e to dwell among
them. It was as Tusitala, the writer of tales, that Louis was best
known, his wife was called Aolele,[48] flying cloud, and her daughter,
because of her kindness in giving ribbons and other little trinkets to
the girls, was named Teuila, the decorator. Tamaitai is a general
title, meaning "Madam," and is used in reference to the lady of the
house. Mr. Stevenson himself started the custom by calling his wife
Tamaitai, and it was finally adopted by everybody and grew to be her
name--the complete title being Tamaitai Aolele (Madam Aolele). These
Samoan names were adopted partly as a convenience, to escape the
embarrassment that sometimes arose from the habit among the natives of
calling the different members of the family by their first names. It
was felt to be rather undignified, for instance, that the mistress of
the house should be called "Fanny" by her servants.

[Footnote 47: Pronounced Tahmyty, with the accent on the
"my."]

[Footnote 48: Translated in an old missionary notebook
as "beautiful as a flying cloud."]

Mrs. Stevenson, as I have said before, was a famous cook, and had
learned how to make at least some of the characteristic dishes of each
of the many countries where she had sojourned awhile in her long
wanderings. From her mother she had inherited many an old Dutch
receipt--peppery pot, noodle soup, etc.; in France she acquired the
secret of preparing a _bouillabaise_,[49] sole _a la marguery_, and
many others; from Abdul, an East Indian cook she brought from Fiji,
she learned how to make a wonderful mutton curry which contained more
ingredients than perhaps any other dish on earth; in the South Seas
she picked up the art of making raw-fish salad; and now at Vailima
she lost no time in adding Samoan receipts to her list. She soon knew
how to prepare to perfection a pig roasted underground and eaten with
Miti sauce,[50] besides dozens of other dishes, including _ava_ for
drinking.

[Footnote 49: A Provencal fish-chowder.]

[Footnote 50: Miti sauce is made of grated kukui nuts
mixed with lime-juice and sea-water.]

It was not the least of her duties to play the hostess to a remarkable
assortment of guests--the Chief Justice, officers from the men-of-war
that frequently came into the harbour, Protestant, Catholic, and
Mormon missionaries, all kinds of visitors to the islands, including
an