The San Francisco call., 1899-04-14
MATAAFA'S MEN ARE
CUNNING COWARDS

THE followers Of Mataafa are not only
towards, but they are hard to hit. J.
w. Hyland, correspondent of the Lon
don Echo, is authority for the state
ment. and he has had particularly good
opportunities for investigation. He was
at Apa, part of the time at the now his
toric Tivoli Hotel and part of the time
on the United States cruiser Philadelphia,
preceding and following the bombardment
of the refractory natives by the COM
bined fleets of America and England.
The dusky beggars.' he said, Tie on
their bellies when they fire and then roll
away on the ground before you know it.
They Will not stay still as ordinary fight
ers, and the way they can shin up a tree
would do credit to a monkey"
Mr.. Hyland who is making an around
the-worid tour for his paper, arrived at
Apia on March 16 on the steamer Taviuni
from the Tonga Islands. With him were
half a dozen Australian and English peo-
pie, including A S. Boyd. a staff artist
OF the London Graphic. They took ac-
commodations at the Tivoh Hotel on the
beach. and their first night in Samoa was
punctuated by bullets by both the rebel
natives and the English and American
marines. Death was probably at any hour,
and sleep was impossible. As ii was. two
of the American marines who had gained
the hotel porch were killed by the weap-
ons of Mataafa's men. That one night
was enough for the tourists of the Tavi-
uni. The next morning they went on
the various ships in the harbor, it falling
TO the lot of Mr.. Hyland to go on the
Philadelphia, where. he says, he was
treated in the best possible manner, Lieu
tenant Lansdale, who was killed in the
ambuscade reported in The Call dispatch
OF April y, going so far as to give up his
cabin 10 the English correspondent.
The first thing that happened of any
consequence said Mr.. Hyland yesterday.
after our night in the Tivoli Hotel was
the order Of Admiral Kautz to the Ger
man ship Fake to move out of the line
Of fire. She was between the Philadelphia
and the beach. The German captain
moved out without protestation. as far as
could see. The American admiral at that
time, as far as ] knew, intended to shell
the German places Of refuge of the Ma
taafa men, the TiVoH Hotel included. The
Tivoli was known to be a nest of the
Mataafa people, and ii was undermined
by order of the American admiral, ready
10 be knocked down at any time
The most beautiful thing in the whole
affair to my mind" said Mr. Hyland
lis the concert of action between the
Americans and British. Before we left
Apta the refugees used to go for strolls
along the beach. which was patrolled by
marines from the American and British
warshipS, ten feet apart, for the entire
distance. We kept away from the woods
ana Sucn possible ambuscades as see
by The Call dispatches the poor marines
fell into. Another thing in the way of
harmony between the English-speaking
navies was shown by the action of the
Porpoise before we left. For several days
she would go out in the morning for
cruise along the shores and at night
would come in, invariably with seven or
eight captured canoes and their native
occupants. As soon as she cast anchor
Captain Sturdee would make a call on
Kautz and have a social glass"
Mr.. Hyland is of the opinion that the
action of German Consul Rose throughout
the whole matter has been actuated by
the fact that his wife is a half-caste
woman The Echo correspondent left
Samoa on the Mariposa on March 26 and
while matters were in as serious a con-
dition as he describes, he had no idea that
there was any possibility of affairs taking
on any such serious aspect as reported in