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The Maid of Matafangatele - 'May' Meeting-Use of Consulate - Picturesque Camping - The Tamaitai Dressing - Umbrella Tree - Missionary Gathering - Food Offerings - Fale-tele - Village Procession - Distribution of Food - Pretty Ceremony - Appearance of Consulate - Ornamented Orange Trees.

This morning (the 22nd) I had scarcely opened my door when in bounced, in the greatest of hurries, the pretty little maid of Matafangatele, to be the first to secure for herself and friends the use of my house as a milliner's shop and general dressing establishment for the M6 meeting, which was to take place during the day on the Malae (village green) adjoining.

The Me is the annual missionary meeting of the London Society, when all the natives assemble to hear the yearly report of the mission doings, and the amount of subscriptions that have been received from them. and during which various addresses are made and services held. It is the grand opportunity also for showing off; and great are the exertions made to raise the necessary dollars to appear fearfully and wonderfully adorned at this yearly festival. Each school or company of ladies, regardless of expense, comes out in some distinct uniform, invented by themselves; and consequently, with few exceptions, no improvement on their national costume.

At first I refused permission; however, I could not in the end withstand the pretty pleadings of the graceful little creature.

It had become quite an established thing for inhabitants of all the outlying towns to windward to camp in my garden under the orange and bread-fruit trees, and from thence 'to issue in their different processions to the meeting held in the open under the shade of a beautiful umbrella-tree, where would be seated the missionaries, pastors, and all the notables of the place.

Shortly after my early visitor's arrival came deputations from all the other towns with the same request, and soon I had quite four hundred natives in picturesque groups camped all over the place. On arriving, they wore their ordinary everyday attire; but brought with them boxes, 'bundles, and parcels innumerable, containing their finery.

As the time for the ceremony drew near the bustle became intense everyone was fully occupied inspecting and preparing the gorgeous raiment; and in almost as quick time as a transformation-scene in a pantomime, from a uniform brown and sober hue, the whole place was dazzling with every colour of the rainbow. The first thing, of course, was a parade of all the dresses and ornaments, presided over by the old women in attendance as dressers, who dealt them out as they thought fit to their impatient clients standing around. The next operation was the dressing of the village maids, in which all took part, whilst they individually had no voice in the matter, but unconditionally surrendered themselves into the hands of their people like so many dolls to be adorned. When finished they were carefully placed on one side until the rest of the family had completed their attire, when with stately step, in single file, as proud as peacocks, the maid leading, tapering of from the youngest to the oldest female inhabitant, they trooped of to the meeting. The confusion of tongues was intense, scolding, exhorting, protesting all going on at the same time, at the highest pitch of the voice.

All this time I was of no account whatever in my own house, which was in possession of thirty or forty girls belonging to the elite of the district. They did not much care about the business part of the programme; it was the outing they were there to enjoy, and very thoroughly they seemed to appreciate the opportunity for the display of their new dresses and ornaments. My little Matafangatele friend had, on the strength of being first applicant, established herself as 'Tamaitai,' or lady of the house; and, as such, took possession of one room entirely to herself and dressers, who, taking her in hand, by sheer weight of oil and native finery soon reduced the impetuous little bronze nymph to perfect submission. She had no less than seven old ladies to attend to her toilet, who in about an hour turned her out in marvellous array, when she was carefully stationed on the veranda like a statue until her escort was ready to follow her to the scene of display.

The place of gathering was the large 'Malae,' or public square of the village, under the spreading branches of a very perfect and beautiful umbrella tree, whose. horizontal boughs, covered with splendid olive-green foliage, spreading out in great symmetry, gave effectual shelter from the scorching rays of the noonday sun to about two hundred people. Here sat in serried ranks, bewilderingly resplendent in bright colours, as many Samoans as could be accommodated, the missionaries and native pastors occupying a sort of reserve from whence to deliver addresses.

Beyond the friendly shade of the tree were erected temporary shelters of cocoa-nut branches, laid over forked sticks, to accommodate the numbers who could find no room. under its kindly shelter.

Soon every available space was occupied by natives in their best array, the men mostly in white, the other sex in every known colour under the sun; and conspicuous amongst them were the King and Vice-King, who, to add dignity to the proceedings, were escorted by some dozen of the Government police, dressed in an absurd manner in trousers and gray shirts, glorious in scarlet and blue silk fronts, and armed with their rifles, rather an anomalous sight at a missionary gathering. A few hymns were sung, and the missionaries gave their addresses, followed by the native pastors.

These proceedings took up about two hours, when the meeting separated until the afternoon. All then returned to their quarters, where, taking off their finery for the time, the provision-baskets were unpacked; and assembled in their different sections under the deep shadows of the orange and bread-fruit trees, the food that each family or village had brought was carefully divided.

No sooner was this operation over than there commenced a general complimentary exchange of food between different families and villages; and even though the present was but a single banana, it was received, and a suitable acknowledgment made, as though it were the most valuable gift.

