port (except fishing) they would be disappointing.

Let us suppose that the intending traveller desires to make a stay of
some two or three months in the Samoan Group. He can reach there easily
enough from Sydney or Auckland by steamer once a month, either by one of
the Union Steamship Company's regular traders or by one of the San
Francisco mail boats. From Sydney the voyage occupies eight days, from
Auckland five. The outfit required for a three or four months' stay is
not a large one--light clothing can be bought almost as cheaply in Samoa
as in Sydney, a couple of guns with plenty of ammunition (for cartridges
are shockingly dear in the Islands), a large and varied assortment of
deep-sea tackle, a rod for fresh-water or reef fishing, and a good
waterproof and rugs for camping out, as the early mornings are sometimes
very chilly. And there is one other thing that is worth while taking,
even though it may cost from L30 to L50 or so in Sydney--a good
secondhand boat, with two suits of sails. Thus provided the sportsman
can sail all along the coasts of Savaii and Upolu, and be practically
independent of the local storekeepers. To hire a boat is very expensive,
and to travel in native craft is horribly uncomfortable, and risky as
well. And such a boat can always be sold again for at least its cost.

A stay of two or three days, or at most a week, in Apia is quite long
enough, and the stranger will get all the information he requires about
the outlying districts from the Consuls or any of the old white
residents. Such provisions as are needed--tea, sugar, flour, biscuits,
tinned or other meats, &c.--can be had at fairly cheap rates; but a
large stock should be taken, for, besides the keep of the native crew
of, say, four men, it must always be borne in mind that a white visitor
is expected to return the hospitality he receives from the native chiefs
by making a present, and the Samoans are particularly susceptible to the
charms of tinned meats, sardines, salmon, and _falaoa_ (bread or
biscuit). That such a return should be made is only just and natural,
though I am sorry to say that very often it is not. Then, again, it is
very easy to stow away in the trade box in the boat eight or ten pieces
of good print, cut off in pieces of six fathoms (which is enough to make
a woman's gown), about 30 lbs. of twist negrohead tobacco (twenty to
thirty sticks to the pound), half a gross of lucifer matches, and such
things as cotton, s