared did commence, when, one and another hastily joining in the wordy war,

abusive epithets and taunts were freely exchanged, until it really appeared that the quarter-deck of H.M.S. Miranda, on a peace mission, would be chosen by these gentle savages as a fit and proper battleground on which to batter out one another's brains. The row became so loud, that, shouting at them proving of no avail, the ship's bugle was sounded; and silence being obtained, Captain Acland read them a lecture, not quite from the Book of Job, telling them that anyone who in any way was found guilty of interruption was to be thrown overboard. It was noticeable that during all this Babel the chiefs sat perfectly unmoved in stolid dignity, and having had experience in the result of the talking-men's orations, we now put a veto upon anybody but the principals speaking, which they did with great effect, and with the good result of a hand-shaking all round, and promises, both verbal and in writing, not to recommence any disturbance.

Having accomplished our mission we steamed out of harbour, leaving the Hyaena to follow us the next day. On arriving in Apia, we informed the King of the success of our efforts, and received his thanks.

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