CHAPTER III
THE SORROWS OF LAUPEPA, 1883 TO 1887
You ride in a German plantation and see no bush, no soul stirring; onlyacres of empty sward, miles of cocoa-nut alley: a desert of food. In theeyes of the Samoan the place has the attraction of a park for theholiday schoolboy, of a granary for mice. We must add the yet morelively allurement of a haunted house, for over these empty and silentmiles there broods the fear of the negrito cannibal. For the Samoanbesides, there is something barbaric, unhandsome, and absurd in the ideaof thus growing food only to send it from the land and sell it. A man athome who should turn all Yorkshire into one wheatfield, and annuallyburn his harvest on the altar of Mumbo-Jumbo, might impress ourselvesnot much otherwise. And the firm which does these things is quiteextraneous, a wen that might be excised to-morrow without loss but toitself; few natives drawing from it so much as day's wages; and the restbeholding in it only the occupier of their acres. The nearest villageshave suffered most; they see over the hedge the lands of their ancestorswaving with useless cocoa-palms; and the sales were often questionable,and must still more often appear so to regretful natives, spinning andimproving yarns about the evening lamp. At the worst, then, to helponeself from the plantation will seem to a Samoan very likeorchard-breaking to the British schoolboy; at the best, it will bethought a gallant Robin-Hoodish readjustment of a public wrong.
And there is more behind. Not only is theft from the plantationsregarded rather as a lark and peccadillo, the idea of theft in itself isnot very clearly present to these communists; and as to the punishmentof crime in general, a great gulf of opinion divides the natives fromourselves. Indigenous punishments were short and sharp. Death,deportation by the primitive method of setting the criminal to sea in acanoe, fines, and in Samoa itself the penalty of publicly biting a hot,ill-smelling root, comparable to a rough forfeit in a children'sgame--these are approved. The offender is killed, or punished andforgiven. We, on the other hand, harbour malice for a period of years:continuous shame attaches to the criminal; even when he is doing hisbest--even when he is submitting to the worst form of torture, regularwork--he is to stand aside from life and from his family in dreadfulisolation. These ideas most Polynesians have accepted in appearance, asthey accept other ideas of the whites; in practice, they reduce it to afarce. I have heard the French resident in the Marquesas in talk withthe French gaoler of Tai-o-hae: "_Eh bien, ou sont vos prisonnieres?--Jecrois, mon commandant, qu'elles sont allees quelque part faire unevisite_." And the ladies would be welcome. This is to take the mostsavage of Polynesians; take some of the most civilised. In Honolulu,convicts labour on the highways in piebald clothing, gruesome andridiculous; and it is a common sight to see the family of such an onetroop out, about the dinner hour, wreathed with flowers and in theirholiday best, to picnic with their kinsman on the public wayside. Theapplication of these outlandish penalties, in fact, transfers thesympathy to the offender. Remember, besides, that the clan system, andthat imperfect idea of justice which is its worst feature, are stilllively in Samoa; that it is held the duty of a judge to favour kinsmen,of a king to protect his vassals; and the difficulty of getting aplantation thief first caught, then convicted, and last of all punished,will appear.
During the early 'eighties, the Germans looked upon this system withgrowing irritation. They might see their convict thrust in gaol by thefront door; they could never tell how soon he was enfranchised by theback; and they need not be the least surprised if they met him, a fewdays after, enjoying the delights of a _malanga_. It was a bandedconspiracy, from the king and the vice-king downward, to evade the lawand deprive the Germans of their profits. In 1883, accordingly, theconsul, Dr. Stuebel, extorted a convention on the subject, in terms ofwhich Samoans convicted of offences against German subjects were to beconfined in a private gaol belonging to the German firm. To Dr. Stuebelit seemed simple enough: the offenders were to be effectually punished,the sufferers partially indemnified. To the Samoans, the thing appearedno less simple, but quite different: "Malietoa was selling Samoans toMisi Ueba." What else could be expected? Here was a private corporationengaged in making money; to it was delegated, upon a question of profitand loss, one of the functions of the Samoan crown; and those who makeanomalies must look for comments. Public feeling ran unanimous and high.Prisoners who escaped from the private gaol were not recaptured or notreturned, and Malietoa hastened to build a new prison of his own,whither he conveyed, or pretended to convey, the fugitives. In October1885 a trenchant state paper issued from the German consulate. Twentyprisoners, the consul wrote, had now been at large for eight months fromWeber's prison. It was pretended they had since then completed theirterm of punishment elsewhere. Dr. Stuebel did not seek to conceal hisincredulity; but he took ground beyond; he declared the pointirrelevant. The law was to be enforced. The men were condemned to acertain period in Weber's prison; they had run away; they must now bebrought back and (whatever had become of them in the interval) work outthe sentence. Doubtless Dr. Stuebel's demands were substantially just;but doubtless also they bore from the outside a great appearance ofharshness; and when the king submitted, the murmurs of the peopleincreased.
