aroundworldortra00peebiala-1

38 AROUND THE WORLD.
baskets, spears, and shells. Missionaries are among them.
Already they exhibit hopeful signs of civilization in wishing
to barter for tobacco, whiskey, fancy-colored clothing, and
lime preparations for bleaching their hair. Some of these
natives bleach or color the hair red ; Americans, black
tastes differ.
The scenery upon these islands is transcendently beautiful.
Cascades are numerous, the valleys fertile, and vegetation
varied and luxuriant. Tropical fruits, cocoanuts, pineapples,
bananas, citrons, bread-fruit, oranges, limes, sugarcane,
coffee, taro and dye-wood trees abound in rich profusion.
The largest portion of Upolo has a fine garden soil, where
large springs of pure water bubble up, and flow in thousands
of little streams toward the sea. The whole group is exceedingly
valuable. Action has already been taken by the
United States toward annexation.
Among the code of laws drawn by these
native chiefs, to
be recognized in commercial relations between the United
States and the Samoan Islands, are the following —
:
" 5th. All trading in distilled or spirituous liquors, or any kind of intoxicating
drink, is absolutely prohibited. Any person so offending shall
be fined one hundred dollars on conviction before a mixed court. All
such liquors found on shore, and kept for sale or barter, shall be seized
and destroyed. If any native is found intoxicated, the individual who
has supplied him with drink shall pay a fine of ten dollars. If any foreigner
be found drunk or riotous, he shall pay a fine of ten dollars.
"Gth. Any person found guilty of offering inducement to a native
female to prostitute herself to a foreigner, to pay a fine of ten dollars
ar.d any native female found guilty of prostituting herself to a foreigner,
to pay a fine of twenty dollars."
And these Samoan chiefs are called " savages," " degraded
heathen," to whom tobacco-using, wine-drinking Christian
missionaries must be sent to save them from hell
I can but deplore that conceited ignorance which characterizes
two classes of Americans, — radical rationalists who
crankly assert that there " are islanders in the Pacific, and