Of the islands in the southern seas where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet, and amongst which Australia forms a fifth continent, some are mere vaults in which repose the relics of ill-advised and vainly attempted ventures, whilst others are fruitful gardens wherein flourish the trees whose sturdy growth testifies to the good seed from which they sprang and the skill of the gardeners who planted them.

The Archipelagos lying south of the China Seas were first explored from the west by the Portuguese and Dutch in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but the steel glove upon which the mailed fist seems afterwards to have been modelled failed to retain a hold upon the territory which it grasped.

The Portuguese, indeed, abandoned their enterprises in the southern seas in favour of developing their trade between Goa and the east coast of Africa. They excelled as navigators and explorers, but the whole of their history shows that they have never formed any conception of the principles of administration.

The Dutch concentrated on Java, Sumatra and Borneo, and ever since have waged war with the natives.

It seems strange that both these nations should have decentralised Colonial interests away from their home countries, in striking contrast to our own country which has pursued a policy binding her oversea dominions closer and closer to the motherland—a policy which has eventuated in the formation of a comity of nations firmly united by the bonds of sentimental tradition and common commercial interest.

The Portuguese made Goa the centre of their East African and Eastern enterprises,[G] and the Dutch placed the Cape of Good Hope (while it was in their possession) under the administration of Batavia in the Island of Java.

The spice trade attracted adventurers of all the pioneering nations. Spain made extensive voyages of discovery and plunder in the South Seas, and their galleons for many years provided the excitement of the chase as well as profit in "double pieces of eight" for British sea rovers; but the Spanish acquired but a tentative hold upon territory, and this was finally released by the Spanish-American War of 1901.

The legacy of Spain to the South Seas was the romantic occupation of searching for wrecks bearing cargoes of doubloons and the abandoned booty of pirates, which they seem to have collected for the specific purpose of burying in brass-clamped chests on uninhabited islands for the benefit of the adventurous spirit who might in future years display sufficient enterprise and determination to find his way through the maze which surrounded the prizes.

The latter part of the seventeenth century saw one of the greatest periods of British activities in venturing trade abroad, albeit it often-times took the form of preying upon the rich cargoes collected by the Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese marauders. This, however, was then the most approved and recognised form of commerce.

Direct trade in Borneo and Sumatra by the British was commenced in about 1685, and "factories" were established to develop the spice trade which was then the richest of the East, a cargo of pepper-corns being regarded as one of the most valuable that could avoid a meddlesome buccaneer and be safely brought to port.

The voyages of Captain Cook, whose name ranks high amongst the pioneers of our Empire, and who discovered and named many of the island groups as well as the east coast of Australia, where he hoisted the British flag, really firmly established British interests in the South Seas, after strenuous struggles with the Dutch who regarded the area as most particularly their "sphere of influence."

Through the last decades of the eighteenth century British influence and prestige grew, and the apathy of the statesmen at home was not allowed by their sons on the spot to interfere with energetic development and settlement which proceeded apace.

Coming rather late in the day, France was, through private British enterprise, forestalled in her principal designs which were centred on New Zealand, and her "protection" was only extended to some small island groups such as New Caledonia, lying between Australia and Fiji, and for which she found use as penal establishments.

The big prizes of the Pacific—Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand—had fallen to the heritage of Great Britain, and development rather concentrated on these magnificent offshoots of British oak.

There were other important groups of islands, however, which, although locally regarded as natural adjuncts of the Australian Settlements, were not definitely taken possession of. The most important of these were New Guinea and the Samoan group.

New Guinea is divided from the Queensland province of Australia by the shoal-dotted Torres Straits, about 90 miles wide; while the Samoan Islands lie east of Fiji.

The Portuguese Magellan was the first discoverer in the sixteenth century of New Guinea (also known as Papua), while the new name appears to have been given to the island by Ortiz de Retez, who laid down certain points.

During the centuries succeeding, New Guinea received frequent visitors representing European nations, amongst them Captain Cook and Tasman, whose name is perpetuated in Tasmania though the island for many years bore the name of his lieutenant, Van Diemen, and was known as "Van Diemen's Land."

New Guinea was also frequently visited by Chinese fishing junks in search of bÊche-de-mer, or trepang.

The Dutch from their adjacent settlements in Java and Borneo were supreme in the north of New Guinea without exercising any effective jurisdiction, and relied upon the difficult navigation of New Guinea waters for a continuance of their exclusiveness.

Towards the end of the eighteenth century they (the Dutch) had practically a monopoly of the spice trade, and were extremely jealous of any other nations obtaining a footing in spice islands, where their monopoly might be jeopardised. They obstinately refused all access to New Guinea; but the Dutch barrier was broken down by emissaries of the British East India Company in search of spice islands, and in 1793 New Guinea was annexed by two commanders in the service of the company, and the territory was thereafter regarded as an adjunct of Queensland, although no steps were taken for an administrative occupation.

In 1828 the Dutch erected a fortress to protect the rights they claimed in New Guinea, but this they abandoned in 1835.

While Samoa and numerous other groups of islands were not incorporated in the dominions of the countries whose explorers "discovered" them, and their savage inhabitants were allowed to continue their own administration, a brisk British trade sprang up between Australasia and the islanders.

The necessity for bringing either New Guinea or the Samoan group under direct rule was not an expediency that presented itself as an urgent one to either the Imperial British or Australian Governments as long as fair trading conditions prevailed on harmonious lines and the lives and private property of British traders were safeguarded, until in about 1880 the tips of the tentacles of the German octopus delicately spread out to seek the spots whereon to plant the suckers of trading stations, behind them the unlidded eyes of Imperial Protection watching to gauge the value of the prize and the parrot-beaked maw ready to grasp for the satisfaction of Prussian greed.

A flourishing inter-coastal and island trade had long been established by the United States of America, but until 1898, when they annexed Hawaii and occupied Samoa, the United States adhered to their doctrine of not attempting territorial acquisition outside their own continental borders.

