oa,
and Frewen, as he shook hands with him, thought he had never seen so
noble and imposing a figure. He was a man of about sixty years of age,
with closely-cropped white hair and thick moustache, but so youthful was
he in his carriage, and so smooth was the bright copper-red of his skin,
that he seemed more like a man of thirty whose hair and moustache had
become prematurely blanched. The upper portion of his huge but yet
beautifully proportioned and muscular figure was bare to the waist,
around which was wrapped many folds of tappa cloth bleached to a snowy
whiteness, which accentuated the startling contrast of the bright blue
tattooing which reached from his waist to his knees. Depending from his
neck, and falling in a long loop across a broad chest scarred by many
wounds, was a simple yet beautiful ornament consisting of some hundreds
of discs of gleaming pearl-shell, perforated at the sides, and strung
together by a thin cord of human hair. In his right hand he carried a
_fui_, or fly-wisp, made of coco-nut fibre, and Frewen noticed during
the conversation that followed that he used this with the dainty grace
that characterises a Spanish lady with her fan.

Accompanying the chief was a tall, thin old man, named Talitaua, who
was Malie's _tulafale_ or orator--a position which in Samoa is one
much coveted and highly respected, for the _tulafale_ is in reality a
Minister of War, and on his public utterances much depends. If he is
possessed of any degree of eloquence, he can either avert or bring about
war, just as he chooses to either inflame or subdue the passions of his
audience when, rising and supporting himself on his polished staff of
office, he first scans the expectant faces of the throng seated on the
ground before him ere he opens his lips to speak. On this occasion,
however, Talitaua had merely come with Malie as a personal friend
anxious to learn privately what he would probably have to communicate
to the assembled people as soon as the discussion with Raymond was
concluded. Both he and the chief had already heard full details of the
mutiny from Raymond, and they guessed that the planter had something
further and of importance to say to them concerning it. After the usual
courtesies so rigidly observed on visits of ceremony had passed between
them and Raymond, they patiently awaited him to begin, though very
curious to learn what was the occasion of Frewen's and Cheyne's
unlooked-for appearance. Their natu