But Weber was not yet content. The law had to be enforced; property, orat least the property of the firm, must be respected. And during anabsence of the consul's, he seems to have drawn up with his own hand,and certainly first showed to the king, in his own house, a newconvention. Weber here and Weber there. As an able man, he was perhapsin the right to prepare and propose conventions. As the head of atrading company, he seems far out of his part to be communicating statepapers to a sovereign. The administration of justice was the colour, andI am willing to believe the purpose, of the new paper; but its effectwas to depose the existing government. A council of two Germans and twoSamoans were to be invested with the right to make laws and impose taxesas might be "desirable for the common interest of the Samoan governmentand the German residents." The provisions of this council the king andvice-king were to sign blindfold. And by a last hardship, the Germans,who received all the benefit, reserved a right to recede from theagreement on six months' notice; the Samoans, who suffered all the loss,were bound by it in perpetuity. I can never believe that my friend Dr.Stuebel had a hand in drafting these proposals; I am only surprised heshould have been a party to enforcing them, perhaps the chief error inthese islands of a man who has made few. And they were enforced with arigour that seems injudicious. The Samoans (according to their ownaccount) were denied a copy of the document; they were certainly ratedand threatened; their deliberation was treated as contumacy; two Germanwar-ships lay in port, and it was hinted that these would shortlyintervene.
Succeed in frightening a child, and he takes refuge in duplicity."Malietoa," one of the chiefs had written, "we know well we are inbondage to the great governments." It was now thought one tyrant mightbe better than three, and any one preferable to Germany. On the 5thNovember 1885, accordingly, Laupepa, Tamasese, and forty-eight highchiefs met in secret, and the supremacy of Samoa was secretly offered toGreat Britain for the second time in history. Laupepa and Tamasese stillfigured as king and vice-king in the eyes of Dr. Stuebel; in their own,they had secretly abdicated, were become private persons, and might dowhat they pleased without binding or dishonouring their country. On themorrow, accordingly, they did public humiliation in the dust before theconsulate, and five days later signed the convention. The last was done,it is claimed, upon an impulse. The humiliation, which it appeared tothe Samoans so great a thing to offer, to the practical mind of Dr.Stuebel seemed a trifle to receive; and the pressure was continued andincreased. Laupepa and Tamasese were both heavy, well-meaning,inconclusive men. Laupepa, educated for the ministry, still bears somemarks of it in character and appearance; Tamasese was in private of anamorous and sentimental turn, but no one would have guessed it from hissolemn and dull countenance. Impossible to conceive two less dashingchampions for a threatened race; and there is no doubt they were reducedto the extremity of muddlement and childish fe
ar. It was drawing towardsnight on the 10th, when this luckless pair and a chief of the name ofTuiatafu, set out for the German consulate, still minded to temporise.As they went, they discussed their case with agitation. They could seethe lights of the German war-ships as they walked--an eloquent reminder.And it was then that Tamasese proposed to sign the convention. "It willgive us peace for the day," said Laupepa, "and afterwards Great Britainmust decide."--"Better fight Germany than that!" cried Tuiatafu,speaking words of wisdom, and departed in anger. But the two othersproceeded on their fatal errand; signed the convention, writingthemselves king and vice-king, as they now believed themselves to be nolonger; and with childish perfidy took part in a scene of"reconciliation" at the German consulate.
Malietoa supposed himself betrayed by Tamasese. Consul Churchward stateswith precision that the document was sold by a scribe for thirty-sixdollars. Twelve days later at least, November 22nd, the text of theaddress to Great Britain came into the hands of Dr. Stuebel. The Germansmay have been wrong before; they were now in the right to be angry. Theyhad been publicly, solemnly, and elaborately fooled; the treaty and thereconciliation were both fraudulent, with the broad, farcicalfraudulency of children and barbarians. This history is much from theoutside; it is the digested report of eye-witnesses; it can be rarelycorrected from state papers; and as to what consuls felt and thought, orwhat instructions they acted under, I must still be silent or proceed byguess. It is my guess that Stuebel now decided Malietoa Laupepa to be aman impossible to trust and unworthy to be dealt with. And it is certainthat the business of his deposition was put in hand at once. Theposition of Weber, with his knowledge of things native, his prestige,and his enterprising intellect, must have always made him influentialwith the consul: at this juncture he was indispensable. Here was thedeed to be done; here the man of action. "Mr. Weber rested not," saysLaupepa. It was "like the old days of his own consulate," writesChurchward. His messengers filled the isle; his house was thronged withchiefs and orators; he sat close over his loom, delightedly weaving thefuture. There was one thing requisite to the intrigue,--a nativepretender; and the very man, you would have said, stood waiting:Mataafa, titular of Atua, descended from both the royal lines, latejoint king with Tamasese, fobbed off with nothing in the time of theLackawanna treaty, probably mortified by the circumstance, a chief witha strong following, and in character and capacity high above the nativeaverage. Yet when Weber's spiriting was done, and the curtain rose onthe set scene of the coronation, Mataafa was absent, and Tamasese stoodin his place. Malietoa was to be deposed for a piece of solemn andoffensive trickery, and the man selected to replace him was his solepartner and accomplice in the act. For so strange a choice, good groundmust have existed; but it remains conjectural: some supposing Mataafascratched as too independent; others that Tamasese had indeed betrayedLaupepa, and his new advancement was the price of his treachery.
