Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-02-07
NOTED SCHOLAR IS
HEARD At Y. M. c. A.
And Customs of Pacific
Islands.

Prof. Walter Norton. fellow of the
Royal Geographical society. and said
to be the first white man born in New
Zealand. made an interesting address
Sunday afternoon, before the Y. NJ. c.
A. on Oceanica- After detailing an
Ideal trip from Salt Lake to Samoa,
the speaker said:
After u two weeks voyage, we hear
the welcome sounds from the natives
of Samoa, 'Talofa, Talofa,' ringing out
from the dozens of small crafts which
are brought alongside the vessel upon
Its arrival in the harbor of Apia with
in two or three yards of the beach.
from where a clear view of the whole
OF Samoa may be had.
"'TAlofa, Is a native greeting of well
come, meaning. How are you? Glad
TO see you. or words to that effect. In
Oceanica there are more than 900 Is
lands, Sc lakes, SS mountains, 107 rivers
and creeks, and nearly 700 towns.
Oceanica includes the Hawaiian Is
lands. from the tropic of Cancer TO the
tropic of Capricorn, % degrees north
and south. the line extending to New
Zealand about As degrees south, and In
cludes the Philippines. Borneo. sum
atra, Java, Papua or New Guinea.
Solomon islands. Australia, Fill,
Samoa, Tasmania, New Zealand and
the whole of Malaysia, and the Sunda
Islands, The area, emitting Japan,
Australia and Malaysia, is 100000
square miles. and the population Is es-
timated at 100000. The people are
bearded. energetic, impulsive and often
fierce savages, and hero and there can
nibalism Is met.
In Samoa, the natives are chronical-
ly averse to labor. They occasionally Will
4 al fHa
vessel In the harbor. and when impor-
tuned by the minister at the church
they will commence work at sunrise
and bring in coral from the sea. carry
ing 1t in baskets and dumping 1t into
a hole for the purpose of making lime
for church buildings.
"Apia, the capital was the first place
OF call for the John Williams, the
missionary ship, in the year 1880. Tho
missionaries have done a large amount
of good work, nearly all the religions
being represented on the islands, l at
tended Sunday school at Apia on one
occasion and was deeply interested.
The boys were seated on one side of
the church while the girls sat on the
other side. The pastor. OF reader. in
front. was correcting errors of the
scholars: then would come a loud
laugh from the girls when one of the
boys had mispronounced n word, and
the same laugh would break out among
the boys when the girls made mis-
take. The penalty for the boy or girl
making the error was to go to the
front of the church and kiss the knob
of the balustrade of the pulpit stairs
Some idea OF the average temperature
may be had when l tell you that we
had to lay the butter on our bread
with q spoon most of the time.
THE hurricane seasons are November
and April, and in 1850 the hurricane al
most destroyed Apia. March Is. 1882
the American gunboats. Trenton and
Vandalia, the German warshIps. Alder
and Eber. were destroyed by ono OF
these terrible onslaughts OF the wind
and for many years after / saw the
wreckage strewn on the beach every
where.
Robert Louis Stevenson died at his
residence, Vailima, which is three miles
inland from Apla, In 1894. and shortly
after his death l was again on the
Island. l resided in the house that he
built. had many forty winks In the
arm chair that he died In. smoked
mnny OF the cigarettes left behind by
him, MIXED the three cows that he had
left at pasture, climbed the trees on
his estate and gathered quantities OF
rich and rare passion fruit and wild
hibiscus. 1 whitewashed his grave.
which is upon the top of a mountain
close by his house. and I lived in truly
native fashion. Just as Robert Louis
Stevenson would have had me do"