LIFE OF JAMES DWIGHT DANA 



performing before the natives and other spectators Schil- 

 ler's play, The Robbers, and in singing Jim Crow. Wilkes 

 and Hudson were distressed by the illicit trade in ardent 

 spirits and by their excessive use. Other gross immorali- 

 ties were also obvious, and drew from the commander 

 well-merited protests. During the stay in Tahiti, the 

 four harbors, Matavai, Papaoa, Toano, and Papieti, were 

 surveyed. Presently, the Vincennes paid a visit to the 

 beautiful island, Eimeo, where the Simpsons were estab- 

 lished as missionaries. It was on this island that a factory 

 for spinning cotton and weaving cloth and carpets had 

 been established by the London Missionary Society. It 

 did not prove a success. 



A little to the north and west of the Society Islands 

 lies the group of which in these days we hear so much, 

 the Samoan, or, as they were called by Bougainville, 

 their discoverer, the Navigator's Islands. After less than 

 three weeks in Tahiti, Wilkes sailed for this group, which 

 he presently surveyed and mapped as he had previously 

 mapped Tahiti. Four larger islands, with several islets, 

 constitute the group. First came Rose Island, so named 

 by Freycinet; then, westward, with their aboriginal 

 names, Manua (and near it Ofoo and Oloosinga), Tutuila, 

 Upolu, and Savaii. In Manua at that time there was a 

 disturbance between the missionary party and their op- 

 ponents. In Oloosinga, Wilkes made a call of ceremony 

 upon the king, who had retreated from Manua because 

 of the wars between the Christian and the Devil's parties. 

 Samoan etiquette was rigid, but not familiar to the 

 American commander. The king invited him to dinner 

 and made a pre-prandial speech of welcome. Wilkes was 

 requested to hand some of the food to the king and to 

 his brother and to others who were pointed out, but un- 

 fortunately he continued the task by showing the same 

 courtesy to one of the Kanakas, or common people. 

 Then there was a disturbance, not serious or prolonged. 



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