ROUND SAVAII.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 100, 30 August 1879, Page 2

ROUND SAVAII.

PROM OUR SPECIAL IOItItKM'ONIIE.YI < Villi,. No. I. Three limes in the course of a year, at intervals of four mouths, Mr. Frank ' 'omwall, of Fasitontui, Upolu, visits his various trading stations uu Savaii, supplying them with a fresh assortment of trade, and shipping the copra collected by Ilia ngoute, in an Auckland vowel which il regularly sent by a linn in that city for the purpose. I had frequently been asked by Mr. Cornwall to accompany him on one of these rouudlj but ciicumstan-

ecs prevented »>e from Bfftftiwj until last month, when, as the invitation was warmly renewed, ami tlicro was every prospect of tine weather, and therefore a pleasant trip, I gave way to a desire I hud long cherished, and gladly accepted my friend's offer, When Captain Lane .heard that I desired to go the rounds lie. very kindly ottered me a passage in his fine new hrigautine, the Myrtle ; a vessel several tons larger, better found, designed and finished, in foot in every way far superior to his previous vessel, the Active. As most of my loeal readers are aware, the Myrtle, as wen the Active and Helena in past times, is chartered by the firm of Hews, Win. McAi-thurand Oompany, Auckland, to trade through the Tongan and .Sainoaii tiroups, doing the round trip, on anavenige in four months. The greater bulk of the return cargo—copra—is obtained from Mr. Cornwall, and it is to collect which that, aecoinpanied by that gentleman, the vessel returns to Auckland by way of Savaii. Instead of waiting fur the departure of the. vessel from Apia, I left a couple of days ahead of her—on the 16th of duly —and ran down in a small boat before a good stiff breeze to .Mr. Cornwall's residence at l'Wtootai, there to enj ,y a little rest before starting on my trip " Hound Savaii," in which I intended to combine business with pleasure. As my friend was up to his eyes in business, preparing for Savaii, and ginning cotton which was coming in rapidly from Magia. I was left in the day time much to my own resources, an arrangement which suited me capitally. I confess that I slept a great deal, read a very little, and occasionally took a stroll down to the Magia plantation, where i found everything going on as well as could be desired, ami in every respect bearing out the views I entertained of that place, when I visited it some few weeks ago during my " Trip to Leeward." Now, the cotton is coming in so fast and in such profusion that the labour on the plantation will not be able to pick it fast enough to prevent large quantities being lost through tailing upon the ground. At. least double the number of hands would be required to save the whole of this very large crop ; but unfortunately -and ibis i> one „f the great drawbacks to planters in Samoa,—the extra labour cannot be procured, and a large waste of cotton is the result. On Friday afternoon, the 18th July, the Myrtle anchored outside the reef opposite Magia. Soon after anchoring the captain, Mr. Cornwall and mjsclf rcceidod invitations from Governor Moepau to dine with him that evening, which invitations were duly acknowledged ami acoepted. The dinner proved to be a really capital one, served in European style ; and consisted of roast and boiled pork, fowls, various kinds of fish, eggs, palusami, yams, talo, and tea. Mocpau took the Itead nf the tabic, and General Harriett the opposite end, and did the honours with so much ease and grace, that a stranger would have mistaken him for the host. Two native ladies graced the table with their presence, one of whom was, of course, Moepau's wife, with her round, shining good humoured face, making a pieasaut, agreeable hostess. I do not suppose there is another native in the group who can produce such a complete set of crockery ware, or who " goes in " for European style and manners, as Miepau ; and when General Bartlett hung up his hat then,', he was wise in his generation, for if he searched the whole of Samoa overlie could not find amongst the natives a better house, or a kinder host and hostess than (ho Governor of Anna district and his wile. On Saturday, lllth, after a hard day's work discharging goods and provisions and shipping cotton and copra, we got under weigh at half-past ton at night, to the evident disgust of tho crew. After some two hour's trouble and anxiety in attempting to keep the vessel off the "reef, —the land breeze having died away, — the wind sprang up again and bore us safely from the dreaded reef, to which, for some time, we were so close that we shallowed into only seven fathoms of water, and the reef was not the ship's length from her stern. When I went on deck at sunrise on Sunday morning, we were just edging on to'the north-east side of the Savaii coast and running down the Faasalaleaga district. Next game the A|lloil district; the large town of Alatelo (when the coast faces duo north) in which almost every inhabitant embraces the Catholic religion, and which is the stronghold sAul head quarters of the French Catholic Mission on Savaii. Some little distance to leeward is Saleaula, where a trader uamed Mr. J. Keys resides. Although I much regret that circumstances would not permit me to go up as far as Saleaula from Safuuc and pay a visit to Mr. Keys—whose acquaintance I was happy to make some little timu back, when ho was on a brief visit to Apia, through (he kind"offices of Mr. J, E. V. Alvord, —I am givon to understand that he is the happy possessor of one of the finest stone dwelling houses in the group. Of his hospitality and numerous other good qualities I have heard much, ami my regret at being unable to call on him is increased by tho fact that Mr. Keys is one of the oldest, most intelligent, and highly respected residents of Samoa. Some few miles on we curue to Mataiitu, the only harCoiir (on the chart) on the north side" of the island,—and not much to boast of even at that. From our starting point down to Salsaula it is an iron-bound coast, against which the huge breaken mercilessly expand their full force without rest, or without intermission from year's end to year's olid, and through generation after generation. It was n grand sight us we went gliding along the coast that clear> cloudless and blight Minny morning, to watch tho sea

