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VI

In June 1855 the schooner Ariel put in at Apia in quest of coco-nut oil. Aboard her, as supercargo, was a son of the missionary, John Williams; and a Mr. D'Ewes travelled as passenger.

There were several vessels at anchor in Apia Bay, and the decks of the Ariel were soon crowded by natives, with several Europeans, among whom, noted D'Ewes, "was Mr. Pritchard, of Otaheite notoriety, who acted at this time as British Consul at the Navigators; together with a gentleman who called himself the American Consul, and several small storekeepers." D'Ewes went on shore with Mr. Pritchard, who now inhabited a small hut on the coast, having sold his former house and plot of ground to an agent of the firm of Hort, of Tahiti. There were several European storekeepers, we are told, residing in small thatched native houses along the beach, who retailed to the crews of whalers and passing vessels, and the native population, the commonest of stores, amongst which spirits of the worst description formed a large item. There was also an apology for an hotel, kept by an African negro. A Mr. de Boos, who exercised the profession of doctor to the community and lived in a small house built of canes and thatch, offered the visitor a corner and a stretcher during his stay. The climate was found oppressive in the extreme, and the annoyance caused by "musquitoes" beyond all endurance.

The white resident population of Apia at this time amounted to about fifty, but several whalers and other vessels were generally at anchor in the bay. The Americans and English, it seems, were divided by a small river, probably the Mulivai, that flowed into the harbour, making a line of demarcation between their respective dwellings, and formed quite separate communities. In the American quarter a certain Mr. Van Camp—to whom reference has already been made—"who styled himself American Consul," kept things lively.

During his stay, says D'Ewes, two American barques, on their voyage from California to Sydney, touched at Apia for water and provisions, where, by some extraordinary arrange-page 69ment between the soi disant Consul and some of the persons on board, they were both condemned as being not seaworthy, and sold, together with their cargoes, by auction at this port. The proceeds of the sale would, of course, have been for the benefit of the owners, in due course of law; but the vessels and their contents were purchased by the Consul, or his agents, at ridiculously low prices, as there was no one to bid against him. By these means he was supposed to have realized a tolerable hoard of dollars.

"This was not effected without some trouble and danger, as the aggrieved parties among the passengers and crew, who had lost their passage and property, and were thrown helpless upon these remote shores, without any present means of leaving them, expressed their opinion of Mr. Van Camp's proceedings in a very decided and hostile manner, and scenes took place near his residence not much to the edification of the islanders; during which language of the most horrible nature, revolvers, and bowie knives were made use of."

The Consul, we are told, was supported by a gang of hired ruffians.

On the opposite side of the river, said D'Ewes, although violent scenes were of rare occurrence, drunkenness and debauchery none the less were in the ascendant.

The country behind Apia, a short distance inland, was observed to be of the richest and most picturesque description; crystal springs, transparent streams, and lovely waterfalls were continually met with; but further in the interior it was so covered with thick and almost impenetrable forest that, except in a few narrow beaten tracks or by the beds and banks of streams and torrents, it was nearly impossible to penetrate; and the labour, heat, and exertion required for the effort was found very trying for the English constitution.

Of the natives, the visitor observed that some of the men were amongst the finest specimens of the human race with whom he had ever met, and were generally a very fine people, of a light copper colour, and most scrupulous cleanliness. They possessed most of the natural attributes of the half civilized, page 70and were inclined to petty pilfering and deceit. They could usually be bribed to do anything. In fact, said D'Ewes, whatever they may have been on their first and early conversion to our own faith, their great admixture with Europeans of the worst class, and the present state of society at Apia, the principal port, was quite sufficient to account for their demoralization; and certainly the bad examples before their eyes were sufficient to destroy most missionary influences, of which, indeed, except a few of the outward forms of religion, he could see but little appearance of at this place. When he was there no Protestant missionary resided on the spot, but at a town about twelve miles lower down the coast. There was, however, a Catholic Cathedral, with a large establishment and school attached to it, that appeared to be well attended.

In company with two friends, the Englishmen made a trip along the coast in a whale-boat belonging to the negro proprietor of the hotel, who himself took the tiller. The course was inside the coral reef that surrounds that coast, leaving a clear space of from one to two miles of calm and beautifully transparent water between it and the beach. They passed several large villages, the first about twelve miles from Apia, where two missionaries resided, and a printing-press for printing the Scriptures and other religious publications into the Samoan language was in full operation. Nothing, it was remarked, could be more picturesque and comfortable in appearance than the dwellings of these gentlemen.

The provinces, at this time, as already stated, were at war. Each tribe, said D'Ewes, collected in bands of several thousands, at some distance from their opponents, armed with clubs, and with muskets of a very inferior quality which they purchased from whalers and other ships in exchange for coco-nut oil. These they were very much afraid of discharging, generally turning their heads away during the operation of pulling the trigger. They formed, he said, temporary encampments of huts, where they held assemblies, danced, ate, and drank kava, until some determination as to the casus belli was arrived at; when, if they ultimately decided to go to war, a few skirmishes in ambush by land, or at respectable distances in their war-canoes at sea, generally decided the contest, without much page 71loss of life, until some fresh occasion brought about a similar scene.