3. Vave was also the name of a war god in another village, and incarnate in the Ve'a, or rail bird. When it was heard chattering, or "scolding," as they called it, at midnight, it prognosticated an attack next day, and they would at once send off the women and children to a place of safety. When offerings of food were presented at the temple of Vave, long poles were erected, one at each corner, and these were covered with fragrant-scented leaves and flowers. When they started to fight they prayed and professed to be guided by the flight of the Ve'a. If it flew before them that was enough, they followed. A notable instance of the power of Vave is given in an account of the battle with the Tongan invaders. Many were killed in single combat by a hero called One. Vave was once more implored to help, and that very day One was killed at a single blow by a chief called Tuato, and hence the proverb which obtains to the present day:

"Ua 'ai tasi Tuato, or Tuato bites but once."

The power of Vave was again seen in another way. A number of gods came to raise a rocky precipice right between the village and the ocean. Vave, however, was immediately up in arms against them, and drove them off for miles along the coast into another district, where they effected their object and made the beach there a great high iron-bound shore, which remains to the present day.

4. In another place Vave was the name of a household god, and incarnate in the eel. If any one of the family was sick, Vave was prayed to in the evening. Next morning a search was made among the bundles of mats and other property. If an eel was found among them it was a sign of death; if not, it was a sign of recovery.



CHAPTER V.

GODS INFERIOR, OR HOUSEHOLD GODS.

1. ALOIMASINA—Child of the Moon.

This was the name of a household god, and seen in the moon. On the appearance of the new moon all the members of the family called out: "Child of the moon, you have come." They assembled also, presented offerings of food, had a united feast, and joined in the prayer:

"Oh, child of the moon! Keep far away Disease and death."

They also prayed thus before leaving the house to go to battle:

"Oh, child of the moon! Bury up your hollows And stumps of trees And lumpy stones For our running at ease."

2. APELESA—Sacred fulness.

1. In one family this god was incarnate in the turtle. While one of the family dared not partake, he would help a neighbour to cut up and cook one; only while he was doing that, he had a bandage tied over his mouth lest some embryo turtle should slip down his throat, grow up, and cause his death.

2. In another family Apelesa spoke at times through an old man. When an oven of food was opened the first basket was hung up on the outside of one of the posts of the house for the god. If the rats, or a dog, or any hungry mortal took it in the night, it was supposed that Apelesa chose to come in that form for his offering. He was also considered the guardian of the family, and if any other gods came about he frightened them away.

3. In another family a woman called Alaiava, or means of entertainment, was priestess of Apelesa. She prayed at parturition times, and in cases of severe illness. Her usual mode of acting the doctor was, first of all, to order down all the cocoa-nut leaf window-blinds of one end of the house. She then went into the darkened place. Presently that end of the house shook as if by an earthquake, and when she came out she declared what the disease was, and ordered corresponding treatment; the result was that, "some recovered, and some died."

In this family the first basket of cooked food was also sacred to the god, but their custom was to take it and hang it up in the large house of the village where passing travellers were accustomed to call and rest. No one of the village dared to touch that basket without risking the wrath of the god. Any passing stranger, however, was as welcome to partake as if he had been specially sent for it by Apelesa.

3. ASOMUA—First Day.

This was a household god, and particularly useful to the family in detecting and telling out the name of the thief when anything was missed. He was called first day, as it was supposed that he existed in the world before mortals.

4. LEATUALOA—The long god, or the centipede.

This was the name of a god seen in the centipede. A tree near the house was the residence of the creature. When any one of the family was ill, he went out with a fine mat and spread it under the tree, and there waited for the centipede to come down. If it came down and crawled under the mat, that was a sign that the sick person was to be covered over with mats and buried. If, however, it crawled on the top of the mat, that was a sign of recovery.

5. O LE AUMA—The red liver.

This family god was seen, or incarnate, in the wild pigeon. If any visitor happened to roast a pigeon while staying there, some member of the household would pay the penalty by being done up in leaves, as if ready to be baked, and carried and laid in the cool oven for a time, as an offering to show their unabated regard to Auma.

The use of the reddish-seared bread-fruit leaf for any purpose was also insulting to this deity. Such leaves were in common use as plates on which to hand a bit of food from one to another, but that particular family dared not use them under a penalty of being seized with rheumatic swellings, or an eruption all over the body called tangosusu, and resembling chicken-pox.

6. IULAUTALO—Ends of the taro leaf.

To this family god the ends of leaves and other things were considered sacred, and not to be handled or used in any way. In daily life it was no small trouble to this particular household to cut off the ends of all the taro, bread-fruit, and cocoa-nut leaves which they required for culinary purposes. Ends of taro, yams, bananas, fish, etc., were also carefully laid aside, and considered as unfit to be eaten as if they were poison. In a case of sickness, however, the god allowed, and indeed required, that the patient should be fanned with the ends of cocoa-nut leaflets.

7. O LE ALII O FITI—The Chief of Fiji.

This was the name of a god in a certain household, and present in the form of an eel, and hence the eel was never used by them as an article of food. This god was supposed to be unusually kind, and never injured any of the family. They showed their gratitude by presenting the first fruits of their taro plantation.

8. LIMULIMUTA—Sea-weed.

This was the name by which another protector was known. If any members of the family went to fight at sea, they collected some sea-weed to take with them. If in pursuit of a canoe, they threw out some of it to hinder the progress of the enemy, and make the chase successful in obtaining a decapitated head or two. If the enemy tried to pick up any of this deified sea-weed it immediately sank, but rose again and floated on the surface if one of its friends paddled up to the spot.

9. MOSO'OI.

This is the name of a tree (Conanga Odorata), the yellow flowers of which are highly fragrant. In one place it was supposed to be the habitat of a household god, and anything aromatic or sweet-scented which the family happened to get was presented as an offering.

At any household gathering the god was sent for to be present. Three different messengers had to go at short intervals, as it was not expected that he would come before the third appeal or entreaty for his presence.

10. FATUPUAA MA LE FEE—The pig's heart and the octopus.

Another family supposed that two of their gods were embodied in the said heart and octopus. Men, women, and children of them were most scrupulous never to eat either the one or the other, believing that such a meal would be the swallowing of a germ of a living heart or octopus growth, by which the insulted gods would bring about death.

11. PU'A.

This is the name of a large tree (Hernandia Peltata). A family god of the same name was supposed to live in it, and hence no one dared to pluck a leaf or break a branch.

The same god was also supposed to be incarnate in the octopus, and also in the land crab. If one of these crabs found its way into the house, it was a sign that the head of the house was about to die.

12. SAMANI.

This was the name of a family god. It was seen in the turtle, the sea eel, the octopus, and the garden lizard. Any one eating or injuring such things had either to be sham baked in an unheated oven, or drink a quantity of rancid oil as penance and a purgative. This god predicted that there was a time coming when Samoa would be filled with foreign gods.

13. SATIA.

1. In one place the member of the family supposed to be the priest of the god was noted for cannibalism. At times he would cry out furiously and order those about him to be off and get him some of his "sacred food." He professed to be doctor as well as demon. A great chief when ill was once taken to him, and the doctor's bill for a cure was the erection of a mound of stones, on the top of which a house was to be built. The bill was paid by the retinue of the chief.

2. In another family it was supposed that their god Satia had the power to become incarnate in a man or a woman. If he wished to go to a particular woman, he became a man; and if he desired a man, he changed into a woman.

14. SENGI VAVE—Snatch quickly.

An old man named Sengi, or snatch, was an incarnation of this household god. All the fine mats and other valuables were in some mysterious way under his control. On returning from any kind of daily work in the bush every one on entering the house had to salute him, as the representative of the god, in some apologetic phrase, such as "I beg your pardon." If any one omitted this mark of respect, the penalty was the disappearance of a fine mat from the family bundle without any one knowing how it was taken.

15. SOESAI.

This was the name of a household god in some families. In one, the god was seen in the domestic fowl. In another, the incarnations were the eel, the octopus, and turtle. Prayers for life and recovery were offered in cases of great danger, and also at child-birth.

16. SI'U—Extremity or end.

The family in which this god was worshipped said that he appeared in the form of a skull once a year, about the month of May. Lemana, or the Powerful, was the name of the priest. If in time of famine or pestilence the family had been preserved thanks were specially offered to Lemana for having been so successful in his pleadings with the god.

17. SINA 'AI MATA—Sina the eye-eater.

This god was incarnate in the bird called Ve'a, and was the juvenile scarecrow of the family. "Do not make such a noise; Sina, the eye-eater, will come and pick out your eyes." The eyes of fish were sacred to this god, and never eaten by any of the family.

18. TONGO.

1. In one family this god was incarnate in the bat, and was supposed to be specially attentive to turmeric. When a party of women were met to grate the root and prepare some of this native dye and cosmetic they usually had some food together. If at such a time a woman concealed a tit-bit to eat by the sly, when she came to put it to her mouth it had been changed into turmeric by the anger and power of Tongo.

2. The stinging ray fish was the incarnation of Tongo in another family. If they heard of any neighbour who had caught a fish of the sort, they would go and beg them to give it up and not to cook it. A refusal would be followed by a fight.

3. In another family Tongo was incarnate in the mullet, and the penalty for eating that fish by any of them was a disease ending in a squint.

19. TUIALII—King of Chiefs.

1. In one family this god was greatly praised as being a good and kind deity. In a time of scarcity, for instance, he led them to some place in the bush where they could dig up plenty of wild yams.

