The San Francisco call., 1897-12-19

teous speech. Then comes a general
squat on the broad veranda, chiefs,
performers, talking men en- evidence,
the attendant crowd in the back
ground, while the Samoan maids at the
inevitable kava bowls have their ener-
gies called upon. And the cocoanut
cup is handed round and libations are
poured on the ground and names are
shouted, with accompanying gesture
and warlike cry, and further courtesies
are uttered with the faithful veracity
that characterizes after-dinner toasts
in lands where people sit in chairs.
During these proceedings, with the
after discussion of cakes and biscuits
innumerable, we familiarize ourselves
with the appearance of the dancers
stalwart, Well-knit men, who have
done their best to give a cannibalistic
twist to their fine placid features. Dis
figuring black smudges are on brow
and cheek, erratic wreaths are set
waywardly on excited heads, boars'
tusks, sharks teeth, shells, beads.
berries mingle with the leaves twined
round their torsos, huge punches Of
ferns stand UP like a lady's ostrich
feathers on their brown shoulders and
sineWy arms, the cOlored streamers of
the tits float around them with every
movement, strings of split and hol-
lowed nuts Ca kind of large acacia
beam are wound about their limbs and
Jangle like castanets beneath their
leggings of shred banana leaf, and
the brown folds of their rustling siapo
draperies contrast with the large col
ored paper kites they flourish. Alto
gether, the motliest group of motleys
that ever trified with cap and bells.
For let US make no mistake about it.
Your genuine native is to the full as
conscious of his bells as any Kings
jester, only he wears them with a diff
ference" and his grand seigneur air
as he plays the fool takes in not only
innocent papalangi but occasionally his
august self. He is not the only actor
who becomes self-engrossed in his own
hlgh-class impersonation; nay, he
would furiously resent the idea of
being an actor at all as, with grave
face and proud bearing, he goes
through festive preliminaries; but an
occasional twinkle in his knowing
Oriental eye bellies him. In his secret
heart he acknowledges life as a big
game.
The while His Highness of the Bells
discusses toothsome matters with a.
magnificent air of indifference. and we
analyze him with Old World cynicism,
time passes and attendant admirers
wax impatient A signal, impercepti-
bic as that which precedes the feminine
stampede at a fashionable dinner par
ty passes round; instinctively we all
rise, turn our faces from sea and sky.
mountain top and wooded valley, and
enter the large, low Vailima BANQUET
ing hall.
Unconsciously a feeling of solemnity
| steals upon us. Possibly it is but the
sudden transition from outer glare TO
indoor shade, possibly it is the more
startling transition from South Sea.
scenes to Old World associations. Long.
low, casemented, wainscoted. dark
toned, the Vailima banqueting hall
with it's broad double staircase leading
to more modern apartments, is distinct
ly Old World, suggestive of romance
and riot, faith and fighting. It recalls
not feudal pile, but some quiet
| moated grange whose inhabitants lived
for generations in an atmosphere of
potpourri, inscribing life and death in
the family Bible and cherishing awe
struck traditions of days when bold
soldiers invaded it's peaceful precincts.
Glancing round at dark polished floor
and wall, at classic statuette and dim
oil painting, at artistic cabinet and low
lavender-veiled easement, through
| which stir odors of rose and stephano-
tis, you dream of sundial and holly
walk outside, you watch the door for
the entrance of stately lady of the
manor robed in pompadour silk and
quilted petticoat. But doors and win
| dows have the suggestive MOSQUITO
wire. Antique sacque is represented
by the loose South Sea robe worn by
the ladies of the household, and the
dark skinned troupe that swarms in
after us owns perfume that differs
essentially from the dream inducing
potpourri, an aggressively sickly per-
fume begotten Of cocoanut oil and Iu-