By 1883 the Germans had firmly established themselves commercially, and their influence began to be most markedly denoted in disaffection amongst the natives and in inter-tribal wars—notably in Samoa.

In this year the British New Guinea Colonising Society proposed an expedition to Lord Carnarvon, who was then Colonial Secretary, but the minister declined to lend his support to an enterprise which he considered entailed too much risk.

The enterprise was imagined in collaboration with supporters of Imperial extension in Australasia, and, acting on their own initiative, the Government of Queensland, with the approval of the whole of Australia, annexed a portion of New Guinea to her dominions; but this act was disavowed by the British Government and declared to be "null in point of law and not to be admitted in point of policy."

Queensland most determinedly represented to the Government of Australia and our Imperial minister the danger to her commerce if New Guinea were to fall into the hands of a foreign Power by annexation.

The prospect did not appear alarming to the home statesmen, nor did further annexation of the South Sea Islands enter into their scheme of practical politics; and, therefore, when the proclamation of a Protectorate over the whole of New Guinea and the adjacent islands (including the New Britain Archipelago, the Solomon, Caroline, Palau, Marshall, and Ladrone Islands) under a High Commissioner was determined on at a conference held by the Australian Colonies at Sydney in 1883 and recommended to the Imperial Government, our Colonial Office met the proposal with discouragement.

In November, 1884, however, the Home Government was persuaded to proclaim in New Guinea a Protectorate over the region lying "between the 141st meridian eastward as far as East Cape, with the adjacent islands as far as Kosman Island."

This brought under the British flag the southern portion of New Guinea, known as Papua, only; but in other parts of the islands there were British settlements originating in Australia which were left under no effective jurisdiction.

In December, 1884, the Germans, having firmly established themselves commercially in the Samoan Islands, began to definitely and formally annex territory; the German flag was hoisted in the northern part of New Guinea and on several of the adjacent islands, and the German "Colony" received the unpromising name of "Kaiser Wilhelm's Land."

The Australian Colonies immediately lodged an indignant protest; but arrogance, overglossed with suavity, carried the day, and a friendly agreement in regard to New Guinea was made between Great Britain and Germany in 1885, whereby the latter assumed administration over the northern portion of the island, to subjection of the jurisdiction of which were later added the Caroline, Palau and Marianne Islands.

"New Britain" undertook the responsibility of the name "Bismarck Archipelago"; and the principal island of the group was renamed New-Pommern, with its capital at HerbertshÖhe.

In 1888 British New Guinea was constituted a separate Colony, but the administration was, in 1902, placed in the hands of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Up to 1884 affairs in the islands comprising the kingdom of Samoa had proceeded along the lines of progress, and the three nations chiefly concerned in the Samoan trade (Great Britain, Germany, and the United States of America) were conducting commerce without friction until the Germans felt strong enough to assume an aggressive attitude, not only towards their trade rivals but also the native Samoans whose property they coveted.

The German influence began to be most markedly denoted in disaffection amongst the natives and in inter-tribal wars. It was in 1884, indeed, that the German pretensions to a say in the administrative control of Samoa began to be recognised by Great Britain and the United States as the German faculty for instigating disputes amongst the islanders made desirable the institution of some European control over the native administration.

The affairs of State in Samoa were conducted under the rule of native kings (two) and chiefs, but constant feuds and bickerings disturbed the tranquillity of the islands.

It was really German influence that was the disturbing element, for inter-tribal strife was fomented in order that "repressive measures for the establishment of law and order" on the part of the Imperial Government might elevate German prestige.

Apia, the chief town on the principal island of the Samoan group, Upolu, became the centre of trade of the eastern South Sea Islands, though its chief importance to the outside world exists in its incentive to a distinguished memory. Agreements were made by the Samoan kings at various dates with Great Britain, the United States and Germany. Each of the treaty agreements contained a "most-favoured-nation" clause, and empowered the foreign state to form naval stations and coaling depots at various parts of the island group.

In April, 1885, it was deemed advisable by the British Government to appoint a Commissioner to confer with a nominee of the German Government upon the subject of British and German interests respectively in such parts of the Western Pacific Ocean as might be placed by either Government under its special protection, with a view to recommending the adoption by both Governments of such principles as, in the opinion of the Commissioners, might be applied to better regulate and protect the interests of their respective subjects, each within the other's region of jurisdiction.

The movement was inaugurated by the German Government and was the old game successfully played by Luderitz in South West Africa of applying to the Imperial German Government for its "powerful protection" as soon as commercial interests were well established.

The British Commissioner was Mr Thurston, who seems to have throughout been altogether dominated by the German nominee and to have cheerfully acquiesced in and recommended to our Government the adoption of every suggestion put forward by the German Representative.

The Commission, which dealt exclusively with the position of the three treaty nations in Samoa, submitted that the existing unsettled state of affairs in Samoa under the native kings and chiefs was incompatible with the maintenance of peace and order and destructive of the best interests both of the Samoans themselves and of the foreign residents in the islands, and did not see any hope of improvement owing to the long-standing feuds and divisions of the natives.

They recommended, therefore, that a real and immediate improvement in the social and economical conditions of Samoa would be best secured if the administration of the native Government was assumed by one of the treaty Powers; the sovereignty of the King of Samoa and the independence of the islands continuing to be recognised, and due care being taken by pre-arrangement to secure all rights justly acquired.

As an alternative, another scheme was submitted for reconstructing the native Government upon the general lines of a Crown Colony Government.

It was agreed that the sovereignty of Samoa was to be permanently confirmed upon King Malietoa and his heirs, and that a Council of Chiefs (called the King's Council) should be created to advise and assist the King in the administration of government.

Here the German Commissioner showed the cloven hoof by suggesting that the Council should consist of eight members: four native Samoans and four Europeans, of which latter two were to be nominated by Germany, one by Great Britain, and one by America.

By virtue of their treaty the Germans set up a sort of Germano-Samoan Council for the special control of the two principal harbours, Apia and Saluafata; but the establishment of similar Anglo-Samoan and Americo-Samoan Councils was hardly an expedient measure if friction were to be avoided.

