orce of those of early,
native origin.

Apia, already referred to, is the residence of the several foreign
consuls. It has a small but safe harbor, and in the olden times was a
famous resort for American whalers. Prominent in the picture of the town
as seen from the water is a Roman Catholic cathedral of stone, with a
graceful spire, behind which upon a hillside is the comfortable house of
the bishop. There are a number of Catholic priests upon these islands,
and we were told that near to Apia is a convent of Samoan nuns, which
struck us as the height of absurdity. Upolu claims the distinction of
containing the only nunnery in the South Pacific. Grog-shops have as
usual followed close upon the footsteps of the missionaries, and even
Apia contains six of them in full blast.

We had as fellow-passengers a family of English missionaries to land at
Tutuila, who were on their return to the islands after a brief visit to
their European home. This family had already lived five years among the
Samoans, and were returning hither to complete their term of ten years
under the direction of the London Missionary Society. Much interesting
information was gathered from them concerning the manners and customs of
the people of the group. As a race, it appears that they are quite
distinct from other Polynesian tribes, and are far behind many of them
in point of civilization. They seemed to us to be half amphibious, full
of mirth and irresponsibility as we saw them in their naked simplicity,
quite as much at home in the water as in their canoes. We were told that
the children learned to swim before they could fairly walk,--which
seemed almost incredible. They are mostly professed Christians, whatever
that may signify to them,--though we very much doubt if a dozen could
give the meaning of the term. One real and undoubted benefit which these
missionaries impart to the natives is that they are teaching them to
read, write, and speak English in regularly organized schools; so that
there will be few of the rising generation who will not possess this
important knowledge at least.

The health of the people on these islands is represented to be most
excellent, owing to the perfection of the climate; but there is one
prominent drawback to the locality in the presence and prevalence of
elephantiasis among the natives, from which hideous disease the foreign
residents are not exempt. It requires time to develop it in the system,
and it does not a