162 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 27, 1898. 
The Falealili Cavern in Samoa. 
In a country of limestone formation caves are no great 
rarity, but in volcanic rock they are small and infrequent. 
The geologist recognizes at a glance that the volcanic 
upheavals which raised the Samoan islands out of the 
Pacific are of very recent date, as time goes when it is 
chronicled by the rocks. So lately have the now ex- 
tinct craters been actively engaged in building the land 
that the eroding forces have not had time to wear off 
the sharp edges of ridges and valleys, and the luxuriance 
of the timber which clothes the mountains from sea to 
summit is due to the extreme richness of the basic lava 
and the humus rather than to the depth of the soil. Un- 
der such conditions the known caves in Samoa are few 
in number and of limited extent. The islanders are con- 
tent with the knowledge that there is a hole in the 
ground, its extent and its possible contents they are 
quite willing to leave in the list of things unknown. 
Devoured by an insatiable curiosity in all other matters, 
they are not in the least curious in the matter of caves. 
They have all been converted within the last half-century 
and pride themselves on their rapidity in the attainment 
of civilization. They boast of their complete rejection 
of their ancient paganism and all its works, the old gods 
they cheerfully call devils. But when you get right at 
the milk of their particular cocoanot they live in a state 
of terror as to these ancient devils whom they know 
they have mortally offended. Their new Christianity will 
not allow them to placate the old gods, the only thing 
they can do is to keep away from every chance of en- 
countering the devils in the bush, and particularly in the 
few caverns which they are known to inhabit. Most of 
these _ caves are mere overhanging cliffs from which the 
light is excluded by the dense growth of the jungle, with- 
out depth enough to keep the rain off an ordinary 
demon; but they are deep enough for Samoan tales of 
terror fit to scare the children and the elders ag well. 
The most perfect specimen of cave formation in all 
Somoa seems to haA r e escaped the knowledge of the 
Samoans altogether, and to have first been discovered 
by the white men. At least the islanders, while convinced 
that it would be a most comfortable abiding place for 
demons, have no stories of any devil in particular who 
makes it his habitation, and in fact give it no name ex- 
cept that of the Cave of Torches, which is merely descrip- 
tive of one necessity in its exploration. 
There is indeed one story told about this cave. The in- 
habitants of the villages near by tell of a runaway match 
assisted by this cavern. A flash young chief of Falealili 
was engaged with the charms of the "taupou" or maid of 
the village of another town, but the accounts vary as to 
whether this was a town to the west or to the east, or 
even on that coast at all. With several canoes filled 
with his retinue he paid a ceremonial visit to the lady's 
town, bringing the wooing presents. Either he was too 
niggard with the gifts of courtship, or else his business 
manager and the elders failed to agree on the number 
of the wedding gifts which the chief must pay; at any 
rate he stole the girl by force, to which she seems to 
have been not in the least averse. He pooped her into 
his canoe and paddled away to Falealili. When the girl's 
townsfolk came in prompt pursuit the maid of the vil- 
lage had vanished, and was not produced until the nego- 
tiations had been concluded on terms most favorable to 
the suitor. Then he brought out his bargain, who had 
been concealed in this cave. 
Falealili is quite a populous center of civilization, as 
such things go in Samoa, for there are three houses built 
of boards, and inhabited by one Englishman and two 
half-castes, all trading in copra for several factors in 
Apia. It lies on the south coast of Upolu, what they 
call down there "on the back of the island." From Apia 
it is in air line distance about twenty-five miles, but 
nothing can travel that way through the tangle of the 
bush and over the saw-like spurs of steep mountains 
except the spike-tailed bosun birds which may often be 
seen high in air flying directly across the island. To 
reach it by water takes not less than two days, and 
frequently a week, all depending on ability to work to 
windward against the southeast trade. Its importance, 
and any place in the South Sea is important which can 
support three traders, is due to the conformation of the 
country. For some distance on either side the ground 
has an easy slope for several miles back to the mountain 
ranges, which elsewhere break sharp off in cliffs toppling 
over the sea. This slope is covered with groves of cocoa- 
nuts of which the dried meat is the article for which 
traders exchange cloth and corned beef, and knives and 
beads. Here the Samoans pitched upon the site of sev- 
eral villages, both because of the fertile soil at the 
back and the excellent bay and passage in the reef, which 
would attract any aquatic race such as these islanders. 
