SAMOAN GROUP. 127 



the apparent liberality with which these were furnished, they do it in 

 expectation of a full return. In pursuance of this hospitality, it is the 

 custom when a stranger passes through a village without showing an 

 intention to stop, to follow him and offer food. 



The Samoans are usually very inquisitive, and it was amusing to 

 excite their curiosity. Among other things mentioned for the purpose 

 w r as, that white men often wore false teeth and wigs. The latter 

 practice in particular seemed strange to them, and they called it 

 " thatching the head." A terrestrial globe was also shown to some of 

 them, whereon the position of their islands and their small relative 

 importance was pointed out. This excited great surprise, for until 

 within a few years they had no idea that there was any country except 

 their own. 



If the chiefs are liberal in their tenders of presents to their visiters, 

 they on the other hand do not hesitate to ask for whatever they see. 

 They may, in fact, be styled sturdy beggars. One of the most 

 persevering in his mendicancy, was no less a person than Vavasa, 

 the proud and overbearing chief of Manono. They usually began 

 with begging from the humblest individual, and ended with the highest ; 

 and when they had obtained all they could, would go over the side of 

 the ship ridiculing our folly for giving so much. 



Old Pea, by way of excusing himself when charged with being a 

 great beggar, said he did not keep any thing he got for himself; that 

 it was the Samoan fashion always to ask for every thing he saw. It 

 mattered not if his request w r as refused, he was as content as if he 

 obtained what he desired, but he said he should have blamed himself 

 if he had not asked. 



The beneficial effects of the labours of the missionaries are more 

 evident among the Samoans than at Tahiti. The spread of the gospel 

 has not been opposed by evil habits of the same inveterate character, 

 and the natives of this group have been more easily reclaimed from 

 their vices than those of the Society Islands. The greatest obstacle to 

 the success of the missionaries has arisen from the presence of a few 

 abandoned white men, who attach themselves to the heathen chiefs. 

 Their opposition, although injurious to the missionary cause, yields 

 little benefit to themselves, for of every thing they acquire, the chief 

 under whose protection they are, takes half; and although no opposition 

 is ever made to their departure from the islands, they are not permitted 

 to take any thing with them. The vices of these men excite the 

 disgust of the more well-disposed of the natives, who often express their 

 astonishment at their ignorance of sacred subjects, and ask if it be pos- 

 sible that such men can have been brought up in a civilized community. 



