SAMOA 



5182 



SAMPSON 



SAMOA, xah mo' ah, or SAMOAN ISLANDS, 

 formerly called XAVIGATOI: I archi- 



pelago of fourteen islands in the South Pacific 

 Ocean, 4,200 miles southwest of San Francisco 

 and 2,400 miles northeast of Sydney, Australia 

 (see colored map, with the article On 

 They have a combined area of about 1.100 

 .-(inure miles. At the outbreak of the War of 



; iions in 1!U 1 the Samoan archipelago 



. ried partly by Germany and partly by 

 On August 29, 1914, a 



British force fro: iland occupied Apia, 



a port of the German island of Upolu, and 



eventually all of German Samoa was brought 



under the administration of New Zealand. 



Tutuila and all other Samoan islands east of 



leridian, west longitude, came into 



the possession of the United States in 1900, 



according to a treaty negotiated by the United 



Germany and Great Britain. Tutuila 



has an area of about seventy-seven square miles 



and a population of about 7,250; it is the most 



ive island of the group, and has the only 

 good harbor in Samoa, that of Pagopago. The 

 United States maintains a naval station on 

 Tutuila, the commandant of which is also the 

 governor of the island. The most important 

 of the other American islands, known as the 

 Manua group, have a combined area of twenty- 



juare miles and a population of about 

 1,800. Germany, by the treaty mentioned 

 above, acquired all islands west of the 171st 

 meridian. The most important of this group 

 are Savaii, 660 square miles in area, and Upolu, 

 340 square miles. These are the two largest 



THE SAMOAN ISLANDS 



The western islands are yet credited to Ger- 

 many, for their fate after the War of the Nations 

 is in doubt. 



islands in Samoa. Upolu was for years the 

 home of Robert Louis Stevenson, and his grave 

 is on beautiful Mount Vaea, overlooking Apia. 

 Most of the islands are very beautiful, with 

 picturesque mountains, luxuriant forests, fer- 

 tile valleys and flat lands sloping towards the 

 sea. The climate is ple.-isant on the whole, 

 although fierce hurricanes occur from January 



to March. In 1889 two American and two Ger- 

 man warships were beaten to pieces on the 1 >e:u-h 

 at Apia in a memorable storm which Stevenson 

 describes in A Footnote to History. The f cr- 

 eate are remarkable for the size and variety of 



TUTUILA I. 



SCALE OF MILE.S 



ISLAND OF TUTUILA 



The central island of the group, belonging to 

 the United States. 



their trees, and the luxuriance and beauty of 

 the creepers, tree ferns and parasites. There 

 are sixteen varieties of the cocoanut palm and 

 twenty varieties of breadfruit tree, which pro- 

 vide the natives with their principal food. 

 Copra, the dried meat of the cocoanut, is ex- 

 ported. There are no animals except a native 

 rat, four species of snakes and a few birds. The 

 native Samoans, who number about 39,000, are 

 the best type of Polynesians tall, well built, 

 brown-skinned and good looking. They are 

 simple, honorable, generous and hospitable, 

 and are brave fighters and famous sailors and 

 boat-builders. A.C. 



Consult La Farge's Reminiscences of the South 

 Seas. 



SAMOS, sa'mahs, an island belonging to 

 Turkey, situated in the Grecian Archipelago 

 and separated from the coast of 'Asia Minor by 

 the strait Little Boghaz. It covers an area, of 

 289 square miles, and the population, consisting 

 almost entirely of Greeks, is 65,000. The capi- 

 tal is Vathy, situated near the site of ancient 

 Samos, a magnificent city in the times of an- 

 cient Grecian power. 



Olives, grapes and other fruits are cultivated ; 

 oil, wine, silk, cotton and figs are exported. 

 The island contains considerable mineral wealth, 

 marble, silver, iron, lead and emery being 

 found, but not extensively worked. The island 

 is administered by a governor styled the Prince 

 of Samos, who pays annual tribute to the sultan 

 of Turkey. 



SAMP 'SON, WILLIAM THOMAS (1840-1902), 

 an American naval officer, who planned the 

 blockade of Santiago harbor in the Spanish 

 American War, was born in Palmyra, N. Y., 



