A GLIMPSE OF SAMOA. 



It was in 1839 that the Swift visited Apia on 

 the Samoan group, now famous as having been 

 the home of the writer Robert Louis Stevenson, 

 and for years the only place where he could live, 

 for any less beneficent climate would have been 

 death to him. 



At the time the Swift touched there little 

 missionary work had then been done, and lawless- 

 ness and license made the place anything but 

 a pleasant one in which to take liberty. But 

 sailors are bold by nature and by habit, and the 

 Swift's crew were many times ashore during the 

 fifteen months when the vessel was cruising in 

 the vicinity. One village, to distinguish it from 

 others, was called "Devil's Town," a most 

 appropriate name. 



A short time before the arrival of the Swift 

 a vessel had foundered on the reefs, and from the 

 wreck there had been brought ashore several 

 hundred dollars worth of copper. This was 

 secured by the Sivift's captain by the payment 

 of some cotton cloth, two barrels of rum, and 

 a few other things of comparatively slight value. 



