The San Francisco call., 1899-07-01

the coast from Malie, the largest of
which contained Mataafa and his thir-
teen cheifs and the others his guard
In all of the boats there were probably
-gn nlen, all duarmed. Tiie boat con-
taiuing R.ataafa was profusely deco
rated with flowers and capopied with
branches Of green foliage. AS the boats
drew up alongside the Badger, escorted
by small boats containing armed men
from the warships. they presented a
very pretty sight. The irrepressible
Captain Sturdee took occasion to dis
patch a letter to the Commission pro-
testing against such a large number of
Mataafans coming into the harbor, but
the Commission evidently thought that
five warships could take care of a hand
full of unarmed natives, SO Sturdee's
protest was not seriously considered.
Mataafa's reception, on board the
Badger was in every way pleasant. The
old chief discussed at length with the
Commission the events of the past,
claimed that he had fought a purely
defensive war, that his people were
anxious for peace provided their rights
were not taken from them, and that he
would obey the laws laid down by the
HIGH commissioners 1t w DIS
without difficulty for the Badger at an
early date to proceed TO Malie and col
lect all of the guns and ammunition
there in the possession of the natives
Mataafa was assured that there was no
King, but that the Commission was
King until it decided upon the future
government of Samoa at which time it
would endeavor to do justice to all par
ties. With this assurance Mataafa and
his chiefs, after shaking hands cor
daily with the Commissioners, re
entered their boat and were escorted
out of the harbor by the English and
Americans, whence they returned to
Malie.
In accordance with the agreement,
the Badger weighed anchor at sunrise
May 81 and steamed down to Malua, a
small village few miles from Ma
taafa's stronghold. AT this point Ma
taafa and his chiefs boarded the ship,
and after short conversation with the
Commission they signaled their fol-
lowers on shore to come out with their
arms In a few moments several hun
dred natives were alongside jabbering
and gesticulating very much like lot
of Cinnamon. Each OF the thirteen
chiefs had his. district to account for,
and each received the guns of his own
men through the side of the ship,
stacked them in pile and received
receipt for them. In all there were 1926
guns turned over at this time, but after
the Badger returned to Apia five more
were sent on board. making total of
1881 guns received from the Mataafans
the first day. Since that time AZ more
have been surrendered by the Mataafa
people, swelling the total to 1873. OF
this number 1892 are old Snider rifles,
241 Remington. so needle carbines, 56
Winchesters, IS Martins, 81 Martini
Henry, q Mausers and 27 Springfelds.
The rest are made up of more than a
dozen obscure patterns. excepting two
United States navy rifles which were
captured at the battle of Vailele on
April l.
After the disarming of these men had
been accomplished Mataafa and his
thirteen high chiefs were invited down
into the mess room of the Badger,
where a lunch was spread for them.
Well informed people think that not
over half of Mataafa's guns were Sc
cured, and that the balance of them
but the Commission thinks that by
making it a penal offense with heavy
punishment for a native TO be seen
with a gun in his hands, all of them
will ultimately be secured
The Tanu men had. 1t is estimated,
about $500 guns. 700 Of which were sup
piled recently by the English warships.