Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1889-02-13
The Samoan Islands.

iSatof lSianus, fltil ana ltiltt0 S0un7
try, which through German intrigue
and the neglect of other Interested
powers, especially the United States,
haye for year or more past suffered
the woes of civil wars. The natives
1 are but little more than half civilized,
but are said' to be tractable aud intel
ligent. They have fine physique,
straight and broad shoulders and a
powerful muscular development.
Their color is light brown. Many Of
the women are very handsome, both
in form and feature, and almost MI
are fine looking, butdetraet from their
appearance by wearing their hair In q,
huge bushy mass, slightly tinged with
red by coloring. One of the customs
Of the natives is the tattooing OF the
body. No one, male or female, Is ex-
empt from this. They are inclined to
be INDECENT, hunting aud fishing and
| filling the soil little. Raise a few
pigs and fowls, but depend chiefly for
their food on what nature supplies:
Bananas, oranges, pine-apples and
other tropical fruit.
The houses of the Samoans are mere
frame work of poles covered with
thatch.
| The dress OF the natives consists at
| most of two pieces-the lava-iavaand
| the tupuka. Before the coming of the
missionaries and calico the lava-lava
sufliced. This is sometimes made
| from reeds and grasses, sometimes
| from tapa cloth and sometimes from
calico. 1t is nothing more than u
sheet wrapped around the loins, with
| one end tucked in to secure it, and
reaches to the knee or to the ankle
according to the taste of the wearer.
The other article of dress, the tupuka,
consists of a piece ofcioth about eight
teen inches wide and of varying
| length, with hole III the middle large
enough to put the he'd through.
This they wear over their shoulders,
the ends falling down over the back
| and breast. This Is Enthusiastically
a feminine garment. Nowadays,
however, it is not rare to see worn by
the women calico dresses pure and
simple.
Since the advent of missionaries
they have become extremely religious.
They are earnest in their religion and
the great majority of them are pro-
fessed Christians. Nightly do they
read in their native Bibles and sing
hymns, and in their daily life they
live we'll up to the teachings of the
Bible. No more chaste or honest set
of people can be found. Ali this APP
plies to the people as they appear In
their native villages, and does not APP
ply to Apia, where, under the civiliz-
ing influence of the white man, their
morals have degenerated. In justice,
however, it must be said that this
lowering Of the standard of morality
| is due to the class of white men that
the natives see most of in Apia,
namely, rough sailors and low traders.
All the natives, male and female,
young and old, are splendid SWIM
mers, seeming to be nearly as much at
home in the water as on land. They
swim out to ships from the shore, and
any time they wish to leave the ship,
quietly jump over the side and swim
away. Equally skilled are they in
i fIni, Tn fha
islands are known as the Navigator
islands because of the proficiency of
| the natives in this direction.
One of the most curious and anus
ing customs of the Samoa girls is their
formation of friendships" with the
strange white men who come in ships
j to visit the islands. No sooner does
ship come to anchor in the harbor
than dusky faces appear at the air
ports, and in soft accents generally
girls) inquire: ''You felengi me?"
j In other words, will you be my friend?
/ BY this is meant that you are request
ed to form sort of society of two for
mutual benefit. You are to give your
friend hard-tack, tobacco, cotton BAN
i dannas, knives, or anything else in
i the ships stores or your own poses
i sion that your friend may fancy and
you care to part with, aud in return
your friend will BRING of daily un-
i limited cocoanuts, bananas, oranges,
i ETC., will make fine war club, give
4 you yards of tapa cloth and such
other articles as you may desire. And
& you must be faithful to this friendship
4 once entered into. Almost without
exception you will find them so, and
to their friends only do they attend.
Should you, on the other hand, show
favor to any one else, you will, when
discovered, be treated with infinite
scorn and contempt by the injured
one. The breach once made can never
be healed, and excessive GOODNESS will
! take the place of former warmth.
1 The Samoan language is very mus
icai, every word ending IN a vowel.
81 The chief product OF the islands, IN
fact, the only staple, is "copra," which
is the dried meat of tile c0cOanut, and
from which cocoantt oil is expressed.
, Hundreds Oh tons of this are annually
shipped to Germany. The islands
. abound in rich low lands, on which
could be raised tropical productions
] of every kind. SUCH as sugar cane,
] rice and cotton. The climate is gem
orally fine. though rather disagreeable
/ during the rainy season.
Fl Apia Is the commercial port, and
only settlemement Of any size on the
| islands. Its population is about 500
i and there Is a large sprinkling of
: Europeans and Americans. The place
: | is laid out ia streets and frame houses