The principal object of the Commission was, so far as Great Britain was concerned, the suppression of inter-tribal feuds and warfare, to maintain which the Samoans were bartering away their land and all other possessions in order to obtain rifles and ammunition. Dr Krauel, the German Commissioner, in making the recommendation that the administration of the native government should be assumed by one of the treaty Powers, suavely proposed that "having regard to the great preponderance of German commercial interests in Samoa, the task of forming a better administration should be entrusted, in the first instance, to the German Government."

On the alternative proposal, Dr Krauel thought that this commercial preponderance of Germany should meet recognition by the nomination of two German representatives as against one each of the other treaty Powers on the proposed King's Council.

Mr Thurston, the British Commissioner, was sufficiently impressed with the representations of his German colleague to suggest to his Government the adoption of the suggestions, which meant German control over the whole administration.

Before any action was taken upon the recommendations of the Commission, the Germans took matters into their own hands; and on 31st December, 1885, King Malietoa was driven by a German force from his seat of Government, and the Samoan flag hauled down by German forces from a man-o'-war.

Inquiries elicited the fact that "the object of the German Representative was not to abolish the Samoan Government by force, but only to take reprisals against King Malietoa."

The foundation for the first act of direct aggression on the part of the Germans seems to have arisen in the sale of a portion of Apia to an American, who transferred the deeds to a German—the purchase price being only five hundred dollars. The land was looked on by the Samoans as the centre of the seat of their Government; and very rightly, too, as it covered the whole harbour of Apia.

The King, Malietoa, offered five thousand dollars to the German holder to rescind the sale, but was met with a curt refusal of his offer; following upon which a German proclamation was immediately issued, drawing attention to alleged grievances of Germany, more especially in respect of the violations of treaty agreements, and declaring the intention of the German Government to take, in reparation, "possession of the lands of the village and district of Apia, in which is included Malinuu (the seat of Government) and the harbour of Apia, to hold possession under the supreme control that was under the Government of Malietoa, for the Government of Germany."

The Samoans were informed in the proclamation that it was only the "municipality" that was being taken possession of, and the document concludes with a characteristic Hohenzollern touch: "I beseech you to be at peace and to have confidence in the Government of Germany and myself. Then will Samoa indeed be happy!"

An impartial inquiry into the arbitrary action of the Germans was suggested, but the German Imperial Government temporised the while a movement was set on foot by Germans in Samoa to upset the rule of Malietoa and replace him by one of their own creatures who had been plentifully bribed with the two things dearest to the native—spirits and firearms.

King Malietoa was informed by the British Consul that an inquiry was to be held, and that his kingship could not be jeopardised, the three Powers, Great Britain, Germany, and America, having jointly agreed to recognise and maintain his authority.

To subdue the ardour of the more impetuous amongst his people, Malietoa issued the following proclamation to the Chiefs of Samoa:

"Chiefs,—I call upon you to keep quiet, and not to entertain foolish fears, for the English Consul, W. Powell, has assured me that in a short time Samoa will be once more united under the Government of Malietoa, for England does not undertake anything which she does not carry through; and all that England undertakes she does carry through. What Germany does, on the other hand, is merely commenced, and is not concluded. Let us place confidence in these words, which will be fulfilled."

The German Ambassador in London, in discussing the Samoan question with our own Foreign Minister, the Earl of Iddlesleigh, referred rather bitterly to King Malietoa's proclamation, and Lord Iddlesleigh readily agreed that it was very offensive.

A further joint Commission was held on the affairs of Samoa late in the year 1886, in the early months of which Malietoa had offered to place Samoa under the protection of the United States—which offer was accepted by the American Consul, but his action immediately repudiated by his Government.

No workable form of administration could, however, be agreed upon by the three Powers—the reason being that the Germans were determined to pursue their fixed aim of acquiring the absolute control of Samoa.

The rule of Malietoa, who had been recognised in authority by treaty agreements, was irksome to them; and towards the end of 1887 they demanded satisfaction from Malietoa for alleged robbery and insults to German subjects, whom they declared had been attacked when returning from celebrating the birthday of the German Emperor.

The required redress not being forthcoming, Malietoa was declared deposed by the Germans, and one Tamasese was set up in his place. The English and American Consuls did not participate in the recognition of Tamasese.

A state of anarchy now prevailed for a time; and inter-tribal combats took place all over the islands, centring about Apia. An insurrection was engineered by the Germans which was headed by Matiafa, who was attacked by Malietoa; and the opportunity having, as the Germans considered, arrived for the action of the mailed fist, Germany declared war on Malietoa.

In March, 1889, relations between the three Powers became extremely strained in regard to Samoa, and warships of all the nations concerned appeared off Apia.

The story of the hurricane that swept the harbour on the 16th March, in the teeth of which the British Calliope alone pounded her way out to sea and safety to the ringing cheers of the American sailors, is stirringly told in Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Footnote to History."

The Calliope, fighting the tempest and making less than a knot an hour, upheld the traditions of British seamanship; while the ribs of the German flagship Adler serve the purpose of providing a mournful monument to the death of German ambitions in Samoa.

Until Samoan administrative affairs were finally settled, her history consists of no more than a record of squabbles and intrigues.

Every fresh effort only demonstrated more clearly the futility of control by the three Powers, one of which was fixed in her determination to be supreme.

A convention was, indeed, signed at Berlin in 1889 under which the Samoan Islands were declared to be independent neutral territory, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States to have equal rights, and the King Malietoa, who was a strong opponent of German claims, was again recognised as King.

Matiafa, who had been stirred into insurrection for their own purposes by the Germans, now supported Malietoa, who received a vociferous welcome from the Samoans on his return to Apia in his regal capacity.

Shortly after his reinstatement, however, Malietoa wearied of his office and resigned his throne, which was no sinecure, in favour of his friend Matiafa. The latter's election by the people was necessary; but having duly gone through the formula, he assumed the sceptre with Malietoa as "vice-King."

