nn Inhabitants of Tutuila La Perouse's ex- 

 pedition. Massacre of M. De Laugle. 



SAMOAN GROUP. Visit to Toa, the native chief. 



so, he should be glad to exchange it for the jacket 

 I had on. Not being inclined to this exchange, I 

 ordered a small hatchet to be given him. This 

 gratified him much, and he instantly went over the 

 ship's side to show it to his friends. This same 

 Toa is chief of the village of Fungasar, about three 

 miles distant from the harbour, on the north side 

 of the island. He learns to read and write, being 

 taught by some of the small children, and attends 

 school regularly. He became of great use to us, 

 and was a constant visitor. During one of his 

 visits on board, he espied some red umbrellas 

 among the presents, and from that time was con- 

 tinually endeavouring to obtain one for his wife, 

 and brought many articles in the hope of inducing 

 us to part with it in exchange for them. 



The geological character of this island is similar 

 to that of Manua ; it has only a shore-reef of 

 coral, and soundings extend some distance from it. 

 It has many desirable ports or bays on its north 

 side, where vessels may obtain wood, water, and 

 supplies. The best and safest port, however, is 

 that of Pago-pago, on its south side, which affords 

 a safe harbour for vessels to overhaul, and where 

 supplies may be obtained in abundance. 



Tutuila is thickly settled round its shores, and 

 particularly at its south-western end : this is lower 

 and more easily cultivated than the eastern, which 

 is high and rugged. The only communication is 

 by the sea-shore, the hills being too precipitous 

 and difficult of ascent to pass over. 



The men of Tutuila are a remarkably tall, fine- 

 looking set, with intelligent and pleasing counte- 

 nances. In comparison with the Tahitians, they 

 would be called sedate.' 



The women are far from being good-looking, 

 with the exception of some of the younger ones. 

 They are remarkably domestic and virtuous, ex- 

 hibiting a strange contrast to those of Tahiti. 

 Here there is no indiscriminate intei'course, the 

 marriage-tie is respected, and parents are ex- 

 tremely fond of their offspring. The inhabitants 

 are disposed to be hospitable to strangers, although 

 they expect remuneration for it. Travelling is 

 generally believed to be safe throughout the island 

 of Tutuila; and the natives, as far as our experi- 

 ence goes, are not the blood-thirsty race they have 

 been reported to be. The unfavourable estimate 

 of their character has, I presume, been derived 

 from those who first knew them, and particularly 

 from their attack upon the expedition of La Pe- 

 rouse. Of this conflict I obtained the following 

 particulars from the Rev. Mr. Murray, who had 

 them from an old man, who was a witness of the 

 affray. The latter is the only individual now alive 

 in the settlement who was present when it oc- 

 curred, and his testimony was corroborated by 

 others who had heard of it from those who wit- 

 nessed the scene. 



On the morning of the massacre, the vessels 

 stood in towards the land. About noon the boats 

 went ashore, as recorded by La Perouse, and 

 while on shore, a number of canoes, belonging to 

 the island of Upolu (to which Tutuila was at the 

 time subject), went from the shore, and proceeded 

 directly to the vessels. When these canoes were 

 alongside, a young man in one of them laid his 

 hand on an iron bolt in some part of the ship, 

 with the intention, it is supposed, of stealing it. 

 He was fired upon by the French. The ball 



passed through his shoulders, and mortally wounded 

 him. The natives, on seeing the effect of the shot 

 on one of their number, were greatly enraged, and 

 immediately left the vessels, and hastened to the 

 shore, where they found the boats that had gone 

 to get water. On reaching them, they began the 

 attack, which resulted in the massacre of M. De 

 Langle, and of those who were with him on the 

 shore. When the natives began this attack, the 

 great body of the French were absent from their 

 boats; some were in the bushes gathering plants, 

 and others talking to the females. On the com- 

 mencement of the disturbance, they all rushed 

 towards their boats, and the confusion became 

 general. The minute circumstances of the affray, 

 further than the above, cannot now be ascertained 

 from the natives. They are, however, very clear 

 in reference to the cause, and to those who were 

 the actors in it, viz. the natives of Upolu. The 

 Tutuilians maintain that they endeavoured to save 

 the lives of the French ; and on the following day, 

 as soon as they dared to venture from the moun- 

 tains, whither they had fled during the massacre, 

 they collected the bodies, which they found in a 

 state of nudity, dressed them in native cloth, and 

 buried them in the beach, as they were accus- 

 tomed to bury their own chiefs. The actors in the 

 massacre proceeded at once to Upolu, which will 

 account for their having been afterwards seen 

 there, and recognized by the French. Our inqui- 

 ries relative to the spot where they had buried the 

 bodies were not satisfactorily answered. How the 

 carpenter's son escaped is not known. He is said 

 to be still living at a village on the eastern part of 

 the island. There appears to be mention made of 

 a boy among the missing, in La Perouse's account. 

 Levasii, a chief of the district of Faleletai, was at 

 the massacre of the party of La Perouse. He was 

 then a boy of thirteen years of age. He remem- 

 bered the occurrence, and that three of the Papa- 

 langi were killed. 



The perpetrators of the deed were some young 

 chiefs from the district, who were on a " malanga " 

 to Tutuila. At that time Aana district had the 

 rule, or was the " Malo" party, and domineered over 

 the inhabitants of the other islands and districts. 



On the 17th, our friend Toa gave us an invita- 

 tion to visit him at his town of Fungasar, on the 

 north side of the island. It is situated on the next 

 bay to that now called Massacre Bay, where De 

 Langle was killed. The path across the island is a 

 very difficult one to travel ; it leads up through the 

 valley, and across the dividing ridge, which is quite 

 precipitous. The rain which had fallen made it 

 very slippery, and the journey was fatiguing to 

 those not accustomed to this kind of walking. 



I was much struck here with the manliness and 

 intelligence of the natives, and with their frank 

 open expression of countenance. The colour of 

 their complexion is rather darker than that of the 

 natives of Tahiti. The outlines of face and figure 

 are very like those we had left, their hair and eyes 

 black, and their teeth good and white. Some 

 of them had frizzled hair, but it was generally 

 straight. 



Just before arriving at the village, we were met 

 by Toa, and some of his relations and attendants, 

 who welcomed us to his village, saluting me by 

 rubbing his nose with my hand; this is the usual 

 custom. 



