200 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Apr., 



Specimen No. 10,615 in the Peale Collection is a pile of small 

 basketry from Samoa, half a dozen pieces of the common envelope 

 type still in Samoan use. It is labelled "School Satchel." In 

 connection with the date, 1839, this label led me to comment that 

 at that time it would be somewhat proleptic to use the designation 

 School Satchels, in view of the fact that the mission had then scarcely 

 secured a foothold in Samoa. In continuation I informed the Curator 

 that basketry of that size and form was intended to hold leaf tobacco 

 and dry banana leaves for cigarettes, for I have been assured by James 

 Dwight Dana that tobacco was found indigenous in the South Sea. 

 Handling the satchel which lay on top of the heap, I noticed that it 

 weighed more than I should expect, and that led to my discovery of 

 printed matter contained therein. 



So far as my information extends, these pieces of printed matter 

 are absolutely unique. I have assured myself that they do not 

 exist in mission collections in Samoa, nor yet at the home of the 

 London Missionary Society; they are not in the British Museum, 

 nor can I find them of record in any library custody. It is an infer- 

 ence, but there is much to commend it, that these pieces constitute 

 a complete collection of Samoan prints up to the time of the visit of 

 the Wilkes expedition in 1839. It would appear that Peale displayed 

 an interest in the work of the mission, and a natural response on the 

 part of those who were laboring in that field would be to supply as 

 complete a collection as possible to show what they had already 

 accomplished. 



The following memoranda will serve to identify the several pieces 

 in necessary bibliographic detail : 



(1) E Mou I Imene | o lea foi le | Talafaalelei | i le 1 ATUA 1 ua 

 imene i latou imene. Mataio. | Huahine [ Neia i te nenei raa a 

 te I mau misionari | 1836. 



This is a single sheet, 278 x 437 mm., folded into 24 pages, con- 

 taining 26 hymns. 



(2) I le upu aoai i na, ma le upu ] a | Paulo ra; [ ua na liu i le 

 upu 1 Samoa | la aoao le mou tagata le upu moni a le Atua, | a ola 

 latou. Huahine. | Printed at the Mission Press. \ 1837. 



This consists of one signature of 12 pages and one of 8 pages, 

 112 x184 mm. 



(3) I le upu a le mou tagata anamua, | ma | Atamo, ma | Apera- 

 amo I e ma | tagata tele uma | ua na liu i le upu | Samoa | E aoga lo 

 le lelei le loto, e iloa latou e le Atua. | lesu. \ Huahine: | Printed at the 

 Mission Press I 1837. 



