the Tonga Islands, an
excursion steamer will remain for perhaps forty hours; at Apia, in
Samoa, forty-eight hours; and at Papeite, the capital of the French
island of Tahiti, forty-eight hours. At the two latter places the
traveller will be charmed by the lovely scenery, and disgusted by the
squalid appearance of the natives; for within the last ten years great
changes have occurred, and the native communities inhabiting the island
ports, such as Apia and Papeite, have degenerated into the veriest
loafers, spongers, and thieves. The appearance of a strange European in
any of the environs of Apia is the signal for an onslaught of beggars of
all ages and both sexes, who will pester his life out for tobacco; if he
says he does not smoke, they say a sixpence will do as well. If he
refuses he is pretty sure to be insulted by some half-naked ruffian, and
will be glad to get back to the ship or to the refuge of an hotel. And
yet, away from the contaminating influences of the town the white
stranger will meet with politeness and respect wherever he
goes--particularly if he is an Englishman--and will at once note the
pleasing difference in the manners of the natives. Yet it must now be
remembered that Samoa--with the exception of the beautiful island of
Tutuila--is German territory, and German officials are none too effusive
to Englishmen or Americans--in Samoa.

But if any one wants to spend an enjoyable time in the South Seas let
him avoid the "excursion ship" and go there in a trading steamer. There
are several of these now sailing out of Australasian ports, and there is
a choice of groups to visit. If a four months' voyage is not too long, a
passage may be obtained in a small, but fairly fast and comfortable
boat of 600 tons sailing from Sydney, which visits over forty islands in
her cruise from Niue or Savage Island, ten days' steam from Sydney, to
Jaluit in the Marshall Islands. But this particular cruise I would not
recommend to any one in search of a variety of beautiful scenery, for
nearly all of the islands visited are of the one type--low-lying sandy
atolls, densely verdured with coco-palms, and very monotonous from their
sameness of appearance. Their inhabitants, however, are widely different
in manners, customs, and general mode of life. To the ethnologist such a
cruise among the Ellice, Gilbert, and Marshall Islands would no doubt be
full of interest; but to the traveller in search of either beautiful
scenery or s