Evening star., 1897-02-06

though equally brutal and Indifferent to
the laws controlling the rights to life and
property, the beach-comber of the Pacific
islands is an entirely different creature
from his English and American predeces-
scr. With his life lines cast in those
favored purple isles, where nature is so
lavish of her bounties, the Poiynesian
beach-comber has lost his love of wealth.
He has adopted the modes of life of the
people Oh whom he forced himself. and,
although he has not in all things adopted
their guileiess methods. something of the
poetry of his surroundings and the sim
plicity of his associates comes to him
after he has ceased to yearn for the bust
ling, selfish world, On which he has for
ever turned his back.
A few years ago while in Apia, the capt.
tai of Samoa, the one city of the Navi-
gators Islands. a city with one street,
and that street with very few houses. L
gladly accepted an Invitation from my Old
friend, Robert Louis .Stevenson,. to spend
night with him in his picturesque home,
up the mountain. within hearing of the
waterfall and within sight Of the worlds
most beautiful bay" as he put it,
His Part ia Life.
Before this 1 had started in to study
the Polynesian beach -cornber, and l had
just returned from the Island of Tetuila.
where 1 had learned1muoh that increased
my Interest III TIC SuUJeo5, "ithouS a. Aai
adding to my respect for 1t.
1 found my kindly, brilliant host an en-
tEusiast on the subject of beach-combers.
and had he lived he would have added
another fascinating chapter to SUBJECT
that has inspired the pens OF some OF
the greatest writers ,in the last two cen
turieS. III.
After repeating my limited experience
with these fellows. ! was denouncing the
me in a half-laughing. half-serieus way:
My dear boy he said. as nearly as i
can recall his words. Of which l made a
note next day. you forget that - students o.
psychology. like students Of physiology:
find their mcst abr rorrnai subjects the most
interesting. The beach-comber is not a
thinker. but he has set me a-thnking:
How much he has done for hterature-
1 stared In surprise. and then my host
went on to describe the beach-coanber. who
Is to be found in nearly all the nhaoiteu
| islands of the Pacific. from the Aieutian
group to the clusters of isiets that fringe
southern New Zealand. These men, ne ex-
planned. were Americans and representa-
tiyes of nearly every maritime people In
the world. Nearly all were deserters from
ships. Some We're fugitive criminals, but
| majority were driven to extremes by the
cruelty OF their masters: Many had no
home ties. no sense of obligation. anu no
idea of duty; but for these deiiciencies they
were hardly to blame. They contrasted the
beauty of these lovely islands and the per-
feet freedom of the graceful nauVes, WIN
the fetid 1OreCaStieS Oh tnt "hdISi ", n.S.7
chantman on which they served. and they
compared the tyranny Of their captain with
the low voices and seductive eyes oL .te
beautiful maidens of Polynesia. iheS
yielded to the latter and deserted by theus-
ands; indeed. they have been deserving Tor
| more than a century, and the end Is not
yet.
/ These deserters. now called "beach-cemb-
ers," whether they reside on the shore or
| in the interior, have taken native wives.
Where the custom permitted they took
more than one, and the result Is new
| race of half-breeds. As rule this race IS
physically superior to that of either OF the
! originals: but. unfortunately. the ereater
| mental capacity that accompanies this
greater strength and grace has not been
used in an ennobling way.
What the frontiersman was 10 America
the beach-comber though not with the
| heroic nature and splendid purpose OF the
| former, Is destined to be to Foiynesia,
said Stevenson.
| But what has he done for literature?'
asked.
Nothing directly. was the response;
| the soldier, the sailor or any other man
| whose life has been devoted to physical
struggle. All these, however. have inspired
| the pens of others ahd, in this way, the
| beach-comber has done his share"
| Seeing that l looked incredulous. my host
| continued, with pleasant smile.
The First Beach-Comber.
| "The first Pacific beach-comber, of whom
the world has any knowledge. was our old
| friend. Alexander Selkirk. He was ma
rooned on an uninhabited island by cruel
captain. Being put ashore against his will,
differentiates him very decidedly from his
vast army of SUCCESSORS ii But it was this
event that inspired Defoe to write the inn
1 mortal Robinson Crasoe, without reading
| which no boys educatior Is complete. 1t
| was the same subject that gave us Cow
per's most popular poem outside John Gill
pin.
| the FIRST attempt at Wholesale beach-comb-
ing In the mutiny ofothe Bounty. Captain
BLY, may have beers =. tyrant-most mer-
being set adrift in an open boat out in that
| vast expanse. with affew friends. and the
| final rescue form onei of the most thrilling
chapters In the history Of the sea- Byron
| immortalixed this drama On his poem The
Island You know iethe estory: how the
crew, under Christian and Adams. took