2 3 2 THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



Sterndale's words : ' By the exercise of tact, and a show 

 of liberality among the natives, he and his successor, Mr. 

 Theodore Weber, in great measure swallowed up the trade of 

 the Samoan Group, and in a manner thrust both Hort and 

 Brander off their own ground.' 



In 1872 the establishment of the Godeffroys at Apia con- 

 sisted of a superintendent, a cashier, eleven clerks, a harbour- 

 master, two engineers, ten carpenters, two coopers, four planta- 

 tion managers, a surgeon, and a land-surveyor. These were 

 the permanent establishment, and were all Europeans, and, 

 naturally enough, mostly Germans. In addition there were 

 numerous supernumeraries of all nationalities, among whom 

 may be counted half-breeds, Portuguese, and Chinamen. They 

 generally employed, as plantation labourers, about 400 Poly- 

 nesians, imported from the Savage and Line Islands. Their 

 property at that time, and it has immensely increased since 

 then, comprised a commodious harbour, a building-yard for 

 small vessels, three plantations containing an aggregate of 

 about 400 acres under cultivation, and something like 25,000 

 acres of purchased land, of which it may be truthfully said 

 that the greater proportion is not to be surpassed in fertility in 

 any part of the tropics. Mr. Sterndale says : ' It was bought 

 at a low rate, not upon an average exceeding 75 cents per 

 acre, and paid for chiefly in ammunition, arms, or such articles 

 of barter as are most in vogue among semi-barbarous people.' 

 In September, 1879, about 4500 acres were under cotton culti- 

 vation, and 1000 Polynesian labourers were employed. 



The land consists chiefly of alluvial valleys of astonishing 

 richness and elevated plateaux of fertile volcanic soil, covered in 

 many large tracts with valuable timber. Large streams inter- 

 sect the estates, and these are not only made available for 

 floating down logs, but afford water-power for driving mills. 



