422 THE SAMOAN ISLANDS 



" le Tupa" (the grown), upon the chief who is to he recognized as 

 the sovereign of the group, Manua. together with Tutuila. is repre- 

 sented hy Lufi-Lufi in Upolu. 



The Samoans ai'e preeminently a people of contrasts. They are all 

 nominally Christians and Sahhatarians. In every village is a church, 

 reproducing accurately, hoth in its architecture and decorations, build- 

 ings used for similar purposes in Europe and America. Nearh' all 

 adults can read and write, and the missionaries print for them books 

 relating not only to religious but to secular subjects as well. Alco- 

 holic liquors, though easily obtainable, are but little used. On the 

 other hand, both sexes go almost naked — a short loin-cloth being 

 their only garment — and are oiled and painted in a strangely bar- 

 baric manner. Though iron is used in weapons, potter}^ is unknown, 

 cups and bowls being made from cocoanuts. Similarly, in the moral 

 sphere they seem to have many of the gentle virtues. They are cour- 

 teous and hospitable, and yet a trivial quarrel changes them in- 

 stantly into barbarians who mutilate their enemies when dead and 

 resort to other savage practices. p]xtreme laziness is a leading char- 

 acteristic. They can scarcely be induced to lal^or on European plan- 

 tations, and on their own they do only just enough work to su|)ply 

 their immediate needs. 'J'he\' do not trade, there is nothing to hunt 

 or shoot, and although tliere is jjlenty of fish in the sea, they rarely 

 eat them, and are with difficulty induced to catch them for foreign- 

 ers. It is not surprising that people who are at once lively, intelli- 

 gent, and without occupation — people for whose wants nature has 

 amply provided by giving them a warm climate and a plenitmle of 

 vegetal)le food, gathered without exertion — should quarrel with one 

 another, or that their passion when once exhausted should leave no 

 trace of sullenness behind. 



For practical purposes, the natives may be divided into four classes. 

 At the head stand the chiefs, who are hereditary in the sense that 

 they must belong to certain families, but elective in that they exer- 

 cise authority by virtue of titles conferred on them. The Tulafale. 

 talking-man, is their executive officer, who phrases their thought 

 in eloquent language, and is frequently the central figure in the 

 district and the source of authority. Below him and above the 

 lowest class, composed of what are known as the '" common ])e(»p]e."' 

 are the native teachers and catechists, who wear more clothes and 

 do less fighting than the rest of the ])0}Hilation and are under the 

 general charge of the European missionaries. 



