SOUTH SEA LETTERS.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 120, 19 September 1885, Page 3

SOUTH SEA LETTERS.

SAMOA, Religious Condition of the People. The Samoans have proved most amenable to missionary effort. Of the population 27,000 are claimed as adherents of the London Church Mission, while the Roman Catholic and Wesieyan Missions claim each 4,000. All the natives are thus nominally Christian, and have long been so, and it is , a notable fact that no missionary was ever martyred in Samoa. The first Samoan missions were started in 1830 by' the celebrated John Williams, who met. with his death at? the hands of the natives of Erromanga, ip the New Hebrides. Fifteen years later, the Roman Catholic mission was started, and the Wesieyan missionaries also commenced to . labour in Samoa about the same time. On condition of the London Missionary Society ceasing operations in Tonga, the Wesleyans agreed to withdraw from Samoa, and that arrangement was carried out. But though adhered to by the London Society, the Wesleyans violated the condition by again entering the Samoan mission field. The two missions work harmoniously together at the present time, so that at all events no great evil has resulted from the breach of faith. Not only have the Samoans readily adopted Christianity, but they have proved most zealous labourers in the conversion of the natives of other islands. Samoan native' missionaries have worked most diligently in the Loyalty, New Hebrides, Gilbert, Tokelau and Ellice Groups, with the result that about 10,000 souls have been added to the number evangelised by the agency ot the London Miseionary Society, At the present time the Rev. Mr Phillips is chief missionary of the Society, and the total staff of workers embraces eight English missionaries, 152 native ordained ministers, and 118 native preaohers. The schools for the education of the young number 296 -one-half being the boys and the other for girls. At these schools there are 4,407 male pupils and 3,813 females, or a total of 8,220. The education imparted is religious and secular, the Bible being the chief reading book tor pupils sufficiently advanced to use it. There are besides elementary school books, with graduated lessons, hymn-books, and class books in history,Euclidand natural philosophy, in use in the schools. The excellent translation of the Scriptures into Samoan which is published by the London and Foreign Bible Society is in great demand among the natives, at the high price of 8s per copy—Mr Phillips having disposed of a recent large consignment within a week. Rev. Geo. Pratt's Commentary on the Scriptures in Samoan is also largely bought, at the same price as the Bible. The London Missionary Society agents are not such adepts at "painless extraction" as the Wesieyan missionaries have proved in Tonga, forwith a large and deeply religious population to work upon, the Samoan missions have not yet reached the self-supporting point. The natives contribute about £2,000 to the mission fund's annually, and after paying the salaries of native preachers, &c, there remains a sum of about £1,000, which is remitted t© London, and helps to pay the expenses oi the mission schooner, the English missionaries, &c. Educationally considered, the Samoans are not so advanced as the Tongans, but it is evident that the elements of a sound education are being imparted to nearly every native boy and girl in the islands, and the results of this cannot fail to be lasting and beneficial. Already the Christian teaching has led to a considerable modification in the savage customs of the people j their tribal jealousies have been to a great extent removed, some of their immoral practices abolished, and their general mental, moral, and social condition vastly improved. Although the sale of intoxicants to natives is strictly prohibited, a number of these lively and amiable people are, I fear, being sadly debauched by contact with Europeans at Apia. Still, after allowance is made for these exceptional cases, it must be conceded that intercourse with "the superior race" has not led to any general deterioration of the natives. The reverse, indeed, is the case, and if work for work's sake could be impressed upon them as a cardinal virtue, these Samoans might yet cut a very respectable figure on the world's stage, whether as regards physical perfection, moral standing, or material prosperity.

Visit to the German Plantations. The morning of Satuday, 4rd July, found the New Zealand c&mmercial delegates on horseback, ready to start for the German copra, coffee, and cotton plantations, about five miles out of Apia. Six times had the cry of "Bring forth the horse " been heard, and eaoh time there appeared in response a curious-looking compound animal, the size of a pony, and the 3 nape cf ft tmse, looking by far too slender to bear the weight of some of the substantial delegates. My steed was the last to "come forth," for being a parson's horse, and having presum- ! ably cast his prophetic eye over the future, ■ he had fled to the forest primeval, whence he was led an unwilling captive. Under the lead ot Mr Kelsall, the able and courteous Municipal Magistrate of Apia, the cavalcade set forth at a gallop, but my equine friend, who was by no m«ana "a Tartar of the; Ukraine breed," insisted on stopping at the first stream and having a drink, and this indulgence, which I weakly granted him, seemed to disincline him for further exertion. (I phould have said that this was my initial effort at equestrianism, and had a natural delicacy about taking liberties with the horse). My brother delegates, who did not know my non"horsey" Bature, paid no attention, but kept on their gallop, and of course my Rosinante and I were soon left far behind. Then the brute developed straying tendencies, and I had to engineer him round cocoanut trees and across patches of native cultivation ; in brief, he gave me such trouble 1 that I Boon lost sight of my mounted brethren, and could only guess at the route they had taken. Still I pushed on, smelling the trail as well as I could, until after crossing several streams and trying one or two blind paths, I came to a dead stop in a dense grove, and unanimously resolved that I was lost. "Right-about face" was the' order, and my fiery steed right willingly threaded his way homewards. Reaching, an opening on the sea beaoh, 1,, met" a horseman approaching from town, this proved to be a fellow-passenger who had resolved on accompanying the delegates,, but ' hp-cf r been" late at the start. After a ,bVief conference," we resolved tb follow up tne.scent, and qatohj up; to ? the runaways., Off we went, and as two heads are better th»none,itwasßoonmftdeevid«nttomewhere