The subordinate position, however, was unsatisfactory to Malietoa, and by concert of the Powers he was reinstated in his former position—a proceeding which Matiafa strongly disapproved of, and he attacked Malietoa with a strong force.

The Powers again intervened conjointly, and Matiafa was subdued and deported.

A further rebellion against Malietoa's rule was suppressed, and the affairs of Samoa began to present some appearance of law and order when Mr Henry Ide, an American, was appointed Chief Justice—a position of great responsibility. He seems, however, to have been over-strenuous in his dispensation of justice, for in less than a year his repressive measures created a state of Civil War.

In November, 1894, the unsatisfactory condition of affairs induced the Government of New Zealand to come forward with a proposal to establish a Protectorate over Samoa, and an expressed desire to undertake the administration of the islands.

The proposal was not entertained by our Home Government; and while it is probable that such an arrangement would have met with the approval of the United States, it is certain that Germany would have strenuously objected.

Further insurrections in 1894 brought about joint intervention by Great Britain and Germany, and the bombardment by ships of the two countries; while the death of Malietoa in 1898 necessitated another naval demonstration.

A serious dispute, which might have had far reaching consequences but for the tact displayed by our Consular Service, arose over the election of a king to succeed Malietoa. The claimants to the throne were Tanu, son of Malietoa, and Matiafa.

In January, 1899, Chief Justice Chambers, an American, in whose hands the final decision lay, decided in favour of Tanu in accordance with the international agreement whereby the throne was secured to Malietoa and his heirs.

The decision, however, met with the strong disapproval of the Germans, who instigated Matiafa to rebel; and a serious outbreak occurred, in the course of which the greater part of Apia was burned.

A force of British marines was landed from H.M.S. Porpoise, on which Mr Chambers and other Europeans took refuge.

A provisional Government was now formed by Dr Raffel, a German, and President of the Municipal Court of Apia; and he proclaimed himself Chief Justice in spite of the protests of the British and American Consuls.

The Consuls appealed to Captain Sturdee of the Porpoise to assist in the reinstatement of Mr Chambers, and he sent ashore a threat to bombard the town if any resistance were offered to Mr Chambers in resuming his seat as Chief Justice.

Mr Chambers was opposed by the German faction, but Dr Raffel's action did not meet with the approval of the Government at Berlin, and he was recalled in February, 1899.

In the meantime, Admiral Kantz of the American navy arrived on the United States cruiser, Philadelphia, and a proclamation was issued under which Matiafa's Government was declared to be illegal under the terms of the Berlin Treaty.

A counter-proclamation was immediately issued by the German Consul, Herr Rose, the immediate result of which was that Apia was surrounded by a strong force of rebels, and riots occurred—in the course of which R. L. Stevenson's house was looted.

The British and American warships opened fire and landed forces of bluejackets, who, after some severe fighting and losses, repulsed the rebels.

On the 23rd March, 1899, Tanu was crowned King of the Samoan Islands in the presence of the Foreign Consuls, with the exception of the Representative of the German Government.

Matiafa, with German moral support, continued in rebellion, and several Anglo-American parties of bluejackets and marines were ambuscaded, though the chief rebels' posts were captured.

A state of anarchy now prevailed, and another international Commission was appointed in May, 1899, Mr Bartlett Tripp (President) representing the United States, Mr Eliot Great Britain, and Baron Sternburg Germany.

Mr Chambers' decision was confirmed by the Commission, but Tanu had wearied of his kingship and voluntarily abdicated.

Further fighting now occurred, but an agreement was signed in August, 1899, by the three Powers, under which the kingship was abolished and the Government of Samoa placed in the hands of an Administrator with a Council of the Consuls of Great Britain, Germany, and the United States, assisted by a native assembly and a High Court of Justice.

The German, Dr Solf, Municipal President, was nominated as Administrator, and Mr Osborne, the United States Consul, was appointed to act as Chief Justice in the place of Mr Chambers who had resigned.

Samoa remained under this triple administration until the 1st March, 1900, when by the Anglo-German Convention, embodied in the Samoa Treaty, the principal Samoan Islands were annexed by Germany, the Tonga, Savage, and Solomon Islands came under the rule of Great Britain, while Tutuila and the adjacent islands became the property of the United States.

On the 1st March, 1900, the German flag was hoisted over Apia.

Claims for compensation were presented for the destruction of property during the Matiafa rebellion; and these, having been submitted to the arbitration of the King of Sweden, were, in 1902, adjudged to be payable by Great Britain and the United States of America!

The surrender of Samoa to Germany was a bitter pill to New Zealand, and the Imperialist Premier, the late "Dick" Seddon, expressed himself forcibly on the subject.

In reply to the letter from the Imperial Colonial Secretary announcing British withdrawal from Samoa, Seddon, who had looked to the realisation of the dream of a federation of the Pacific Islands under the hegemony of New Zealand, wrote:

"This surrender of Samoa will in future be a source of anxiety and entail expense on Great Britain and the Colonies in preparing for and providing against eventualities. However, now that it has been done, it is necessary that immediately opportune steps should be taken to put the islands admitted to be British on a satisfactory footing. Some definite action of a forward character is required in the Pacific at the earliest opportune moment, for the surrender of Samoa has disheartened the natives in the islands, disappointed the people of Australasia, and lowered the prestige of Great Britain in this part of the world."

Samoa

The thought of South Sea Islands conjures up pictures of treasure-trove and pearls, of joy-rides on turtle back, of dusky beauties with scarlet hybiscus blooms in their hair, and of fat, naked brown babies rolling on the sun-kissed sands.

Readers of Robert Louis Stevenson will know Samoa and the Samoans as he knew them, and will picture the life on the islands he loved—gentle and entrancing—and breathe the soft atmosphere undisturbed save by the gurgle of rivulets flinging spray, on which small rainbows dance, over lichen-covered boulders flanked by feathery tree ferns.

Samoa, Upolu, Fanuatapu—the very sound of the names has in it the cadence of the murmur of the surf over coral reefs and silver sands, or the whisper of perfume-laden breezes in tall palms fringing blue lagoons.

