I met Raeltoa in Apia one afternoon. He caught hold of my hand and kissed it, and was full of grief, for poor little Damien, his daughter, was dead. I felt terribly cut up at hearing about it. She had caught influenza4. Poor Raeltoa, I did my best to soothe5 him, and at his intense wish went out with him to the little grave. It was a terribly lonely pathetic spot—a tiny mound6 under a small coco-palm; the flowers were dying over my little dead friend, and Raeltoa and I stood there side by side and both felt very unhappy. I stayed with Raeltoa that night, and the next night, but did not sleep, for on the wall just by my bed hung the toy fiddle7 I had made and the bow. The strings8 were broken and the little warm hands that had held it lay in the grave. We were a sad family, Raeltoa, his wife, the children and I, and when I bade them good-bye they had tears in their eyes, and I also felt sad.
After bidding Raeltoa good-bye I found myself once more on my “beam-ends” and was extremely pleased to fall in with a young trader who hired me for canvassing9 purposes. He had purchased a quantity of trinkets and gaudy10 underclothing with the intention of travelling inland to the native 237villages, and so for some time I was employed in bartering11 with the Samoan men and youths. I often watched their delight as they attired12 themselves, as soon as they had purchased our goods, in old shirts of various shades. The dusky maidens13 danced and whirled with hysterical14 pleasure as they pulled on the yellow stockings or stood smiling in white shoes, on their arms tin bracelets15 sparkling with jewels made of coloured glass, while my friend the Cockney trader perspired16 with delight over his bargains, and the sights that we saw. “Gaud lummy ducks!” and “Ain’t this all right?” he would say as we watched the different youths and maidens doing double shuffles17 and turning head over heels as we dressed them up. Then we passed on under the tropic palms and mangroves to the forest track that led to the next village.
After I gave up peddling in the South Seas I became acquainted with a young apprentice18 who had left a ship at Apia, and he and I went off miles away to Tutuela and camped by Pangopango harbour and on the shore side we built a little hut and lived Robinson Crusoe lives. My comrade was a most cheerful companion and came from ’Frisco. We had fine times in that hut under the coco-nut trees, and lived mostly by fishing; the ports and lagoons19 below were crammed20 with small and big fish. We had an old catamaran and sailed around dressed in shirt and pants only, and we got so sunburnt that we were very nearly as brown as the natives. I could almost write a book about those times, so 238varied and delightful22 they were. Arthur Pink, for that was my comrade’s name, got a berth23 on the American steamer and went back to ’Frisco. He was a manly24 fellow, a staunch friend, and I was grieved to lose him. Before he went he got in with a Samoan tatau (tattooer) and had the history of Samoa tattooed25 on his back and legs, chiefs, women, birds and flowers, etc.; he tried to persuade me to get tattooed but I declined. Tattooing is a great art in the South Seas and the natives go through a deal of pain during the operations. Some of the flesh engravings are exceedingly well done; they perform the operation with an instrument something like a small tooth comb made of bone. The women try to outrival each other in the beauty of the tattooing which is mostly done on the lower part of the back and the thighs26 and hips27, wonderful schemes of tattoo2 art.
Native Homestead
Before closing this chapter I will give a few details about the Samoan and South Sea groups and the people thereon. The chief Isles28 of Samoa are Upolu, Savaii, Tutuela and Manua. They are all of volcanic29 origin, are surrounded by coral reefs and palm-shaded lagoons; from the shore side to the mountain slopes inland grow the dark coco-palms, the beautiful bread-fruit trees, mangroves, plantains and other wild tropical bush and fern-trees, wherein sparkle and flit gorgeous-coloured butterflies, green parrots and cooing droves of Samoan doves. In the shades of the forest and thick scrubby vegetation grow scented30 flowers and over the forest 241paths as you pass along in the cool evenings the winds from seaward, hovering31 in the thickets32 steal out in whiffs to your nostrils33, whiffs that smell like honey mixed with the ripe breath of decaying bush flowers; on the slopes grows the beautiful hibiscus.
The mountain peaks, just inland, rise to the height of four thousand and five thousand feet. Dotted with forest they stand in rugged34 grandeur35 against the sky, and when the trade winds are blowing thick clouds come sweeping36 in from seaward, smash against the peaks on their swift flight, twisting and curling into a thousand magical shapes that fade away like monstrous37 herds38 of phantom39 elephants and distorted mammoth40 things as moonlight steals over the flying mist. Some of the mountains have enormous craters41 wherein grow baby forests, haunted by singing birds. In the gullies far below and miles beyond are native villages, homesteads that look like sheds, open all round so that the wind blows through and keeps them cool. From the forest up there you can see the heaving Pacific Ocean twinkling in the moonlight.
Apia is the capital of Upolu and has a very mixed population. The white buildings are mostly stores kept by Germans; nearly all the large buildings are missionary42 halls and churches, German, American and English chapels43, wherein they teach the natives hypocrisy44 and the misery45 of hell, and they are such adept46 pupils that they soon outrival their teachers in the great art of artfulness. A good many of the Samoans can read and write 242English much better than the poorer class of England can. No Samoan would eat or even smell the food that the middle classes of England live on.