lisiug iii its angvi and battering away at the solid iron-bound coast; and especially pretty are the numerous blow holes, up through which the water spouts, sometimes thirty feet high and disperses in a vapour like steam. It must have taken ages for the sea to hove effected these breeches, which are large oaves with a hole in the top, the result of long-con-tinued action of the water. At Matautn is the residence of Mr. Brunt, Messrs. Grodeffruy and Son's head trader on tknt side of the island. Here all the copra is stored ami shipped Ul the little schooners employed for that puri>ose, and conveyed to Apia. A couple of miles or M aud wo pass the town of .Safotu, and in half an hour afterwards we came to an anchor outside the reef at .Safune, Mr. Com wall's head station on that side, in charge of Air. Nelson. Having come ashore, and taken up our quarters —and very comfortable ones they proved to he—at Mr. Nelson's, and under whose immediate management and control are the numerous native agencies as far away upon tho other side as tiagaemalae, I shall givn my readers some brief particulars of the geographical position, size and population of this group, by way of a little sauce to the dish lam serving up. 1 always real of any given place with much more interest if I am first posted up in these littio matters; and though it may not he fresh information to my local readers, I am convinced I shall assist the colonial and English subscribers in forming a correct idaa of the position and size of the island I am writing about.

Samoa is tho native name for the Xavimwigator'a group which lies betweeu Int. 12*58', long. 10S°& West, and Slat. 15*57', long 178*21' West,—extending therefore over 4T of longitude. At a rough calculation, tho distance from Apia, the port of Upolu, to Vavnu (the nearest of the Tonga islands, may bo taken as :)80 miles ; Tong.italm, '475 ; Levnka (Fiji) 630; Tahiti, 1250 ;. New Caledonia, 14+5 ; Auckland, 1577 ; Honolulu •>ZX:i; and Sydney, 2410 miles. According to the survey by Wilkes, Nuvaii contains 700 square miles ; Upolu, 500 ; Tutuihi, 240 ; Alauua, 10 ; Olosega 24 ; Ofu, 10 ; Manono 0 and Apolinia 7 square miles, or in all 1050 square miles. The three largest islands are visible one from the other, and are lofty and volcanic, being a chain jof extinct craters. Manono and Apolima are in tho Straits betweeu tho lee end of the west of Ul>olu and Savaii, the other small islands keeping company with Tutuila, away to windward.

Savaii is the largest island in tho group ; about 250 mrlcs round and with a height approaching 4000 feet. It is of a conical form and rises from the son like a vast dome of green vegetation. Of the population of tho whole Samoan group, which amounts to about 40.000, more than one-third reside on Savaii. It is only inhabited along the coast line, and occasionally a few miles inland, the interior being a mere wilderness of the most gorgeous tropical vegetation. Tho productions of the group are eocoanuts. cotton, native chesnut, candle nuts, fungu , bananas, mountain plantains, oranges, limes, citrons, shaddocks, pineapples apples (vi) pauapaua, tamarinds, breadfruit, yams, talo, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, melons, arrowroot, ginger, nutmegs, sugar mandioc or sweet casava, tobacco, indigo, cotiee, Indian corn, chillies Ac On Savaii I found ginger,—tho true nutn eg of commerce and not that bastard kind so prolific in Fiji. It is only to be found in one particular district 1 also came across various species of cane of the trailing kind, among them the true Bate or rattan f>f the East Indies ; but neither the ginger or the cane, seem to be pro curable in such quantities as to attract the attention of the local traders,

