150 SAMOAN GROUP. 



sure 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 equivalent for the wrong they have sustained. The friends of the 

 murderer then collect what they hope may be sufficient to avert retri- 

 bution, and a negotiation is entered into to fix the amount of com- 

 pensation. When this is agreed upon, it is offered to the nearest 

 relative of the deceased, and the parties who present it perform at the 

 same time an act of submission, by prostrating themselves before him. 

 This closes the affair. 



For some crimes nothing but the death of the offender could atone. 

 Among these was adultery ; and when the wives of chiefs eloped with 

 men of another district, it generally produced a war. This was one 

 of the causes of the wars waged by Malietoa. 



There existed, however, means by which the code was rendered 

 less bloody, in places of refuge for offenders, such as the tombs of 

 chiefs, which were held sacred and inviolate. 



Wars were frequent among the Samoans before the introduction of 

 the gospel, and scarcely a month passed without quarrels being 

 avenged, and with blows. The last and perhaps the most bloody war 

 that has ever occurred on these islands, was about the time of the first 

 visit of Mr. Williams, the missionary, in 1830, when the inhabitants 

 of one of the finest districts, that of A ana, in the western part of 

 Upolu, were almost exterminated. This war continued for eight 

 months, and only those were saved who escaped to the olos, or inac- 

 cessible places of refuge, or were protected by the " Malo," the ruling 

 or conquering party. 



When the missionaries arrived, in 1836, and for upwards of a 

 year afterwards, Aana was without a single inhabitant ; but through 

 their influence upon the Malo party, it was agreed at a large 

 " fono" to restore the exiles to their lands. Aana is again (in 1839) 

 the finest part of the island, and will be in a few years quite a 

 garden. 



These wars, like those of all savage people, were attended with great 

 cruelty, and neither old nor young of either sex were spared. It is 