2. In another family this god was prayed to for life and health before the evening meal; an offering of a blazing fire was essential to the success of the prayer, which ran as follows:—

"This is our fire to you, it burns bright; other fires are dim and going out; send these families to the lower regions, but give us life and health."

The sea eel, octopus, and mullet were incarnations of this god. He was also seen in the ends of banana leaves. If any one used the end of a banana leaf as a cap, baldness was the punishment. All the children born in the family were called by the name of the god.

20. TUIPANGOTA—The King of Criminals.

A household god, and the special guardian of a particular family against thieving. If any thing was stolen the unknown culprit was given over by prayer to be put to death in some way by Tuipangota. A raised stone platform was erected in the house on which he was supposed to sit, and close beside it was another to serve the purpose of an altar, on which offerings were laid.

21. TAUMANUPEPE—Fight creature butterfly.

This family god was incarnate in butterflies. Any one of that household catching or killing these beautiful winged insects were liable to be struck dead by the god.

In another family this god was supposed to have three mouths. There it was forbidden to drink from a cocoa-nut shell water-bottle which had all the three eyes or openings perforated. Only one, or at the most two, apertures for drinking were allowed. A third would be a mockery, and bring down the wrath of his butterflyship.

22. ULAVAI—Fresh-water prawn, or crayfishes.

This was a household god in a family in one of the villages of Aana. A woman had been bathing and brought on a premature event which happens sometimes. When she told her friends they went to search for the child. Nothing could be seen, however, but an unusual number of prawns or crayfishes, into which they supposed the infant had been changed. And so they commenced to regard the crayfish as the incarnation of a new household god, gave it food, and offered prayers before it for family prosperity.

To these may be added the names of forty-six other gods, making in all one hundred and ten, but of whom I have little to say different from the descriptions of Samoa Zoolatry, etc., already given. A few more are referred to in the Cosmogony and other details, making up the number of Samoan deities of which I have heard to about a hundred and twenty, all claiming and receiving the two essentials of religion—something to be believed and something to be done.



CHAPTER VI.

THE PEOPLE—INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD.

At the birth of her child, the mother had a liberal share in the kind attentions of her friends. Her own mother was almost invariably la sage-femme; but, failing her, some other female friend. Her father was generally present on the occasion, and either he or her husband prayed to the household god, and promised to give any offering he might require, if he would only preserve mother and child in safety. A prayer was thus expressed: "O Moso, be propitious; let this my daughter be preserved alive! Be compassionate to us; save my daughter, and we will do anything you wish as our redemption price." Offerings to the god, as we have already seen, were regulated by the caprice and covetousness of the cunning priest. Sometimes a canoe was demanded; at other times a house was to be built; and often fine mats or other valuable property was required. The household god of the family of the father was generally prayed to first; but, if the case was tedious or difficult, the god of the family of the mother was then invoked; and when the child was born, the mother would call out: "Who were you praying to?" and the god prayed to just before was carefully remembered and its incarnation duly acknowledged throughout the future life of the child. By way of respect to him the child was called his merda; and was actually named during infancy and childhood "merda of Tongo," or "Satia," or whatever other deity it might be. If the little stranger was a boy, the umbilical cord was cut on a club, that he might grow up to be brave in war. If of the other sex, it was done on the board on which they beat out the bark of which they make their native cloth. Cloth-making is the work of women; and their wish was that the little girl should grow up and prove useful to the family in her proper occupation.

Infanticide, as it prevailed in Eastern Polynesia and elsewhere, was unknown in Samoa. Nor were children ever exposed. After they were born they were affectionately cared for. But the custom of destroying them before that prevailed to a melancholy extent. Shame, fear of punishment, lazy unwillingness to nurse, and a dread of soon being old-looking, were the prevailing causes. Pressure was the means employed, and in some cases proved the death of the unnatural parent.

As to nursing, during the first two or three days the nurse bestowed great attention to the head of the child, that it might be modified and shaped after notions of propriety and beauty. The child was laid on its back, and the head surrounded with three flat stones. One was placed close to the crown of the head, and one on either side. The forehead was then pressed with the hand, that it might be flattened. The nose, too, was carefully flattened. Our "canoe noses," as they call them, are blemishes in their estimation. For the first three days the infant was fed with the juice of the chewed kernel of the cocoa-nut, pressed through a piece of native cloth, and dropped into the mouth. On the third day a woman of the sacred craft was sent for to examine the milk. A little was put into a cup, with water and two heated stones, and then examined. If it had the slightest curdled appearance she pronounced it bitter and poisonous. This process she repeated two or three times a day for several days, until it was drawn off free from coagulation, and then she pronounced it sweet and wholesome, and the child was forthwith permitted to partake of its proper nourishment. Of course she was well paid for her services, and had every inducement to prolong them for several days. During this time the infant was fed with the juice of the cocoa-nut or the sugar-cane. Many fell victims to this improper treatment. At a very early period the child was fed, and sometimes weaned altogether at four months. This was another fruitful source of mortality among children. Occasionally the father, or some member of the family, through whom it was supposed the god of the family spoke, expressly ordered that the child have nothing but the breast for an indefinite time. This was a mark of respect to the god, and called his "banana." In these cases the child grew amazingly, and was soon, literally, as plump as a banana.

A modified form of circumcision prevailed. About the eighth or tenth year two or three boys would unite and go of their own accord to some one in the village, who would make the customary incision, and give him some trifling reward for his trouble. There was no further ceremony on the occasion, as at other periods of life.

Names.—Out of respect to the household god, as we have already remarked, the child was named after him, during the time of infancy and childhood; after that, a name was given. The animal and vegetable kingdoms, places, occupations, actions, and passing events, furnished them with the principal names. The primitive rule, "one man, one word," invariably prevailed. Occasionally a chief bore the name of one of the gods superior.

Rejoicing.—About the third day the woman was up and at her usual occupation, and ready to take part in the rejoicings connected with the occasion. By this time the principal friends were assembled. They all brought presents, and observed an unvarying rule in the kind of presents each was expected to bring. The relations of the husband brought "oloa," which included pigs, canoes, and all kinds of foreign property. The relations of the wife brought "tonga," which included the leading articles manufactured by the females—viz. fine mats and native cloth. The "oloa" brought by the friends of the husband was all distributed among those of the wife, and the "tonga" brought by the friends of the wife was divided among those of the husband; and thus the whole affair was so managed that the friends were the benefited parties chiefly, and the husband and wife left no richer than they were. Still, they had the satisfaction of having seen what they considered a great honour—viz. heaps of property collected on occasion of the birth of their child. Feasting, sham-fighting, night-dancing, and many other heathen customs, formed one continued scene of revelry for two or three days, when the party broke up. When the child became strong and able to sit there was another feast for "the sitting of the child." A third feast was for the "creeping of the child." A fourth when the child was able to stand, and called "the standing feast." But the greatest was the fifth, when the child could walk. Then there was singing and night-dances, and then, too, if the child danced and sang, and was "impudent," the parents boasted over its abilities.

Twins were rare. Triplets still more so; indeed, there is only a vague tradition of such a thing. Twins were supposed to be of one mind, and to think, feel, and act alike, during the time of infancy and childhood at least. There were a few instances of large families, but four or five would be the average.

Adopted Children.—The number of children seen in a family was small, occasioned, to a great extent, by the bad management and consequent mortality of children, and also a custom which prevailed of parting with their children to friends who wished to adopt them. The general rule was for the husband to give away his child to his sister. She and her husband gave, in return for the child, some foreign property, just as if they had received so many fine mats or native cloth. The adopted child was viewed as "tonga" and was, to the family who adopted it, a channel through which native property (or "tonga") continued to flow to that family from the parents of the child. On the other hand, the child was to its parents a source of obtaining foreign property (or "oloa") from the parties who adopted it, not only at the time of its adoption, but as long as the child lived. Hence the custom of adoption was not so much the want of natural affection as the sacrifice of it to this systematic facility of traffic in native and foreign property. Hence, also, parents may have had in their family adopted children, and their own real children elsewhere.

Employments.—Girls always, and boys for four or five years, were under the special charge of the mother, and followed her in domestic avocations. The girl was taught to draw water, gather shell-fish, make mats and native cloth. The boy after a time followed his father, and soon became useful in planting, fishing, house-building, and all kinds of manual labour. Boys were also accustomed to club together, and wander about the settlement, the plantation, or in the bush. If they fell in with a fallen cocoa-nut one boy would sit down and name some to come and join him in eating it, and to the rest he would call out, "Go and catch butterflies." Hence one who is excluded from eating anything nice is called a butterfly-catcher. If they called at the residence of one of themselves, then perhaps the lad of that house would select some to have food with him there, and call them "cocoa-nut princes," and the rest he would send off, calling them "cocoa-nut pigs." The latter would go off offended, and vow to each other never again to be friendly with that stingy, stunted fellow! The following is a translated specimen of one of the old songs chanted for the diversion of children, or to lessen the tedium of a long canoe journey. I do not tamper with an exact translation by any attempt at rhythm or rhyme, but simply give the thoughts as they stand, and as a fair translation would explain them.:—

1. Mailesaeia and Mailetupengia were married. They had two children, and these were their names, The boy Tulifauiave, and the girl Sinataevaeva. Chorus—Aue! or wonderful!