So these two chiefs began to change places like the scales of a balance,one down, the other up. Tamasese raised his flag (Jan. 28th, 1886) inLeulumoenga, chief place of his own province of Aana, usurped the styleof king, and began to collect and arm a force. Weber, by the admissionof Stuebel, was in the market supplying him with weapons; so were theAmericans; so, but for our salutary British law, would have been theBritish; for wherever there is a sound of battle, there will the tradersbe gathered together selling arms. A little longer, and we find Tamasesevisited and addressed as king and majesty by a German commodore.Meanwhile, for the unhappy Malietoa, the road led downward. He wasrefused a bodyguard. He was turned out of Mulinuu, the seat of hisroyalty, on a land claim of Weber's, fled across the Mulivai, and "hadthe coolness" (German expression) to hoist his flag in Apia. He wasasked "in the most polite manner," says the same account--"in the mostdelicate manner in the world," a reader of Marryat might be tempted toamend the phrase,--to strike his flag in his own capital; and on his"refusal to accede to this request," Dr. Stuebel appeared himself withten men and an officer from the cruiser _Albatross_; a sailor climbedinto the tree and brought down the flag of Samoa, which was carefullyfolded, and sent, "in the most polite manner," to its owner. The consulsof England and the States were there (the excellent gentlemen!) toprotest. Last, and yet more explicit, the German commodore who visitedthe be-titled Tamasese, addressed the king--we may surely say the lateking--as "the High Chief Malietoa."
Had he no party, then? At that time, it is probable, he might havecalled some five-sevenths of Samoa to his standard. And yet he satthere, helpless monarch, like a fowl trussed for roasting. The blamelies with himself, because he was a helpless creature; it lies also withEngland and the States. Their agents on the spot preached peace (wherethere was no peace, and no pretence of it) with eloquence and iteration.Secretary Bayard seems to have felt a call to join personally in thesolemn farce, and was at the expense of a telegram in which he assuredthe sinking monarch it was "for the higher interests of Samoa" he shoulddo nothing. There was no man better at doing that; the advice camestraight home, and was devoutly followed. And to be just to the greatPowers, something was done in Europe; a conference was called, it wasagreed to send commissioners to Samoa, and the decks had to be hastilycleared against their visit. Dr. Stuebel had attached the municipalityof Apia and hoisted the German war-flag over Mulinuu; the Americanconsul (in a sudden access of good service) had flown the stars andstripes over Samoan colours; on either side these steps were solemnlyretracted. The Germans expressly disowned Tamasese; and the islands fellinto a period of suspense, of some twelve months' duration, during whichthe seat of the history was transferred to other countries and escapesmy purview. Here on the spot, I select three incidents: the arrival onthe scene of a new actor, the visit of the Hawaiian embassy, and theriot on the Emperor's birthday. The rest shall be silence; only it mustbe borne in view that Tamasese all the while continued to strengthenhimself in Leulumoenga, and Laupepa sat inactive listening to the songof consuls.
_Captain Brandeis_. The new actor was Brandeis, a Bavarian captain ofartillery, of a romantic and adventurous character. He had served withcredit in war; but soon wearied of garrison life, resigned his battery,came to the States, found employment as a civil engineer, visited Cuba,took a sub-contract on the Panama canal, caught the fever, and came (forthe sake of the sea voyage) to Australia. He had that natural love forthe tropics which lies so often latent in persons of a northern birth;difficulty and danger attracted him; and when he was picked out forsecret duty, to be the hand of Germany in Samoa, there is no doubt buthe accepted the post with exhilaration. It is doubtful if a betterchoice could have been made. He had courage, integrity, ideas of hisown, and loved the employment, the people, and the place. Yet there wasa fly in the ointment. The double error of unnecessary stealth and ofthe immixture of a trading company in political affairs, has vitiated,and in the end defeated, much German policy. And Brandeis was introducedto the islands as a clerk, and sent down to Leulumoenga (where he wassoon drilling the troops and fortifying the position of the rebel king)as an agent of the German firm. What this mystification cost in the endI shall tell in another place; and even in the beginning, it deceived noone. Brandeis is a man of notable personal appearance; he looks the partallotted him; and the military clerk was soon the centre of observationand rumour. Malietoa wrote and complained of his presence to Becker, whohad succeeded Dr. Stuebel in the consulate. Becker replied, "I havenothing to do with the gentleman Brandeis. Be it well known that thegentleman Brandeis has no appointment in a military character, butresides peaceably assisting the government of Leulumoenga in their work,for Brandeis is a quiet, sensible gentleman." And then he promised tosend the vice-consul to "get information of the captain's doings":surely supererogation of deceit.
_The Hawaiian Embassy_. The prime minister of the Hawaiian kingdom was,at this period, an adventurer of the name of Gibson. He claimed, on thestrength of a romantic story, to be the heir of a great English house.He had played a part in a revolt in Java, had languished in Dutchfetters, and had risen to be a trusted agent of Brigha
m Young, the Utahpresident. It was in this character of a Mormon emissary that he firstcame to the islands of Hawaii, where he collected a large sum of moneyfor the Church of the Latter Day Saints. At a given moment, he droppedhis saintship and appeared as a Christian and the owner of a part of theisland of Lanai. The steps of the transformation are obscure; they seem,at least, to have been ill-received at Salt Lake; and there is evidenceto the effect that he was followed to the islands by Mormon assassins.His first attempt on politics was made under the auspices of what iscalled the missionary party, and the canvass conducted largely (it issaid with tears) on the platform at prayer-meetings. It resulted indefeat. Without any decency of delay he changed his colours, abjured theerrors of reform, and, with the support of the Catholics, rose to thechief power. In a very brief interval he had thus run through the gamutof religions in the South Seas. It does not appear that he was any moreparticular in politics, but he was careful to consult the character andprejudices of the late king, Kalakaua. That amiable, far fromunaccomplished, but too convivial sovereign, had a continued use formoney: Gibson was observant to keep him well supplied. Kalakaua (one ofthe most theoretical of men) was filled with visionary schemes for theprotection and development of the Polynesian race: Gibson fell in stepwith him; it is even thought he may have shared in his illusions. Theking and minister at least conceived between them a scheme of islandconfederation--the most obvious fault of which was that it came toolate--and armed and fitted out the cruiser _Kaimiloa_, nest-egg of thefuture navy of Hawaii. Samoa, the most important group stillindependent, and one immediately threatened with aggression, was chosenfor the scene of action. The Hon. John E. Bush, a half-caste Hawaiian,sailed (December 1887) for Apia as minister-plenipotentiary, accompaniedby a secretary of legation, Henry F. Poor; and as soon as she was readyfor sea, the war-ship followed in support. The expedition was futile inits course, almost tragic in result. The _Kaimiloa_ was from the first ascene of disaster and dilapidation: the stores were sold; the crewrevolted; for a great part of a night she was in the hands of mutineers,and the secretary lay bound upon the deck. The mission, installingitself at first with extravagance in Matautu, was helped at last out ofthe island by the advances of a private citizen. And they returned fromdreams of Polynesian independence to find their own city in the hands ofa clique of white shopkeepers, and the great Gibson once again in gaol.Yet the farce had not been quite without effect. It had encouraged thenatives for the moment, and it seems to have ruffled permanently thetemper of the Germans. So might a fly irritate Caesar.
