The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-11-27

and laughable rig is seen.
AS q people the samoarls are great
begeArs, especially for articles OF wear
ing apparel. A bright snowy uniform
OF The marine takes their eye at oncs
Generous Themselves, they expect It OF
great deal to a Samoan; that 49, to be
a friend" means the mutual asking for
anything In The possession Of the other
Ia as good as bargain made and rati-
cd It Is considered by Samoan man
the proper thing. II he secure you any
thing Samoan, he must IKE wise get
something European, and through ig-
norance Of this Samoan custom m ANUS
Ing Incident befell An American naval
officer. The day after his arrival a
great many natives came aboard his ship
to g,aAfy their curiosity. The officer
In question was "decked out" in his best
uniform. and. whSe talking to the Tad.
pula" (nntve governmenD was asked II
they were friends" 70 which the officer
replied With great eftusion IN the afflr-
native. This assurance the Samoan
asked again II The officer were his
friend to which he replied, 20, yes"
Then said no. II want that coat you arc
wearing. and tomorrow I win bring YOU
some tappa, and anything else you may
wish" Sure enough, the next morning
the officer found his friend on hand.
In The meantime the officer having learn
ed the meaning OF being q. friend" to
Samoa, had changed his coat for an old
ona end had his friend shown on
deck, where he pretended to welcome him
heartily, but the Samoan looked at that
old coat with anything but, a pleased ex-
preston, and. while he WAS not euffi-
cicntly acquainted with the English Lam
guage to indulge In eplthets, he looked
them quite strongly. However, they
made the exchange, the coat being given
for roll OF tappa' and two fans; took
a glass OF beer together. and parted good
friends
MUCH CURIOSITY.
The natives have u good deal of curos-
ity when q vessel Is in port, and tnelr
hanging around becomes so troublesome
and annoying that orders are passed to
keep them ashore. On the fourth Of July
l was invited with party OF naval Of
ncers to q big dinner--cooked and served
after the native style-given by one OF
the prominent chiefs about Apia;H1 have
never been more pleasantly surprised than
al. my enjoyment OF this dinner. Besides
myself, eight Of the naval officers were
present. most OF them through courtesy
rather than In expectation of a good din-
ner, but We were all agreeably surprised
at the large variety Of dishes. excellence
OF cooking and the novelty OF the sur
rounding circumstances, made 1t quite
/ enjoyable and interesting. Beside our
party, there were five chief mon and two
Samoan bellies with their mothers. The
dinner was to be served In the house OF
the chief who invited US and this was
busy with preliminary preparations when
we arrived, 40 we were taken to the
house (hut) OF an ex-chief near by. Here
was prepared in our presence the "appe-
tier OF which. I. drank q cocoa nut cup
ful. with a nervous feeling Of uncertainty
as to whether the appetizer would stay
down OF not. This appetizer Is called
"kava." and being the only native drink
for Intoxication or for social Smiles" OF
men before dinner. shall describe what
may seem disgusting process OF manu-
3facture. At all councils OF the chiefs this
wa, is made and drunk before proceed
ing to usiness and 1t Is an Insult 70 re-
sfusc this national drink. In fact, after
one becomes accustomed to It. It IS very
fair drink. But now. for the process,
S"Kaya,,8is made from the root OF plant
OF the pepper species, the Two pelle s =.
whom l have spoken sat fiat on the iloor
and had a wooden bowl placed In front
~ them. water was brought and the Two
washed their hands and mouths IN s,sht$
81 the guests and were ready for business
and an old woman brought In the root
cut into small pieces Of suita pie size 70
chew and handed to each belle plecs
upon which she set 70 5"oIk Win, 49,,
:vigor until It became soft pup, Wneli
she would spit it Into the bowl, hl ttlns
ia center each time, this chewing was
continued until a sufficient quantity was
h.d tnu,hen the bowl was filled with water
and after mixing thoroughly and strain
ing. the drink was ready Tor distrlpu .'oii.
e was handed to one at time IN a cocoa,
nut cup, my turn coming oou sia ~ I'll. as
seeing no one sick from the e1iects, wv, VIZ,
. s,ntIa IN nv face, a tremor OF the mana
ana difficulty IN locating my mouth,
thre,u m " head back shut my eyes. 1hteo
~ GIN and let the cont tents go sons
where fortunately It Disappeared.
seeine was enough. SO did not Try
10 pet the taste, but involuntary s1n ~
cd my lips and got ,,,.s' ~
aLin 10 spiced soapsuds. The lappe-
.I1a,. j, 5n;ti,ough taken under mental Pre-
! 80 gave me an improved appetite iort
dinner when It was announced. -Arrlv.ltB
80 +ha. house OF our host, we found res
tnnns of eyergreens decorating the posts
sunportsng the roof. AS the samoan never
uses a table or chair, we MAD 10 YAK oui
dinner 2.,fa a Samoa. Green banana leaves
had been laid thick In semi-clrcle ao 20!
three feet broad around one end OF me
house which was a large one. RMS was
t7e table. and on 1t the eatables, each
article on a separate leaf for dish. we
took our seats tailor fashion on mats'
close to the so-called table, the chiet pelng
at one end OF the table and his wife at
the other. There were no dishes, knives
or forks, and salt was only used BY spe-
cial request OF the chiefs, who knew
the whites liked It on meats. Bach one
helped himself to what he wanted. The
dinner was excellent N every way, ana
comprised OF a wonderful variety OF
dishes. all OF native productions: chicken.