That is the more aesthetic conception; but there is a sordid view open to the imagination in blood-spattered, headless corpses, victims of tribal fights, or "the white men on the beach," in turn victims of unbridled passions and "square-face" gin.

The beachcombers of the South Seas have enriched the slang of our language with the expression "on the beach," or "on the pebbly," to denote a hopeless financial condition; but as a class these pyjama-clad, unlaced-booted gentry represent the limit of degradation—the bottom of the depths.

To natives all white men are chiefs, but "surely these are not great chiefs?" asked one of the Samoan islanders, indicating the whites who dream the idle hours away on the sandy beach of Samoa.

Papua, or New Guinea, again, is in the mind immediately associated with fearsome weapons of warfare made of carved wood, with collections of smoke-dried human heads with fantastically tattooed faces, and horrid feasts at which the piÈce de rÉsistance was sirloin of "methody" missionary.

The Samoan Islands are perfect in their beauty, and all the conditions, including the ease with which the bare necessaries of life were produced from natural resources, conduced to a dolce far niente sort of existence amongst the natives, by which the whites also became infected.

The Samoan group, which forms the entrepÔt of all the islands round where trade is carried on, consists of fourteen islands, of which eight, Savaii, Manono, Apolima, Upolu, Fanuatapu, Manua, Nu'utele, and Nu'ulua, were German—the remainder being British and American.

Savaii is roughly 50 miles long by 10 miles wide, comprising some 650 square miles; while Upolu, 22 miles east of Savaii, comprises about 340 square miles.

All the islands are of volcanic origin, and rise to rugged elevations; while they are surrounded by coral reefs intersected by passages through which the navigation is difficult and dangerous. Savaii, rising to 5,400 feet, possesses an active volcano; Upolu reaches an elevation of 3,200 feet; while Tutuila, separated from Upolu by a channel 36 miles in width, is 2,300 feet at its highest point.

On all the islands there is a certain scarcity of fresh water inland, but it is plentiful on the lower slopes and above high-water mark on the seashore.

While the climate is moist, it is never excessively hot; and the fertility of the soil is such that it is almost a drawback, for the extreme productiveness of the soil obviates the necessity for strenuous labour on the part of anyone who occupies a patch of ground whereon to grow cocoa-nuts, yams, etc.

On the Island Upolu, R. L. Stevenson's home, is Apia, the port and centre of Samoan trade. At Apia Stevenson died on the 5th December, 1894. He was much loved by the Samoans, and was by them buried on the top of Vasa Mountain, 1,300 feet above the sea.

Saluafata is the next harbour of importance; but both Apia and Saluafata are open harbours, and during the months of January, February, and March are particularly insecure, owing to the hurricanes which prevail.

The Samoan Islands contain less than 600 white inhabitants, and the native population is a little over 40,000. The natives residing on Upolu amount to 18,000, and on Savaii 13,000; while imported labourers total about 1,500.

The origin of the natives is obscure, but ethnological students have declared them to be closely allied to the Maoris of New Zealand, and to have their origin in China; and there seems to be no reason to doubt their judgment.

While cannibalism was prevalent throughout the islands of the South Seas, its practice has always been denied by the Samoans.

By nature the Samoan natives are indolent, and would look upon any uncalled-for exertion as a midsummer madness; while, to the Samoan mind, the idea of growing food such as cocoa-nuts, etc., for the purpose of sending it away and selling it, held about it something barbaric, unhandsome, and absurd. There is for him no conceivable object in growing anything more than is necessary to provide daily food, and consequently he would have no share nor parcel in such a practice.

The question of labour, therefore, has always been a pressing one on the plantations; and to provide this Chinese have been imported under indentures, and by Chinese labour all the work is carried on.

From the time of their first gaining a footing in Samoa, the Germans began to oust the natives from the land; and as the Samoans could not be got to work, plantations were established under German managers who proceeded to extract from it, by means of the cheapest foreign labour procurable, as much as it would yield.

At Apia, which Stevenson describes as the seat of the political sickness of Samoa, a controlling German firm was established who gradually obtained possession of the most fertile lands, but their titles were at times of the flimsiest.

The same writer describes how a visitor would observe, near an ancient Samoan village which he had been informed was the proper residence of the Samoan kings, a notice-board set up indicating that the historic village was the property of the German firm. These boards, he adds, which were among the commonest features of the landscape, might be rather taken to imply that the claim had been disputed.

If the "sales" of land from the natives to the German firm were questionable, the Samoans beheld in the firm only the occupier of their land, and consequently regarded the constant raiding of the German plantations and the stealthy gathering of the cocoa-nuts merely in the light of a very trifling peccadillo, and certainly not as theft.

Such land as the firm was unable to find labour to work was "mortgaged" to natives, who were compelled, under a penalty of imprisonment, to sell their copra to no one except to the mortgagee. The firm, which Stevenson describes as "the true centre of trouble, the head of the boil," of which Samoa languished thus gradually, got into its own hands the practical monopoly of trade.

The trade of the islands of the South Pacific was, as previously stated, always regarded in Europe as a most valuable one; and when in 1711 a monopoly of trade with South America and the Pacific Islands was granted to the South Sea Company in England, its riches were popularly looked upon as illimitable and the shares of the South Sea Company stood at one time at a premium of 900 per cent.

The bursting of the "South Sea Bubble," however, was the end of monopolies until the era of the German firm, whose agents gained a preponderance even in Fiji.

The principal article of Samoan trade is copra, and the value of land is assessed according to its growth of cocoa-nuts.

The trade was eminently suited for Germans, as the natives readily bartered for cheap and flashy goods "made in Germany."

In the vicinity of Apia uncultivated land is worth from £15 to £25 an acre, and cultivated land planted with cocoa-nuts from £20 to £40; while "bush" land faced a value ranging from 8s. to £2.

In addition to palm-oil and copra, Samoa yields the usual tropical products of cocoa, coffee, tobacco and rubber, as well as vegetable ivory.