2. They were unkind to their children, and deserted them; They did not wish to have children. etc.

3. Then said the girl to the boy: "Come let us go, Let us seek another home," and away they wandered. etc.

4. They called at the house of Tangaloa of the heavens, And Tangaloa took the girl and married her. etc.

5. The brother of the girl acted as their child. He was a lovely boy, and grew up to be a beauty. etc.

6. Tangaloa of the heavens became jealous of the lad, And told his people to kill him. etc.

7. They took him to the bush and killed him, He yielded to their wishes and resisted not. etc.

8. They were divided about the disposal of the body, Some said throw it into the river, others said leave it in the bush. etc.

9. They cast it into the river to float to the sea, It came floating down, and there his sister stood on the beach. etc. 10. She screamed, and wept, and wailed; She seized the body, patted his head, and prayed for life. etc.

11. The wounds closed up and healed, the lad sat up, And thus he spake: "Let us both be off together." etc.

12. They went to the village, the people were in the bush; They smashed every canoe but one, and in that they left, To search for the land of their parents. etc.

13. The people returned from work, no Sinataevaeva was there, Tangaloa called for his daughters Darkness, Lightning, and Thunder, And ordered them off in search of his wife. etc.

14. The three daughters obeyed, Thunder roared and Lightning flashed, Darkness and Storm were added, and the canoe was found. etc.

15. The ladies shouted out: "Don't be afraid; all's well! You two be off, a calm and a smooth sea to you! 'Twas cruel to kill a child yonder." etc.

16. The two went on and reached their land and home, First the boy went on shore, his sister remained in the canoe. etc.

17. Their parents called out: "Where are you two going?" "My sister and I are in search of the home of our parents." etc. 18. "Who are your parents, tell us their names?" "Mailesaeia and Mailetupengia," replied the lad. etc.

19. Out rushed the parents in tears, The children they cast away had come back, And now their love returned to them. etc.



CHAPTER VII.

ADULT AND ADVANCED YEARS.

Passing from infancy and childhood we proceed to the ceremonies, superstitions, and customs connected with more advanced years.

Tattooing.—"Herodotus found among the Thracians that the barbarians could be exceedingly foppish after their fashion. The man who was not tattooed among them was not respected." It was the same in Samoa. Until a young man was tattooed, he was considered in his minority. He could not think of marriage, and he was constantly exposed to taunts and ridicule, as being poor and of low birth, and as having no right to speak in the society of men. But as soon as he was tattooed he passed into his majority, and considered himself entitled to the respect and privileges of mature years. When a youth, therefore, reached the age of sixteen, he and his friends were all anxiety that he should be tattooed. He was then on the outlook for the tattooing of some young chief with whom he might unite. On these occasions, six or a dozen young men would be tattooed at one time; and for these there might be four or five tattooers employed.

Tattooing is still kept up to some extent, and is a regular profession, just as house-building, and well paid. The custom is traced to Taema and Tilafainga (see p. 55); and they were worshipped by the tattooers as the presiding deities of their craft.

The instrument used in the operation is an oblong piece of human bone (os ilium), about an inch and a half broad and two inches long. A time of war and slaughter was a harvest for the tattooers to get a supply of instruments. The one end is cut like a small-toothed comb, and the other is fastened to a piece of cane, and looks like a little serrated adze. They dip it into a mixture of candle-nut ashes and water, and, tapping it with a little mallet, it sinks into the skin; and in this way they puncture the whole surface over which the tattooing extends. The greater part of the body from the waist down to the knee is covered with it, variegated here and there with neat regular stripes of the untattooed skin, which when they are well oiled, make them appear in the distance as if they had on black silk knee-breeches. Behrens, in describing these natives in his narrative of Roggewein's voyage of 1772, says: "They were clothed from the waist downwards with fringes and a kind of silken stuff artificially wrought." A nearer inspection would have shown that the "fringes" were a bunch of red ti leaves (Dracaena terminalis) glistening with cocoa-nut oil, and the "kind of silken stuff," the tattooing just described. As it extends over such a large surface the operation is a tedious and painful affair. After smarting and bleeding for a while under the hands of the tattooers, the patience of the youth is exhausted. They then let him rest and heal for a time, and, before returning to him again, do a little piece on each of the party. In two or three months the whole is completed. The friends of the young men are all the while in attendance with food. They also bring quantities of fine mats and native cloth, as the hire of the tattooers; connected with them, too, are many waiting on for a share in the food and property.

The waste of time, revelling, and immorality connected with the custom have led many to discountenance it; and it is, to a considerable extent, given up. But the gay youth still thinks it manly and respectable to be tattooed; parental pride says the same thing; and so the custom still obtains. It is not likely, however, to stand long before advancing civilisation. European clothing, and a sense of propriety they are daily acquiring, lead them to cover the tattooed part of the body entirely; and, when its display is considered a shame rather than a boast, it will probably be given up as painful, expensive, and useless; and then, too, instead of the tattooing, age, experience, common-sense, and education will determine whether or not the young man is entitled to the respect and privileges of mature years.

There was a custom observed by the other sex worth noticing, for the sake of comparison with other parts of the world. About the time of entering into womanhood, their parents and other relatives collected a quantity of fine mats and cloth, prepared a feast, and invited all the unmarried women of the settlement. After the feast the property was distributed among them, and they dispersed. None but females were present. It was considered mean and a mark of poverty if a family did not thus observe the occasion.

Chastity was ostensibly cultivated by both sexes; but it was more a name than a reality. From their childhood their ears were familiar with the most obscene conversation; and as a whole family, to some extent, herded together, immorality was the natural and prevalent consequence. There were exceptions, especially among the daughters of persons of rank; but they were the exceptions, not the rule.

Adultery, too, was sadly prevalent, although often severely punished by private revenge. If the injured husband sought revenge in the blood of the seducer no one thought he had done wrong. But the worst feature of the law of private revenge was that the brother, or any near relation of the culprit, was as liable to be killed as himself.

Marriage contracts were never entered into before the parties reached the years of maturity just described. Considerable care was taken to prevent any union between near relatives; so much so, that a list of what they deemed improper marriages would almost compare with the "Table of kindred and affinity." They say that, of old, custom and the gods frowned upon the union of those in whom consanguinity could be closely traced. Few had the hardihood to run in the face of superstition; but if they did, and their children died at a premature age, it was sure to be traced to the anger of the household god on account of the forbidden marriage.

A young man rarely, in the first instance, paid his addresses in person to the object of his choice. A present of food was taken to her and her relatives by a friend of his, who was, at the same time, commissioned to convey the proposal to her father; or, failing him, to the elder brother of the young woman. Her consent was, of course, asked too; but that was a secondary consideration. She had to agree if her parents were in favour of the match. If the present of food was received and the reply favourable, the matter was considered settled. There was also a somewhat formal meal directly after the marriage ceremony.

All parties consenting, preparations commenced, and one, two, or three months were spent collecting various kinds of property. All the family and relatives of the bride were called upon to assist, and thus they raised a great quantity of tonga, which included all kinds of fine mats and native cloth, manufactured by the women. This was invariably the dowry presented to the bridegroom and his friends on the celebration of the nuptials. He and his friends, on the other hand, collected in a similar manner for the family of the bride oloa, which included canoes, pigs, and foreign property of any kind which might fall into their hands, such as knives, hatchets, trinkets, cloth, garments, etc., received through a Tongan canoe or a passing vessel.

A time was fixed when the parties assembled. The bride and her friends, taking with them her dowry, proceeded to the home of the bridegroom, which might be in another settlement, or on an adjacent island. If they were people of rank it was the custom that the ceremonies of the occasion pass off in the marae. The marae is the forum or place of public assembly—an open circular space, surrounded by bread-fruit trees, under the shade of which the people sit. Here the bridegroom and his friends and the whole village assembled, together with the friends of the bride. All were seated cross-legged around the marae, glistening from head to foot with scented oil, and decked off with beads, garlands of sweet-smelling flowers, and whatever else their varying fancy might suggest for the joyous occasion. In a house close by the bride was seated. A pathway from this house to the marae, in front of where the bridegroom sits, was carpeted with fancy native cloth; and, all being ready, the bride, decked off with beads, a garland of flowers or fancy shells, and girt round the waist with fine mats, flowing in a train five or six feet behind her, moved slowly along towards the marae. She was followed along the carpeted pathway by a train of young women, dressed like herself, each bearing a valuable mat, half spread out, holding it to the gaze of the assembly; and, when they reached the bridegroom, the mats were laid down before him. They then returned to the house for more, and went on renewing the procession and display until some fifty or a hundred fine mats and two or three hundred pieces of native cloth were heaped before the bridegroom. This was the dowry. The bride then advanced to the bridegroom and sat down. By-and-by she rose up before the assembly, and was received with shouts of applause, and, as a further expression of respect, her immediate friends, young and old, took up stones and beat themselves until their heads were bruised and bleeding. The obscenity to prove her virginity which preceded this burst of feeling will not bear the light of description. Then followed a display of the oloa (or property) which the bridegroom presented to the friends of the bride. Then they had dinner, and after that, the distribution of the property. The father, or, failing him, the brother or sister of the father of the bridegroom, had the disposal of the tonga which formed the dowry; and on the other hand, the father or brother of the bride had the disposal of the property which was given by the bridegroom. Night-dances and their attendant immoralities wound up the ceremonies.

The marriage ceremonies of common people passed off in a house, and with less display; but the same obscene form was gone through to which we have referred—a custom which, doubtless, had some influence in cultivating chastity, especially among young women of rank. There was a fear of disgracing themselves and their friends, and a dread of a severe beating from the latter after the ceremony to which the faithless bride was sometimes subjected, almost as if the letter of the Mosaic law had been carried out upon her.

