Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1909-07-02
DR.. Edwards Letter

ined, brought, us to Papara, and
f. ] have felt as if | were in a
dream ever since |. got here.
have dreamed OF such scenes as
this but never imagined in my
waking moments that it could be
real. PapaIa is the home Of Ia
. ii Samoa, and has been the res
idence of the royal family along
his line, ever since the native leg
ends begin. In distances away is
one of the ancient sacrificial
places, with the stone on which
were stretched the bodies of the
people who were victims. Back in
the hills, half hidden amid IL
dense tropical underground, stand
one of the mysteries Of the Is
land. 1t is a gigantic status CT
an ancient god. But the Tam-
tians do not carve stone, nor IS
there anything in their legends
that indicate that this art ever
belonged to them. This statue
is an immense head and bust,
with demoniac features, standing
about twenty feet high, carved
out of a solid rock.
According to the stories told
us by Salmon this was once wOr-
shipped by the islanders, who
knew nothing of its origin. Be-
cause of, its terrible expression
it was supposed to be a god that
demanded human sacrifice, and
the C
the rites attendant upon that
sacrifice were performed by the
princely ancestors of the Salmon
family. Tahitians were never
cannibals, in the true sense OF
the word. They never ate the
bodies of human beings, but the
human sacrifices wer eblOOd Of
ferings to the terrible and I'M
known deity of the woods. When
the victim had been slain, his
heart was taken out by the
priest and eaten raw by certain
of those present at the ceremony.
In the family mansion here,
which is a long, low, rambling
house of many rooms, each open
ing upon a broad porch, are many
of the relics of the savage days Of
the island, and not the least inter
esting of these is the sacrificial
Ak with which the human vie
tins were killed. 1t is the on.
ly one in existence, and is q
relic that has been handed down
from the early priests. 1t is
formed Of a piece of hard rock
about the size and shape of
saucer, or rather the shape OF tw'
edge is sharp and in the center
saucerS, bowls together. Tht
is hole through which passes tn
wooden handle. This is faSten
ed to the ak with heavy things
and the end of the handle, jut
ting thrugh the hole, is ornament
ed with the feathers. of a birG
that is now extinct.
Spears with blood stains OF
them ornament the walls, and
among the implements of war ale
two immense bows, made of some
hard wood, which are so strong
q that no man has ever been found
in recent years who was able to
string them. These bows are
about eight feet long, and bear
out the statement made by Sal
mon that his great grandfather
was a man eight feet tall, and
that in all his army of three
thousand men not one was less
than six and a half feet tall. A
massive war club five feet long,
made of ebony and 50 heavy that
l could scarcely lift it to strik-
ing position, was another ev-
dence of the great strength of
the ancient Tahitians.
This place, in addition to its
numerous other attractions. is
haunted by the ghost of one of
the former heads of the family
who was murdered in his bed by
one of his enemies. 1t is said
that this ghost makes periodical
visits to the house, and one of the
members of our party was sure
she heard him under her bed all
night. The ghost turned out to
be a big dog, but we had a gen.
uine sensation for little while.
An immense bougainville vine
covers the front of the porch and
the roof of the house, with its
flaming purple flowers, while all
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