o Mataafa's," though
restrained from battle by the lack of ammunition. "As for Tamasese,"
says Fritze of the same date, "he is now but a phantom--_dient er nur
als Gespenst_. His party, for practical purposes, is no longer large.
They pretend ammunition to be lacking, but what they lack most is
good-will. Captain Brandeis, whose influence is now small, declares they
can no longer sustain a serious engagement, and is himself in the
intention of leaving Samoa by the _Luebeck_ of the 5th February." And
Knappe, in the same despatch, confutes himself and confirms the
testimony of his naval colleague, by the admission that "the
re-establishment of Tamasese's government is, under present
circumstances, not to be thought of." Plainly, then, he was not so much
seeking to deceive others, as he was himself possessed; and we must
regard the whole series of his acts and despatches as the agitations of
a fever.

The British steamer _Richmond_ returned to Apia, January 15th. On the
last voyage she had brought the ammunition already so frequently
referred to; as a matter of fact, she was again bringing contraband of
war. It is necessary to be explicit upon this, which served as spark to
so great a flame of scandal. Knappe was justified in interfering; he
would have been worthy of all condemnation if he had neglected, in his
posture of semi-investment, a precaution so elementary; and the manner
in which he set about attempting it was conciliatory and almost timid.
He applied to Captain Hand, and begged him to accept himself the duty of
"controlling" the discharge of the _Richmond's_ cargo. Hand was unable
to move without his consul; and at night an armed boat from the Germans
boarded, searched, and kept possession of, the suspected ship. The next
day, as by an after-thought, war and martial law were proclaimed for the
Samoan Islands, the introduction of contraband of war forbidden, and
ships and boats declared liable to search. "All support of the rebels
will be punished by martial law," continued the proclamation, "no matter
to what nationality the person [_Thaeter_] may belong."

Hand, it has been seen, declined to act in the matter of the _Richmond_
without the concurrence of his consul; but I have found no evidence that
either Hand or Knappe communicated with de Coetlogon, with whom they
were both at daggers drawn. First the seizure and next the proclamation
seem to have burst on the English consul from a clear sky; and he wrote
o