From Samoa the export of copra in 1912 amounted to £200,000, and owing to the increased utility found for copra and its steady rise in price during recent years, further planting has energetically proceeded, though somewhat interfered with by the appearance of the rhinoceros beetle.

The pest seems to have been introduced in baskets of earth in which rubber stumps were packed, and soon obtained a firm hold upon the plantations, though the Samoan Government has made strenuous efforts to extirpate it.

"The larvae usually proceeding from eggs deposited in decayed cocoa-nut stumps are found in large quantities six to twelve inches beneath the soil, in masses of rubbish, where they gradually transform themselves into beetles. On coming to the surface they fly from tree to tree and feed on the leaves, especially on the centre leaf of the cocoa-nut palm—the heart of the tree—which, being eaten up, the tree dies. The eggs, it is said, are always deposited by the beetles above the ground, and turn into caterpillars, which, boring their way through loose soil and rubbish, then become larvae."[H]

Rubber is of comparatively recent introduction into Samoan production, and only amounted to £646 in 1911.

Tapping really only commenced in that year; and though later figures are not available all reports as regards the quality of Samoan rubber are reassuring, and the prospects of the industry are regarded as excellent.

Cocoa, however, has been grown for many years, and in 1911 was exported to the value of £38,508, despite the ravages of the "cacao canker," which attacks the older trees, the young ones under eight or nine years old being seldom if ever affected.

Amongst other industries is the collection of phosphates, the value of which, exported from the Pacific Islands in 1912, amounted to £250,000.

The following official report was made last year on the phosphate industry in the islands of Nauru and Angaur:

"The Pacific Phosphate Company in 1912 shipped from the islands 138,000 tons (as against 90,000 tons in the previous year). The Company suffered from a gradually growing lack of labourers, which was in the end overcome by the importation of coolies. At the end of 1912, 59 Europeans, 90 Chinese, and 576 natives of the Protectorate were employed in the phosphate mines on the Island of Nauru. The works were improved and extended in many directions. The Deutsche Suedsee Phosphat Aktiengesellschaft exported from Angaur 54,000 tons of phosphate, as against 45,000 tons in the previous year. The total annual production has consequently increased by 57,000 tons. While on Nauru Island labour was scarce, on Angaur several plants had to be finished before work could proceed to the full extent. Labour conditions were here satisfactory."

The imports to Samoa are principally cheap "trade goods," and include large quantities of calico, petticoats of which are worn by both men and women. The latter purchase white dress-stuff and have them printed by native dyers with a dye known as tapa.

The value of imports in 1911 totalled £203,312.

Galvanised iron has grown more and more in demand, the wild sugar-cane disease having nearly destroyed the manufacture of the picturesque native thatch.

New Zealand and Australia have a regularly connecting line of steamers, and in 1913 a better connection was provided for the whole South Sea District (by the Germans of course) by a steamship line from Singapore which touched New Guinea as well as Samoa.

The South Seas have for many decades been the field of fruitful labour of missionaries, and as a result of their work in their native schools every Samoan can read and write his own language. The Government had a school for white and half-caste children at Upolu in which they were taught English.

After annexing Samoa the Germans established a Government, taking the form of a Government Council, consisting, besides the members who occupied official positions, of eight persons selected by the Governor, and who were chosen from the leading merchants and planters. The votes of the general public as regards the election of these were presented to the Governor for his information, but he was not compelled to act in accordance with them—the votes merely indicating the popular wish in the matter. Up to 1912 two councillors, who received no salary, were Englishmen but subsequently all were German.

The Germans took steps to get rid of "the white men on the beach," and the class of white who dreamed the hours away there were discouraged by a deposit of £25, or a guarantee for that amount, being required to be placed in the hands of the collector of customs before strangers from foreign countries could land, unless they intended leaving again by the next or following steamer.

Up to December, 1912, pleading by foreigners in the Imperial Court in Apia was allowed in the English language by persons who could not speak German, but this was then stopped and all Court proceedings were held in the German language, or, where those concerned could not speak German, by means of an interpreter. Interpreters were provided by the Court for witnesses, but not for parties to suits nor for anyone appearing for them. In the custom-house and post office, however, English was still permitted.

The Government was extremely anxious to increase the use of the German language in Samoa, but as regarded trade and commerce the proximity of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji caused the knowledge of English to be of far more importance to the residents, whatever their nationality.

New Guinea

The New Guinea (formerly known as Papua) group of islands comprise Melanesia, the Samoan being included in Polynesia.

In New Guinea the British territory was in 1914 approximately 87,786 square miles, while the German possessions in the north of the principal island, and including the Bismarck Archipelago, amounted to roughly 180,000 square miles.

German New Guinea was, upon the hoisting of the German flag, renamed Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, New Britain became Neu Pommern, and New Ireland took the name of Neu Mecklenburg.

Neu Pommern and Neu Mecklenburg are the principal islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, the area of which is estimated at 48,000 square miles.

Lying in the equatorial region, the climate of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago is hot and humid, and the seasons may be roughly divided into the comparatively dry period of the southeast monsoon from about May to November, and the rainy west or north-west monsoon.

The annual rainfall is heavy, being some 150 inches on the sea-board, and far more on the highlands which intercept the moisture-laden clouds.

Like the majority of the islands of the South Seas, New Guinea coastal districts are infested with mosquitoes, and malarial fever, which affects Europeans as well as natives, is prevalent. It occurs in more or less severe forms, and occasionally terminates fatally. The eradication of the mosquito pest by petroleum spraying, which has proved such a marked success in the Panama regions, is now being attempted in all malarial-stricken countries, and will, when accomplished, no doubt bring immunity from malaria to New Guinea.

The coastline on the mainland of New Guinea is fringed by coral reefs and a line of large and small islands, and is indented by fine bays; but to reach them the navigation is extremely difficult.

In the narrow passages between the islands and between the reefs the current is so strong and runs so continuously for days at a time that a sailing boat can do nothing but lie at anchor waiting for a turn in the tide, and some have had to wait for a fortnight before they could get through.

