FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166  
167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   189   190   191   >>   >|  
not thought to forbid this abomination, or has not dared. "_July 8._ News comes that the fighting has begun, and that eleven heads have been taken to Mulinuu,[55] and, worst of all, that one of the heads is that of a village maid, a thing before unheard-of among Samoans. [Footnote 55: Mulinuu was the seat of government. King Malietoa lived there.] "_July 10._ Mataafa is routed, and, after burning Malie, has fled to Manono. His son was killed with a hatchet and his head taken. In all we hear of three heads of women being brought in to Mulinuu. When Mataafa was the man before whom all trembled we offered him our friendship and broke bread with him. If I gave him loyalty then, fifty thousand times more do I give it now." At last the smoke and thunder of war rolled away, and peace and security came once more to dwell at Vailima. Entertainments and gaieties again made the place lively. Mrs. Strong[56] describes one of these affairs in a letter to Mr. Stevenson's mother: [Footnote 56: Now Mrs. Salisbury Field.] "I suppose Louis will write and tell you of the grand day we had here when the sailors of the _Katoomba_ were invited up here to play. We had twenty-four people on the place--natives, house boys, outside boys, and contractors--and the house was gorgeously decorated with ferns and moso'oi flowers. One large table was piled high with cocoanuts, oranges, lemons, passion fruit, pineapples, mangoes, and even a large pumpkin and some ripe tomatoes, besides three huge bowls of lemonade. The other table had seven baked chickens, ham sandwiches, cakes and coffee--lots of all. At half-past twelve we saw the white caps bobbing at the gate, and sent Simile down to meet them. He was dressed in a dark coat and _lavalava_ and white shirt, and looked very swagger indeed. The sailors all saluted Simile as he appeared, and in another moment--boom, bang, and the band burst out with the big drum in full swing, with the men, fourteen of them, all marching in time. The faces of our Samoans were stricken with amazement as the jackies marched up to the lawn in the blazing sun and finished the piece. The veranda was crowded with our people, all in wreaths of flowers, and a number of guests were there to witness the festivities. Well, we fed our sailors, who were all very red and hot and smiling, and the way they dipped into the lemonade was a caution. Then, to a guitar accompaniment, one
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166  
167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   189   190   191   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Mulinuu

 

sailors

 

Mataafa

 

lemonade

 

Simile

 

Footnote

 

Samoans

 

people

 
flowers
 

sandwiches


chickens
 

bobbing

 

twelve

 
coffee
 

guitar

 
cocoanuts
 
oranges
 

lemons

 

accompaniment

 

decorated


passion

 

tomatoes

 
pineapples
 

mangoes

 
pumpkin
 

marched

 

blazing

 

finished

 
jackies
 

amazement


marching

 

fourteen

 

stricken

 

veranda

 

festivities

 

smiling

 

wreaths

 

crowded

 
number
 
guests

witness

 

caution

 

looked

 

swagger

 

saluted

 

lavalava

 

dressed

 

gorgeously

 

dipped

 

appeared