This process of winnowing was
of course counterbalanced by another of recruitment. But the harshness
of European and military rule had made Brandeis detested and Tamasese
unpopular with many; and the force on Mulinuu is thought to have done
little more than hold its own. Mataafa sympathisers set it down at about
two or three thousand. I have no estimate from the other side; but
Becker admits they were not strong enough to keep the field in the open.

The political significance of Mulinuu was great, but in a military sense
the position had defects. If it was difficult to carry, it was easy to
blockade: and to be hemmed in on that narrow finger of land were an
inglorious posture for the monarch of Samoa. The peninsula, besides, was
scant of food and destitute of water. Pressed by these considerations,
Brandeis extended his lines till he had occupied the whole foreshore of
Apia bay and the opposite point, Matautu. His men were thus drawn out
along some three nautical miles of irregular beach, everywhere with their
backs to the sea, and without means of communication or mutual support
except by water. The extension led to fresh sorrows. The Tamasese men
quartered themselves in the houses of the absent men of the Vaimaunga.
Disputes arose with English and Americans. Leary interposed in a loud
voice of menace. It was said the firm profited by the confusion to
buttress up imperfect land claims; I am sure the other whites would not
be far behind the firm. Properties were fenced in, fences and houses
were torn down, scuffles ensued. The German example at Mulinuu was
followed with laughable unanimity; wherever an Englishman or an American
conceived himself to have a claim, he set up the emblem of his country;
and the beach twinkled with the flags of nations.

All this, it will be observed, was going forward in that neutral
territory, sanctified by treaty against the presence of armed Samoans.
The insurgents themselves looked on in wonder: on the 4th, trembling to
transgress against the great Powers, they had written for a delimitation
of the _Eleele Sa_; and Becker, in conversation with the British consul,
replied that he recognised none. So long as Tamasese held the ground,
this was expedient. But suppose Tamasese worsted, it might prove awkward
for the stores, mills, and offices of a great German firm, thus bared of
shelter by the act of their own consul.

On the morning of the 9th September, just ten days aft