That the Falealili cavern is known at all is due to the 
interest of Mr. Evans, the English trader. He not only 
discovered it, but he feels convinced that it has a medical 
value, and for that purpose himself and his family fre- 
quently visit it. On the rare occasions when a traveler 
comes to Falealili he enjoys the hospitality of Mr. Evans, 
and as part of the entertainment a trip is made into the 
cave. People in civilized communities, where calls are 
paid and friends are constantly meeting one another have 
no idea of what a pleasure it is to a South Sea trader 
living off by himself alone with the natives to see a 
white face, whether familiar or strange. Of what he has 
nothing is too good for the traveler, and the trader's 
great regret at the coming of the stranger is that he must 
also go. Whoever stops with the trader has been in 
Apia lately and he brings news, perhaps he has been out 
in the great world, and then his news is all the more in- 
teresting. In return, Trader Evans extends a generous 
welcome and exhibits the natural wonders of his cave, a 
thing which would be well worth seeing anywhere. 
It is in the bush about a mile and a half back from 
the beach, and the mouth is about 500ft. above title. 
From the beach there is a path as well marked as any in 
the Samoan bush. It extends away back into the hills 
and follows a line of stone wall such as is to be found 
everywhere in the mountains of Upolu. _ These paths and 
walls are of great antiquity, and certainly antedate the 
great dispersal of the races of the Pacific, which took 
place about 1000 A. D. A side path leads off 
from this, and after you have scrambled through 
the tangled grasses underfoot and have cut 
through the lianas hanging down from the overarch- 
ing trees, and through great clumps of bamboo, you 
come after a few rods of this sort of traveling to the 
mouth of the cave. The hillside just here slopes very 
gently, and in the nearly level ground is a funnel-shaped 
depression some 60ft. in diameter, with a depth of 20ft. 
The rim of the bowl is kept in shape by the roots and 
buttressed trunks of trees, and the slope is covered with 
herbage, except where bare rocks of basalt crop out. 
One such is at the bottom of the depression, and under 
that opens black and contracted the orifice through which 
you are to squeeze into the cave. Mr. Evans always con- 
trives to make his trips to the cavern as jolty as possible 
by taking his wife and small children, and all the 
Samoan boys and girls he can pick up on the way, for 
though they would rather be shot than go in alone, they 
are glad to go in with white people, who can secure them 
against the devils. The white people in the party prepare 
for the exploration by dressing in the native costume of 
a strip of cloth clouted about the waist, with the addition 
of a pair of shoes, since few white men can walk on jag- 
ged rocks with such unconcern as do the Samoans. The 
only thing needed is a torch, and these Mr. Evans pre- 
pares with much ingenuity. From the nearest clump of 
bamboo he cuts several stems and selects the portion 
which has a diameter of about an inch. With that 
diameter the interval between knots in the Samoan 
bamboo is from 15 to i8in. He cuts the stalks so as to 
get all of one joint, leaving the partition at the bottom, 
but cutting off the upper one. Filling this tube with 
kerosene and stuffing the end with a plug of native cloth, 
which is made of a bark fiber and serves excellently as a 
wick, he provides a torch as convenient as could well 
be devised. 
At the mouth of the cave there is perceptible a slow 
indraught of the warm exterior air. There is just room 
in the hole to work through feet foremost. As soon as 
your head is within you find that you are at the top 
of a very steep slide of earth and rock, which seems 
to account for the funnel-shaped depression in the sur- 
face. Working carefully down this descent for 50ft. or 
so, you are on the level floor of a corridor about 30ft. 
wide and 60ft. high. Very soon this corridor forks into 
two arms at right angles to it. The one to the left is 
not much larger than the entrance corridor, and offers 
nothing in particular to see. The right arm shortly be- 
gins to narrow, but for a considerable distance slopes 
gradually downward with a width of 15ft. and a height 
of 8 or 10ft. Here the torches show very distinctly the 
origin of the cave. On all sides it is vitrified and hung 
with solid drops of rock — proof that it was nothing 
but a great bubble of gas or metal vapor in a river of 
lava, which exerted sufficient outward pressure to hold 
apart the viscid mass until it finally cooled forever into 
rock. Afterward some convulsion of the mountain, 
which must have been abundant enough while the Upolu 
volcanoes were yet active, pricked one end of the bubble 
and established the communication with the outer air. 
