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Their dances. 

 Their games. 



THE S A MOANS. 



Their games. 

 Samoan children. 



The dance of the girls at Upolu consisted entirely 

 of motions of the body, and was so indelicate as to 

 produce disgust. The chant which accompanied 

 it was sung with a high voice, and three or four 

 women were employed in beating time on the mats 

 with short sticks, in which most of the spectators 

 joined with their hands. In all cases they kept 

 time with the greatest accuracy. 



The Samoan drum is made of a part of a tree, 

 hollowed out; they have also an instrument formed 

 of a loose slat fitted into a board, on which they 

 beat time with two sticks. Their flute, if it may 

 be so called, is made of bamboo, as are also their 

 pipes, which resemble those of Pan. 



The dances of the men are by no means in- 

 decorous. Those who perform them vary in num- 

 ber from two to a dozen, and are divided into two 

 parties. These parties alternately advance and 

 retreat, which gives an appearance of animation. 

 Clapping their hands, swinging them to and fro, 

 or clasping them over their heads, they follow 

 each other in a circle, leaping up and down, and 

 turning suddenly around, keeping time to the 

 music. The dances continue a considerable time, 

 and end with a sudden clap of the hands and a 

 simultaneous shout. 



The song is usually extemporaneous, relating to 

 some recent occurrence. The following is a trans- 

 lation of one of them, obtained by Mr. Couthouy 

 through one of the interpreters : 



The Papalangi has come to Samoa, 



The Papalangi has come to Vaiusu, 



Let us all go down to the spring. 



The Papalangi is fond of the Siva. 



Where is the pig? Where is the fattened fowl ' 



The Papalangi cannot join in the Siva. 



Kindle up a bright blaze! Where are the virgins! 



I am going to get some cocoa-nuts. 



Look at this Samoan, how finely he Jances! 



These dances are usually performed in the fale- 

 tele, where strangers are entertained. The in- 

 habitants and their guests occupy different ends of 

 the building, and alternately keep up the dancing 

 and singing. Through the latter all the news is 

 made known, occurrences related, and inquiries 

 made and answered. 



Besides these dances, there are various games. 

 One of these, called " lupe," is played by two per- 

 sons, who sit opposite each other. One of them 

 presents his closed fist to his opponent, and then 

 rapidly holds up one, two, three, or all the fingers 

 and the thumb, striking the back of his hand on 

 the mat at the same time. If his opponent fails of 

 instantly holding up a like number of fingers, he 

 loses a point, and ten points finish the game. 



" Lafo liputa" is also played by two persons, 

 who place about fifty beans of the mimosa scan- 

 dium before them; then taking up four at a time, 

 they throw them up in the air, and catch them on 

 the back of the hand; the player who catches a 

 hundred soonest is the winner. 



Tuae-fua : this is played by five or six persons. 

 It resembles the sport of the Chinese jugglers with 

 iron balls. The first player sometimes takes as 

 many as eight oranges, throwing them successively 

 into the air, and endeavours to keep the whole in 

 motion at once. They are very dexterous at this: 

 if they miss three times the game is lost. 



Tui-muri affords the natives much amusement. 

 Any number of persons may play at it. They seat 



themselves in a circle, and divide into two parties. 

 An orange is suspended from above, about two 

 feet from the ground, and each person is supplied 

 with a small sharp-pointed stick. The orange is 

 swung round, and as it passes, each one endeavours 

 to pierce it, some with great eagerness, others 

 quite calmly, and others again with a wary cool- 

 ness, all of which affords much amusement to the 

 bystanders. The party wins who first succeeds in 

 fairly hitting the orange fifty times. 



It is played for mats, trinkets, &c., but more 

 generally for a baked pig, which is eaten when the 

 play is over. 



Litia : this is a general sport, sometimes whole 

 villages playing against each other; it is in fact an 

 exercise in spear-throwing. Two parties furnish 

 themselves with light sticks of the hibiscus tiliaceus, 

 about eight or ten feet long and as thick as a finger. 

 The bark is stripped off, which makes them very 

 light. The two parties arrange themselves in a 

 line, and strive to throw these as far as possible; 

 the party which succeeds in throwing fifty the 

 furthest wins the game. The usual distance to 

 which they are thrown is about forty yards, and 

 one would conceive it almost impossible for them 

 to be thrown so far. A grand feast usually ter- 

 minates the sport, which the losing party pays for. 



" Lafe" is a game confined to the chiefs, who 

 play it for pastime. Four persons sit at the cor- 

 ners of a mat, ten or twelve feet long, in whose 

 centre is placed another of ten inches square ; the 

 persons at opposite corners are partners ; each 

 party is provided with five circular pieces of cocoa- 

 nut shells, from two inches in diameter to half a 

 cocoa-nut. The first player lays his smallest piece 

 on the little mat, and his opponent tries to knock 

 it off, and leave his own in its place. Each in his 

 turn endeavours to knock his opponent's pieces off. 

 The party which first succeeds in knocking his 

 opponent's pieces off one hundred times, wins the 

 game. The pieces of cocoa-nut are finely polished 

 and carved with a variety of devices. 



There is no ceremony at births, or indeed any 

 inconvenience. The mother generally proceeds im- 

 mediately to the spring, bathes and washes her 

 infant, and at the same time her usual occupations 

 are resumed. The naming of the child frequently 

 takes place some time before its birth, for sex 

 makes no difference in the names, which are given 

 indiscriminately to males and females. 



The mothers often suckle their children until they 

 are six years old; and I was told of an instance where 

 a woman gave nourishment to three children of dif- 

 ferent ages at once, the eldest removing the youngest 

 sometimes by force from the mother's breast. 



It is their practice to wash the children fre- 

 quently in the fresh-water streams. 



When a native wishes to get a wife, the consent 

 of the chief is first obtained. Then he takes a 

 basket of bread-fruit, and offers it to the girl of his 

 choice. His suit is considered as accepted if she 

 partakes of it. He must then pay her parents a 

 certain price for her, which varies with the station 

 and ability of the parties. A chief's daughter is 

 valued high, viz. at half a dozen hatchets and as 

 many fathoms of cloth. 



Another mode of courtship is to go to the house 

 of the object of attachment or desire, and be enter- 

 tained. If the family show a friendly feeling to- 

 wards the young man and eat with him, his ad- 



