ter managed to secure
fully half of the sixpences and shillings which were thrown overboard
for the divers, though there were numerous competitors of the other sex.
She always came to the surface smiling, with the silver between her
teeth; and after shaking her head like a Newfoundland dog, and wiping
the brine hastily from her eyes, she was quite ready for another plunge,
having in the mean time stowed the silver coin away securely in her
cheek, as monkeys do nuts and candy. The water alongside the ship was
probably thirty or forty fathoms deep, but no piece of money got
half-way to the bottom before it was overtaken and secured by a native
diver. Though all were as nearly nude as was admissible in the presence
of civilized people, they evinced not the least consciousness of
personal exposure. And after all, when we paused to think of the matter,
it was they who were naturally covered and we who were artificially
clothed.

A bunch of fresh, glowing, scarlet hibiscus was observed in one of the
boats lying quite neglected, being evidently considered of too little
value to offer for sale, but which we secured for a sixpence. This
flower grows in wild luxuriance in the Samoan Islands, and forms the
most common ornament worn in the hair of the women. The men pass much
time in dressing their hair in the little spiral columns as already
described, while the women cut theirs short, leaving only sufficient
length in which to affix the flower-stems.

When articles of food, such as cake, meats, or candy, were given to the
natives they invariably smelt of them before tasting, and if they proved
palatable they expressed their satisfaction by a smile and a grunt, more
animal than human. They had some few words of English, of which they
made incessant use. Their unconscious manners and thoughtless by-play
somehow recalled that of the monkey tribe, even to the way they curled
their lower limbs under them in the boats, or when sitting upon our
deck. Some of the spears and war-clubs which they offered for sale
showed much delicacy and skill, both in the design and carving.

The German Government has for a considerable time carried matters with
an arbitrary hand in these islands, showing a covert but determined
purpose, shamefully oppressing the native race, of whom there are about
thirty-five thousand, appropriating their lands, and under various
pretences robbing them in every possible manner. While we were there
four German ironcla