A little further along is another evidence of this dis- 
rupting shock. A large portion of the roof of the cave 
has fallen in, and for quite a distance it is necessary to 
crawl along a tortuous course in and out among' the 
rushes. Up to this breakdown, which is about a quar- 
ter of a mile from the entrance, the cave is qute dry. 
It is filled with birds, a sort of swallow, found nowhere 
else, and rarely seen in the outer air, which it is said 
to visit only at night. They nest in the crannies of the 
rock, and when scared up by the probably painful glare 
of the torches fly blindly about in clumsy flocks. 
On the other side of the breakdown the cave continues 
its tubular shape and the same light gradient to the 
seaward. Here it attains a set of dimensions which ap- 
pear to be constant wherever it is possible to take 
measurements: height 18ft. from fairly flat floor to 
crown of the arch, spring of arch above upright sides 
2ft., width on floor 15ft. The atmosphere is cool as 
compared with the temperature of the outer air, but 
the difference is only great enough to be pleasurable, 
and it is not considered chilly by the Samoans, who 
feel the cold keenly. A quarter of a mile beyond the 
breakdown you reach the beginning of a stretch of 
water. Before reaching the lake the walls and roof of 
the cave have been noticed to glisten with moisture, but 
no drops appear to fall, and there is no trickle of water 
along the slope of the floor. The source of the lake is 
therefore unknown. The water is of the same tempera- 
ture as the cave air. There are no water marks show- 
ing alterations of level, and Mr. Evans, who visited 
the cave hundreds of times in a long course of years, 
says that the water always begins at just the same 
place, as shown by marks he has established. There is 
no current noticeable in the lake, and floating articles 
do not change position between one visit to the spot 
and the next. _ The water has a reddish hue, and a 
startling effect is produced when one dives while another 
holds a torch above the surface; it seems like a bath in 
rich red wine. The water has to the taste no evidence 
of any marked mineral constituent. It produces a most 
emollient effect upon the skin, which for several days 
after a bath in the cave seems as soft and fine as that 
of an infant. Tt is also very soothing, and in time 
healing to the shallow ulcers which result from all skin 
abrasions in the South Sea Islands. 
One can wade out in the lake for some 200yds. before 
reaching a depth of 5ft., beyond which it is necessary to 
swim. Mr. Evans has smoked the mark of his furthest 
limit, about 600yds. from the beginning of the water. 
Here there is but 15m. between the surface of the water 
and the crown of the arch. The writer with two 
Samoans passed Mr. Evans' furthest limit, and found 
that shortly beyond the roof of the cave begins to 
rise. About 100yds. beyond his mark there is only a 
single foot of air space, but 200yds. further on the roof 
is 2ft. above the water. Here also is a shelf of rock, on 
which it is possible to rest in the long swim in which 
one is handicapped by the need of giving up one hand to 
carry the torch. At this shelf the cave makes a blunt 
angle and extends off to the left. The party swam some 
500yds. up this extension and found 3 or 4ft. of clear 
air overhead, but it was not possible to touch bottom 
by diving. 
This seems to indicate that the cave gradually rises and 
that the water has drained into its lowest level, which 
it has nearly filled. No other opening is known to 
exist, but as the air is always fresh and sweet it is prob- 
able that there is a vent somewhere. Still it is prob- 
ably no more than a crack, for the smoke of the torches 
nowhere shows any current in the air except the slow 
indraft at the known mouth of the cave. The fact 
that the water remains at a constant level shows that 
whatever inflow there is, and that has not yet been 
discovered, is balanced by evaporation and outflow. The 
water is such as easily to be identified by its color and 
softness, but none of the springs show the slightest trace 
of drawing on the cave for their supply. 
The cave has been explored for very nearly a mile and 
a half, of which the mile is in the lake. It offers no 
difficulties except the tiresome scramble at the break- 
down of the roof. With a bamboo raft, so built as to 
be able to pass under the low portion of the roof, it is 
quite likely that one could cross the lake to the dry cave 
beyond and complete the exploration of this the largest 
cavern known in Samoa. Willam Churchill. 
