ON GUARD AT SAMOA

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2522, 24 July 1915, Page 9

ON GUARD AT SAMOA

LETTER FROM A WELLINGTON HAN

THE KING'S BIRTHDAY

In the course of a gossipy letter to Mr. T. Fathers, of this City, Mr. Frank Davis, now serving with the machine-gun section at Market Hall Camp, Apia, Samoa, writes:— "Where we are camped now the work is pretty solid, as we are a bit short-handed, and we only get two nights in bed before we go on guard again for 24 hours. At the other camps they get four and five nights' sleep before mounting guard. On the off-days we have sis hours.

"I have visited _ all tho principal places of interest in and atound. Apia, and I wish I could ■ get extended leave to go farther afield. The opportunity may occur later on. One noticeable thing about the Samoau is their religious observances, nearly every hut having its daily family worship, and in addition to the numerous churches of every denomination in Apia, every village has its several. churches. The Roman Catholics in particular havo a splendid cathedral not far from our camp on the waterfront, and is the most prominent building to catch the eye when entering the harbour. Cod Save the King! "On the King's Birthday all the available troops paraded to salute the Flag, fire the feu-de-joie, and march past. Colonel Logan and staff were present and a large concourse of natives and others. In the afternoon a regatta land sports meeting were held on the waterfront road, and as all the buildings have balconies a good view of everything could -be obtained by those on them. The regatta and swimming races had some exciting finishes,' especially the principal race, called the Fausatauga Race, which is rowed in boats having 28 to 42 rowers. Each boat represents, the principal villages all over the island, and there were 16 entries. The distance is five miles, and at the finish the leading three were so close that only the judge could tell >fho won.

"Of course, all the barrackers .for the different ones rolled up in hundreds, and at the finish the hullabaloo was great, as you can quite imagine, as it was a conglomeration of Samoan dialect, Solomon Islanders' gibberish, German, Chinese, . English, and various kinds of half-caste yells and other languages from I know not where.

"Besides a large money prize a banner is given every year. In previous years it was, of course, a German lag, but this time.it was the Samoan flag, that is, tho Now Zealand flag with a palm tree on the blue ground. A native told me that they used to celebrate. the Kaiser's birthday .in this way, but this was far and away the largest turnout ever seen in . the islands. ■ They were rolling up for days previously bv road, boat, and on .foot, all. laden with, provisions, and the native huts and houses must have been pretty crowded. ' A Brilliant Scene. "The other events had big . crowds competing and keenly contested. The tug of war for men and women of the different villages was also the cause of great excitement. If there is one thing that will be vivid in my memory of Samoa it will be the King's Birthday of 1915. From a good vantage point I could see the crowded balconies full of people dressed in tropical costumes, and the road and'beach with its teeming thousands all in dress and undress of all the hues of the rainbow, the clothing ranging from tie white' aiid black clothing of' the whites, to the .lavalava of the Samoan in every conceivable colour. Just think of it! The pale and 'tanned faces 'of the whites, the light brown bodies and faces of the Samoan men and women, the coal-black skins of. the Solomon _ Islanders, the yellow faces of the Chinese, tho. black skill and bushy hair of the haudity Fijian, intermingled with the colours of all sorts of half-castes, and here and there, the khaki, of the soldiers, and on top all tho' different coloured hair, and you have a scene that is not every one's lot to sae.

"There must have been 18,000 or more people present, and I never saw a more 'orderly crowd ,in• my life, all enjoying themselves thoroughly. In fact, there was only one quarrel.all day, that I could see, and that was. between two half-castes. There is one thing I give the Germans credit for, and that is their encouragement of the Samoans in. rowing and music. For the size of the place there are more boats here than _ any place I know. ' Every village has its band, with, 30 to 50 players. There were throe bands playing oil the King's birthday, and the playing was excellent.' The players and conductors are all natives. They are dressed •in white kind of jackets and white lavas, and are distinguished by different coloured sashes and turban-like head-gear. . The Late R. L, stavenson.

"Since beginning to write. this the Governor has shifted his residence from Mulinui to Mr. It. L.'Stevenson's homo at Vailima, about three miles inland from the sea, and I am one of twelvo who luvebeen sent as a bodyguard. We expect to be- here about a fortnight. Since we came here the ashes of Mrs. Stevenson have been brought from 'Frisco and the casket let into the concrete base of his tomb on the top of Vailima Mountain. They were brought here by her daughter and a great ceremony was held, everyone of importance here, as well as all the Samoan chiefs, attending."