Amongst the many customs that command the attention of the student of Samoan life. there is none more interesting than the ceremony of presentation of food to visitors, to which I referred in a previous chapter. In the centre of each village there is invariably one big house specially built for the purpose of holding councils, and for the entertainment and lodging of visitors, and called the 'Fale-tele,' or big house. The new arrivals are immediately located there, where they are received by the chief of the town and the maid, one of whose principal duties is to look after the guests of the community. After a short conversation, during which very many compliments are interchanged, and the business upon which the visitors have come receives a preliminary discussion, the Kava bowl is produced, and the lovely maiden, with her dusky fair ones, will proceed to masticate the soothing root.

The beverage brewed, it is handed round by one of the attendant Hebes. In the meantime word has been passed throughout the village of the arrival of strangers, and in the course of time singing will be heard in the distance, at first very faint, becoming gradually stronger and stronger as the bearers approach the Fale-tele. At last the song bursts out quite distinctly, and coming towards the visitors is seen a procession, sometimes in single file, at other times two abreast, girls in front, chanting their paeans of welcome in a truly pleasing manner, the men's deep bass voices mingling in harmony with the shrill treble of the females. Not having had sufficient warning of the arrival of visitors, the procession is not in full dress; but even in the short time at their disposal, all have managed hastily to snatch some sort of bush ornament wherewith to deck themselves, and in many cases this unpremeditated adornment is more successful than effects over which much deliberate care has been taken.

All ages, sexes, and sizes join in the ceremony, and each individual carries something, let it be but a single taro or cocoa-nut. Arriving immediately before the visitors, who sit facing the donors as silent and solemn as though they were not aware of what was going on, the gifts are deposited in front of them with a final shout from the bearers, who then either disappear, or seat themselves in a cluster at some distance from the house.

One of the prettiest of these ceremonies - for pretty is the word the most suited, I think, to the coup d'oeil - that I have witnessed, took place on the occasion of a farewell visit to Apia of the chief of the London Mission. The quantity of food brought on this occasion was merely nominal, the principal object of the gathering being to show respect to their pastor; but as such proceedings in Samoa, as, indeed, in all civilized communities, are not correct without some connection with feasting, it was considered necessary to have the food gift on this occasion. Being a missionary affair, and held in the midst of the largest foreign settlement in the islands, the real native costume was set aside for such modern innovations in dress as are considered necessary by the mission.

The various villages within a few miles of Apia having marshalled their forces somewhere in the vicinity of the mission-house, donned their finery, and came in by turns, singing their distinctive songs in an extremely pretty and quaint manner, each song having a sort of chorus, or rather crescendo, at regular intervals. On arriving within sight of the house the order of procession was formed, advancing very slowly, two and two, the smallest girls leading, the elder ones bringing up the rear. After the women came the boys and men, in similar order. If the village was large enough to possess a titled maid, she, in all the glory of her proudest array, led her detachment.

I cannot, with any approach to clearness, describe the peculiarly plaintive and simple tone of the song. In my thoughts it seemed to be far away, yet the singers were close at hand. Their personal appearance, too, was calculated greatly to assist in the formation of pleasant ideas. If 'papalagi' (foreign) costume is to be worn, they were attired just as they should be. The girls wore long white flowing robes, wreathed and girdled around with green garlands, many of them with necklaces of the scented 'musu-oe' and scarlet pandanus-fruit, or capsicum. Their hair, with few exceptions-viz., the village maids, who are privileged to indulge in eccentricity of coifare-was drawn smoothly from of the forehead, plaited neatly into one or two queues, and adorned most tastefully with wreaths of lovely bush-flowers of every variety. On a single individual might perhaps be found every known natural colour, and, strange as it may appear to Europeans, all harmonizing.

Some of these dusky fair ones were really lovely, and well aware they seemed to be of it. Not a stray look could be obtained from any of them until the strict business of the demonstration was finished, when, having laid down their offerings, laughing and chaffing was the order of the day. The men also looked extremely well, generally clad in white, and profusely ornamented with garlands and necklaces, but not of so elaborate a nature as those of the ladies.

The meal finished, both ladies and gentlemen produced their tobacco and dried banana-leaves? and comfortably settled down to a quiet smoke.

Her Britannic Majesty's Consulate at this time presented a wonderful appearance. There was not a square foot of garden, veranda, or house that was not taken up by natives, in more or less neglige costume, either calmly resting from their arduous morning's work, or vehemently discussing some absorbing topic of the day.

The orange-trees, in addition to the ordinary golden colours of the fruit, bore the appearance of most highly decorated Christmas-trees, fluttering as they were with garments of all tints and description, from the snow-white chemise to the glaring omnicoloured lava-lava of the biggest dandy native, hung up in their branches, whilst the owners took their ease.

In due time the dresses were again assumed, and off the crowd trooped to the village green for afternoon service; which over, best clothes were carefully stowed away, ordinary costume adopted, all packages were shouldered, and the various parties moved off to their own homes, but not before a 'faafetai' to the owner of the house, who was very pleased to have entertained so well-behaved and interesting a party within his domains.

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