nil; POSSESSION IN SAMOA. <>!> 



attain virility, and the field of operation corresponds 

 with that part of the body covered by their only gar- 

 ment — the breechcloth — so that in the event anything 

 goes wrong with this, the simplest and oldesi dress, 

 they should not appear entirely naked. The operation 

 is performed by experts, whose implements consist of a 

 little fine-toothed comb made of the tusk of a wild boar, 

 which is fastened to a small stick in the form of a 

 minute rake. The teeth are dipped into the staining 

 material, and with blows of a little stick on the blunt 

 end of the comb they are made to penetrate deep enough 

 to drive the stain into the deeper layers of the skin. 

 The operation is attended by great pain, and lasts, ac- 

 cording to the artistic designs employed, from five hours 

 upward. The lines of tattooing are exceedingly fine and 

 the patterns are often quite artistic, as I had an abun- 

 dance of opportunity to observe. There is very little 

 crime among the Samoans. For four years there has 

 been only one murder in Tutuila with its 6,000 inhab- 

 itants. The whites never lock their doors. What we 

 look on as petty thefts, such as taking away without per- 

 mission a loaf of bread, a fish or any kind of fruit, is 

 not regarded in the light of crime by the childlike Sa- 

 moan. The next day the neighbor so treated will even 

 up the account in a similar manner. So far as the food 

 supply is concerned, the Samoans constitute one great 

 family, giving and taking as occasion may demand, and 

 the stranger is always welcome to more than his share. 

 Family life is ideal. The father rules supreme; old 

 age is respected; the ties of relationship and friendship 

 are strong. No operation can be performed on a Sa- 

 moan without a previous family council. If the father 

 is the patient the sons decide the matter, if any other 

 member of the family is concerned the father alone 

 has the power to object to or sanction the operation. 

 The bedside of the sick is never deserted by the immedi- 

 ate members of the family, and anxious relatives and 

 friends are never far away. 