Yukon Notes.— X. 
At the Canadian Custom House. 
At Tagish Post of the Canadian Police, on the river 
connecting Tagish and Marsh lakes, Inspector Strick- 
land and Mr. Godson, the Collector of Customs were 
warning miners not to attempt the descent of the 
Yukon. Inspector Strickland had spent several years 
on the Yukon, and his advice was not to be lightly 
put aside. He said that he was confident the river was 
already closed by ice at Dawson, and that it was only a 
matter of days till it should back up to Lake Lebarge 
When we reached the post the Inspector and Mr 
Godson were off hunting lynxes, which were abundant 
near by. They came in just as we were in the midst 
of a knotty discussion with Godson's second in com- 
mand over a question of duty. This was then the 
Canadian Custom House for the Provisional District 
of the Yukon, and here duty was collected on all im- 
ports. Our goods had, however, been mostly pur- 
chased in Canada, and passed through Alaska in bond 
We had papers for our provisions, but the papers re- 
lating to hardware had been left with Herrington after 
the division, and we had not thought it necessary to 
procure papers for clothing and personal outfit. 
After hearing our statement, the assistant collector 
said he was sorry, but that the articles not included in 
our papers would have to. be appraised and paid for at 
a rate of duty exceeding 25 per cent. A man from 
Seattle standing near by said he had been informed 
from Canadian sources that personal outfit would be 
exempt from duty, but that he had just had to pay on 
the rubber boots he wore. He said there wasn't" any 
use kicking, that the Canadians had us by the short 
hairs and that they would levy on our false teeth and 
wooden legs if they could spot them. 
We had experienced such fair and gentlemanly deal- 
ings with the Canadians in Victoria, however, that we 
had a different opinion of them. Our intercourse with 
the police officials on the S.S. Islander before reaching 
Skagway had proved that they were broad-minded and 
capable men, of a very different stamp from our own 
representatives in Alaska, who had assessed us $30 duty 
on $20 horses, and who. the common report ran were 
amenable only to an argument that honest men will not 
give. 
Accordingly, when Mr. Godson appeared on the scene 
we were by no means discouraged. I told him that all 
our hardware and all my partner's personal outfit and 
a part of my own were purchased in Victoria; that we 
had had papers covering our hardware, and had been 
informed by the people from whom we purchased vari- 
ous articles of clothing that no papers were necessary 
for personal outfit. This was the commonlv accepted 
interpretation of the customs regulations on the Pacific 
coast. 
The object of these customs regulations was lar°-elv 
to turn trade to the shop-keepers of Vancouver and 
Victoria, and other Canadian cities. In a general way 
we had complied with this, and given our trade to Can- 
adian merchants. Our provision papers, which were 
properly attested, should prove the honesty of our 
statements and exempt us from the hardship of paying 
on goods that would have passed unquestioned had it 
not been for an error in regard to papers. 
Mr. Godson asked: "Where did vou get that coat 
you have on?" 
"Across the street from the Oriental Hotel in Vic- 
toria," I replied. "The firm name was Pirie something 
or other." 
"Where was your hardware purchased?" 
Mac had bought most of this, and told without hesita- 
tion the correct address. 
Godson said: "That will do. It was a close shave for 
you. A few days ago I had to make some men pay 
full duty on an outfit they -said had been bought in 
Canada, but they'd lost their papers, so they said." 
We thanked Mr. Godson, and learning who we were 
he handed me a note from Tappan Adney, of Harper's 
Weekly, who had passed about a week before. Adney left 
word that he had decided to push through to Dawson 
or as far as he could get before the river closed, instead 
of stopping at the Hootalinqua River, as he had at one 
time thought of doing. He wanted us to join him, and 
told us to be on the lookout for a boat with a green 
and white barred sail. 
Inspector Strickland remarked oracularly that Adney 
would never reach Dawson. "My advice to you," he 
said, "is to stop at the foot of Marsh Lake, where there 
is a good trail across to the Hootalinqua by way of the 
McClintook River. It by any chance you get as far as 
the juncture of the Hootalinqua and Lewis, don't at- 
tempt to go further. Dr. Dawson thinks the Hoota- 
linqua the most promising prospect in the country. 
There is good timber and game, whereas if you attempt 