The arrival of a mission from Hawaii would scarce affect the composureof the courts of Europe. But in the eyes of Polynesians the littlekingdom occupies a place apart. It is there alone that men of their raceenjoy most of the advantages and all the pomp of independence; news ofHawaii and descriptions of Honolulu are grateful topics in all parts ofthe South Seas; and there is no better introduction than a photograph inwhich the bearer shall be represented in company with Kalakaua. Laupepawas, besides, sunk to the point at which an unfortunate begins to clutchat straws, and he received the mission with delight. Letters wereexchanged between him and Kalakaua; a deed of confederation was signed,17th February 1887, and the signature celebrated in the new house of theHawaiian embassy with some original ceremonies. Malietoa Laupepa came,attended by his ministry, several hundred chiefs, two guards, and sixpolicemen. Always decent, he withdrew at an early hour; by those thatremained, all decency appears to have been forgotten; high chiefs wereseen to dance; and day found the house carpeted with slumberinggrandees, who must be roused, doctored with coffee, and sent home. As afirst chapter in the history of Polynesian Confederation, it was hardlycheering, and Laupepa remarked to one of the embassy, with equal dignityand sense: "If you have come here to teach my people to drink, I wishyou had stayed away."
The Germans looked on from the first with natural irritation that apower of the powerlessness of Hawaii should thus profit by itsundeniable footing in the family of nations, and send embassies, andmake believe to have a navy, and bark and snap at the heels of the greatGerman Empire. But Becker could not prevent the hunted Laupepa fromtaking refuge in any hole that offered, and he could afford to smile atthe fantastic orgie in the embassy. It was another matter when theHawaiians approached the intractable Mataafa, sitting still in his Atuagovernment like Achilles in his tent, helping neither side, and (as theGermans suspected) keeping the eggs warm for himself. When the_Kaimiloa_ steamed out of Apia on this visit, the German war-ship_Adler_ followed at her heels; and Mataafa was no sooner set down withthe embassy than he was summoned and ordered on board by two Germanofficers. The step is one of those triumphs of temper which can only beadmired. Mataafa is entertaining the plenipotentiary of a sovereignpower in treaty with his own king, and the captain of a German corvetteorders him to quit his guests.
But there was worse to come. I gather that Tamasese was at the time inthe sulks. He had doubtless been promised prompt aid and a promptsuccess; he had seen himself surreptitiously helped, privately orderedabout, and publicly disowned; and he was still the king of nothing morethan his own province, and already the second in command of CaptainBrandeis. With the adhesion of some part of his native cabinet, andbehind the back of his white minister, he found means to communicatewith the Hawaiians. A passage on the _Kaimiloa_, a pension, and a homein Honolulu were the bribes proposed; and he seems to have been tempted.A day was set for a secret interview. Poor, the Hawaiian secretary, andJ. D. Strong, an American painter attached to the embassy in thesurprising quality of "Government Artist," landed with a Samoanboat's-crew in Aana; and while the secretary hid himself, according toagreement, in the outlying home of an English settler, the artist(ostensibly bent on photography) entered the headquarters of the rebelking. It was a great day in Leulumoenga; three hundred recruits had comein, a feast was cooking; and the photographer, in view of the nativelove of being photographed, was made entirely welcome. But beneath thefriendly surface all were on the alert. The secret had leaked out: Weberbeheld his plans threatened in the root; Brandeis trembled for thepossession of his slave and sovereign; and the German vice-consul, Mr.Sonnenschein, had been sent or summoned to the scene of danger.
