The Delta independent., 1889-02-05
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT
SAMOA.

Lying in the Pacific Ocean, about
5000 miles southwest from San Fran
| cisco, are the Samoan Islands, the rich
and fertile country which. through
German intrigue and the neglect Of
other interested powers, have for u
year past suffered the woes of civil
war and misrule. The natives are
hardly more than semi-civilized, but are
tractable and intelligent, and if prop
erly treated could be easily and hap
PLY governed. They are singular
people and have many odd customs.
In appearance they resemble the Malay
race, of which, in fact, they are II
branch. For the most part they are
| of fine physique, straight and broad
shouldered, and have u powerful mus
cular development. Their color is
light brown. Many of the women are
very handsome, both in form and fea-
ture, and almost all are fine looking
One thing which detracts from their
appearance is the way in which the
greater portion of them wear the hair.
As rule, this is worn in huge bushy
mass, having a reddish tinge. This,
however, is not natural, their hair by
nature being fine, black and straight.
With strange perversity of taste, the
natives cover it with kind of limo
until it is rendered harsh and stiff and
the color is changed from black to red
dish brown.
Their habits of life are simple, hunt
ing and fishing and a little tilling OF
the soil being their chief occupations.
They raise few pigs and fowl, but
for the most part are indolent, de-
pending chiefly for their food supply
on what nature so abundantly fur
nishes them with in the shape Of bread
fruit, cocoanuts, bananas, oranges,
pineapples and other tropical fruit
This simplicity of living extends to
their houses and the furnishing OF
them. Their villages are mere col
lections of huts, though in the main
these huts are neat and comfortable.
The dress of the natives consists, at
most, of two pieces-the .lava-lavan
and the .tupuka." Before the COM
ing of the missionaries and calico the
lava-lava sutficed. This is sometimes
made from reeds and grasses, some
times from "tapa" cloth and some
times from calico. 1t is nothing more
than 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 ..tu-
puka," consists of n piece of cloth
about eighteen inches wide and OF
varying length, with u hole in the
middle large enough to put the head
through. This they wear over their
shoulders, the ends falling down over
the back and breast. This is almost
exclusively a feminine garment. Now
adays, 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 in their
rude huts they read their native BIZ
bles and sing hymns, and in their
daily life they live well up to the
teachings of the Bible. No more
chaste or honest set Of people can be
found. All this applies to the people
as they appear in their native villages
and does not apply to Apia, where,
under the civilizing influence of the
white man, their morals have degener-
atcd.
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.
Hundreds of tons Of this are annually
shipped to Germany.