door."

While the days go thus in these Southern islands we at the North are
struggling for the bare necessities of life.

For food the islanders have only to put out their hand and take what
nature has provided for them; if they plant a banana-tree, their only
care afterward is to see that too many trees do not grow. They have
great reason to love their country and to fear the white man's yoke,
for once harnessed to the plow, their life would no longer be a poem.

The chief of the village of Caini, who was a tall and dignified Tonga
man, could be approached only through an interpreter and talking man.
It was perfectly natural for him to inquire the object of my visit,
and I was sincere when I told him that my reason for casting anchor in
Samoa was to see their fine men, and fine women, too. After a
considerable pause the chief said: "The captain has come a long way to
see so little; but," he added, "the tapo must sit nearer the captain."
"Yack," said Taloa, who had so nearly learned to say yes in English,
and suiting the action to the word, she hitched a peg nearer, all
hands sitting in a circle upon mats. I was no less taken with the
chiefs eloquence than delighted with the simplicity of all he said.
About him there was nothing pompous; he might have been taken for a
great scholar or statesman, the least assuming of the men I met on the
voyage. As for Taloa, a sort of Queen of the May, and the other tapo
girls, well, it is wise to learn as soon as possible the manners and
customs of these hospitable people, and meanwhile not to mistake for
over-familiarity that which is intended as honor to a guest. I was
fortunate in my travels in the islands, and saw nothing to shake one's
faith in native virtue.

To the unconventional mind the punctilious etiquette of Samoa is
perhaps a little painful. For instance, I found that in partaking of
ava, the social bowl, I was supposed to toss a little of the beverage
over my shoulder, or pretend to do so, and say, "Let the gods drink,"
and then drink it all myself; and the dish, invariably a
cocoanut-shell, being empty, I might not pass it politely as we would
do, but politely throw it twirling across the mats at the tapo.

My most grievous mistake while at the islands was made on a nag,
which, inspired by a bit of good road, must needs break into a smart
trot through a village. I was instantly hailed by the chief's deputy,
who in an angry voice brought me to a halt. Perceiving th