SAMOAN ISLANDS. 



SEA-SERPENTS. 



795 



will cause serious trouble, since Samoa alone will be 

 held responsible for the consequences of such acts. 

 DR. STEUBEL, German Consul- General. 

 APIA, May 21, 1836. 



The proclamation and other action of Con- 

 sul Greenebaum, and the presence in Saraoan 

 waters of a United States war- vessel, now en- 

 couraged King Malietoa to endeavor to bring 

 matters to a crisis. On May 23 he planned an 

 attack on the rebels, ordered beacon-fires to 

 be lighted, and summoned the loyal natives 

 from the neighboring islands of Savaii, Ma- 

 nono, and Apolima. During the night of the 

 23d and the following day about 2,000 war- 

 riors silently gathered in and around the terri- 

 tory occupied by Tamesese and his adherents. 



The foreign consuls met on the evening of 

 the 24th, on board the " Mohican " (Capt. 

 Day), when it was decided to visit Tamesese 

 on the following morning, and endeavor to 

 prevent an outbreak of hostilities. According- 

 ly, on the morning of the 25th the " Mohican " 

 left the harbor of Apia and anchored off Fase- 

 tootia, where the rebel flag could be seen fly- 

 ing over their camp. A communication was 

 at once sent to Tamesese, inviting him to a 

 conference, to which he acceded, but not until 

 a peremptory demand had been made for his 

 presence. The conference was held ; but all 

 efforts to bring Tamesese to terms proved 

 abortive. Relying on the assurances he had 

 received from the German admiral and consul- 

 general, he declined all overtures that in- 

 cluded acknowledgment of King Malietoa as 

 the legitimate King of Samoa. A consulta- 

 tion ensued among the foreign officials, which 

 resulted in a note being sent to Malietoa, de- 

 manding that peace should be maintained, and 

 that all armed men should be prevented from 

 crossing the border. 



On the 26th the armies still confronted each 

 other, and rumors of skirmishing and the 

 capture of a few prisoners reached Apia. By 

 invitation of Capt. Day, the foreign consuls 

 again met for a conference on board the " Mo- 

 hican." The municipality is governed by a 

 board of all the foreign consuls and several of 

 the merchants of Apia. A proposition was 

 made by the British consul that the King 

 should be temporarily suspended, and that the 

 board should extend its functions beyond the 

 limits of Apia, in order to control the affairs 

 of the kingdom. This was lost through the 

 strenuous opposition of Consul Greenebaum. 

 A compromise was finally agreed upon, and 

 the following proclamation was issued: 



We, the consuls of Germany, Great Britain, and 

 the United States, give notice that we and our Gov- 

 ernments do not, and never have, in any way recog- 

 nized Tamesese as King of Samoa, and order all Sa- 

 moans to return to their homes, and remain quiet and 

 peaceful. And we further demand the continued en- 

 forcement of the convention, especially with regard 

 to the neutral territory of Apia. 



DR. STEUBEL, Imperial German Consul- General. 



WILFRED POWELL, H. B. M. Consul. 



B. GREENEBAUM, United States Consul. 



APIA, May 27, 1886. 



On the same day King Malietoa met the 

 foreign consuls and the captains of the British 

 corvette "Diamond" and the United States 

 steamer " Mohican." At this conference it 

 was formally decided that Malietoa should 

 be officially addressed by the German consul- 

 general in a communication, in which he 

 should be recognized as the King of Samoa, 

 and that Tamesese should surrender his fort 

 and disband his army, being granted until 

 June 2 to comply. These terms were accepted 

 and eventually carried out. When U. S. Consul 

 Greenebaum communicated his action to the 

 State Department at Washington, he was re- 

 called, and, for having overstepped the limits 

 of his functions in declaring an American 

 protectorate of the Samoan Islands .without 

 authority from the United States Government, 

 his resignation was requested. 



The population of the Samoan Islands is es- 

 timated at 56,000. The exports of Samoa in- 

 clude cocoanuts, copra, Chili peppers, limes, 

 lime-juice, beche-de-mer, sharks' tins, and cot- 

 ton. The exports from 1875 to 1880 to San 

 Francisco amounted to $75,610.74. In 1883 

 the entire imports amounted to $244,980 ; ex- 

 ports, $274,371; in 1884, imports, $200,385; 

 exports, $358,628. The trade with the United 

 States in 1883 was: imports, $124,181; ex- 

 ports, $14,000; in 1884, imports, $116,962; 

 exports, $25,000. The native Samoans are in- 

 dolent, and live in a fashion of communism, 

 and the agricultnre of the islands is chiefly in 

 the hands of the Germans, who also monop- 

 olize most of the trade, although there are 

 a few English and American firms in Apia. 

 Meanwhile there are vast tracts of marvellous- 

 ly fertile land uncultivated, where sugar and 

 coffee could be raised with the minimum of 

 labor and expense. The cultivation of cotton 

 was begun in Samoa at the time of the Ameri- 

 can civil war. The average product is a bale 

 of sea-island cotton to the acre. The produc- 

 tion of copra is about 6,000 tons annually, 

 worth from $75 to $100 a ton. Coffee grows 

 well, and also tobacco; experiments with cin- 

 chona have not proved successful. The labor 

 on. the German plantations is imported under 

 contract. 



The entire interior of the Samoan Islands is 

 a vast forest, much of which has never been 

 explored. The climate is healthful, and the na- 

 tives bear a high reputation for virtue and 

 honesty. These islands lie in the track of the 

 steamers that ply between San Francisco and 

 Australia, but do not touch at them. Ameri- 

 can consuls at Apia have all reported favorably 

 on the feasibility of increasing the trade of the 

 islands with the United States, and of more 

 fully developing their agricultural resources. 



SEA-SERPENTS. The belief in the existence 

 of gigantic sea-serpents is of great antiquity. 

 Aristotle, Pliny, Valerius Maximus, and other 

 early writers gave credence to tales of sea- 

 monsters, and scientists of the nineteenth cent- 

 ury are by no means agreed in their opinions 