But there were many marriages without any such ceremonies at all. If there was a probability that the parents would not consent, from disparity of rank or other causes, an elopement took place; and, if the young man was a chief of any importance, a number of his associates mustered in the evening, and walked through the settlement, singing his praises and shouting out the name of the person with whom he had eloped. This was sometimes the first intimation the parents had of it, and, however mortified they might be, it was too late. After a time, if the couple continued to live together, their friends acknowledged the union by festivities and an exchange of property.

Concubinage.—When the newly-married woman took up her abode in the family of her husband she was attended by a daughter of her brother, who was, in fact, a concubine. Her brother considered that if he did not give up his daughter for this purpose, he should fail in duty and respect towards his sister, and incur the displeasure of their household god. Failing her brother, her mother's relatives supplied her with this maid of honour. Hence, with his wife, a chief had one, two, or three concubines. Each of these took with her tonga as a dowry, which, perhaps, was the most important part of the business, for, after presenting her dowry, she might live with him or not, as she pleased. Often the addition of these concubines to the family was attended with all the display and ceremonies of a regular marriage.

Polygamy.—The marriage ceremony being such a prolific source of festivities and profit to the chief and his friends, the latter, whether he was disposed to do it or not, often urged on another and another repetition of what we have described. They took the thing almost entirely into their own hands, looked out for a match in a rich family, and, if that family was agreeable to it, the affair was pushed on, whether or not the daughter was disposed to it. She, too, as a matter of etiquette, must be attended by her complement of one or more young women. According to this system, a chief might have some ten or a dozen wives and concubines in a short time. Owing, however, to quarrelling and jealousies, many of them soon returned to their parental home; and it was rare to find a chief with more than two wives living with him at the same time.

Divorce.—If the marriage had been contracted merely for the sake of the property and festivities of the occasion, the wife was not likely to be more than a few days or weeks with her husband. With or without leave, she soon found her way home to her parents. If, however, a couple had lived together for years and wished to separate, if they were mutually agreed, they did it in a more formal way. They talked over the matter coolly, made a fair division of their property, and then the wife was conveyed back to her friends, taking with her any young children, and leaving those more advanced with their father. A woman might thus go home and separate entirely from her husband; but, while that husband lived, she dared not marry another. Nor could she marry even after his death, if he was a chief of high rank, without the special permission of the family with which she had connected herself by marriage. Any one who broke through the custom, and married her without this, was liable to have his life taken from him by that family, or at least he had to pay them a heavy fine.

Widows.—The brother of a deceased husband considered himself entitled to have his brother's wife, and to be regarded by the orphan children as their father. If he was already married, she would, nevertheless, live with him as a second wife. In the event of there being several brothers, they met and arranged which of them was to act the part of the deceased brother. The principal reason they alleged for the custom was a desire to prevent the woman and her children returning to her friends, and thereby diminishing the number and influence of their own family. And hence, failing a brother, some other relative would offer himself, and be received by the widow. Should none of them, however, wish to live with her, or should there be any unwillingness on her part, she was, in either case, at liberty to return to her own friends.

The following is a specimen of one of their love songs:—

1. There was Tafitofau and Ongafau, and they had two daughters; The one was Sinaleuuna and the other Sinaeteva. The two girls sat and wished they had a brother. Chorus—Aue!

2. Again Ongafau had a child, and it was a boy. The child grew up, but his sisters never saw him, They lived apart from their parents and the boy. etc.

3. Then Tafitofau and Ongafau said to the boy, who was called Maluafiti ("Shade of Fiji"): "Go with some food to the ladies." The lad went down, the girls looked and were struck with his beauty, etc.

4. He came with the food and said he was their brother; The sisters rejoiced and gave thanks that their desire was granted, They had now a brother. etc.

5. Then the sisters sat down and filled into a bamboo bottle The liquid shadow of their brother. etc.

6. A report came from Fiji of the beautiful lady Sina, And that all the swells of Fiji were running after her. etc.

7. Then off went Sinaleuuna and Sinaeteva to Fiji, And took with them the shadow of their brother Maluafiti. etc.

8. The two sisters dressed up and went to tell her All about their handsome brother. But they were slighted and shamefully treated by Sina. etc.

9. Sina did not know they were the sisters of Maluafiti. She had heard of his beauty and longed for his coming. etc.

10. The sisters were still ill-treated by Sina; their anger rose, And off they went to the water where Sina was bathing. They threw out from the bottle on to the water the shadow of their brother. etc. 11. Sina looked at the shadow and was struck with its beauty. "That is my husband," said she, "wherever I can find him." etc.

12. Then Sinaleuuna wept and uttered in soliloquy: "Oh, Sinaleuuna, Sinaeteva, you are enraged! Where is our brother? 'Tis for him we are here and slighted." etc.

13. Sina called out to the villagers for all to come, All the beautiful young men to assemble and find out Of whom the figure in the water was the image. etc.

14. They sought in vain, they could not find. The shadow was bright and beautiful and compared with no one. When Maluafiti turned about in his own land, The shadow wheeled round and round in the water. etc.

15. But Sina heard not the weeping of the sisters of Maluafiti. Again their song rang out, "Where is our brother? 'Tis for him we are here and slighted." etc.

16. "Oh, Maluafiti! rise up, it is day; Your shadow prolongs our ill-treatment. Maluafiti come and talk with her face to face, Instead of that image in water." etc.

17. Sina had listened, and now she knew 'twas the shadow of Maluafiti. These are his sisters too, and I've been ill-using them. etc.

18. Sina reproached herself: "Oh! I fear these ladies; I knew not they were seeking a wife for their brother Maluafiti. etc.

19. "Come, oh come," said Sina, "forgive me, I've done you wrong." Sina begged pardon in vain, the ladies were angry still. etc.

20. The canoe of Maluafiti arrived. He came to court Lady Sina, and also to fetch his sisters. etc.

21. He came, he heard the tale of his sisters, And then up flew implacable rage. etc.

22. Sina longed to get Maluafiti; He was her heart's desire, and long she had waited for him. etc.

23. Maluafiti frowned and would return, And off he went with his sisters. Sina cried and screamed, and determined to follow swimming. etc.

24. The sisters pleaded to save and to bring her, Maluafiti relented not, and Sina died in the ocean. etc.

In a story about another lady called Sinasengi, we are told about her wonderful pool. She had "caught the shadows" of a variety of scenes, and imprinted them on the water. A problem this for the photographers! Night-dances, races, club exercise, battles, public meetings, and some of the ordinary employments of daily life were all there. The pool was covered over, but by the removal of a stone this "chamber of imagery" could be all seen. Everything seemed so real that a man one day was so enraptured with the sight of one of his favourite sports that he jumped in to join a dancing party. But, alas! he bruised his head and broke his arm on the stones which he found under the surface, instead of the gambols of living men.

Stories also of wifely and husband affection and the reverse are preserved in song. Take the following as a specimen. The original runs through twenty-six verses, but I abbreviate and give the substance:—

There was a youth called Siati noted for his singing. A serenading god came along, threw down a challenge, and promised him his fair daughter if he was the better singer. They sung, Siati beat, and off he went to the land of the god, riding on a shark belonging to his aunt.

They reached the place. The shark went in to the shore, set him down, and told him to go to the bathing-place, where he would find the daughters of the god, the one was called Puapae, "White Fish," and the other Puauli, "Dark Fish."

Siati went and sat down at the bathing-place. The girls had been there, but had gone away. Puapae had forgotten her comb, returned to get it, and there she found Siati. "Siati," said she, "however have you come here?" "I've come to seek the song-god and get his daughter to wife." "My father," said she, "is more of a god than a man—eat nothing he hands you, never sit on a high seat lest death should follow, and now let us unite." Siati and Puapae were united in marriage, but they were sent off to live elsewhere.

The god sent his daughter Puauli to Puapae to tell her husband to build him a house, and that it must be finished that very day, under a penalty of death and the oven. Siati cried, but his wife Puapae comforted him, said she could do it, and off she went and built the house, and by the evening was weeding all around it.

In came another order, and that was for Siati to fight with the dog. The fight took place and Siati conquered. Next the god had lost his ring, and Siati must go to the sea and find it. Again Siati wept, and again his wife cheered him. "I'll find the ring," said she; "only do what I tell you. Cut my body in two, throw me into the sea, and stand still on the beach till I come." He did so, cut her in two, threw her into the sea, she was changed into a fish, and away she went to seek for the ring.

Siati stood, and stood, sat and lay down, stood again, and then lay down, and went off to sleep. Puapae returned, she was thrown up by the fish and stood on the shore. Siati awoke by the splash of the sea on his face. She scolded him for not keeping awake, and then said, "There is the ring, go with it in the early morning," and in the morning off the two went to her father.

That very morning the god called his daughter Puauli and said, "Come, take me on your back, and let us seek Siati that I may eat him." Presently they started back, Siati and Puapae were coming. Puapae and Siati threw down the comb and it became a bush of thorns in the way to intercept the god and Puauli. But they struggled through the thorns. A bottle of earth was next thrown down, and that became a mountain; and then followed their bottle of water, and that became a sea and drowned the god and Puauli.

Puapae said to Siati, "My father and sister are dead, and all on account of my love to you; you may go now and visit your family and friends while I remain here, but see that you do not behave unseemly." He went, visited all his friends, and then he forgot his wife Puapae. He tried to marry again, but Puapae came and stood on the other side. The chief called out, "Which is your wife, Siati?" "The one on the right side." Puapae then broke silence with, "Ah Siati, you have forgotten all I did for you;" and off she went. Siati remembered it all, darted after her crying, and then fell down and died.



