Trial of Tuvai. 



SAMOAN GROUP. 



Council of the chiefs. 

 Banishment of Tuvai. 



95 



this address, and in reply, through the principal 

 one, admitted that the man taken was in reality 

 the guilty person, a fact known to every person 

 upon the island. Captain Hudson then stated 

 to them that it was absolutely necessary that 

 Tuvai should be promptly punished, in order that 

 others might be deterred from the commission of 

 the same crime. He suggested, however, that in 

 spite of the universal belief in Tuvai's having 

 committed the crime, it was proper that he should 

 undergo a trial, or at least an examination in 

 order that he might have the privilege of being 

 heard in his own defence. 



This suggestion being approved, Tuvai was 

 brought on shore under a military guard, and 

 placed in the centre of the building. He was an 

 ill-looking fellow, of about twenty-eight years of 

 age, and manifested no fear, but looked about him 

 with the greatest composure. 



The trial was simple enough : he was first 

 asked by the chiefs whether he was guilty of 

 the crime, to which he answered that he was ; 

 being next asked why he had committed it, he re- 

 plied that he had done it in order to possess him- 

 self of the man's property (clothes and a knife). 



The chiefs, among whom was Pea, of Apia, to 

 whom the criminal was distantly related,made every 

 effort in their power to save his life ; stating that 

 he was in darkness, and therefore unconscious of 

 the guilt of the action, when he committed the 

 murder ; that as they had but just emerged from 

 heathenism they ought not to be subjected for past 

 actions, to laws they knew not ; that these laws 

 were made for people who occupied a more elevated 

 station ; that Tuvai was a poor man of no account, 

 and was not a person of sufficient importance to be 

 noticed by a great people like us ; that faa Samoa 

 (the Samoan fashion) did not allow men to be put 

 to death in cold blood, but that after so long a time 

 had elapsed, as in the instance before them, it ad- 

 mitted of a ransom. 



Pea went on to say, that many bad acts had 

 been committed upon natives by white men with 

 impunity, arid asked whether the Christian religion 

 sanctioned the taking of human life. He then ap- 

 pealed to our generosity to pardon the present 

 crime, and assured us that no such offences should 

 be committed in future. 



Pea had one of those countenances which ex- 

 hibits all that is passing in the mind. It was 

 amusing to see him at one time exhibiting a pic- 

 ture of whimsical distress at the idea of being 

 compelled to put his kinsman to death, and im- 

 mediately afterwards laughing at something ludi- 

 crous which had occurred to him. 



Pea was seconded in his endeavours by Vavasa, 

 of Manono, one of the finest-looking of the chiefs, 

 whose attitudes and movements were full of grace, 

 and his manner exceedingly haughty and bold. 



In reply to their arguments, Captain Hudson 

 stated, that however freely other sins might be 

 forgiven, in consideration of their late benighted 

 state, even the darkness of paganism could not 

 extenuate the crime of murder. He told them 

 that the Scriptures said, " Whoso sheddeth man's 

 blood, by man shall his blood be shed ;" that 

 nothing but the life of the offender could satisfy 

 the demands of justice, and that they must exe- 

 cute the criminal themselves. 



This announcement caused much excitement; the 



chiefs again asserted that they knew no such laws; 

 that by the customs of Samoa, the anger of the 

 friends and relations of a person who had been 

 killed was to be appeased by a present from the 

 criminal or his relations, and by a form of sub- 

 mission, which consisted in knocking their heads 

 three times on the ground. To this it was replied, 

 that the guilt of the prisoner had been proved and 

 admitted he must die. 



The chiefs, after much reluctance, consented, 

 but expressed great repugnance to an immediate 

 execution. They urged in a most strenuous manner, 

 that the criminal should be carried on board ship, 

 and executed there, or that he should be taken to 

 some uninhabited island and left. These alterna- 

 tives were refused by Captain Hudson, and the 

 chiefs seemed in great distress. 



At this point of the discussion, the Vincennes 

 was announced as being in sight, and the proceed- 

 ings were suspended. An officer was immediately 

 despatched, who, as has been already mentioned, 

 boarded that vessel off the harbour. 



When I landed, I found the assembly anxiously 

 awaiting the result of my arrival. Captain Hudson 

 and myself had a private interview, in which he 

 detailed all the facts, and stated that it had been 

 his intention to compel the chiefs to make all the 

 preparations for the execution, but before it was 

 carried into effect to come forward and reprieve 

 the criminal, at the same time requesting Mr. 

 Mills to make an appropriate speech, stating the 

 reasons for the pardon. 



After a full discussion of the whole subject, we 

 came to the conclusion, that it would be best to 

 transport the criminal to some other island ; for 

 it appeared probable that this would have a better 

 effect than even his execution, as it would be 

 longer remembered, while to cause him to be put 

 to death might naturally excite a desire of re- 

 venge. 



This decision was at once communicated to the 

 chiefs, with a statement, that in conformity with 

 the laws of Tahiti in such cases, Tuvai should be 

 transported to a desert island, where he would 

 never again have an opportunity of killing a white 

 man. The chiefs, although evidently relieved 

 from the most intense part of their distress, were 

 still much affected by this decision. 



The prisoner was then ordered to be taken on 

 board the Peacock, whither he was followed by a 

 crowd of natives, with many tears and lamenta- 

 tions, among whom his wife was the most affected. 

 Among others, Pea, the chief of Apia, to whom, 

 as has been stated, the prisoner was related, was 

 very much distressed and excited. Unable to vent 

 his rage and trouble in any other manner, he spent 

 it upon the crowd around him, striking in all 

 directions with a huge stem of a cocoa-nut leaf, by 

 which he soon dispersed them. I felt a curiosity 

 to see what effect the sentence would have upon 

 the prisoner. Death he would have suffered with- 

 out uttering a murmur ; but when he heard he 

 was to be taken from his native land, his firmness 

 was overcome, and he was observed to shed tears. 

 He made no resistance to his being removed on 

 board ship, but after he got there he said he would 

 rather be put to death and buried in his own 

 native island, than banished to a desert one. 



After this difficult business was arranged, they 

 brought their own grievances before me, and particu- 



