Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1900-06-08
II IN SAMOA.
&; ==s SFs1s;"E fCF ::GESpeans, Be'
cnuae n Woman Ate
the Halt.

III ahlo sAltNAE hl'SN ~ ~ A' h"N
nature of an experiment. il was decided
To try every method which might pro-
duce results. both bait and fly. and I u
try them in the sweet water of the river
gorge and i'll III, urf as we'll. There
WAS an initi:! difficulty in the matter
OF bait. II was easy To tell the curious
children of the village tn bring orms.
which they call %'anufc," but the COM
maud set them scampcring in what
seemed the wrong lirrctiun=down to
the beach instead of to spots that
seemed more likely. At the same time
the priest sem others of after "afato.
or Erubs. and they were y q seen jnb-
biug rotten trunks with sharp sticks i'll
their search. The children who haI
zone for worms were the first back.
Each had Il shred of cOcoauut slirl!
filed with writing monsters. all wrig.
gle aud lr..S. and about as r"pulNivc "A
collection IA could he imagined. They
were NIL marine worms. for I'akclc en-
planned with many apologies that
Samoa might be du. over from beach
to mountain ridge aud not disclose "a
single ~a:glvworin. The marine worms
he thought might well he tried. for they
were the natural food Of fishes in salt
water. and lac busted himself with loop
irg several on as rIauy hooks. rot pune
turing iEcm al all. but tying them in
place with ;iuN threads of hibiscus fiber
pulled froyI II fresh >traiU,r made for
the kaya drinking. The boys who had
been sent for TruU> returned with a
dozen or NOR" ]assurt,G sizes. hui most
were quite too large ard '.luGbN 10
think of Usir" ih,w Tor ~ y tut larr"
Ii>h. which il wH> not expected could
hr taken in the particular waters Wl."h
il was intended To fish. = u matter
al fact. they were net used AZ all,
through an incident or accident Of
Samoan life. They were all Iui in =
half of Il c]OcUanut she'll. ~ than Wa
forced down into the r",i!,,d &, =. 80
that ii would stand NJ at Will,
they were left Tor f]urll.: @, '.ia,r;..
ton the chiefs wife >'ra.',. ..r, .s.
the novel arrangements "a !f--.
As she sat looking on. IG; n. petite
awoke. Eating j. Il ruuI'uIpu> PEI.
formanCc with these savage. She aI'.
the bait. and the facI WAS rot GiscuvrrrG
until She was seen crowdii.g The last
fat grub into her mouth. which Was
dripping with the creamy pulp Of It,,
predecessors. l'akrlr gave her :. iii.r
scu!diug, but IL apparently mad" Little
impression. and even the priest l&G o..
r"ufcs, that these grubs were very g,uo
eating when You got USED to tie idea
aud that they had the flavor OF chest
nuts. Despite this assurance. it Was
NJ least n novel aud decidedly uguscui.
ing sensation 10 rave ouc's hostess eat
up the buir. As to the choice II ilic>.
thrrc was little to direct the selection.
for insect life in these islands is rot
abundant nor conspicuous. the most
ommoH form hovrrim" over the water.
both salt and fresh. being "a lavender
butterfly ubOut the size Of the cabbage
butterfly or more familiar scenes, and u
gauZy-wirE"d libc!lu!a with two long,
'hrcad-!ikr tails.
1t is impossible to tell what fish were
taken. They looked like odds and ends
uf the rainbow for variety 81 color. and
'hrir shapes were Is rrutr>puc m "a
Chinese puzzle. TO he sure. they all
had Samoan names. but that leaves one
not at all the wiser. for Ihty have not
yet passed under the study of Jordan
or Gilbert as Bean. who kuuw the fine
points Of fishes. II j. ,r.ryh to SAY
that they took To bait ard L., ., greed.
lily as IL they had been up to
the white mans fishery. until
weary. there was "A large cas-. I'D with
very few duplicates.
One Of t!r fish taken O. g.. lark Of
'hc surf Lad IA curious iii, .,:y. IL
despiscd the bait, and AT, s. no has
seen thcs" sea WORMS w. 3ut b!am,
any fish for rejecting tl,rf. I:ut this
was a dainty fish. with a.. ,,,an lines
If the mnckcrrI. yet only iulf rs large.
II responded promptly tu u snail ny
put together 81 two green fcafl,rS and
u red on" from the head Of the rom
mon Far"kcct. II was Just u little dash
Of color. There Is not an insect in
Samoa that has that coIOrutiun. but il
attracted tic fish. and that is all that
j. needed. The fish Was a very dainiy
lawn color. family spotted on the sides
and belly Will steel blue dots regularly
th,Hgh sPnrscly placed. Just behind
the Gill cover an ca"h side was u surt
the size Cf II dime Of a deep imdicu.
When Fakrlc had lifted il out Of the
landing net he looked nj il with as much
lNl'IiSl us lh' lNlil. anu 'itb put -
in the basket with the others. 'ihc
native girls promptly took II cat urd
put il in @TrthCr basket. which tie.
kept. l'ak'ir took (; back. aud ;Lg si.;,
repeated their performance. E.Eru he
reclaimed il uuc more the rirlS refused!
I" give II up. which led the Gld iri,st 80
give them II sending for their Ci.crur.
i'st. Hut the GIRL and the women who
joined the party SCuldch back in turn.
They said iLEj rGkclr was Il mnu urd
must rot have the fish. II turned out
that there has always been a taboo ct.
this particular fish; il il always the
property Of the ~ and men arr.
forbidden to keep or eat it. There is
u" pcunlty for breaking the tahun. bu,
none til" less not II sirll" male Slut1u
will confess to having tasted fine for.
hidden dcliCHCy. And it Is u Grlirncy.
for there Is no other fish in the ErutL
sea so finely fHvorcd.-Fnrrs, r,t
Stream.
The present sinh Is 20 years Of nyc.
Since his accession TO power he has
founded n number 81 elementary
schools all over Persia IIr has nm,
mn end To the vicious system of farm.
Ing the taxes aud made The collection
OF the revenue n stat" nlTIir. lie Inns