It is tlio firm opinion of all those white men who have travelled to an)' extent in >Snvaii, that at some remote age the interior for miles from the coast line, was inhabited,-ami thickly too; that large towns existed, and the population must have been four times that of what it is now. Miles from tho beach there mv, —in the now denso and almost impenetrable forests ;—iinniistakeablc trace" of what have been splendid level and broad roads made of stone, and surfaced and levelled off with the small smooth water worn stones which havo been carried from the beach. Walls from twelve to furteeu feet high and of proportinate thickness, all built of huge lava stones, are frequently met with; as also hii-jri. pHitchj"- af SJjpBWtoBI »lu<<li liave evidently stood tho houses. Small plots of land aro also wallwl off suggest ing that thoy were oitherpigpensorboun dary fences dividing one family from another. For u y own part, in th>> course of my short strolls into the bush.

I cnme upon so much evidence of a similar character which 1 will describe in it* proper place, thut 1 have not the tightest hesitation iu joining in the opinion that years and yeara ago, Suvuii must havo Leon densely populated and tho inhabitants—us in Toogalil) days long gone by—a nuilili larger »ud giant-like race of people than at present, exists. In every town where we stopped We elosoly questioned the " oldest inhabitant. " but in no iniitanco could theso usual raenptaolat of folk-lore give us any information, or had the slightest idea, eiUior through legends or otherwise, when the interior was inhabited, or what caused the abandonment and destruction of the towns, and the partial depopulation of the island. 1 found Mr. Nelson's houso at Safune a very comfortable one, and pleasantly eitualad mi the beach, hj is built of weatherboard mid contains a largo sitting room, bedroom; and .Store, with a lean to at the back forming an excellent dinning room. With a good substantial

verandah in front, anil plenty of ventilation, the sitting room was always delightfully cool, even during the hottest hours of" the day. Close to the dwelling is the. copra house, capable of holding 70 tons of copra ; whilo on the other side is a very large native house in which . the relations ot Mr..Nelson's wifo i-~i.|... On Monday and Tuesday the 21st . and 22nd. I amused myself by taking strolls out back, my friends being up to , their eyes in business loading the Myrtle. I.found in the course of my .travels, numerous wells of splendid water, one being within two hundred yards of the house and from which we got our supply. The track through the bush is a made one of large lava stones, and none, of .the residents in Safune know when it was made,—one bit of evidence towards the support of the theory of interior habitation. After following this track for a little distance il.oune across a.large .deep hole, tho ■ sides of which were covered with vegetation. Following a small stone track, . down the side I soon reached the . bottom, and diseoverod a huge cave, a few vards from the entrance of which is a "sheet of fresh water, clear as crystal and cold as ice. When ones .uyea became accustomed to the semidarkness of tho cave, 1 could sec that it went for some distance back, and on j trying the depth of water, on which . the sun hadniiovcr shone, found it to varv from one.foot to three. On reporting my discovery, on my return to the house-all thoughts of ever be.c lining a baiuoa Stanley, or 'One of those exploring people dissolved vapidly before my vision when 1 was eooly informed by friend Nelson that it was his bathing place. It has never been .ascertained to what distance the cave runs back, though both natives and .Mr. Nelson have tried to solve the proproblem but awuys had to beat a retreat ' uii account of their torches going out. A singular fact is that there is a puroep- . tible rise and fall of ajout a foot siunil- > ta'ieously with the rise and fall of the . tide ; although the entrance to the cave is a quarter of a mile from the beach, . and the water is puic and sweet without . theshghtestbrackishness or saltiness being perceptible. hi several places still turther in the bush are remains of walls ami foundations of houses, some square . and some round,and ileal which there is invariably a cluiiipof bicaul'iiiit trees of considerable age, again pointing tosetlletneiits . having once existed there. On Tuesday afternoon the .Myrtle sailed . for VavaU, leaving us to wait the arrival of the Madonna which Captain Lane chartered . to take the remainder of the copra here, and call round to the other stations.

(To be continued.)