It was after dark, prayers had been said and the hymns sung through allthe village, and Strong and the German sat together on the mats in thehouse of Tamasese, when the events began. Strong speaks German freely, afact which he had not disclosed, and he was scarce more amused thanembarrassed to be able to follow all the evening the dissension and thechanging counsels of his neighbours. First the king himself was missing,and there was a false alarm that he had escaped and was already closetedwith Poor. Next came certain intelligence that some of the ministry hadrun the blockade, and were on their way to the house of the Englishsettler. Thereupon, in spite of some protests from Tamasese, who triedto defend the independence of his cabinet, Brandeis gathered a posse ofwarriors, marched out of the village, brought back the fugitives, andclapped them in the corrugated iron shanty which served as gaol. Alongwith these he seems to have seized Billy Coe, interpreter to theHawaiians; and Poor, seeing his conspiracy public, burst with hisboat's-crew into the town, made his way to the house of the native primeminister, and demanded Coe's release. Brandeis hastened to the spot,with Strong at his heels; and the two principals being both incensed,and Strong seriously alarmed for his friend's safety, there began amongthem a scene of great intemperance. At one point, when Strong suddenlydisclosed his acquaintance with German, it attained a high style ofcomedy; at another, when a pistol was most foolishly drawn, it borderedon drama; and it may be said to have ended in a mixed genus, when Poorwas finally packed into the corrugated iron gaol along with theforfeited ministers. Meanwhile the captain of his boat, Siteoni, of whomI shall have to tell again, had cleverly withdrawn the boat's-crew at anearly stage of the quarrel. Among the population beyond Tamasese'smarches, he collected a body of armed men, returned before dawn toLeulumoenga, demolished the corrugated iron gaol, and liberated theHawaiian secretary and
the rump of the rebel cabinet. No opposition wasshown; and doubtless the rescue was connived at by Brandeis, who hadgained his point. Poor had the face to complain the next day to Becker;but to compete with Becker in effrontery was labour lost. "You have beenrepeatedly warned, Mr. Poor, not to expose yourself among thesesavages," said he.
Not long after, the presence of the _Kaimiloa_ was made a _casus belli_by the Germans; and the rough-and-tumble embassy withdrew, on borrowedmoney, to find their own government in hot water to the neck.
* * * * *
_The Emperor's Birthday_. It is possible, and it is alleged, that theGermans entered into the conference with hope. But it is certain theywere resolved to remain prepared for either fate. And I take the libertyof believing that Laupepa was not forgiven his duplicity; that, duringthis interval, he stood marked like a tree for felling; and that hisconduct was daily scrutinised for further pretexts of offence. On theevening of the Emperor's birthday, March 22nd, 1887, certain Germanswere congregated in a public bar. The season and the place considered,it is scarce cynical to assume they had been drinking; nor, so muchbeing granted, can it be thought exorbitant to suppose them possibly infault for the squabble that took place. A squabble, I say; but I amwilling to call it a riot. And this was the new fault of Laupepa; thisit is that was described by a German commodore as "the trampling upon byMalietoa of the German Emperor." I pass the rhetoric by to examine thepoint of liability. Four natives were brought to trial for this horridfact: not before a native judge, but before the German magistrate of thetripartite municipality of Apia. One was acquitted, one condemned fortheft, and two for assault. On appeal, not to Malietoa, but to the threeconsuls, the case was by a majority of two to one returned to themagistrate and (as far as I can learn) was then allowed to drop. ConsulBecker himself laid the chief blame on one of the policemen of themunicipality, a half-white of the name of Scanlon. Him he sought to havedischarged, but was again baffled by his brother consuls. Where, in allthis, are we to find a corner of responsibility for the king of Samoa?Scanlon, the alleged author of the outrage, was a half-white; as Beckerwas to learn to his cost, he claimed to be an American subject; and hewas not even in the king's employment. Apia, the scene of the outrage,was outside the king's jurisdiction by treaty; by the choice of Germany,he was not so much as allowed to fly his flag there. And the denial ofjustice (if justice were denied) rested with the consuls of Britain andthe States.
But when a dog is to be beaten, any stick will serve. In the meanwhile,on the proposition of Mr. Bayard, the Washington conference on Samoanaffairs was adjourned till autumn, so that "the ministers of Germany andGreat Britain might submit the protocols to their respectiveGovernments." "You propose that the conference is to adjourn and not tobe broken up?" asked Sir Lionel West. "To adjourn for the reasonsstated," replied Bayard. This was on July 26th; and, twenty-nine dayslater, by Wednesday the 24th of August, Germany had practically seizedSamoa. For this flagrant breach of faith one excuse is openly alleged;another whispered. It is openly alleged that Bayard had shown himselfimpracticable; it is whispered that the Hawaiian embassy was anexpression of American intrigue, and that the Germans only did as theywere done by. The sufficiency of these excuses may be left to thediscretion of the reader. But, however excused, the breach of faith waspublic and express; it must have been deliberately predetermined; and itwas resented in the States as a deliberate insult.
By the middle of August 1887 there were five sail of German war-ships inApia bay: the _Bismarck_, of 3000 tons displacement; the _Carola_, the_Sophie_, and the _Olga_, all considerable ships; and the beautiful_Adler_, which lies there to this day, kanted on her beam, dismantled,scarlet with rust, the day showing through her ribs. They waitedinactive, as a burglar waits till the patrol goes by. And on the 23rd,when the mail had left for Sydney, when the eyes of the world werewithdrawn, and Samoa plunged again for a period of weeks into heroriginal island-obscurity, Becker opened his guns. The policy was toocunning to seem dignified; it gave to conduct which would otherwise haveseemed bold and even brutally straightforward, the appearance of a timidambuscade; and helped to shake men's reliance on the word of Germany. Onthe day named, an ultimatum reached Malietoa at Afenga, whither he hadretired months before to avoid friction. A fine of one thousand dollarsand an _ifo_, or public humiliation, were demanded for the affair ofthe Emperor's birthday. Twelve thousand dollars were to be "paidquickly" for thefts from German plantations in the course of the lastfour years. "It is my opinion that there is nothing just or correct inSamoa while you are at the head of the government," concluded Becker. "Ishall be at Afenga in the morning of to-morrow, Wednesday, at 11 A.M."The blow fell on Laupepa (in his own expression) "out of the bush"; thedilatory fellow had seen things hang over so long, he had perhaps begunto suppose they might hang over for ever; and here was ruin at the door.He rode at once to Apia, and summoned his chiefs. The council lasted allnight long. Many voices were for defiance. But Laupepa had grown inuredto a policy of procrastination; and the answer ultimately drawn onlybegged for delay till Saturday, the 27th. So soon as it was signed, theking took horse and fled in the early morning to Afenga; the councilhastily dispersed; and only three chiefs, Selu, Seumanu, and Le Mamea,remained by the government building, tremulously expectant of theresult.
