The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-01-26

some variation among the women, who
! have much less on them. The men are tat
! t0oed from their waists down to their knees
in an almost solid unbroken design, the
| edges being somewhat fanciful, although
always the same. The victim lies
prone on the ground, and the artists be-
gin their work. Their instruments are
small sized combs, made of fish bones with
| teeth extremely sharp. These they dip IN
/ the ink used-a preparation made from the
SCOT of burning candle nuts-and then drive
them into the qulvering flesh with little
mallets. They 60 over the surface quite
rapidly, which blackens under their artistic
touch, the blood flowing out at each tap OF
the mallet. 1t takes several days TO COM
plete the work on one subject, it being
more than he can stand to have 1t all done
in one day; and for weeks he hmps from
til g effects of his torture. They do not
tattoo the face as in the MarqueSas Islands,
where on all sides are seen natives with
parti-colored faces, some in stripes, some
with one side tattooed, the other clear, and
some with odd and singular designs mapped
out in ink upon their skins.
All the natives, male and female, young
and old, are splendid swimmers, 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 hand
ling their canoes. In fact the islands are
known as the Navigator Islands because of
the proficiency Of the natives in this dlrec-
ton. This name was given to them by the
captain of a French vessel who was struck
with admiration at the skillful handling of
| their canoes by party of natives far out
at sea, Every wave threatened to engult
them, but they continued on in safety.
| Their canoes are very narrow, being
made from logs, followed out, and are fitted
4 ,frSrr cid
rigger runs nearly the entire length Of the
canoe aud extends out from the side two
or three feet, the outward extremity rest
| ing in the water. 1t serves to keep the
canoe steady, and prevents it from easily
| upsetting. Their war canoes are built up
boats, many logs being used in their con
| struction, and are large enough to hold
| twenty-five or thirty men. Propelled by
about twenty stalwart natives, singing war
songs, and keeping time by striking their
paddles on the gunwales of the canoe, they
present formidable appearance.
| One of the most curious things, and rather
| amusing, too, is their formation Of friend
| Ships with the strange white man who
comes in ships to visit them. No sooner
| does ship come to anchor in the harbor
than dusky faces appear at the air-ports,
and voices in soft accents generally girlsD
inquire: you felengi me!' In other
words, will you be my friends By this is
meant that you are requested to form sort
of society Of two for mutual benefit You
are to give your friend bareback, tobacco,
cotton, bandannas, knives, or anything
else in the ships stores or your
own possession, that your friend
may fancy and you care to part
with, and IN return, your friend will bring
off daily unlimited cocanuts, bananas,
oranges, etc, will make you fine war
| club, give you yards of tapa cloth, and
such other articles as you desire. And you
must be faithful to this friendship once en-
| tered into Almost without exception, you
will find them so, and to their friends and
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.
| The Samoan language is very musical,
every word ending in a vowel. The gram
mar is simple and easily mastered. Like
| the Spanish, every word is pronounced ex-
actly as it is spelt, and the vowels have
| always the same sound. Their word of
salutation is "Ta-lo-fa," and good-by is
| ''Tofa."
The chief product of the islands-in fact
| the only staple, is ''copra," which is the
dried meat of the cocoanut, and from which
| cOcOanut OIL is expressed. funureuS Oh IonS
of this are annually shipped to Germany.
There are many fine harbors in the
islands, that at Pango Pango, where the
United States has a coaling station, being
particularly so. 1t is landlocked, and once
within its sheltering arms it is impossible to
detect the entrance-high, verdure clad
hills shutting it out from view. These hills
surround the harbor on all sides, and for
the most part rise abruptly from the water
to hight of 800 or 1000 feet, covered from
base to summit with luxuriant tropical veg
itation. The islands abound in rich level
lands, on which could be raised tropical
productions of every kind, such as sugar
cane, rice and cotton. The climate is gen
orally fine, though rather dlsagreeable dur
| ing the rainy season.
Apia is the commercial port, and only
settlement of any size on the islands Its
population is 1870 and there is a large
| sprinkling of Europeans and Americans
The place is laid out in streets and frame
| houses abound. There is hotel, some few
general stores, and numerous drinking
| saloons Two or three merchant vessels,
and one or two men-of-war are almost
always in port.