The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-07-10

Jack London q ketch Shark arrived
at Apia, from Page Page, on May 7,
in command of Captain Warren, with
johnson as engineer On May 10, the
owner of the Shark delivered his lee.
ture on socialism at the Central Hotel
in Apia, and the ketch sailed for Ma
tautu on May IA. In an interview pub
lished by the Samoanische Zeitung,
May l6, Mr.. London said:
"When / worked up my schedule for
the voyage in the South Seas, / gave
to Samoa three months, one month of
which 1 was to spend in Apia. Unfor-
tunately, l was delayed in Tahiti for
three months and half, and l am now
like man running after train he has
missed and trying to catch it. 1 want
to get through Torres Straits before the
end of August, and there are so many
places between here and Torres Straits
that 1 must visit that I am compelled
to cut down my stay in all the inter-
vening Islands.
BAD NAME FOR TAHITI.
"Tahiti is very unfortunately situat.
ed these days. They have hard times
there and nobody has any money, and
the business men are like lot of spid-
ers in their nests, waiting for fat fly
to come along. was the fat fly. The
work on the engines of the Shark and
the alterations in the Shark herself
should have required not more than n
month, under Tahitian conditions; but
nobody had any money, and / had
money, and my crew was drawing its
wages and spending money, and they
held on to me for three months and a
half. Tahiti is one of the most beauti-
full garden spots in the world; but from
my experience of three months and a
half with the men who do business
there, / am driven to conclude that Ia.
hiti is inhabited by thieves, robbers
and liars. This state of affairs, how.
ever, / think is largely due to the
wretched Colonial policy of the coun-
try. The French are certainly futile
colonizers. Copra is ono of the staple
industries of the country, but the gov
eminent places an export duty upon
copra, and thereby largely reduces tn,
output. They, certainly do not grow
cocoanuts in Tahiti in any way com
parable with the methods pursued il
Samoa. ] have never seen and l hav,
never imagined possible the wonderful
plantations here on Upolu. Well, tina
accounts for my delay in Tahiti, ant
what / think of Tahiti
JOLLY FOR SAMOANS.
GAS we came opposite to the en-
trance to Apia Harbor, Mrs. London anC
sat on deck entranced by our view
of the land. / began to cry out i'm
mediatcly,v' This is white man Is coun
tryl' No jagged cliffs and mountains
rose directly from the water, but til,
land swelled gently from the sea into
roll after roll of farming country, anC
began to imagine at once all sort,
of delectable delights in the back ccun
try spread before me. And when Mrs
London and /, on horseback, rode in tC
that back country, its charms were en-
HANGED many times. 1t was truly a
white man 5 country. The soil was a
white mans soil; and for the first time
thoroughly understood why Samoa
appealed so strongly to Stevenson, and
made him take up his residence here.
~ have never in all my wanderings
encountered a finer hospitality than
here in Apia. Before landed I fell
into the arms of those who seemed to
have been friends all my life. And
ever since, | have had glorious round
of engagements and entertainment. My
only regret is that TIE days were only
twenty-four hours long, and don u
4 Epnty 81 anu rlaaa tI,nA -. \