CHAPTER VIII.

FOOD—COOKING—LIQUORS.

Animal and Vegetable Food.—Bread-fruit, taro, yams, bananas, and cocoa-nuts formed the staff of life in Samoa. The lagoons and reefs furnish a large supply of fish and shell-fish, of which the natives are very fond; and occasionally all, but especially persons of rank, regaled themselves on pigs, fowls, and turtle. A detailed account of the flora and fauna in this and other groups in Central and Eastern Polynesia will be found in the published volumes of the United States Exploring Squadron of 1838-1842.

Taro, cocoa-nuts, and 'ava were said to have been brought from the heavens by a chief called Losi. When on a visit there he was pleased with the taste of taro, and tried to get some to take down with him. He found a young shoot about the cooking-house, concealed it under his clothing, but the Tangaloans were on the watch. They made him take off his roundabout, snatched the plant from him, pulled his hair, scratched and cut his skin, and back he came to the earth in a great rage.

He engaged six of the gods to go up with him again and be avenged on Tangaloa and his people. He proposed to take up a present of fish. They caught ten, and were up before daybreak, and laid down a fish on the doorstep of ten of the houses. When the people came out of their houses they stumbled over the slippery fish, fell and cut their foreheads. They cooked the fish, but ate it with bruised heads. And hence the proverb in times of difficulty, "To eat with a bruise."

Then followed a number of schemes on the part of the Tangaloans to kill Losi and his party similar to those described (p. 250). But all failed, and then up jumped Losi and his party, and ran at the Tangaloans, who fled and called out as they ran, "What do you want?" "Cocoa-nuts," said Losi. "Take them all," was the reply. Losi again called to his party to chase, and they rushed after the Tangaloans, who again shouted back, "What do you want?" "Taro," said Losi, "to compensate for ill usage and the tearing of my skin." "Take it, your claim is just; take it and be off." Losi ordered still to pursue, and again the call came from the frightened Tangaloans, "What else do you want?" "I want 'ava," replied Losi. "Take it, all kinds of it, and be off." Losi conquered, had his revenge, and got what he wanted, and so came down from the heavens with taro, cocoa-nuts, and 'ava, and planted them all about.

For about half the year the Samoans have an abundant supply of food from the bread-fruit trees. During the other half they depend principally on their taro plantations. Bananas and cocoa-nuts are plentiful throughout the year. While the bread-fruit is in season every family lays up a quantity in a pit lined with banana and cocoa-nut leaves, and covered in with stones. It soon ferments; but they keep it in that state for years, and the older it is they relish it all the more. They bake this in the form of little cakes, when the bread-fruit is out of season, and especially when there is a scarcity of taro. The odour of these cakes is offensive in the extreme to a European; but a Samoan turns from a bit of English cheese with far more disgust than we do from his fermented bread-fruit.

A crop of bread-fruit is sometimes shaken off the trees by a gale before it is ripe, and occasionally taro plantations are destroyed by drought and caterpillars; but the people have wild yams in the bush, preserved bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, and fish to fall back upon; so that there is rarely, if ever, anything like a serious famine. A scarcity of food, occasioned by any of the causes just named, they were in the habit of tracing to the wrath of one of their gods, called O le Sa (or the Sacred One). The sun, storms, caterpillars, and all destructive insects were said to be his au ao, or servants, who were commissioned to go forth and eat up the plantations of those with whom he was displeased. In times of plenty as well as of scarcity the people were in the habit of assembling with offerings of food, and poured out drink-offerings of 'ava to Le Sa, to propitiate his favour.

A story is told of a woman and her child, who in a time of great scarcity were neglected by the family. One day they cooked some wild yams, but never offered her a share. She was vexed, asked the child to follow her, and when they reached a precipice on the rocky coast, seized the child and jumped over. It is said they were changed into turtles, and afterwards came in that form at the call of the people of the village.

Cannibalism.—During some of their wars, a body was occasionally cooked by the Samoans; but they affirm that, in such a case, it was always some one of the enemy who had been notorious for provocation or cruelty, and that eating a part of his body was considered the climax of hatred and revenge, and was not occasioned by the mere relish for human flesh, such as obtained in the Fiji, New Hebrides, and New Caledonian groups. In more remote heathen times, however, they may have indulged this savage appetite. To speak of roasting him is the very worst language that can be addressed to a Samoan. If applied to a chief of importance, he may raise war to avenge the insult. It is the custom on the submission of one party to another to bow down before their conquerors each with a piece of firewood and a bundle of leaves, such as are used in dressing a pig for the oven; as much as to say, "Kill us and cook us, if you please." Criminals, too, are sometimes bound hand to hand and foot to foot; slung on a pole put through between the hands and feet, carried and laid down before the parties they have injured, like a pig about to be killed and cooked. So deeply humiliating is this act considered that the culprit who consents to degrade himself so far is almost sure to be forgiven.

From such references to cannibalism as we have at pp. 47, 48, and also the following fragments from old stories, it is further apparent that the custom was not unknown in Samoa.

During a great scarcity occasioned by a gale cannibalism prevailed. When a light was wanted in the evening, two or three went to fetch it—it was not safe for one to go alone. If a child was seen out of doors, some one would entice it by holding up something white and calling the child to get a bit of cocoa-nut kernel, and so kidnap and cook.

A story is also told of a woman who had a child who was playing on the surf on the beach. Three of her brothers came along and begged her to let them have the child. She said that if a bloody surf should suddenly appear they might have the child, but not otherwise. Presently the surf dashed red and bloody on the shore. She kept to her word, and let the heartless fellows carry off the boy to the oven.

Here is another piece about Ae a Tongan, who attached himself to the Samoan chief Tinilau. Tinilau travelled from place to place on two turtles. Ae wished to visit Tonga, and begged from his master the loan of the turtles. He got them, with the caution to be very careful of them. As soon as he reached Tonga he called his friends to take on shore the turtles, kill them, and have a feast, and this they gladly did.

Tinilau, after waiting long for the return of the turtles, suspected they had been killed. This was confirmed in his mind by the appearance on the beach of a bloody wave. He called a meeting of all the avenging gods of Savaii, and put the case into their hands. They went off to Tonga, found Ae at midnight in a sound sleep, picked him up, brought him back to Samoa, and laid him down in the front room of the house of Tinilau.

At cock-crowing Ae woke up and said aloud, "Why, you cock! you crow like the one belonging to the pig I lived with." Tinilau called out from his room, "Had the fellow you lived with such a fowl?" "Yes, the pig had one just like it." "Tell us more about him," and so Ae went on chattering, and still using the abusive epithet pig when speaking of his master, and talked about the turtles, what a fine feast they had, etc. As it got lighter, he looked up to the roof and said, "This too is just like the house the pig lived in." By-and-by he woke up, as it got light, to the full consciousness that somehow or other he was again in the very house of Tinilau, and that his cannibal master was in the next room. He was dumb and panic-stricken. Orders were given to kill him, and he was despatched accordingly, and his body dressed for the oven. And hence the proverb for any similar action, or if any one takes by mistake or intention what belongs to another, he says in making an apology, "I am like Ae."

Another curious fragment goes from cannibalism to the origin of pigs. A cannibal chief had human victims taken to him regularly, and was in the habit of throwing the heads into a cave close by. A great many heads had been cast in, and he thought no more about them. One day, however, he was sitting on a rock outside the cave when he heard an unusual noise. On looking in, the place was full of pigs, and hence the belief that pigs had their origin in the heads of men, or, as some would call it, a humbling case of evolution downwards!

Cooking.—The Samoans had and still have, the mode of cooking with hot stones which has been often described as prevailing in the South Sea Islands. Fifty or sixty stones about the size of an orange, heated by kindling a fire under them, form, with the hot ashes, an ordinary oven. The taro, bread-fruit, or yams, are laid among the stones, a thick covering of bread-fruit and banana leaves is laid over all, and in about an hour all is well cooked. In the same oven they bake other things, such as fish, done up in leaves and laid side by side with the taro or other vegetables. Little bundles of taro leaves, too, mixed with the expressed juice of the cocoa-nut kernel, and some other dishes, of which cocoa-nut is generally the chief ingredient, are baked at the same time, and used as a relish in the absence of animal food. Salt water is frequently mixed up with these dishes, which is the only form in which they use salt. They had no salt, and were not in the habit of preserving fish or pork otherwise than by repeated cooking. In this way they kept pork for a week, and fish for three weeks or a month. However large, they cooked the entire pig at once; then, using a piece of split bamboo as a carving-knife, cut it up and divided it among the different branches of the family. The duties of cooking devolved on the men; and all, even chiefs of the highest rank, considered it no disgrace to assist in the cooking-house occasionally.

Forbidden Food.—Some birds and fishes were sacred to particular deities, as has been described, and certain parties abstained from eating them. A man would not eat a fish which was supposed to be under the protection and care of his household god; but he would eat, without scruple, fish sacred to the gods of other families. The dog, and some kinds of fish and birds, were sacred to the greater deities—the dii majorum gentium of the Samoans; and, of course, all the people rigidly abstained from these things. For a man to kill and eat anything he considered to be under the special protection of his god, was supposed to be followed by the god's displeasure in the sickness or death of himself, or some member of the family. The same idea seems to have been a check on cannibalism, as there was a fear lest the god of the deceased would be avenged on those who might cook and eat the body.

