The San Francisco call., 1898-02-20
PURSUIT OF THE
 TAUP06' IN SAMOA
ExCitinQ Scenes Attending the Great
 Gift Ceremonial.

in some honored recipient to be after ward divided among the attendant throng with much joy and revelry? Now at last our chance had come; the village of Safata on the opposite side of the island, was having a Ta'alolo for the benefit of King Malietoa at Mulinu. and off we were, driving through Apia to that dingiest of royal suburbs To-day Mulinu is en fete and throngs of natives, in gala attire, stalk beneath it's cocoanut palms.
 Hundreds of small baskets-the green cocoanut leaf baskets so rapidly woven by the natives-are set out before certain huts. They contain the offerings of divers villages toward the festivities, and a spokesman gables over their contents with comments which pro- vokes roars Of laughter from the ini- tiated; but to us, who know only our set phrases in the Samoan tongue, the vociferouS reiteration of so many fish, breadfruit, pigs, taros, cocoanuts. packets of fai'ai (cocoanut creamsl grows at last wearisome and monoto- nous as Mark Twain's cow The sun is pouring down midday rays, the tour ists are rushing off to lunch, and cer- tain inner sensations suggest that their independence of character is enviable; but how are we to combine sight-see- ing with lunch? We came forth to see a Ia alolo, and see it we will, though We starve in this land of plenty.
 Suddenly relief comes from uneXpect- ed quarters. One of the green creelS is laid at our feet. As a chiefs friends, forming nominally a portion of his family, we are expected to accept and ifG erty to hand them over should the sup ply not prove to our taste. Further more, our immediate necessities are met by the invitation to join said chief in the crowded hut, where he squats, revelling in heat and smoke and the smell of cocoanut oil. We are great deal too hungry to demur, so we squat on a mat beside him and enjoy our first Samoan picnic off banana leaves and plaited dishes. The food is good if the manner of eating be scrambling. We shut our eyes to the fact that though fingers are used for all purposes the usual bowl of water is conspicuous by it's absence and we meekly accept the titbits of pig, fish, breadfruit and fai'ai that are clawed and handed to Hs. One special honor however, proves 600 much for my civilized prejudtceS. Our host, in full career of enjoyment, gnaWing succulent bone, suddenly stops ana nOlQS out the Qei1cdle morsel at arms length. 1 naturally accept this as an attention to the pet dog on my lap. So does the dog. who lifts up her eager jaws. But the tempt ing morsel is angrily withdrawn and once more thrust in my face. This time, alas, l understand, The delicacy Is so irresistibly delicious that I am requested to share 1t. I deeply regret to have to add that at this juncture my manners take flight and I develop an ungractous aversion to pork. Where upon my neighbor, at once distressed and relieved, at once returns to his bone with the gusto of one who feels rewarded for virtuous self-denial.
 The heat increases. likewise the aroma of cocoanut oil and stale to- bacco. Every one is satiated, even chatter flags. The women have ex- hauSted their energies in examining my washing gloves, the material of my dress, the cut of my hat, which differs from what they wear to church on Sum- days. Life falls flat and we are specu- fattng whether after all there be any thing in a ta'alolo, when a distant sound of singing floats over the waters and with a Samoan equivalent for They comei The boats comei" there is sudden stampede toward the shore.
 We follow, excited and curious eager to study the they" who have kept us waiting so long. The holiday makers line the shore five and six deep. rais- ing themselves up wherever there is a fallen tree or charred stump. The waters of the lagoon, circled by palms. stretch away, a lake of placid blue, to where a dark line and snowy curvet- ting sea horses" indicate the reef. A fleckless blue o'erhead, a f1eckless blue at our feet, and quivering on the balmy air the sound of the boat song. Then, with mi Point like huge sea birds, come skim ming the long, white boats, their oars dipping in even cadence with the measured, monotonous chant of the rowers. With flags flying and snowy, red-e edged awnings shimmering in the sun glare, the bronZed, green -garlanded rowers bend to their work in pairs splashing in the blue. On the prov of the nearest boat stands Silenus in per son, with a short kilt of stiff siapo, gaudy necklace and wild wreath Of shaggy leaves. He is the official jester of his village, and as he brandishes a huge knife he cuts strange capers. turns his face to the shore crowd and peals of merriment
 When his thirty-six rowers shoot past, amid applause. South Sea vision bursts upon us-youth at the prov and pleasure at the helm sailing into our daily prose. The following boat has a fgurehead sprung from poets dream the Safata Taupo, her limbs yelled in flmy drapery that floats on the breeze, her bust garlanded with green, Greek fllet confning her hair. Calm and smiling, her classic profile and ex- quisite form standing out like an an tique statue against the l-enveloping blue, she floats past, lightly tossing her knife in time to the rhythm of her forty white-tUrbaned rowers, and the chant | of her rowers is light and cheery-in | harmony with the nymph of light and | foam who guides them
 After this comes the largest boat of | all, fifty rowers, their scarlet turbans | blending brilliantly with their tawny | skins, their chant slow and sonorous: 1 but these have no figurehead and po- | etry seems to have passed them by. | Finally the brilliant procession winds | up with the gay little boat of the American consulate in which sits the | white robed figure of the American Consufs wife, newcomer, as eagerly curious as ourselves.
 There Is nothing more to be seen for the present and we wander back to our appointed hut: but glow of romance has fallen upon us and the everyday chatter, the smoking and the glare have