418 THE SAMOAN ISLANDS 



food. At some prehistoric period the peaks of a submerged moun- 

 tain chain running northeast and southwest have been lifted from 

 the depths of the ocean b}^ the upheaval of volcanoes now long ex- 

 tinct. Accumulations of soil brought by heavy rains from the moun- 

 tains meet the ever-growing reef, which prevents easy approach to 

 land except in those i)laces where fresh-water streams, forcing their 

 wa}'' through, form openings in the coral barrier. Between reef and 

 shore a lagoon, varying in width from two hundred 3'ards to two or 

 three miles, provides a secure highway for coast and inter-island 

 traffic. The entire length of the group, if Rose Island be included, 

 is little less than 300 miles, and its gross area in round numbers is 

 832,000 acres, a territor}' larger than the state of Rhode Island by 50 

 and smaller than Delaware by 750 square miles. 



The attention of the people of the United States was first drawn to 

 the islands in the 3'ear 1871, when E. Wakeman prepared a report on 

 them after an examination which he had made at the request of 

 \y. H. Webb, then considering the establishment of a line of steam- 

 ers from San Francisco to S^^dne}' r/a Hawaii and Samoa, over the 

 route since traversed b}'^ the Oceanic Company. Apia, on U})olu, 

 was then, as it is toda}', the only settlement of size. Mr Wakeman 

 foretold, however, with possibl}' too great optimism, that on Tutuila, 

 on the shores of Pago- Pago Bay, a town would arise which might 

 have a great commercial future. The only protection to A})ia harbor 

 is a bar, awash at low tide, which even in calm weather does not pre- 

 vent a swell from entering that makes vessels strain at their cables 

 and often prevents colliers from coaling a steamer. During the hur- 

 ricane season, from January to April, the men-of-war in port keep 

 steam up ready to put to sea when a storm threatens, as H. M. S. 

 CdUlo'pe succeeded in doing in tlie hurricane of 1889. 



At Pago-Pago there is a double harbor, shaped not unlike a fish- 

 hook. The entrance to the outer half is three-fourths of a mile wide, 

 with soundings of 36 fathoms, while the inner, extending inland 

 more than a mile, with a breadth of from 1,100 to 3,000 feet, can 

 furnish ample room and safe anchorage, in spite of its depth, for a 

 score of steamers. Its mouth is protected by a pair of promontories 

 and by an island, and around its sides hills spring abrupth' to a 

 height of from 800 to 1,000 feet, Matafas, the peak at the entrance, 

 reaching 2,359 feet. Palms and other tropical trees so cover these 

 hills to their summits that when seen from any high point the 

 ground appears completely' hidden by a dense mass of foliage, from 