Liquors.—The young cocoa-nut contains about a tumblerful of a liquid something resembling water sweetened with lump-sugar, and very slightly acid. This is the ordinary beverage of the Samoans. A young cocoa-nut baked in the oven yields a hot draught, which is very pleasant to an invalid. They had no fermented liquors; but they made an intoxicating draught from an infusion of the chewn root of the 'ava plant (Piper methysticum). A bowl of this disgustingly-prepared stuff was made and served out when a party of chiefs sat down to a meal. At their ordinary meals few partook of it but the father, or other senior members of the family. It was always taken before, and not after the meal. Among a formal party of chiefs it was handed round in a cocoa-nut shell cup with a good deal of ceremony. When the cup was filled the name, or title rather, of the person for whom it was intended was called out; the cup-bearer took it to him, he received it, drank it off, and returned the cup to be filled again, as the "portion" of another chief. The most important chiefs had the first cups, and, following the order of rank, all had a draught. The liquor was much diluted; few drank to excess; and, upon the whole, the Samoans were perhaps among the most temperate 'ava drinkers in the South Seas. The old men considered that a little of it strengthened them and prolonged life; and often they had a cup the first thing in the morning.

Hospitality.—The Samoans were remarkable for hospitality. Travelling parties never needed to take food for any place beyond the first stage of their journey. Every village had its "large house," kept in good order, and well spread with mats for the reception of strangers. On the arrival of a party some of the members of every family in the village assembled and prepared food for them. It was the province of the head of one particular family to decide, and send word to the rest, how much it would be necessary for each to provide. After all was cooked, it was taken and laid down in front of the house, and, on presenting it, one of them would make a speech, welcoming them to their village; and, although a sumptuous repast had been provided, an apology would be made that there was nothing better. The strangers replied, returned thanks, and exchanged kind words. In the event of there being a chief of high rank among the party, it would probably be decided that every man, woman, and child of the place turn out, dress themselves in their best, walk in single file, each carrying a fish, a fowl, a lobster, a yam, or something else in the hand, and, singing some merry chant as they went along, proceed to the place, and there lay down in a heap what they had provided for their guests. An evening ball or night-dance was also considered an indispensable accompaniment to the entertainment. A travelling party rarely spent more than one night at a place.

Meals.—The Samoans had a meal about 11 A.M., and their principal meal in the evening. At the evening meal every family was assembled; and men, women, and children all ate together. They had no tables, but seated themselves cross-legged round the circular house on mats. Each had his portion laid down before him on a bread-fruit leaf; and thus they partook, in primitive style, without knife, fork, or spoon. Should any strangers be present, due respect was shown to them by laying before them "a worthy portion." After the meal, water to wash was handed round, and a rub on the post of the house was the usual table-napkin.

The head of the family, in taking his cup of 'ava at the commencement of the evening meal, would pour out a little of it on the ground, as a drink-offering to the gods, and, all being silent, he would utter aloud the following prayer:—

"Here is 'ava for you, O gods! Look kindly towards this family; let it prosper and increase; and let us all be kept in health. Let our plantations be productive; let fruit grow; and may there be abundance of food for us, your creatures.

"Here is 'ava for you, our war gods! Let there be a strong and numerous people for you in this land.

"Here is 'ava for you, O sailing gods![1] Do not come on shore at this place; but be pleased to depart along the ocean to some other land."

It was also very common to pray with an offering of "flaming fire," just before the evening meal. Calling upon some one to blow up the fire and make it blaze, and begging all to be silent, a senior member of the family would pray aloud as follows:—

"This light is for you, O king[2] and gods superior and inferior! If any of you are forgotten do not be angry, this light is for you all. Be propitious to this family; give life to all; and may your presence be prosperity. Let our children be blessed and multiplied. Remove far from us fines and sicknesses. Regard our poverty; and send us food to eat, and cloth to keep us warm. Drive away from us sailing gods, lest they come and cause disease and death. Protect this family by your presence, and may health and long life be given to us all."

It is related of an old chief in Savaii, that one night at the evening meal he ordered a sea-crab to be reserved for his breakfast. In the night some lads of the family got up and ate it. Next morning the old man was in a great rage, rose, and said to his daughter that he was going off to commit suicide, he could bear no longer the unkindness of the family. He seized his staff and went off to the mountain, where there is a deep ravine. When he reached the edge of the precipice he called to his daughter, who had followed him, that he would jump over, and cause a storm to arise and destroy the place—and over he went. The daughter thought it was of no use to go home, and so she lay down on the edge of the ravine, and became a mountain to shut up the storm and save the people from the threatened wrath of her father.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Gods supposed to come in Tongan canoes and foreign vessels.]

[Footnote 2: The principal god of the family.]



CHAPTER IX.

CLOTHING.

In our last chapter we alluded to the food of the Samoans, and now proceed to a description of their clothing, the materials of which it is made, their modes of ornament, etc.

During the day a covering of ti leaves (Dracaena terminalis) was all that either sex thought necessary. "They sewed" ti "leaves together, and made themselves aprons." The men had a small one about a foot square, the women had theirs made of longer ti leaves, reaching from the waist down below the knee, and made wide, so as to form a girdle covering all round. They had no regular covering for any other part of the body. Occasionally, during rain, they would tie a banana leaf round the head for a cap, or hold one over them as an umbrella. They made shades for the eyes of a little piece of plaited cocoa-nut leaflet; and sometimes they made sandals of the plaited bark of the Hibiscus tiliaceus, to protect the feet while fishing among the prickly coral about the reef.

Native Cloth.—At night they slept on a mat, using as a covering a mat or a sheet of native cloth, and inclosed all round by a curtain of the same material to keep out musquitoes. In sickness, also, they wrapped themselves up in native cloth. Their native cloth was made of the inner bark of the paper mulberry (Morus papyrifera) beaten out on a board, and joined together with arrow-root, so as to form any width or length of cloth required.

The juice of the raspings of the bark of trees, together with red clay, turmeric, and the soot of burnt candle-nut, furnished them with colouring matter and varnish, with which they daubed their native cloth in the form of squares, stripes, triangles, etc., but, with a few exceptions, perhaps, devoid of taste or regularity.

Tutunga is the native name of the paper mulberry. A fabulous story is told of it and a stinging tree called Salato. As the tale goes, they were two brothers, and had each his plot of ground and a distinct boundary. One morning Tutunga stretched over his boundary and crossed to Salato. Salato was displeased and complained to Tutunga, but he was sullen and made no reply. The affair was referred to the parents; who decided that the two should separate, and that Salato should go further inland, and be sacred and respected; and so it is, no one dares to touch it. On the other hand, Tutunga was severely punished for having proudly crossed his boundary. He was to be cut, and skinned, and beaten, and painted, and made to cover the bodies of men. Then to rot, and then to be burned. And so it is—thus ends Tutunga the proud.

Fine Mats.—Their fine mats were, and are still, considered their most valuable clothing. These mats are made of the leaves of a species of pandanus scraped clean and thin as writing-paper, and slit into strips about the sixteenth part of an inch wide. They are made by the women; and, when completed, are from two to three yards square. They are of a straw and cream colour, are fringed, and, in some instances, ornamented with small scarlet feathers inserted here and there. These mats are thin, and almost as flexible as a piece of calico. Few of the women can make them, and many months—yea, years, are sometimes spent over the making of a single mat. These fine mats are considered their most valuable property, and form a sort of currency which they give and receive in exchange. They value them at from two to forty shillings each. They are preserved with great care; some of them pass through several generations, and as their age and historic interest increase, they are all the more valued.

Another kind of fine mats for clothing they weave out of the bark of a plant of the nettle tribe, which is extensively spread over these islands without any cultivation. They are shaggy on the one side, and, when bleached white, resemble a prepared fleecy sheep-skin. These they sometimes dye with red clay found in the mountains. From the strength and whiteness of the fibre manufactured from this plant, it is capable of being turned to great use.

Cleanliness.—As the native cloth cannot be washed without destroying it, it is generally filthy in the extreme before it is laid aside. This has induced a habit of carelessness in washing cotton and other garments, which is very offensive and difficult to eradicate. They are cleanly, however, in other habits beyond most of the natives of Polynesia. Their floor and sleeping mats are kept clean and tidy. They generally use the juice of the wild orange in cleansing, and bathe regularly every day. It is worth remarking, too, that, while bathing, they have a girdle of leaves or some other covering round the waist. In this delicate sense of propriety it would be well for some more civilised parts of the world to learn a lesson from the Samoans.

Special Occasions.—At marriages and on other gala days, the women, and many of the men, laid aside the leaves and girded themselves with fine mats. Gay young men and women decorated themselves with garlands of flowers or shells. The nautilus shell, broken into small pieces, and strung together, was a favourite head-dress. They oiled themselves from head to foot with scented oil, and sometimes mixed turmeric with the oil to give their skin a tinge of yellow.

Both sexes kept uncovered the upper part of the body, and wore shells, beads, or other trinkets round the neck. They prided themselves also in dressing their children in a similar style. The women wore the hair short, and, on occasions, sometimes had it raised and stiffened with a mixture of scented oil and the gum of the bread-fruit tree. It was fashionable, also, for young women to have a small twisted lock of hair, with a curl at the end of it, hanging from the left temple. The men wore their hair long and gathered up in a knot on the crown of the head, a little to the right side. In company, however, and when attending religious services, they were careful to untie the string, and let their hair flow behind, as a mark of respect. Gay young men occasionally cut their hair short, leaving a small twisted lock hanging down towards the breast from either temple. Their hair is naturally black; but they were fond of dyeing it a light brown colour, by the application of lime, which they made by burning the coral. To dye hair, and also to rub and blind the eyes of pigs which trespassed into neighbouring plantations, were the only uses to which they applied lime in the time of heathenism.