By seven the letter was received. By 7.30 Becker arrived in person,inquired for Laupepa, was evasively answered, and declared war on thespot. Before eight, the Germans (seven hundred men and six guns) cameashore and seized and hoisted German colours on the government building.The three chiefs had made good haste to escape; but a considerable bootywas made of government papers, fire-arms, and some seventeen thousandcartridges. Then followed a scene which long rankled in the minds of thewhite inhabitants, when the German marines raided the town in search ofMalietoa, burst into private houses, and were accused (I am willing tobelieve on slender grounds) of violence to private persons.
On the morrow, the 25th, one of the German war-ships, which had beendespatched to Leulumoenga over night re-entered the bay, flying theTamasese colours at the fore. The new king was given a royal salute oftwenty-one guns, marched through the town by the commodore and a Germanguard of honour, and established on Mulinuu with two or three hundredwarriors. Becker announced his recognition to the other consuls. Thesereplied by proclaiming Malietoa, and in the usual mealy-mouthed manneradvised Samoans to do nothing. On the 27th martial law was declared; andon the 1st September the German squadron dispersed about the group,bearing along with them the proclamations of the new king. Tamasese wasnow a great man, to have five iron war-ships for his post-runners. Butthe moment was critical. The revolution had to be explained, the chiefspersuaded to assemble at a fono summoned for the 15th; and the shipscarried not only a store of printed documents, but a squad of Tamaseseorators upon their round.
Such was the German _coup d'etat_. They had declared war with a squadronof five ships upon a single man; that man, late king of the group, wasin hiding on the mountains; and their own nominee, backed by German gunsand bayonets, sat in his stead in Mulinuu.
One of the first acts of Malietoa, on fleeing to the bush, was to sendfor Mataafa twice: "I am alone in the bush; if you do not come quicklyyou will find me bound." It is to be understood the men were nearkinsmen, and had (if they had nothing else) a common jealousy. At theurgent cry, Mataafa set forth from Falefa, and came to Mulinuu toTamasese. "What is this that you and the German commodore have decidedon doing?" he inquired. "I am going to obey the German consul," repliedTamasese, "whose wish it is that I should be the king and that all Samoashould assemble here." "Do not pursue in wrath against Malietoa," saidMataafa; "but try to bring about a compromise, and form a unitedgovernment." "Very well," said Tamasese, "leave it to me, and I willtry." From Mulinuu, Mataafa went on board the _Bismarck_, and wasgraciously received. "Probably," said the commodore, "we shall bringabout a reconciliation of all Samoa through you"; and then asked hisvisitor if he bore any affection to Malietoa. "Yes," said Mataafa.
"Andto Tamasese?" "To him also; and if you desire the weal of Samoa, youwill allow either him or me to bring about a reconciliation." "If itwere my will," said the commodore, "I would do as you say. But I have nowill in the matter. I have instructions from the Kaiser, and I cannot goback again from what I have been sent to do." "I thought you would becommended," said Mataafa, "if you brought about the weal of Samoa." "Iwill tell you," said the commodore. "All shall go quietly. But there isone thing that must be done: Malietoa must be deposed. I will do nothingto him beyond; he will only be kept on board for a couple of months andbe well treated, just as we Germans did to the French chief [NapoleonIII.] some time ago, whom we kept a while and cared for well." Beckerwas no less explicit: war, he told Sewall, should not cease till theGermans had custody of Malietoa and Tamasese should be recognised.
Meantime, in the Malietoa provinces, a profound impression was received.People trooped to their fugitive sovereign in the bush. Many natives inApia brought their treasures, and stored them in the houses of whitefriends. The Tamasese orators were sometimes ill received. Over inSavaii, they found the village of Satupaitea deserted, save for a fewlads at cricket. These they harangued, and were rewarded with ironicalapplause; and the proclamation, as soon as they had departed, was torndown. For this offence the village was ultimately burned by Germansailors, in a very decent and orderly style, on the 3rd September. Thiswas the dinner-bell of the fono on the 15th. The threat conveyed in theterms of the summons--"If any government district does not quickly obeythis direction, I will make war on that government district"--was thuscommented on and reinforced. And the meeting was in consequence wellattended by chiefs of all parties. They found themselves unarmed amongthe armed warriors of Tamasese and the marines of the German squadron,and under the guns of five strong ships. Brandeis rose; it was his firstopen appearance, the German firm signing its revolutionary work. Hiswords were few and uncompromising: "Great are my thanks that the chiefsand heads of families of the whole of Samoa are assembled here this day.It is strictly forbidden that any discussion should take place as towhether it is good or not that Tamasese is king of Samoa, whether atthis fono or at any future fono. I place for your signature thefollowing: _'We inform all the people of Samoa of what follows_: (1)_The government of Samoa has been assumed by King Tuiaana Tamasese_. (2)_By order of the king, it was directed that a fono should take placeto-day, composed of the chiefs and heads of families, and we have obeyedthe summons. We have signed our names under this, 15th September1887._'" Needs must under all these guns; and the paper was signed, butnot without open sullenness. The bearing of Mataafa in particular waslong remembered against him by the Germans. "Do you not see the king?"said the commodore reprovingly. "His father was no king," was the boldanswer. A bolder still has been printed, but this is Mataafa's ownrecollection of the passage. On the next day, the chiefs were allordered back to shake hands with Tamasese. Again they obeyed; but againtheir attitude was menacing, and some, it is said, audibly murmured asthey gave their hands.
