114 



Their habits. 



THE SAMOANS. 



Entertainment of strangers. 

 Their punishment for crimes. 



fruit, bananas, taro, sweet-potatoes, and yams. 

 Fish is supplied in quantities from the reef, and 

 they also eat the large chesnut, vi-apple, and 

 arrow-root, the fecula of which they begin to manu- 

 facture in some quantities. Although it would 

 scarcely be supposed necessary, where every thing 

 is so bountifully supplied by nature, yet they make 

 provision for times of scarcity and for their voyages 

 of the bread-fruit, made when green into a kind 

 of paste, and rolled in banana-leaves. This under- 

 goes a partial fermentation, and is called main. 

 It is not unlike half-baked dough, and has a sour 

 unwholesome taste. They eat birds, &c., but a 

 large wood-maggot which is found on the trees 

 is looked upon as the most delicious food they 

 have. 



They have much variety in their cooking, and 

 some of their dishes are exceedingly rich and 

 agreeable to the taste. They practise several 

 modes of cooking the taro-tops; one, by tying them 

 up with cocoa-nut pulp and baking them, in which 

 state they resemble spinach cooked with cream, 

 but are sweeter. Another . dish is called faiai, 

 made of the scraped and strained cocoa-nut pulp 

 boiled down to the consistency of custard. It is 

 eaten both hot and cold. 



The habits of the Samoans are regular. They 

 rise with the sun, and immediately take a meal. 

 They then bathe and oil themselves, and go to 

 their occupations for the day. These consist in 

 part of the cultivation of taro and yams; building 

 houses and canoes. Many fish ; others catch birds, 

 for which purpose they use nets affixed to long 

 poles. They generally find enough to employ the 

 mornings, in getting their daily supply. After this 

 is done, they lounge about, or play at their various 

 games, eat about one o'clock, and again at night, 

 retiring to rest about nine o'clock. The men do 

 all the hard work, even to cookery. 



The women are held in much consideration 

 among this people, are treated with great atten- 

 tion, and not suffered to do any thing but what 

 rightfully belongs to them. They take care of the 

 house, and of their children, prepare the food for 

 cooking, do all the in-door work, and manufacture 

 the mats and tapa. 



They are cleanly in their habits, and bathe 

 daily; after which they anoint themselves with oil 

 and turmeric. This custom, I have no doubt, 

 tends to preserve the health by preventing the 

 excessive perspiration which the heat of the climate 

 naturally brings on. It is, however, at times 

 offensive, for the oil is apt to become rancid. 



The Samoans are of a social disposition, more 

 so, indeed, than the other natives of the Poly- 

 nesian islands, and they are fond of travelling. 

 The reasons they have for taking these journeys 

 are various: thus, when there is a scarcity of food 

 in one part, or a failure of the crops, they are in 

 the habit of making a " faatamilo," or circuit, 

 around a portion of these islands, so that by the 

 time they return, (which is at the expiration of 

 three months,) their own taro has grown and the 

 bread-fruit season come around. They are now in 

 their turn prepared to afford the same hospitality 

 and accommodation to others. The aid people are 

 usually left at the village to take care of it, whilst 

 the younger portions are gone on one of these 

 malangas, or journeys. During these expeditions, 

 a sort of trade is frequently carried on. The dif- 



ferent portions of the inhabitants are each cele- 

 brated for a particular staple. Some excel in 

 making mats; others in building canoes; the dis- 

 tricts in which the sea-ports are, obtain a variety of 

 articles from ships, which are subsequently distri- 

 buted over the whole group. 



It may readily be supposed that there are many 

 circumstances which make this mode of communi- 

 cation inconvenient, particularly when the travelling 

 party is a large one, in which case it absolutely 

 breeds a famine in its progress. 



I have before stated that every village has its 

 " falc-tele," which is the property of the chief. In 

 this their " fonos" or councils are held, and it is 

 also the place where strangers are received. The 

 mode of receiving visitors is attended with much 

 ceremony. A party enters the village without 

 inquiring where or how they are to be entertained, 

 and take up their quarters in the " fale-tele." In 

 a short time the chief and principal personages 

 collect and visit the strangers, telling them in a set 

 speech the pleasure they enjoy at their arrival, 

 and their delight to entertain them. This is mostly 

 said in what they term " tala-gota," the speech of 

 the lips, and much complimentary language ensues. 

 The Samoan language abtmnds in phrases adapted 

 to this use, and worthy of a refined people. 



After this interchange of compliments, the young 

 women assemble to treat the strangers to " ava. : ' 

 This is prepared after the usual mode, by chewing 

 the piper mythisticum. During this time the 

 young men are employed collecting and cooking 

 food. This is all done with great despatch. The 

 pigs are killed ; the taro collected; the oven heated; 

 and baskets made to hold the viands. In the feast 

 they are well assured of sharing, and therefore 

 have a strong stimulus to exertion. 



The strangers, on receiving the food, always re- 

 turn part of it to the entertainers. Thus all the 

 village is occupied with the entertainment, and a 

 scene of frolicking ensues until the strangers see 

 fit to take their departure. 



Among the heathen, dancing during the evening 

 always follows this feast; but the Christian villages 

 have abolished all dancing. 



These visits are not always paid or received in 

 a spirit of hospitality. The chief of a powerful 

 district takes this mode to exact tribute from his 

 less powerful neighbours, and they are on such 

 occasions extremely overbearing and insolent to 

 their entertainers. 



For crimes, they have many forms of punish- 

 ment, among which are : expulsion from the village 

 in which the offender resides ; exposure of the 

 naked body to the sun; flogging; cutting off the 

 ears and nose; confiscation of property; and the 

 compulsory eating of noxious herbs. 



When a murder has been committed, the friends 

 of the person slain unite to avenge his death ; and 

 the punishment does not fall upon the guilty party 

 alone, but on his friends and relatives, who with 

 their property are made the subjects of retaliation. 

 If any delay in seeking redress in this manner 

 occurs, it is received as an intimation that the 

 injured party, whether the family, the friends, the 

 village, or whole district to which the murdered 

 person belonged, are willing to accept an equi- 

 valent for the wrong they have sustained. The 

 friends of the murderer then collect what they 

 hope may be sufficient to avert retribution, and a 