I had piiafied ihe trail ; at onoof the streams. Now- we ,Btrqok;it hot, for some j natives informed us, as beet ; .they, tpould, ,th|at 'four white men on horseback had passed thatway. Still further, tillall trail w,ap los.t,in,«he hard dry* grass-cov.ered, soil, • and we 1 made .our way. more „ by, finstinct than observation. On, through a mile or so, of cocoanut'grbvee, where f the 'treesare planted with }mathe.matioal regularity,- and- where, imported labourers Are at work collecting the eopra< In answer to ou* hurried query--" You' see one— two—three— four white men pass on horseback?" they point in the right direct tion, let down a stile to let us through^ a'nd off we. go again. „ There is now a well-denned; road, which- , we determine to follow. ' On we go through a couple of more miles of oocoanut plantations, when we come within a mile of a hill, on the top of which is a house ; and by that house we fancy we can see several horses tethered. We have to lead ourhorsesdown a gully, acrossa stream, and up the steep acclivity on the 'other side. It is a toilsome march, but we are fresher than our steeds, and, occasionally have to halt to give the poor brutes a breath as we mount the hill. At the top we find our friends' horses in charge of two Papuan labourers, and soon we join them in the coffee plantation. We are now, perhaps, 800 feet above the sea level, and we catch' a delightfully fresh breeze, though the heat, after our exertions, still troubles us. : On one side of us is the sea, and on the other are the hills in the interior, - rising to the : height of 4, 000 feet, and clothed in verdure to their topmost pinnacle. The soil here is of that rocky volcanic description which is so common in the Mount Eden district of Auckland. The rocks are black and smooth, and are scattered loosely - over the ground instead of being consolidated in a mass. The land is not cleared, but the coffee plants are growing amid the stony soil, where one would imagine nothing but weeds would flourish. These plants are of young and vigorous growth, being in fact just coming into bearing, and are about three feet high. We are disappointed in not finding the overseer, who has gone to a distant part of the plantations, and rather than waste time waiting on him or finding out his whereabouts, we resolve to return to town. Once more the party got into the saddle— one of the saddles, by the way, is a wooden one of the Mexican type, the getting into which is a science— and we start the homeward journey. On the way we pass, even on this elevated plateau, and in midwinter, a grove of banana trees hung with ripe clusters. In the absense of the German "Tboss," we take French leave and regale ourselves with the luscious fruit. {En passant I may say that the Samoan oranges are a bad lot, and lam not surprised that there is no export trade in them.) From what we saw of the plantations, they have fully proved the capability of the soil and climate for the growth of tropical products. As to the imported labourers, they appear to be tractable and happy, and by no means overworked. The work, in fact, is so light that it might well be performed by Portuguese or Italian labourers, and so long as the heat does not hinder European carpenters, blacksmiths, &c., working at their trades in the sultrier air of Apia, it is vain to pretend that coloured labour is necessitated by the climate. As a matter of economy, coloured labour may be needed, for profits on most tropical products do not suffice to pay such wages as Europeans would demand ; but there is no | reason why the work should not) be done by Indian coolies, who could be procured in any number that might be desired. By employing coolies or Fijians, who are British subjects, the villainous traffic in human flesh now carried on would be abolished, for these men could only be employed under conditions which would secure to them complete freedom of contract and equitable fulfilment of the terms of engage- | ment. Until this is done— until the iniquitous "labour traffic" is abolished root and branch— there can be no hope for the real advancement of Samoa. Our homeward route from the plantations was a more pleasant one than that pursued in going ; our course lay through avenues of coooanut palmß, spreading over extensive table-lands at various elevations above the sea j from one level to another we descended by easy gradations, until we left the plantations behind and entered upon a level stretch of country behind Apia, which is dotted with native houses, surrounded by groves of bread fruit and banana trees. Again my Roeinante and I were left behind, and we reached the International Hotel about half-an-hour after the others. It is not exactly pleasant to have to ask your way in a strange land, in a language " not underetanded of the people," but my experience was not disagreeable. The salutation " Alofa !" will always place ycu on a good footing with the Samoans, who return it t with a pleasant smile. "Alofa," I may explain for the benefit of the uninitiated ,is identical with the Maori "Aroha," and signifies "love." The greeting may be freely interpreted as "Love to you I" and it is certainly much more beautiful and melodious than the English " How d'ye do V the French " Comment se portez vous?" or the German " Wie befindenJ3ie sich ?" On the whole, I cherish fond recollections of these active and polite Italians of the Pacific ; indeed, my recollections are about as tender as certain portions of my anatomy were for several days after my four hours' ride in that tropical clime, I have no doubt the man who had the Mexican saddle fully agrees with me. — " Star " Correspondent,