It is time to follow the poor Sheet of Paper (literal meaning of_Laupepa_), who was now to be blown so broadly over the face of earth.As soon as news reached him of the declaration of war, he fled fromAfenga to Tanungamanono, a hamlet in the bush, about a mile and a halfbehind Apia, where he lurked some days. On the 24th, Selu, hissecretary, despatched to the American consul an anxious appeal, hismajesty's "cry and prayer" in behalf of "this weak people." By August30th, the Germans had word of his lurking-place, surrounded the hamletunder cloud of night, and in the early morning burst with a force ofsailors on the houses. The people fled on all sides, and were firedupon. One boy was shot in the hand, the first blood of the war. But theking was nowhere to be found; he had wandered farther, over the woodymountains, the backbone of the land, towards Siumu and Safata. Here, ina safe place, he built himself a town in the forest, where he received acontinual stream of visitors and messengers. Day after day the Germanblue-jackets were employed in the hopeless enterprise of beating theforests for the fugitive; day after day they were suffered to passunhurt under the guns of ambushed Samoans; day after day they returned,exhausted and disappointed, to Apia. Seumanu Tafa, high chief of Apia,was known to be in the forest with the king; his wife, Fatuila, wasseized, imprisoned in the German hospital, and when it was thought herspirit was sufficiently reduced, brought up for cross-examination. Thewise lady confined herself in answer to a single word. "Is your husbandnear Apia?" "Yes." "Is he far from Apia?" "Yes." "Is he with the king?""Yes." "Are he and the king in different places?" "Yes." Whereupon thewitness was discharged. About the 10th of September, Laupepa wassecretly in Apia at the American consulate with two companions. TheGerman pickets were close set and visited by a strong patrol; and on hisreturn, his party was observed and hailed and fired on by a sentry. Theyran away on all fours in the dark, and so doing plumped upon anothersentry, whom Laupepa grappled and flung in a ditch; for the Sheet ofPaper, although infirm of character, is, like most Samoans, of an ablebody. The second sentry (like the first) fired after his assailants atrandom in the dark; and the two shots awoke the curiosity of Apia. Onthe afternoon of the 16th, the day of the hand-shakings, Suatele, a highchief, despatched two boys across the island with a letter. They weremost of the night upon the road; it was near three in the morning beforethe sentries in the camp of Malietoa beheld their lantern drawing nearout of the wood; but the king was at once awakened. The news wasdecisive and the letter peremptory; if Malietoa did not give himself upbefore ten on the morrow, he was told that great sorrows must befall hiscountry. I have not been able to draw Laupepa as a hero; but he is a manof certain virtues, which the Germans had now given him an occasion todisplay. Without hesitation he sacrificed himself, penned his touchingfarewell to Samoa, and making more expedition than the messengers,passed early behind Apia to the banks of the Vaisingano. As he passed,he detached a messenger to Mataafa at the Catholic mission. Mataafafollowed by the same road, and the pair met at the river-side and wentand sat together in a house. All present were in tears. "Do not let usweep," said the talking man, Lauati. "We have no cause for shame. We donot yield to Tamasese, but to the invincible strangers." The departingking bequeathed the care of his country to Mataafa; and when the lattersought to console him with the commodore's promises, he shook his head,and declared his assurance that he was going to a life of exile, andperhaps to death. About two o'clock the meeting broke up; Mataafareturned to the Catholic mission by the back of the town; and Malietoaproceeded by the beach road to the German naval hospital, where he wasreceived (as he owns, with perfect civility) by Brandeis. About three,Becker brought him forth again. As they went to the wharf, the peoplewept and clung to their departing monarch. A boat carried him on boardthe _Bismarck_, and he vanished from his countrymen. Yet it was longrumoured that he still lay in the harbour; and so late as October 7th, aboy, who had been paddling round the _Carola_, professed to have seenand spoken with him. Here again the needless mystery affected by theGermans bitterly disserved them. The uncertainty which thus hung overLaupepa's fate, kept his name continually in men's mouths. The words ofhis farewell rang in their ears: "To all Samoa: On account of my greatlove to my country and my great affection to all Samoa, this is thereason that I deliver up my body to the German government. Thatgovernment may do as they wish to me. The reason of this is, because Ido not desire that the blood of Samoa shall be spilt for me again. But Ido not know what is my offence which has caused their anger to me and tomy country." And then, apostrophising the different provinces:"Tuamasanga, farewell! Manono and family, farewell! So, also, Salafai,Tutuila, Aana, and Atua, farewell! If we do not again see one another inthis world, pray that we may be again together above." So the sheepdeparted with the halo of a saint, and men thought of him as of someKing Arthur snatched into Avilion.
