Omaha daily bee., 1891-10-25
A King OF THE SOUTH SEAS.
TalkativJ Aliens Shipped Away From His
Island Kingdom.
PROCLAMATION BY RIFLE SHOTS.
Robert Louis Stevenson, The Novelist,
Relates How the Dusky Ruler
Built n Town for tho
Englishmcn.
cninnfntt. 1901.

VI 80
We had a favor to seek, we approached in
the proper courtly attitude Of a sutton, and
must either please him or fail in the main
purpose Of our voyage. IL was our wish to
land and live in Apomama, and see more
near at hand the odd character Of the man
aud the odd, or rather ancient, condition of
his island. In all other isles OF the South
Seas a white man may land with his chest
and set up house for a lifetime. II he choose,
md have the money or the trade; no hin
drance i, conceivable. But Apemama is a
close island, lying there in the sea with
closed doors, the king himself, like a ~vigilant
officer, ready at the wicket to scrutinize ana
reject intreuching visitors. Hence the attrac-
ton OF our enterprise, not merely because it
was a little difficult, but because this social
quarantine, a curiosity in itself, has been the
preseryativc Of others.
Tembinok', like most tyrants, is a conserva-
tive; like many conservatives, he eagerly
welcomes row ideas, and, except IN the field
of politics, ,eans to practical reform. When
the missionaries came, protesting a knowl-
edge of the truth, he readily received them,
attended their worship, acquired the accom-
plishment of public prayer and made him
self a student at their feet. It Is thus-it is
Dy INC cultivation Oh SlUullhI DioSluB lthlO
that he has learned to read, to write, to
cipher, and to speak his queer personal En-
glish, so different from ordinary Bleach dc
Mar 50 mucn more obscure, expressive and
condensed. His education attended to, ho
found time to become critical of the new in
mates. Like Nakaela OF Maxim, he Is an ad-
mirer of silence in the island, broods over 1t
like a great ear, has spies who report daily,
and had rather his subjects sing than talk,
The service, ana in particular the sermon,
came thus sure to become eye-sores. Here,
in my island, | peak he once observed
to me. My chieps no 'peak-do what |
talk" He looked at the missionary,
md what did he seel See onna Ka peak
In a big Dutch !' he cried, with a strong ring
of sarcasm. Yet he endured the subvcrsive
spectacle, ana might even have continued TO
endure IL had not a fresh point arisen. He
look again, to employ his own figure, and the
Kanaka was no longer speaking. He was
doing worse; he was building Il copra house,
The king was touched in his chief interests;
revenue and prerogative were threatened. He
considered besides and some think with nim)
that trade IS Incompatible with the mission
airy claims. ''Tuppoti mitonary think good
man = very good. Tuppoti he think cobra no
good. | send him away ship" Such was
his abrupt history of the evangelist in
Apemama.
Similar deportations are common. ~ send
HIM way ship is not the epltaph OF a few,
his majesty paying the exile's fare to the
next place of call. For instance, being pas
sionately fond of European food, he has sew
eral times added to his household a white
cook, and one after another these have been
deported. They on their side swear they
were not paid their wages; he, on his, that
they robbed and swlndled him beyond endur-
ance; both perhaps justly. a more impor-
tant case was that of an agent, despatched
las l have heard the story by a firm of mer-
chants to worm his way into the kings good
graces, become, If possible, premier, and
handle the Copra in the interest Of his en-
ployers. He obtained authority to land,
practised his destinations, was patiently
listened to by Tembinok', supposed himself
ON the highway to success, ana behold! when
tho next ship touched at Apcmama the pre-
mier was flung into a boat, had on board his
fare paid, and so goodoy. But IL is needless
TO multiply examples; the proof of the pud-
ding is the eating of it. When we came to
Apemama, of so many white men VINO awe
for a place in that rich market
one remained "a silent, sober, solitary, mig
gardly ~recluse, of whom the king remarks
~ think he good; he no peak
was warned at the outset we might very
well fail in our design; yet never dreamed of
what proved TO be the fact, that we should be
left four and twenty hours in suspense and
come within an ace of ultimate rejection.
Captain Reid had primed himself; no sooner
was the king on board and the Henneti ques-
ton amicabiy settled, than hs proceeded TO
express my request and give an abstract of
my claims and virtues. The cannon about
Queen Nictoria's son might do for Butaritari:
1t was out of the question here, and | now
figured as zone of the Old Men of England"
q person of deep knowledge, come expressly
to visit Tembinolfs dominion, and eager to
report upon 1t to the no less eager Queen
Victoria.
The king made no shadow of an answer,
and presently began upon n different subject.
We might have thought he had not heard or
not understood, only that we found ourselves
the subject of Il constant study. AS we sat
At meals he took us in n series ana fixed upon
zach, for near u minute at a time, the same
hard and thoughtful stare.
AS he thus looked he seemed to forget him
3elf, the subject and the company, and to be
come absorbed in the process of his thought;
the look was wholly impersonal. 1 have seen
the SAINT in the eyes of porti ait painters. The
counts upon which whites have been deport-
ed are mainly four: Cheating Tembinok,
meddling with copra, which is tho
source OF his wealth ana one Of tho sineWs of
his power; 'peaking, and political intrigue. |
felt gulltless upon all; but how TO show It'll
would not have taken copra rs u gift-how to
express that quality by dinner table bearing.
The rest of the party shared my innocence
ana my embarrassment. They shared also
in my modification when after two whole
meals, and the Dad moments of an afternoon
devoted to this recruiting, Tembinok' took
his leave in silence, Next morning tho same
undisguised study, the same silence, was re-
$500 NAS FSNbAA AAI hhd COllC
10 It's maturity before was in
formed abruptly that l had stood the ordeal.
~ look your ego. You good man. You no
lie" said the king; a doubtful compliment to
a writer OF romance, Later he explained he
did not quite judge by the eye only, but the
mouth AS well. 'Tuppoti, | sec man" he ex-
planned. II no tavvy good man, bad man. |
look eye, look mouth. Then | tavvy. Look
eve, look mouth y he repeated. And, indeed,
IN one case the mouth had the most to do
with II, and II was by our talk that we gained
admission TO the island, the king promising
himself (aud l believe really amassing) a
vast amount of useful knowledge ere we left.
The terms of our admission were as follows:
We were To choose a site, and the king should
there build us a own. His people should
work for us, but the king only was TO give
them orders. One OF his cooks should come
daily TO help mine aud to learn of him. In
case our stores ran out no would supply us
and be repaid on the return of the Equator,
On the 0thor hand, he was To come to meals
with us when so inclined when no stayed at
home a dish was TO be sent him from our
table; and ] solemnly engaged To give his
subjects no liquor or money (both OF which
they are forbidden to p~ossessl, and no tobacco,
which they were TO receive only from
the royal hand. / think re-
member to havo protested against
the stringency OF this last article; at least, it
was relaxed, and when a man worked for mo
l was allowed 10 give him q Pipe of tobacco
on the premises, but none 10 take away.
The site OF Equator town-we named our
city for the schOoner-was soon chosen. The
Immediate shores OF the lagoon are windy and
hlindinu TembinOk himself is glad To grOne