The main trade of Samoa is in copra. Copra is dried coco-nut and is exported to Australia and elsewhere. It is picked and cured and packed by the natives under the supervision47 of the whites, Germans and Americans, who get good profits and often make a fortune. It has never been known or recorded in any book that a Samoan ever made a fortune, which seems remarkable48 when we consider that it is his own country. There was a Samoan chief in the old days who endeavoured to make money out of his copra plantation49, and bought up a lot of territory for coco-nut growing, but the missionaries50, acting51 for the traders, frightened him out of his life, told him he would go to hell for putting his heathen mind into mundane52 things, and for his sins they fined him heavily and pinched all his copra plantation. He turned out to be a good chief and went into the building line and built many fine houses for the missionaries wherein were many rooms and great comforts. For this work he was given one tin of condensed milk a week and at the completion of the contract a paper-covered hymnbook.
The Samoans, Tongans and Tahitians are a handsome race, the men standing53 nearly six feet; they are well built and of a sunburnt colour, have dark bright eyes, thick curly hair which they dye to a golden hue54, their temperament55 is cheerful, and they 243are always singing. The women are very good-looking, with roundish faces and full lips; their noses are inclined to get flat as they get old; they have earnest kind-looking eyes, well-shaped bodies and good limbs whereon the tattoo of ancient pictorial56 Samoa is beautifully engraved57 so as to show off the curves of the back and thighs and give them an antique appearance. In fact when they stand quite still under the coco-palms you could almost imagine they were beautifully finished statues if it were not for the flies buzzing round their eyes making them blink.
The native children are wistful, plump little mites58; much prettier than European infants and very intelligent. They can swim at three months old; talk, run and sing at a year old, and if a Samoan had a child that sucked a dummy59 at six years old and wailed60 drivelling along in its pram61 at an advanced age, as the children of the wealthy class of England do, they would look upon it as a great curio and smother62 it for shame on the first starless night.
They are a clean race, and, except for the odour of the scented coco-nut oil which they polish their velvet63 skins with, do not smell of perspiration64 as the clothed white do in hot weather. A Samoan could not sleep or rest if a flea65 found him lying on his bed mat; if a flea is discovered in a Samoan house they know that a new-chum missionary has been hovering near. The native girls and women are naturally modest and they will blush at any coarse words or suggestions from white men; 244but they are very fond of finery, and so often fall before the lure66 of the whites, who are generally thousands of miles away when the victim becomes a mother. At heart they are extremely religious and innately67 feel that some great Power watches over them, but this feeling is gradually dying away under the influence of the missionaries, who look so human to their eyes as they live in luxury and wax fat in the best Samoan houses. The Samoan has seen everything as it is and knows that the white missionaries and traders are human beings like himself, looking for all they can get and enjoying life to the uttermost, and so the glamour68 is fading in the South Seas as it has faded in the West, where many still believe all they hear and read about the converted heathen who would rather die than sell his honour.
The whites consist chiefly of tourists, traders and missionaries of various sects69. Many of the missionaries are honest in their profession, really believing all they teach, have weary eyes and remind one of those bedraggled flies that crawl up the windowpane looking for light. The traders are mostly rough, sunburnt, crooked-nosed men and do their best to do well and work hard at their various trades. Some are a strange mixture of the bushman and pirate. The honest ones toil70 hard to make money and settle down prosperous in a shanty71, furnished with a large spittoon, pipes and cases of the best imported whisky, and a shakedown bed, as close as possible to the ground, so that they can crawl by night on their hands and knees from the 245nearest Apia bar-room straight into bed. Stolid72, square-headed Germans abound73 and speak as though they helped to create the universe, drink a deal on the sly, are very coarse when drunk, and it does not matter how well a thing is done they are sure to say “But you should see the way they do that in Germany.” Most of the Europeans wear white duck pants and broad-brimmed straw hats, and do a deal of leaning against palm-trees, smoking and spitting, also loafing by Apia saloon-bars, where they stand in huddled74 groups beneath the coco-palms and watch the Samoans toddling75 by to the mission-rooms with Bibles under their arms.
As the steamers and schooners76 call into the harbour, tourists and sailors come ashore77; some go on the spree, some get drunk and others go curio-hunting. Sometimes the élite of Australian towns arrive on tour and gaze on everyone with patronising eyes. I saw one lot from Sydney arrive, people of high standing too; they had receding78 chins and staring eyes like bits of glass rubbed over with fat and spoke79 with very conventional voices. The natives, scantily80 clothed, go shuffling81 through the streets, singing and jabbering82. Apia smells of ripe bananas and tropical vegetation. It is the modern Garden of Eden; the ghosts of Adam and Eve roam the forest by night and listen to the laughter and wails83 of their fallen children as they eat of the forbidden fruit and the ships creep into the bays and again go seaward back to the shadows of the cities.
