St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-02-08
A KINGS BANQUET.
Interestingly Described in a Private
Letter from Samoa.

new palace built "faa papalagi"
Qike white folks) on the long penin-
sula called Mulimuu, which has, from
time immemorial, been the home of
Samoan rulers.
We started in the government
boat, with the Samoan flag waving
over us, and rowed by papa's boat
men, three stalwart Samoan chiefs,
prisoners who are under sentence to
Imprisonment with hard labor, for
taking part in the Mataafa rebellion.
Their hard labor consists of rowing
the chief Justice and his family about
the lagoon. One of those who gen.
orally row was not there, but
another chief came in his place. He
sat in the stern, and while the other
two would take long, sweeping
strokes, he would either rest entirely,
or toy with the oar in the water, as
though it had been put there to
amuse him. He could not under
stand English, so papa told the
stroke oar to tell him to row as hard
as the others did. The stroke oar
looked perfectly Mortified. "Why,
he is Talionfano, he said. 1t would
have been as presumptuOus for him
to have told chief higher than him
self to work harder, as it would for
a man to ask President Cleveland to
black his boots for him. He was,
however, informed what was ex-
pected of him, and to his intense dis
gust, had to throw off his royal dig
nitv and work like his comrades.
When we arrived at the kings
house the guard stationed in front
offered us a salute, and his majesty,
the king, came down the steps to-
meet US. Malietoa Laupapa is a
singularlv gentle and amia BILE man,
whose considerate courtesy distin-
guishes him even amongst a people
universally courteous. He, however,
| lacks the lght-hearted gaiety which
generally characterizes his subjects,
| and one cannot but feel that exile
and trouble in the past and uncer-
tainty concerning the future have
thrown shadow over his life. He
was nea tly dressed in d white suit,
such as is worn by all foreign
ers here. We were next presented to
the queen. who was resplendent IN a
dress of red lace over pink satin,
made for the occasion, while her feet,
which are not strictly fairy-Iike, were
encased in slippers at least two sizes
too small for her. and which made
her walk as though she were tread
| ing on pins.
l was given a seat beside the king
in the audience room" of the palace,
and there | sat, unable to speak a
word, as his majesty cannot speak
English, and my Samoan yocabula-
is as yet somewhat limited The
floor of the room was covered with
mats made in Fiji, the walls were
draped with tapa. the native cloth,
made of the pounded bark of trees,
aud dved beautiful colors. Fans,
baskets and shells were placed here
and there, while a huge picture of
Queen Victoria and the Emperor
William, Lord and Lady Jersey, and
King Malietoa himself, graced the
walls with their presence. There were
lace curtains at the windows, and
in the center of the room was table,
OH w Il(i w ctS q iiIlN maj Liz
est wealth that q Samoan can pos
sess. They are made of the 6bres of
the mulberry tree, and it takes sew
eral women years to make one.
| They are made wholly by the wOm-
Ell, as the men think that if there Is
any work to be done it is the
woman's place to do it. They must
keep themselves fresh for war. This
mat of the kings is one of the
finest in Samoa, and there have been
wars fought over it 1t has a name,
and when that name IS mentioned
| everyone knows that mat is meant,
and it is guarded with as much care
and pride as is the original Declara-
ton of Independence a Washington.
Although Malietoa could get a
great price for it, yet if he sold it, he
would instantly be dethroned, and
every Samoan would point his hn-
ger at him as man who had dis
graced his kingdom. This mat is of
very great age and Is so fine it looks
almost like silk. 1t is bordered with
fringe, and two rows of red feathers,
which are taken from bird which is
brown with the exception of this
one red feather The birds are
caught, and this feather pulled out,
and are then kept until another
feather grows, and when one looks
at the number of feathers on one
mat, he cannot help thinking of the
number of birds who have been
robbed of their one bright plume.
These birds. as well as the mats, are
becoming exceedingly rare now, and
! q re a IrnOSt DriceIeCS
Soon 'ldu ohoga Massiofa," the
queen, called out in loud voice
"Senikc saurvIa," and instantly her
page, or a woman of about two
hundred pounds in weight, dressed
in white with broad, purple sash