III

Whatever impression he may have made upon the natives during his tour of Savaii in 1924—and of that I shall have something to say—it would be idle to pretend that General Richardson had made a favourable impression upon the Europeans, most of whom, of course, were traders. I have already mentioned Ross, the storekeeper of Faiaai, who lent his buggy to the natives when the woman of Foa lay dying. Not only did he lend his buggy during the Administrator's visit to his village—a pleasant grassy place atop of a cliff overlooking the sea—but also nearly all the chairs from the living-quarters of his store, for the people of Faiaai had been hard put to find seating accommodation for so many Europeans. This he did, as would practically any other trader where the Government party was stopping, simply as a matter of course. He had, Ross told me, no particular desire to meet the Administrator, but when specially summoned by the Aide-de-Camp to accompany him for that purpose, he went along. According to his account, the interview consisted of a few perfunctory and bombastic remarks addressed to him by the Administrator between intervals of loudly applauding some native girls playing basketball—a game General Richardson was seeking to introduce among the Samoans. He was not asked into a house, or to be seated. As in the native fales about him were European officials sprawling in his own chairs, this conceivably may have been annoying. Anyway, he, in common with many other traders, was wont to express himself somewhat strongly from now on, on the subject of certain of the higher officials.

In violent contrast were the methods of the German page 187Governor, Dr. Solf. He almost invariably would call upon the trader; and, if the trader were at all a decent fellow, was not above sitting down with him to a meal. The traders of course were appreciative of this treatment, and were strong partisans of the Government. Their influence upon the Samoans is not inconsiderable. From a trader's conversation, too, one may get a side-light upon native affairs—for they know all the news of their locality—that is not to be obtained in any other way. The respect with which Dr. Solf's name is still mentioned shows plainly that his policy cost him no caste in this direction. Nor do the natives think the worse of Europeans for treating each other with consideration and respect.