Native Canoes, Fiji
Sailors and rovers settle down in the South Sea 246capitals, talk all day of Rio, Shanghai, and Japanese girls that did the Eastern can-can, drunken sprees in ’Frisco, phantom ships and wonderful fifty-day voyages from London to Sydney on the Cutty’s Ark; old sea captains, mates with master certificates, disappointed men, wrinkled and sea-beaten Scotch84 engineers, dreaming of Glasgow, engine-rooms, donkey boilers85 and sea bilges, and that beautiful young woman at Marseilles who lay in their bunk86 berth so drunk that they could not wake her when the anchor was going up, so kept her aboard in secret the whole voyage out to Melbourne, where she went ashore and became a lady governess, taught French, eventually married a vicar in the suburbs and became “Visiting lady” and was beloved by all for her purity and winning ways. The ancient old man from the Solomon Isles with sad eyes is to be seen there too, still laughless and grim over the tragedy of that long-ago night when his white wife disappeared, and after exploring the Island forest the cannibalistic natives found him starving, gave him drink and meat, and next day by the strangest coincidence possible he discovered that he had eaten his own wife. The great truth of truth being stranger than fiction is vividly87 revealed in all you see and hear in the Islands of the far-away Pacific, where the good men brush aside the conventionalities and go the whole hog88, and the old sinners of the European cities, seeking a haven89 of rest from the law, with all their passions withered90 and asleep, become virtuous91 and moralise. They 249are strange old fellows, good company and extremely interesting as they sit by their bungalows92 and talk at night by South Sea shores. The waves steal over the coral reefs and murmur93 mysteriously by the lagoons of magic lands, dark with forest branches; midnight stars are reflected in the clear harbour waters as the blue vault94 of heaven over your head gleams with worlds that are twinkling and flashing and you dream you hear them singing, and see writ21 on the wonderful canvas of starry95 space the bright eternal words, expressing the tremendous loneliness of Infinity96 that swallows up human imagination, leaving us only wonder and hope.
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1
peddling
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| 忙于琐事的，无关紧要的 | |
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tattoo
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| n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于 | |
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tattooing
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| n.刺字，文身v.刺青，文身( tattoo的现在分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击 | |
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influenza
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| n.流行性感冒，流感 | |
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soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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strings
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| n.弦 | |
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canvassing
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| v.（在政治方面）游说( canvass的现在分词 )；调查（如选举前选民的）意见；为讨论而提出（意见等）；详细检查 | |
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gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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bartering
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| v.作物物交换，以货换货( barter的现在分词 ) | |
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attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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bracelets
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| n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 ) | |
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perspired
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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shuffles
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| n.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的名词复数 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的第三人称单数 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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lagoons
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| n.污水池( lagoon的名词复数 )；潟湖；（大湖或江河附近的）小而浅的淡水湖；温泉形成的池塘 | |
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crammed
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| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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writ
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| n.命令状，书面命令 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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tattooed
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| v.刺青，文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击 | |
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26
thighs
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| n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿 | |
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hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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mammoth
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| n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的 | |
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craters
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| n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等 | |
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missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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chapels
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| n.小教堂， （医院、监狱等的）附属礼拜堂( chapel的名词复数 )；（在小教堂和附属礼拜堂举行的）礼拜仪式 | |
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hypocrisy
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| n.伪善，虚伪 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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adept
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| adj.老练的，精通的 | |
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supervision
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| n.监督，管理 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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51
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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mundane
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| adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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pictorial
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| adj.绘画的；图片的；n．画报 | |
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engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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mites
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| n.（尤指令人怜悯的）小孩( mite的名词复数 )；一点点；一文钱；螨 | |
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dummy
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| n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头 | |
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wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pram
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| n.婴儿车，童车 | |
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smother
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| vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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flea
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| n.跳蚤 | |
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lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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innately
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| adv.天赋地；内在地，固有地 | |
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glamour
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| n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住 | |
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sects
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| n.宗派，教派( sect的名词复数 ) | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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shanty
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| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
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stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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73
abound
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| vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于 | |
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74
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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75
toddling
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| v.（幼儿等）东倒西歪地走( toddle的现在分词 )；蹒跚行走；溜达；散步 | |
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76
schooners
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| n.（有两个以上桅杆的）纵帆船( schooner的名词复数 ) | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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78
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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79
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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80
scantily
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| adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地 | |
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81
shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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82
jabbering
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| v.急切而含混不清地说( jabber的现在分词 )；急促兴奋地说话；结结巴巴 | |
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83
wails
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| 痛哭，哭声( wail的名词复数 ) | |
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84
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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85
boilers
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| 锅炉，烧水器，水壶( boiler的名词复数 ) | |
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86
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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87
vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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88
hog
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| n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占 | |
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89
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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90
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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91
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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92
bungalows
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| n.平房( bungalow的名词复数 )；单层小屋，多于一层的小屋 | |
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93
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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94
vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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95
starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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96
infinity
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| n.无限，无穷，大量 | |
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