al Fairfax, and the gunboat _Lizard_,
Lieutenant-Commander Pelly. It was rumoured the admiral had come to
recognise the government of Tamasese, I believe in error. And at least
the day for that was quite gone by; and he arrived not to salute the
king's accession, but to arbitrate on his remains. A conference of the
consuls and commanders met on board the _Calliope_, October 4th, Fritze
alone being absent, although twice invited: the affair touched politics,
his consul was to be there; and even if he came to the meeting (so he
explained to Fairfax) he would have no voice in its deliberations. The
parties were plainly marked out: Blacklock and Leary maintaining their
offer of the old neutral territory, and probably willing to expand or to
contract it to any conceivable extent, so long as Mulinuu was still
included; Knappe offered (if the others liked) to include "the whole
eastern end of the island," but quite fixed upon the one point that
Mulinuu should be left out; the English willing to meet either view, and
singly desirous that Apia should be neutralised. The conclusion was
foregone. Becker held a trump card in the consent of Mataafa; Blacklock
and Leary stood alone, spoke with an ill grace, and could not long hold
out. Becker had his way; and the neutral boundary was chosen just where
he desired: across the isthmus, the firm within, Mulinuu without. He did
not long enjoy the fruits of victory.

On the 7th, three days after the meeting, one of the Scanlons
(well-known and intelligent half-castes) came to Blacklock with a
complaint. The Scanlon house stood on the hither side of the Tamasese
breastwork, just inside the newly accepted territory, and within easy
range of the firm. Armed men, to the number of a hundred, had issued
from Mulinuu, had "taken charge" of the house, had pointed a gun at
Scanlon's head, and had twice "threatened to kill" his pigs. I hear
elsewhere of some effects (_Gegenstaende_) removed. At the best a very
pale atrocity, though we shall find the word employed. Germans declare
besides that Scanlon was no American subject; they declare the point had
been decided by court-martial in 1875; that Blacklock had the decision
in the consular archives; and that this was his reason for handing the
affair to Leary. It is not necessary to suppose so. It is plain he
thought little of the business; thought indeed nothing of it; except in
so far as armed men had entered the neutral territory from Mulinuu; and
i