The times., 1898-09-18
hat the watch had been permitted to run

run no rfSk OF being cOntraQ1cte0 Wnen
I say that the Samoans are the most gen.
erous people on the face of the earth
They have no money, and hardly know
what money is. but they will give a
stranger anything and everything that
they have means of showing their
gratitude or of manifesting courtesy. The
natives weave most exquisite mats from
dried grasses and the cured fibers of palm
leaves. AS they have no tools other than
rude knives and needles made from fish
bones. 1t takes long time to make a sin
gle mat / have one now in my possess
sion that 1t took a family of six thirty
years to manufacture. 1t is supposed to
be about six hundred years old and Is In
a state Of perfect preservation. Another
specimen is fine imitation of a Polar
bear skin, the ends of the fibers being
sprayed until they look like punches of
hair after being thoroughly bleached-
These Samoan mats are never subjects
of barter They cannot be bought for
love or money in a commercial sense. But
if the natives wish to show you that they
are grateful to you they Will give you
mat, than which you can have no higher
evidence of their regard. Mats are used
as wedding gifts, much as our North
American Indians use ponies and hides of
wild animals. One of these mats, used as
a passport. will carry white man in
safety through any part of Samoa where
there are not Solomon Islanders. The
Solomon men would certainly eat the
man, and they would eat the mat II they
could.
Although the natives now wear breech
cloths of the cheapest calico, they have
way of making serviceable cloth by hand
labor. They strip the bark from a mul-
berry tree and beat it into a pulp, which
they spread out on the ground in thin
sheets, where it is bleached to a perfect
whiteness. Other sheets are placed across
IL at right angles. and the whole mass
adheres together, making fabric tough
enough to defy anything except rain. The
natives decorate these cloths with vari-
colored indelible inks which they extract
from plants in the jungle.
The Samoans have no knowledge of the
value of money; in fact. they hardly
know what money is. They don't need
II and they don't want to know anything
about it. Those few of them who have
been brought into association with white
men may possibly have contracted the
civilized vice of mammon. but in the in
terror and along the beaches where there
are no trading ports they never see dol
lar year in and year out.
l was walking along a reef one day
looking for unique shells and bits of
coral, when / saw a native boy with
big leaf full of the finest specimens of
cats eyes that / had ever seen. i tried
to open negotiations with him for the
purchase of the whole lot, but he was
timid and was about to run away, when
! happened to drop brand new English
shilling The shining metal attracted his
attention, not because it was money. but
because it was shining. In fact, he did
not know it was money. I had offered
TO give him $40 for his collection, which
| offer he had refused, but he, in his turn,
| eagerly offered to give me the lot in ex-
change for the shining shilling. | after
wards bought more than three hundred
| of these cats eyes for a new Chile silver
! dollar, worth about 73 cents. These cats
| eyes are not to be confounded with the
stones of Ceylon. bearing the same name.
! They are a part of shell fish, commonly
/ known as the periwinkle. III is a hard.
! stone-like substance, shaped and colored
like the eye of a cat-green In the center
and white around the edges-and semi-lu
minous. It Is used by its original owner
| as a means of barricading its shell
| against the attacks of its enemies. The
/ shells are found attached to the under
| side of the coral reefs. To obtain them
| the native must paddle a mile or less out
4 to sea in his canoe. until he comes to the
/ edge Of a sfylving reef. He knows when
/ he reaches the edge of the reef by the
I change in the color of the sea water. The
| ocean is always a pale green when there
/ is white coral underneath 4 good exhi-
| bition of this peculiar quality is furnished
! in the harbor of Honolulu. where a dis
tinct line between the shallow and deep
water is found at the edge of the reef.
! Beyond the reef the water is a deep blue.
! When the Samoan reaches the end of
| the reef he leaps overheard, and dives un-
| derneath the coral. grasping as many
/ shells as his hands will hold during his
| brief time under the surface. The pur-
/ suit is not without danger, as there are
| many sharks in those waters, always
| waiting, and seldom getting a meal off
| an unwary Samoan diver. There are
/ two kinds of sharks that the Samoan has
| to contend with. The ordinary man.
eater which swfms on the surface with
| his dorsal fin protrudng. the native fears
| not at all. a small boy will swim out 10
/ meet a twelve-foot sea tiger. and with a
! knife in his teeth. will dive when the
/ shark does, with the inevitable result that
| the shark will come up. ripped from stem
/ to stern This species of shark always
dives downward to seize his prey, turn
ing over on his back he does so. and
thus giving the native plenty of time
| to combat him. The other species, and
| one of which even the bravest native is
| afraid is the black ground shark. This
| devil turks at the bottom of the sea and
rises to grasp his prey with fierce rush.
| If the native is not as quick as flash Of
! lightning with his knife. which he gener-
| ally is, he is never heard of more. But in
all the battles between Samoans and
| ground sharks. a thousand sharks perish
| to one Samoan.
How They Are Taxed.
| AS has been intimated the SamoanS
/ know nothing about money, and don't
want to know anything about it. Yet
| they have been subjected, with the con-
! sent of the United States Government. TO
the most onerous system of taxation ever
| heard of The Samoans had no voice in
| the selection of the commissioners who
| framed the Berlin convention by which
| the government of the islands were given
| to Great Britain, the United States and
| Germany; they have had nothing to do
| with the selection of the men who were
| appointed to administer the laws arbitra-
| rily made and they have no interest in
| their own government today other than
| as taxpayers And the system of taxation
| has been most fearfully and wonderfully
J conceived, especially when it is consider
! ed that the natives know nothing about
| money or commerce, have no way of
earning money, and have no desire to
| learn how to worship the god of NAM
| mon Every man is charged dollar a
| head for himself his wife and children
| per annum. If his wife gives birth to a
| child his first duty is. not to pay the ply
| sician who attends her in her Illness, but
| to rush to the offices of the government
| and pay a dollar towards the big salaries
| of foreigners who lie in the shade all
| day and dream of their return to civfliza-
| ton with a competency. If a native is
| rich enough to own his own hut, as all
| natives are, he must pay into the treas
| ,irv six dollars a year, and for a horse