ame on board, and where
Laupepa was only allowed on deck at night. He could then see the lights
of a town with wharves; he supposes Cape Town. Off the Cameroons they
anchored or lay-to, far at sea, and sent a boat ashore to see (he
supposes) that there was no British man-of-war. It was the next morning
before the boat returned, when the _Albatross_ stood in and came to
anchor near another German ship. Here Alualu came to him on deck and
told him this was the place. "That is an astonishing thing," said he. "I
thought I was to go to Germany, I do not know what this means; I do not
know what will be the end of it; my heart is troubled." Whereupon Alualu
burst into tears. A little after, Laupepa was called below to the
captain and the governor. The last addressed him: "This is my own place,
a good place, a warm place. My house is not yet finished, but when it
is, you shall live in one of my rooms until I can make a house for you."
Then he was taken ashore and brought to a tall, iron house. "This house
is regulated," said the governor; "there is no fire allowed to burn in
it." In one part of this house, weapons of the government were hung up;
there was a passage, and on the other side of the passage, fifty
criminals were chained together, two and two, by the ankles. The windows
were out of reach; and there was only one door, which was opened at six
in the morning and shut again at six at night. All day he had his
liberty, went to the Baptist Mission, and walked about viewing the
negroes, who were "like the sand on the seashore" for number. At six
they were called into the house and shut in for the night without beds or
lights. "Although they gave me no light," said he, with a smile, "I
could see I was in a prison." Good food was given him: biscuits, "tea
made with warm water," beef, etc.; all excellent. Once, in their walks,
they spied a breadfruit tree bearing in the garden of an English
merchant, ran back to the prison to get a shilling, and came and offered
to purchase. "I am not going to sell breadfruit to you people," said the
merchant; "come and take what you like." Here Malietoa interrupted
himself to say it was the only tree bearing in the Cameroons. "The
governor had none, or he would have given it to me." On the passage from
the Cameroons to Germany, he had great delight to see the cliffs of
England. He saw "the rocks shining in the sun, and three hours later was
surprised to find them sunk in