The beard they shaved with the teeth of the shark. Armlets of small white shells were worn by the men above the elbow-joint. Some pierced their ears with a thorn, and wore a small flower for an earring; but this was not very common. A long comb, made from the stem of the cocoa-nut leaflet, was a common ornament of the women, and worn in the hair behind the ear. For a looking-glass, they sometimes used a tub of water; but in arranging the head-dress, they were more frequently guided by the eyes and taste of others. The tattooing, which we described in a previous chapter, was also considered one of their principal ornaments.

There is a story told of a Fijian chief called Fulualela, Feathers-of-the-Sun, who came with his daughter to visit Samoa. He had heard of the beauty of the islands and their handsome inhabitants, and thought he might find here a husband chief for his daughter. He was greatly surprised, however, to discover that while the islands were lovely, and the people attractive, they had no mats in their houses, but slept on dried grass like the pigs. He could not think of leaving his daughter; but when he returned to Fiji he made up a present of fine mats, native cloth, and scented oil, as if it were his daughter's dowry, and went back to Samoa with the generous gift, adding also pandanus and paper mulberry plants with which to stock Samoa with material for making such household comforts as mats and native cloth. And hence it is said that ever since the gift of Feathers-of-the-Sun from Fiji, Samoa has had the luxuries of mats to sleep on, and sheets of native cloth to cover them.



CHAPTER X.

AMUSEMENTS.

Under the head of amusements, dancing, wrestling, boxing, fencing, and a variety of games and sports, call for description, and to these we shall briefly advert.

Dancing was a common entertainment on festive occasions, such as a marriage. Some of their dances were in the daytime, and, like dress-balls of other countries, were accompanied with a display of fancy mats and other Samoan finery. At the night assemblies the men dressed in their short leaf aprons. Sometimes only the men danced, at other times women, and occasionally the parties were mixed. They danced in parties of two, three, and upwards, on either side. If the one party moved in one direction, the other party took the opposite. They had also various gesticulations, which they practised with some regularity. If, for example, the one party moved along with the right arm raised, the other did precisely the same. It was posturing rather than saltation.

Singing, clapping the hands, beating time on the floor-mats, and drumming, were the usual musical accompaniments. Their music, on these occasions, was a monotonous chant of a line or two, repeated over and over again, with no variety beyond two or three notes. They sought variety rather in time. They began slow, and gradually increased until, at the end of ten or twenty minutes, they were full of excitement, the perspiration streaming down, and their tongues galloping over the rhyme at breathless speed. For a drum, they had two or three contrivances. One, a log of wood six or eight feet long, hollowed out from a narrow elongated opening on the upper surface; and this they beat with a short stick or mallet. Another was a set of bamboos, four feet long and downwards, arranged like a Pan's pipe, having the open ends inclosed in a mat bag, and this bag they beat with a stick. A third kind of drumming was effected by four or five men, each with a bamboo open at the top and closed at the bottom, with which, holding vertically, they beat the ground, or a stone or any hard substance, and as the bamboos are of various lengths, they emitted a variety of sounds. At these night-dances all kinds of obscenity in looks, language, and gesture prevailed; and often they danced and revelled till daylight.

Court buffoons furnished some amusement at dancing and other festivals, and also at public meetings. If a chief of importance went to any of these assemblies he had in his train one or two humourists, who, by oddity in dress, gait, or gesture, or by lascivious jokes, tried to excite laughter.

Boxing and fencing were common on festive days, and often led to serious quarrels. In fencing, they used the stalk of the cocoa-nut leaf as a substitute for a club. Women, as well as men, entered the ring, and strove for the fame of a pugilist.

Wrestling was another amusement. Sometimes they chose sides, say four against four; and the party who had the most thrown had to furnish their opponents with a cooked pig, served up with taro, or supply any other kind of food that might be staked at the outset of the game. A supply of some kind of food was the usual forfeit in all their games.

Clasp and undo was another kind of wrestling. One man clasped a second tightly round the waist, and this second does the same to a third. The three thus fastened together lay down and challenged any single man to separate them. If he succeeded, they paid the forfeit; if not, he did.

Throwing the spear was also common. The young men of one street or village matched against those of another; and, after fixing a mark in the distance, threw a small wooden javelin so that it might first strike the ground, and then spring upwards and onwards in the direction of the mark. They who threw farthest won the game, and had a repast of food at the expense of those who lost it. In more direct spear-throwing they set up the stem of a young cocoa-nut tree, with the base upwards, which is soft and spongy. One party threw at it, and filled it with spears. The other party threw, and tried to knock them down. If any remained after all had thrown they were counted until they reached the number fixed for the game. In another of these amusements a man stood in the distance and allowed another to throw spears at him. He had no shield, but merely a club; and with this he showed surprising dexterity in hitting off spear after spear as it approached him.

Fishing matches were in vogue at particular seasons. The party who took the most fish won, and were treated with cooked pigs and other viands by those who lost.

Pigeon-catching was another amusement, and one, like our English falconry of other days, in which the chiefs especially delighted. The principal season set in about June. Great preparations were made for it; all the pigs of a settlement were sometimes slaughtered and baked for the occasion; and, laden with all kinds of food, the whole population of the place went off to certain pigeon-grounds in the bush. There they put up huts, and remained sometimes for months at the sport.

The ground being cleared, the chiefs stationed themselves at distances all round a large circular space, each concealed under a low shed or covering of brushwood, having by his side a net attached to a long bamboo, and in his hand a stick with a tame pigeon on a crook at the end of it. This pigeon was trained to fly round and round, as directed by its owner, with a string at its foot thirty feet long, attached to the end of his stick. Every man flew his pigeon, and then the whole circle looked like a place where pigeons were flocking round food or water. The scene soon attracted some wild pigeon; and, as it approached the spot, whoever was next to it raised his net and tried to entangle it. He who got the greatest number of pigeons was the hero of the day, and honoured by his friends with various kinds of food, with which he treated his less successful competitors. Some of the pigeons were baked, others were distributed about and tamed for further use. Taming and exercising them for the sporting season was a common pastime.

Spinning the cocoa-nut was another amusement. A party sat down in a circle, and one in the centre spinned a cocoa-nut. When it rested they saw to whom the three black marks or eyes on the end of the shell pointed, and imposed upon him some little service to the whole, such as unhusking chestnuts, or going for a load of cocoa-nuts. This is especially worthy of remark, as it was the Samoan method of casting lots. If a number of people were unwilling to go a message or do a piece of work, they decided the matter by wheeling round the cocoa-nut to see to whom it turned its face, as they called it, when it rested. Sometimes they appealed to this lot, and fixed the charge of stealing on a person towards whom the face of the cocoa-nut pointed.

They had also a game of hide-and-seek, with the addition that those who hid tried to escape those who sought, and ran to a given post or mark. All who reached the post were counted towards making up the game.

Pitching small cocoa-nut shells to the end of a mat was a favourite amusement of the chiefs. They tried to knock each other's shells off the given spot. They played in parties of two and two, with five shells each. They who had most shells left on the place after all had thrown won.

They had also guessing sports. One party hid, the other bundled up one of their number in a large basket covered over with a mat or cloth. Then they too hid, all but three, who carried the basket to the other party for them to guess who was in it. If they guessed correctly, then they in turn got the basket to do the same. The successful guesses were counted for the game.

They were in the habit of amusing themselves with riddles, of which the following are a specimen:—

"1. A man who continues standing out of doors with a burden on his back.—Explanation. A banana tree, with a bunch of bananas.

"2. There are twenty brothers, each with a hat on his head.—Explan. A man's fingers and toes; the nails of which are represented as hats.

"3. A man who stands between two ravenous fish.—Explan. The tongue, as being placed between the teeth of the upper and lower jaws.

"4. There are four brothers, who are always bearing about their father.—Explan. The Samoan pillow, formed by four legs and a bamboo; the legs being the four brothers, the bamboo the father.

"5. There is a man who calls out continually day and night.—Explan. The surf on the reef, which never rests.

"6. There is a man who, when he leaves the bush, is very little; but when he has reached the sea-shore, becomes very great.—Explan. The bark of the paper-mulberry, which, when first taken off the wood, is very narrow; but, when beaten out to make the native cloth, becomes very broad.

"7. A man who has a white head stands above the fence, and reaches to the heavens.—Explan. The smoke rising from the oven.

"8. The person who sleeps on a bed of whales' teeth.—Explan. A fowl sitting on her eggs.

"9. Many brothers, but only one intestine.—Explan. A string of beads. The beads being the brothers, and the string the intestine.

"10. A long house with one post.—Explan. The nose; the septum being the post."

They had also games at rhyming. One party would choose the names of trees and another the names of men. Those who sided with the trees would say: "There is the Fau tree, tell us a name which will rhyme with it." The reply would perhaps be Tulifau.

Again, there is the Toa, and the other party would reply Tuisamoa. And so on they went till one party had exhausted all the names they could think of, owned the defeat, and paid the forfeit.

In a similar game one party would name a bird or beast, and the other a fish with a corresponding rhyme. For example, for the birds:

Lupe, they would give the name of the fish, Une. Ngongo, Do. do. do. Alongo. Tiotala, Do. do. do. Ngatala.