The chief danger to navigation is the number of coral reefs that are scattered about the coast, very few of them charted. Sometimes there is enough water to make it safe to pass over them, and then the coral presents a beautiful sight—snow-white with long branches, or bright-red: then the sudden drop into deep, dark nothingness, at the edge of the reef that rises sheer from bottomless depths.

The islands are volcanic and the Kaiser Wilhelm territory in particular is very mountainous, the most prominent feature of its configuration, especially on the east coast, being the magnificent mountain ranges which in places rise steeply from the narrow fringe of the low coastal lands.

Snow-capped mountains and volcanoes, rising to a height of 15,000 feet or more, are reported to have been seen in the interior, which is still considerably unexplored.

There are a large number of mountain streams on all the large islands, but so far no navigable river has been found in the Archipelago.

An abundant rainfall, together with a high and equable temperature, has produced a vegetation of exceptional luxuriance and great variety. While in places extensive areas of grass plains are found, the hillsides and lowlands are, for the greater part, covered with almost impenetrable forest, containing timber trees of considerable size and utilitarian value.

Manioc (wild arrowroot), yams, bananas, and other tropical fruit such as paw-paws are cultivated by the natives, while sago forms a staple food of the inhabitants.

Sago palms grow wild in the bush, and prior to treatment sago is, like tapioca, in its crude state poisonous; but the Papuans have devised the means of carefully preparing the pith of the palm, and by washing, straining, and drying rendered it fit for food.

Until the end of the flowering period, the hollow interior of the sago palm, somewhat similar to bamboo, is filled with a starchy mass from which the growing fruit draws its nourishment. The tree is felled by the Papuans and the pulp scraped and washed, during which process the sago is separated and sinks to the bottom.

Cocoa-nuts also form an important food factor, and groves are found everywhere; while copra and palm-oil are the principal articles of trade.

Papuan birds are noted, and amongst the numerous species of bird life the bird of paradise is particularly notable for richness of plumage; and the skins of bright-plumaged birds have been in the past extensively exported.

New Guinea holds less than 500 white inhabitants, the majority being, of course, German officials and planters; while the natives living in all the islands are estimated at 500,000.

Papua suffered for years from the presence of the undesirable "white men on the beach," and wild and weird tales are told of early days of white men with nothing to do, sitting or lying about in native houses.

The Rev. Henry Newton, one of the pioneers of later civilisation in British New Guinea, gives the following description of a phase of New Guinea life:

"The storekeeper would go to bed and leave a supply of liquor handy for his clients to dispose of as seemed best to them.

"They would spend the night drinking and gambling, the empty bottles thrown over the veranda would form a fine heap on the ground, and sometimes one or two humans would follow the bottles as the result of a heated but disconnected argument, and decide to remain there till the morning. The storekeeper and publican would count up the number of 'dead-heads' in the morning, and divide the total cost amongst those whom he had left to enjoy themselves overnight.

"A gaol was built for the accommodation of native prisoners; not that this meant there was no need of a place of detention for members of the white race. Occasionally a white man had to be accommodated.

"One man, an Irishman, who had been indulging not wisely but too well and had decided on open-air treatment, was lying asleep in the street, and it was necessary to remove him. A detachment of native police was told off to carry the member of the ruling race to the gaol.

"When they had hoisted him on their shoulders and were marching off, the unhappy man waked up for a moment, and, not quite understanding the situation, said 'Hullo, boys, what have I done? Why, am I a hero?'"[I]

The native Papuans are not regarded as suitable for work in the Western sense of the word, and the German efforts to exploit the natives have not produced very successful economic results, and the import of Chinese coolies had to be relied on. This resulted, in the Pacific Islands generally, in a traffic in labour which roused R. L. Stevenson's ire.

The native inhabitants consist in New Guinea of a number of races, differing totally from each other in appearance, customs, and language.

The various tribes have little in common with each other, and inter-tribal wars and feuds have been continuous, in the course of which the custom of "head-hunting" became a popular pastime.

Although the Samoans strenuously repudiate the suggestion that they or their ancestors were ever addicted to cannibalism, the Papuans freely admit the prevalence of the custom; and although they now profess to have discontinued cannibalism, the older men will talk confidentially about the doings in "the old days," and will sigh for the times that have been.

The natives have unbounded belief in the powers of sorcerers and in witchcraft, and are more easily held in control by superstition than by any appeal to any sense.

The hard work—domestic and agricultural—is done by the women, as amongst most native races; it being beneath a man's dignity to be engaged in any other labour than that connected with warfare, sport, or the provision of creature comforts.

The Government of New Guinea was vested in a Governor whose seat was at HerbertshÖhe, picturesquely situated on the shores of Neu Pommern. The town was the most important commercial centre of the Colony, several of the principal trading and planting firms making it their headquarters. Round about it are situated some of the best cocoa-nut plantations in the islands.

The official language was, of course, German, but English was also spoken or at least understood by all European residents in the islands.

In the intercourse with the natives the weird form of speech known as pidgin-English is in universal use throughout the South Seas. It is framed on the same principles as their own languages, and every white man who cannot speak native seems to fall naturally into the use of it. So universal is its use that in German New Guinea the Government officials, to the offence of their kultured minds, had to use it if they wanted the natives to understand them.

In their anxiety to spread the use of German, this must have been particularly distasteful to the officials, especially when an Englishman who did not understand German found a medium in pidgin-English.

Some compensation, however, is found by a German writer who says that "although it is deplorable that, while the easily learned Malay language might be introduced with advantage, this unlovely dog-English should still be encouraged, the quaint expressions promptly invited by the natives for anything new to them, amply demonstrate their ready wit and furnish a constant source of amusement."

But if "pidgin" is a barbarous perversion of English, on the other hand pidgin-German is a horror hardly conceivable.