On board the _Bismarck_, the commodore shook hands with him, told him hewas to be "taken away from all the chiefs with whom he had beenaccustomed," and had him taken to the wardroom under guard. The next dayhe was sent to sea in the _
Adler_. There went with him his brother Moli,one Meisake, and one Alualu, half-caste German, to interpret. He wasrespectfully used; he dined in the stern with the officers, but the boysdined "near where the fire was." They came to a "newly-formed place" inAustralia, where the _Albatross_ was lying, and a British ship, which heknew to be a man-of-war "because the officers were nicely dressed andwore epaulettes." Here he was transhipped, "in a boat with a screen,"which he supposed was to conceal him from the British ship; and on boardthe _Albatross_ was sent below and told he must stay there till they hadsailed. Later, however, he was allowed to come on deck, where he foundthey had rigged a screen (perhaps an awning) under which he walked,looking at "the newly-formed settlement," and admiring a big house"where he was sure the governor lived." From Australia, they sailed sometime, and reached an anchorage where a consul-general came on board, andwhere Laupepa was only allowed on deck at night. He could then see thelights of a town with wharves; he supposes Cape Town. Off the Cameroonsthey anchored or lay-to, far at sea, and sent a boat ashore to see (hesupposes) that there was no British man-of-war. It was the next morningbefore the boat returned, when the _Albatross_ stood in and came toanchor near another German ship. Here Alualu came to him on deck andtold him this was the place. "That is an astonishing thing," said he. "Ithought I was to go to Germany, I do not know what this means; I do notknow what will be the end of it; my heart is troubled." Whereupon Alualuburst into tears. A little after, Laupepa was called below to thecaptain and the governor. The last addressed him: "This is my own place,a good place, a warm place. My house is not yet finished, but when itis, you shall live in one of my rooms until I can make a house for you."Then he was taken ashore and brought to a tall, iron house. "This houseis regulated," said the governor; "there is no fire allowed to burn init." In one part of this house, weapons of the government were hung up;there was a passage, and on the other side of the passage, fiftycriminals were chained together, two and two, by the ankles. The windowswere out of reach; and there was only one door, which was opened at sixin the morning and shut again at six at night. All day he had hisliberty, went to the Baptist Mission, and walked about viewing thenegroes, who were "like the sand on the seashore" for number. At sixthey were called into the house and shut in for the night without bedsor lights. "Although they gave me no light," said he, with a smile, "Icould see I was in a prison." Good food was given him: biscuits, "teamade with warm water," beef, etc.; all excellent. Once, in their walks,they spied a breadfruit tree bearing in the garden of an Englishmerchant, ran back to the prison to get a shilling, and came and offeredto purchase. "I am not going to sell breadfruit to you people," said themerchant; "come and take what you like." Here Malietoa interruptedhimself to say it was the only tree bearing in the Cameroons. "Thegovernor had none, or he would have given it to me." On the passage fromthe Cameroons to Germany, he had great delight to see the cliffs ofEngland. He saw "the rocks shining in the sun, and three hours later wassurprised to find them sunk in the heavens." He saw also wharves andimmense buildings; perhaps Dover and its castle. In Hamburg, afterbreakfast, Mr. Weber, who had now finally "ceased from troubling" Samoa,came on board, and carried him ashore "suitably" in a steam launch to "alarge house of the government," where he stayed till noon. At noon Webertold him he was going to "the place where ships are anchored that go toSamoa," and led him to "a very magnificent house, with carriages insideand a wonderful roof of glass"; to wit, the railway station. They werebenighted on the train, and then went in "something with a house, drawnby horses, which had windows and many decks"; plainly an omnibus. Here(at Bremen or Bremerhaven, I believe) they stayed some while in "a houseof five hundred rooms"; then were got on board the _Nuernberg_ (as theyunderstood) for Samoa, anchored in England on a Sunday, were joined _enroute_ by the famous Dr. Knappe, passed through "a narrow passage wherethey went very slow and which was just like a river," and beheld withexhilarated curiosity that Red Sea of which they had learned so much intheir Bibles. At last, "at the hour when the fires burn red," they cameto a place where was a German man-of-war. Laupepa was called, with oneof the boys, on deck, when he found a German officer awaiting him, and asteam launch alongside, and was told he must now leave his brother andgo elsewhere. "I cannot go like this," he cried. "You must let me see mybrother and the other old men"--a term of courtesy. Knappe, who seemsalways to have been good-natured, revised his orders, and consented notonly to an interview, but to allow Moli to continue to accompany theking. So these two were carried to the man-of-war, and sailed many aday, still supposing themselves bound for Samoa; and lo! she came to acountry the like of which they had never dreamed of, and cast anchor inthe great lagoon of Jaluit; and upon that narrow land the exiles wereset on shore. This was the part of his captivity on which he looked backwith the most bitterness. It was the last, for one thing, and he wasworn down with the long suspense, and terror, and deception. He couldnot bear the brackish water; and though "the Germans were still good tohim, and gave him beef and biscuit and tea," he suffered from the lackof vegetable food.
Such is the narrative of this simple exile. I have not sought to correctit by extraneous testimony. It is not so much the facts that arehistorical, as the man's attitude. No one could hear this tale as heoriginally told it in my hearing--I think none can read it as herecondensed and unadorned--without admiring the fairness and simplicity ofthe Samoan; and wondering at the want of heart--or want of humour--in somany successive civilised Germans, that they should have continued tosurround this infant with the secrecy of state.