The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-01-08


Almost constant, all through his slow
wanderings in the Marquesas and Pau
notu groups. Toward the last OF the
following January he made his first
visit to Honolulu and in the same
summer set sail again for the Gilbert
Islands. The close of the year SO
found him in Samoa. which he made
his home for the four years left to
him.
s.The truth is, I was far through, if
YOU understand Scots, and came none
too soon to the South Seas, where I
was to recover peace of body and
mind. Remember that, the next time
YOU think l regret my exile. Val
lima Letters.
stevenson's home lay out OF the
main TOWN Apia, on the side of Vaea,
a great forest-covered mountain. /
quote from a letter OF Margaret Ste
venson, his mother: The house
stands on sort of plateau which
has been cleared of all save a few
very fine old trees, through which we
look out to the north over the blue
Pacific: to the west rises the noun
tain. to the east and south only forest
-undulating, unending forest The
house was comfortable, simple and
uhpretentious. In '92, with the pro-
ceeds of THE Wrecker,' Stevenson was
able to finish it to his hearts desire
by adding the great hall which, ike
similar rooms in many a home here,
became henceforth the heart of the
house. The household consisted or the
writer. his wife, Lloyd Osborne, his
stepson. Mrs. Strong, his stepdaughter,
and her little son Austin, together
with Mrs. Margaret Stevenson, the
authors mother, for long visits. They
were all dubbed with characteristic
native names, but the only one OF in
terest to us is Steyenson's own, Tus1-
tala, the teller of stories. Under Ste
venson's faci1e pen, all these, To-
gether with the servants, inside boys,
outside boys-for Mrs. Stevenson was
a redoubtable gardener-became not
only alive, but very lovable. To TINS
normal household must be added con-
slant guests from the boats touching
at Apia, friends from Apia, tired work
ers from the missions up for few
days' rest. Besides all these, Steven
son and his household We're on the
closest terms with the half castles,
among whom he organized a social
and literary club that proved of great
est helpfulness and pleasure. And the
place was always open, welcome
ever ready, to hosts of Samoan frlends,
from the rival kings and their long
lines of chiefs down to the families
of the servants on the place
sharing freely in all this varied life,
vet working nightly, partly because
that was the only way his restless
spirit could work; partly because he
wished to leave a comfortable income
to those dependent on him, and real
lied all the while the slender hold he
/ had on life, was Tusitala, the master
| OF his relation to the political life OF
| Samoa, it is not necessary to speak.
His romantic and ardent royalist sym
! pathies. his idealizing love of barbara
/ and savage life, are not the sources
whence dispassionate and clear polit1-
cal insight springs. In the whole Sa-
moan imbroglio, as in his ATTITUDE
toward Hawaiian politics, Stevenson
himself lay under the spell of his oWr
imaginative Interpretation OF PoIyne-
sian life and character.
We have not time to enjoy the ron
! licking fun, the gentle humor, the ten
I derness, nor the grim strength tna'
informs the Vailima letters, nor u
pause on the many incidents of tina
4 home life, not even the beautiful story
of that Road of Loving Hearts, bull
for him by the ten rebel .chiefta1ns
whose Imprisonment he had lighteneC
by sympathy and kindly gifts. tn
end came to him quietly among thos'
he loved most, December 8, 1894, ant
his body lies where he himself hat
desired, on the summit of Vaea noun
tain.
Here he lies. where he longed to be
Home is the sailor, home from thu
And the hunter home from the HILL
In all Stevensons travels we fin
, him careful not to offend the religion
susceptibilities of those about MIN
: pagan or Christian, a trait he share
! in common with that prince OF ms
{ sionaries. ST. Paul. But this courtes
of spirit is not distinctively Chris
) tan virtue A. more decided stand i
/ shown in his habit of attendance a
5 mission churches, even where he coul
not understand the language, or, II
} did. must have found it passing dull
e There was no shilly-shallying as I
: where he stood in regard to missions
2 In '93, during his second vls1
: to Honolulu, when he was taken I
$ task for treating unjustly the Hawa
e ian missionaries, in contrast to HI
g helpfulness toward southern mission
: he said: First of all you are I
. understand / am not opposed to II
:. | missionaries as missionaries, nor
: the American and English planters
: men, but to both characters as pol
t tieians Here my criticism begins ar
! ends"
In Samoa there was constant int
g change Of visits between the mission
r and VaiIima, and the Stevensons we
s held as fast friends. Especially do
If Mrs. Stevenson, the mother, speak
d attendance at the missiAn meeting
IS ito partake of the feast with them
1t in her sweet Scotch reference to Il
st communion.
5 In Vailima one custom was alwa
ID observed that linked the househo
I'd with the long line of Scotch ancestr
at daily morning and evening prayers,