236 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



is thrown so as to roll even a short way past the 

 kava bowl. 



Europeans who have lived for several years in 

 these islands assured us that they became so 

 accustomed to drinking kava that they acquired 

 a taste for it, but we never took it without an 

 inward shiver. 



A too liberal indulgence of this drink causes 

 temporary paralysis of the legs from the knees 

 downwards, as well as a numbing sensation of the 

 tongue, though we were told that even at this stage 

 the brain remains perfectly clear. 



The vice-consul had very kindly invited me to 

 visit his farm, about three miles from Apia, and 

 there I spent the second day of our stay. It was 

 very warm work walking thither, as the whole way 

 was uphill under a blazing sun. Arriving at the 

 farm, I struck off into the forest with a guide in 

 search of birds. The most numerous and probably 

 the most beautifully coloured of all the birds in 

 Samoa is a small dove,* of about the size of a 

 turtle-dove, with an emerald green back, a ruby 

 red crown, and a brilliantly-coloured breast of 

 several shades of red and yellow. 



We climbed up the hillside for a considerable 

 distance, and from the highest point we had a 

 distant view of the grave of Robert Louis 

 Stevenson, who was buried on the top of the hill 

 overlooking Apia Harbour. I was most anxious 



* Ptilopus fasciatu*. 