Here, too, there was a forfeit if beaten. They had tripping and stammering games also. One party would say to the other—you repeat

"O lo matou niu afaafa lava le la i tuafale, Sasa, ma fili, ma faataa, ma lafo i fongavai."

If any one tripped when repeating it he had to pay a forfeit.

Another might be in rhyme and run as follows:

"Na au sau mai Safata, Ou afe i le ngatai ala, E fafanga i si au tiaa, Fafanga, fafanga, pa le manava. Fafanga, fafanga, pa le manava."

Another as his puzzle to repeat correctly would give:

"Na au sau mai Mali'oli'o, Lou ala i umu, Lou ala i paito, Lou ala i puto pute, Lou ala i pute puto."

If any one slipped in repeating he paid the forfeit.

In some of their evening sports theatricals were in vogue. Illustrations would be given of selfish schemes to take things easy at the expense of others, clownish processions to create laughter, or marriage ceremonies in which, when it came to the point, the bride rebelled and would not have her husband. Ventriloquism also was attempted, in which, as they say, "voices spoke to them without bodies."

They amused each other also by stories of hoodwinking and trickery, such as the following:—A Samoan and a Tongan made friends with each other. When the latter went away on a visit to Tonga the former begged him to bring back one of their large cocoa-nuts, which are prized as water-bottles. He promised to do it on condition that the Samoan would look out for him a fine white fowl.

The Samoan got ready the fowl, and made a basket in which to put it. The Tongan returned with a large unhusked nut, but on the voyage he split up the husk, took out the nut, and closed all up again. The Samoan had the gift of second sight, knew what the Tongan had done, and so he let loose the white fowl, and put an owl in its place in the basket.

The Tongan on his arrival gave him the large mock nut, minus the real nut and kernel, and the Samoan handed him the basket with the pretended white fowl.

The Tongan jumped into his canoe again, and went off in high glee singing:

"Niu niu, pulu! Niu niu, pulu!"

"Cocoa-nut, cocoa-nut, Only a husk!"

But the wind was taken out of his sail by the laughter and antics of his friend on the beach shouting after him:

"Moa, moa, lulu!" "Fowl, fowl, only an owl!"

They had sundry other amusements. Swimming in the surf on a board, and steering little canoes while borne along on the crest of a wave towards the shore, were favourite juvenile sports. Canoe-racing, races with one party in a canoe and another along the beach, races with both parties on land, climbing cocoa-nut trees to see who can go up quickest, reviews and sham-fighting, cock-fighting, tossing up oranges and keeping three, four, or more of them on the move: these and many other things were of old and are still numbered among Samoan sports. The teeth and jaws, too, are called into exercise. One man would engage to unhusk with his teeth and eat five large native chesnuts (Tuscapus edulis) before another could run a certain distance and return. If he failed, he paid his basket of cocoa-nuts, or whatever might be previously agreed upon.

Our juvenile friends will be sure to recognise some of their favourite amusements in this description, and will, perhaps, feel inclined to try the novelty of some of these Samoan variations. What a surprising unity of thought and feeling is discoverable among the various races of mankind from a comparison of such customs as these!



CHAPTER XI.

MORTALITY, LONGEVITY, DISEASES, ETC.

Mortality, longevity, diseases, and the treatment of the sick, will now form the subject of a few observations; and here we begin with—

Infants.—Before the introduction of Christianity probably not less than two-thirds of the Samoan race died in infancy and childhood. This mortality arose principally from carelessness and mismanagement in nursing; evils which still prevail to a great extent. Even now, perhaps, one-half of them die before they reach their second year. The poor little things are often carried about with their bare heads exposed to the scorching rays of a vertical sun. Exposure to the night-damps also, and above all stuffing them with improper food, are evils which often make us wonder that the mortality among them is not greater than it is. The Samoans were always fond of their children, and would have done anything for them when ill; but, with the exception of external applications for skin diseases, they had no proper remedies for the numerous disorders of children. Were their care in preventing disease equal to their anxiety to observe a cure when the child is really ill, there would probably be less sickness among them, and fewer deaths.

Adults.—The universal opinion of the natives is that the mortality is now greater among young and middle-aged people than it was formerly. "It was common," they say, "to see three or four old men in a house, whereas you rarely see more than one now." Among a people destitute of statistics or records of any kind, it is difficult to speak correctly of an earlier date than 1830. Since that time, however, the population has been remarkably stationary. We have not observed any marked disproportion in the deaths of adults of any particular age compared with other parts of the world. A person died in 1847 who was present at the massacre of M. de Langle and others connected with the exploring expedition of La Perouse in 1787, and who was then a youth of about fourteen years of age. Judging from his appearance, we may suppose that there are some in every village who must be sixty, seventy, and even eighty years of age.

They have stories of a giant race, and tell particularly of one called Tafai. He was very tall and strong, but not cruel to any one. He could throw a long cocoa-nut tree at the rocks as if he were but hurling a thin spear. He plucked up by the roots a great Malili tree, eighty feet high, carried it off on his shoulder, branches and all, and could throw it up and catch it again as if he were playing with a small crab. It is said, too, that so great was his weight, if he put his foot on a rock it left a footprint as if the rock had been soft sand.

Diseases.—Pulmonary affections, paralysis, diseases of the spine producing humpback, ophthalmia, skin diseases, scrofulous, and other ulcers, elephantiasis, and a species of leprosy, are among the principal diseases with which they were afflicted. Ophthalmia and various diseases of the eye were very prevalent. There were few cases of total blindness; but many had one of the organs of vision destroyed. Connected with diseases of the eye, pterygium is common; not only single, but double, triple, and even quadruple are occasionally met with. The leprosy of which we speak has greatly abated. The natives say that formerly many had it, and suffered from its ulcerous sores until all the fingers of a hand or the toes of a foot had fallen off. Elephantiasis, producing great enlargement of the legs and arms, has, they think, somewhat abated too; only, they say, it prevails among the young men more now than it did formerly. Insanity is occasionally met with. It was invariably traced in former times to the immediate presence of an evil spirit. If furious, the party was tied hand to hand and foot to foot until a change for the better appeared. Idiots are not common. Consumption they call "Moomoo;" and there were certain native doctors who were supposed to be successful in spearing the disease, or rather the spirit causing it. The doctor when sent for would come in, sit down before the patient, and chant as follows:—

"Moomoo e! Moomoo e! O le a ou velosia atu oe;"

which in English is—

"O Moomoo! O Moomoo! I'm on the eve of spearing you."

Then he would rise up, flourish about with his spear over the head of the patient, and leave the house. No one dared speak or smile during the ceremony. Influenza is a new disease to the natives. They say that the first attack of it ever known in Samoa was during the Aana war in 1830, just as the missionaries Williams and Barff, with Tahitian teachers, first reached their shores. The natives at once traced the disease to the foreigners and the new religion; the same opinion spread through these seas, and especially among the islands of the New Hebrides. Ever since there have been returns of the disease almost annually. It is generally preceded by unsettled weather, and westerly or southerly winds. Its course is generally from east to west. It lasts for about a month, and passes off as fine weather and steady trade-winds set in. In many cases it is fatal to old people and those who have been previously weakened by pulmonary diseases. There was an attack in May 1837, and another in November 1846, both of which were unusually severe and fatal. They have a tradition of an epidemic, answering the description of cholera, which raged with fearful violence probably about eighty years ago. In 1849 hooping-cough made its appearance, and prevailed for several months, among adults as well as children. A good many of the children died. In 1851 another new disease surprised the natives—viz. the mumps. It was traced to a vessel from California collecting pigs, and soon spread all over the group. Scarcely a native escaped. It answered the usual description of the attack given in medical works, and passed off in ten days or a fortnight. Hitherto they have been exempt from small-pox. Some years ago the missionaries vaccinated all the natives, and continue to do so as often as a supply of vaccine lymph is obtained.

Medicine.—The Samoans in their heathenism seldom had recourse to any internal remedy except an emetic, which they used after having eaten a poisonous fish. Sometimes juices from the bush were tried; at other times the patient drank on at water until it was rejected; and, on some occasions, mud, and even the most unmentionable filth, was mixed up and taken as an emetic draught. Latterly, as their intercourse with Tongans, Fijians, Tahitians, and Sandwich Islanders increased, they made additions to their pharmacopoeia of juices from the bush. Each disease had its particular physician. Shampooing and anointing the affected part of the body with scented oil by the native doctors was common; and to this charms were frequently added, consisting of some flowers from the bush done up in a piece of native cloth and put in a conspicuous place in the thatch over the patient.

The advocates of kinnesipathy would be interested in finding, were they to visit the South Seas, that most of their friction, percussion, and other manipulations, were in vogue there ages ago, and are still practised. Now, however, European medicines are eagerly sought after; so much so, that every missionary is obliged to have a dispensary, and to set apart a certain hour every day to give advice and medicine to the sick.

As the Samoans supposed disease to be occasioned by the wrath of some particular deity, their principal desire, in any difficult case, was not for medicine, but to ascertain the cause of the calamity. The friends of the sick went to the high priest of the village. He was sure to assign some cause; and, whatever that was, they were all anxiety to have it removed, as the means of restoration. If he said they were to give up a canoe to the god, it was given up. If a piece of land was asked, it was passed over at once. Or, if he did not wish anything particular from the party, he would probably tell them to assemble the family, "confess, and throw out." In this ceremony each member of the family confessed his crimes and any judgments which, in anger, he had invoked on the family or upon the particular member of it then ill; and, as a proof that he revoked all such imprecations, he took a little water in his mouth, and spurted it out towards the person who was sick.