a place no wider than a room and as
flat as a table. On either side the land descends precipitately; in
front lie the vast ocean and the surf-swept reefs; in the distance to
the right and left green mountains rise, densely covered with the
primeval forest."[79]

[Footnote 79: Lloyd Osbourne, in _A Letter to His
Friends_, written directly after the death of Mr.
Stevenson.]

Stevenson's tomb, with the tablet and lettering, was designed by
Gelett Burgess, and was built by native workmen under the direction of
a half-caste named George Stowers. The material was cement, run into
boxes and formed into large blocks, which were then carried to the
summit on the strong shoulders of Samoans, though each block was so
heavy that two white men could scarcely lift it from the ground.
Arrived at the summit the blocks were then welded into a plain and
dignified design, with two large bronze tablets let in on either side.
One bears the inscription in Samoan, "The resting-place of Tusitala,"
followed by the quotation in the same language of "Thy country shall
be my country and thy God my God." The other side bears the name and
dates and the requiem:

"Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill."

When Mr. and Mrs. Field arrived in Samoa they brought with them a
tablet which they carried to the summit of Mount Vaea and had cemented
in one end of the base of the tomb. It is of heavy bronze, and bears
the name Aolele, together with these lines:

"Teacher, tender comrade, wife,
A fellow-farer true through life,
Heart whole and soul free,
The August Father gave to me."

On the tablet for Mr. Stevenson the thistle for Scotland had been
carved at one corner and the hibiscus for Samoa at the other. On his
wife's the hibiscus was placed at one corner, and after long
hesitation about the other, a sudden inspiration suggested to Mrs.
Field the tiger-lily--bright flower whose name had been given to
little Fanny Van de Grift by her mother in the old days in Indiana.

Before leaving the island Mr. and Mrs. Field endowed a scholarship for
three little girls at the convent school--one to be chosen by