New-York tribune., 1900-04-01


it has always sought it has now indeed ac-
1ured, a naval base in the finest harbor of the
Pacific Ocean.
TUTUILA
The island of Tutula is, roughly, seventeen
miles long in east and west direction, and
from north to south it averages about five miles
It's mountains rise from the very edge of the sea
and attain an average elevation of three thou
sand feet at the passes with sharp peaks reach
ing the elevation Of four thousand feet. There
is no land fit for cultivation any larger scale
than the scanty agricultural efforts of the ma
tive population, for continuous of level
land smooth slope does not exist and
at the best the soil is choked with rocks. It Is
however, of unexampled fertility. The staple
product in fact the only one with which export
commerce can have any concern Is the cocoa
nut, of which the dried meat is known in m
merce as copra and has a valuation on the spot
which iuctuates little either way from f7 a
long ton The cocoanut grows readily anywhere
along the sea, and yields it's crop in every month
of the year The native agriculture consists in
raising the breadfruit in and about the villages.
the taro along the abundant water courses. the
yam on the higher lands and scanty supply
OF sweet potatoes. which are wasery, and not
at all to be compared with the tuber known in
the United States. The taro and breadfruit
form the staple of the food supply. They raise
also large quantities of the bush pepper until it
has attained the age of three years or more,
when the root is dried for the national drink
the kava, without copious draughts of which no
native ceremony is complete. Another article
of husbandry is the paper mulberry, which is
raised for its bark in order that the native cloth
or siapo, known elsewhere in the Pacific as
tapa, may be made.
The population is about seven thousand,
grouped in about thirty villages of which all
but four or five are Immediately at the waters
edge The population shows tendency to in
crease, but the rate of increase is slow by rea-
son of the high infant mortality. This cause,
however, acting according to the law of the sur
vival of the fttest, results in making the Sa-
means physically one of the finest of races dur
ing their prime, which comes early and leaves
men aged at fifty. The people all educated
In what would be the primary grades of the
American school system; that is to say, they
can all read and write in their own language.
and are familiar with arithmetic including vul-
gar fractions They all Christians by pro-
fession and every village supports a native
pastor, who is also the schoolmaster The great
bulk of the people attend the Congregational
churches instituted by the London Missionary
Society, the remainder Wesleyans, Roman
Catholics and Mormons
THE MANUA GROUP.
of Tutua. In all tradition, as well as in the
historical period, this group has maintained
itself apart from the factional dissensons over
the Samoan kingship, and, in fact the kings of
the remainder of the archipelago have always
confessed the ceremonial overlordship of the
kings of Manua. The group comprises three
small Islands known as Tau, Ofu and Olosenga.
Tau is about seven miles in diameter the
other two scarcely more than a mile in
length by half that in breadth. The only harbor
is on Tau; it is of service only to small craft
and during the hurricane season affords no
holding ground. Manu'a has always been well
governed, according to native ideas of admins
tration; it has enjoyed unbroken peace, and as
a result, its people in a satisfactory con-
dition Of prosperity. The population of the
group is about one thousand, and their con-
ditiOns vary not at all from the men of their
race in Tutuila They are all CONGREGATIONAL
called 'law of faith" by which mission
aries of other denominations are forbidden to
prosecute their labcrs in Manua.
Rose Island, which also falls to the United
States under the Few convention, has been de-
1cribed already as an uninhabited and waterless
3slet. 1t lies ninety miles southeast from Tau
Is barely a mile in diameter and has no greater
elevation than forty-five feet In a small hollow
In its sandy surface a collection of stumps shows
that at one time it enjoyed a better climate but