Of all the island groups in the Pacific Ocean, perhaps none offers conditions equally favourable for agricultural pursuits than does the north coast of New Guinea and the Archipelago. Lying outside the cyclonic belt, those devastating storms which are largely responsible for the failure of crops in Polynesia, as well as in some of the groups north of the line, need not be reckoned with, and a greater fertility of the soil further helps to make this part of the Pacific well fitted for tropical cultivation.

Cocoa-nut growing especially proves most profitable, but cotton, rubber, cocoa, coffee, and tobacco are also grown, besides spices and fruits.

The export of copra, which in 1912 amounted to £300,000, has steadily increased as more and more land was brought under cultivation. Other articles of export include phosphates, pearl and tortoiseshell, trepang, sandal-wood, and vegetable ivory.

The exportation of phosphates in 1912 amounted to about £250,000, and with copra made up 90 per cent of the exports.

Skins of birds of paradise were exported from Kaiser Wilhelm's Land in 1912 to the value of £25,000, but an agitation on hand against the destruction of wild birds for the sake of their plumage will no doubt put an end to this traffic.

Trepang or bÊche-de-mer, otherwise known as sea cucumbers and sea slugs, are an important food luxury amongst the Chinese and other Eastern people. They are used in the gelatinous soups which form an important article of food in China. They are prepared for export by being lightly boiled, then sun-dried, and finally smoked over a fire. A small English company is engaged in the industry of trepang fishing.

While timber of great variety and excellent quality exists in inexhaustible quantities, and although there are small saw-mills in Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, only small quantities of timber for cabinet purposes have been exported.

Traces of valuable minerals have been discovered. In 1890 gold was located by prospectors from Queensland, but the gold veins discovered have not proved as valuable as had been hoped.

Oil has also been prospected in New Guinea, but its exploitation was reserved by the German Government. The analysis showed a high percentage of heavy oil.

The imports, amounting in 1912 to £750,000, consist chiefly of food-stuffs, liquid and tinned, machinery and iron ware, building materials, clothing, leathern goods, and sundries.

The wants of the natives are few, however, and little trade is done with them in textiles, the clothing of men and women alike being usually composed of strips of cloth with plaited grass girdles and a profusion of shell ornaments.

On 15th August, 1914, the advanced detachment of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, which was ordered to seize Samoa, left Wellington at dawn and was met at sea by three of His Britannic Majesty's cruisers in New Zealand waters—the Psyche, the Pyramus, and the Philomel.

As it was known that the German armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were at large in the Pacific, it was decided not to go direct to Samoa, but to shape a course for New Caledonia (French).

Cruising off New Caledonia the British ships were joined by the French cruiser Montcalm and by the Australian cruisers Australia and Melbourne.

The contingent received a wonderfully enthusiastic reception from the French in New Caledonia, and under the command of Admiral Sir G. E. Patey the allied fleet steamed for Samoa.

In the early dawn of 30th August the first glimpse was obtained of Upolu—the scene of wars and rebellions and international schemings, and the scene also of that devastating hurricane which wrecked six ships of war and ten other vessels and sent 142 officers and men of the German and American navies to their last sleep.

The rusting ribs and plates of the Adler, the German flagship, pitched high inside the reef, stared at them as a reminder of that memorable event.

The Psyche went on ahead, and after the harbour had been swept for mines, she steamed in under a flag of truce and delivered a message from Rear-Admiral Sir George Patey demanding surrender. The Germans, who had been expecting their own fleet in, were surprised at the suddenness with which an overwhelming force had descended upon them, and decided to offer no resistance to a landing.

In a remarkably brief space of time the covering party was on shore, and shortly afterwards Apia was swarming with British bluejackets and troops. Guards were placed all about the Government buildings and a staff installed in the Government offices.

The custom-house was seized and an armed party was dispatched along a bush road to seize the wireless station, the tall, latticed iron mast of which could be seen rising above the trees some three or four miles inland on the lower slopes of the hills.

Meantime the German flag that had flown over the island for fourteen years was hauled down, the Germans present doffing their hats and standing bareheaded and silent on the veranda of the Supreme Court as they watched the soldier in khaki from New Zealand unceremoniously pulling it down, detaching it from the rope, and carrying it inside the building.

Next morning the British flag was hoisted with all due ceremony. The troops were drawn up in three sides of a square facing the court-house—the seat of the new Government. Inside the square and facing the flagstaff were Colonel Logan and staff in their rough khaki uniforms, with them the naval Commanders. On the left the high Samoan Chiefs, Tanu-Malietoa and Tamasese—who had been specially invited to attend the ceremony—with other Chiefs made a picturesque group.

Fifteen years ago some of those present had seen the young Chief Tanu placed on the throne of Malietoa, with the representatives of the allied fleets of Great Britain and America and the civil authorities of these natives in attendance, and the Germans conspicuous only by their absence.

A few minutes before 8 o'clock all was ready. The commands to the troops had ceased and an intense silence had prevailed. Two bluejackets and a naval lieutenant stood, with the flag, awaiting the signal.

Presently the first gun of the Royal salute from the Psyche boomed out across the bay. Then slowly, very slowly, inch by inch, to the booming of twenty-one guns the flag was hoisted, the officers with drawn swords silently watching it go up.

With the sound of the last gun the flag reached the top of the flagstaff and fluttered out in the southeast trade wind above the tall palms of Upolu.

The troops came to the Royal salute as the band played the National Anthem.

The reading of a proclamation by Colonel Logan terminated the brief but finely impressive ceremonial.

The German Governor, Dr Schutz, was sent to Fiji and subsequently to New Zealand.

With similar ceremonies HerbertshÖhe in Neu Pommern was occupied by an Australian force.

On the 14th September the German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau made their appearance at Apia, but on the New Zealanders manning the guns the ships left for the open Pacific.

A German merchant ship was at the time at Pango-Pango in the American island of Tutuila, and ten members of the crew deserted and rowed the seventy miles to Apia, where they hoped to find the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. They were, however, arrested by the British authorities.

A British administration was set up. The German officials in the old administration resigned their appointments, but the natives decided to continue under British rule.