he means of attempting, was continually threatened.
On the 22nd he sought the aid of his brother consuls to maintain the
neutral territory against Mataafa; and at the same time, as though
meditating instant deeds of prowess, refused to be bound by it himself.
This singular proposition was of course refused: Blacklock remarking that
he had no fear of the natives, if these were let alone; de Coetlogon
refusing in the circumstances to recognise any neutral territory at all.
In vain Knappe amended and baited his proposal with the offer of forty-
eight or ninety-six hours' notice, according as his objective should be
near or within the boundary of the _Eleele Sa_. It was rejected; and he
learned that he must accept war with all its consequences--and not that
which he desired--war with the immunities of peace.

This monstrous exigence illustrates the man's frame of mind. It has been
still further illuminated in the German white-book by printing alongside
of his despatches those of the unimpassioned Fritze. On January 8th the
consulate was destroyed by fire. Knappe says it was the work of
incendiaries, "without doubt"; Fritze admits that "everything seems to
show" it was an accident. "Tamasese's people fit to bear arms," writes
Knappe, "are certainly for the moment equal to Mataafa's," though
restrained from battle by the lack of ammunition. "As for Tamasese,"
says Fritze of the same date, "he is now but a phantom--_dient er nur als
Gespenst_. His party, for practical purposes, is no longer large. They
pretend ammunition to be lacking, but what they lack most is good-will.
Captain Brandeis, whose influence is now small, declares they can no
longer sustain a serious engagement, and is himself in the intention of
leaving Samoa by the _Lubeck_ of the 5th February." And Knappe, in the
same despatch, confutes himself and confirms the testimony of his naval
colleague, by the admission that "the re-establishment of Tamasese's
government is, under present circumstances, not to be thought of."
Plainly, then, he was not so much seeking to deceive others, as he was
himself possessed; and we must regard the whole series of his acts and
despatches as the agitations of a fever.

The British steamer _Richmond_ returned to Apia, January 15th. On the
last voyage she had brought the ammunition already so frequently referred
to; as a matter of fact, she was again bringing contraband of war. It is
necessary to be explicit upon this, wh