de of hostility the whole non-German
population of the islands. Now, in his last hour of office, by this
wanton buffet to his English colleague, he prepared a continuance of
evil days for his successor. If the object of diplomacy be the
organisation of failure in the midst of hate, he was a great
diplomatist. And amongst a certain party on the beach he is still named
as the ideal consul.

CHAPTER VII

THE SAMOAN CAMPS

_November_ 1888

When Brandeis and Tamasese fled by night from Mulinuu, they carried
their wandering government some six miles to windward, to a position
above Lotoanuu. For some three miles to the eastward of Apia, the shores
of Upolu are low and the ground rises with a gentle acclivity, much of
which waves with German plantations. A barrier reef encloses a lagoon
passable for boats: and the traveller skims there, on smooth,
many-tinted shallows, between the wall of the breakers on the one hand,
and on the other a succession of palm-tree capes and cheerful beach-side
villages. Beyond the great plantation of Vailele, the character of the
coast is changed. The barrier reef abruptly ceases, the surf beats
direct upon the shore; and the mountains and untenanted forest of the
interior descend sheer into the sea. The first mountain promontory is
Letongo. The bay beyond is called Laulii, and became the headquarters of
Mataafa. And on the next projection, on steep, intricate ground, veiled
in forest and cut up by gorges and defiles, Tamasese fortified his
lines. This greenwood citadel, which proved impregnable by Samoan arms,
may be regarded as his front; the sea covered his right; and his rear
extended along the coast as far as Saluafata, and thus commanded and
drew upon a rich country, including the plain of Falefa.

He was left in peace from 11th October till November 6th. But his
adversary is not wholly to be blamed for this delay, which depended
upon island etiquette. His Savaii contingent had not yet come in, and to
have moved again without waiting for them would have been surely to
offend, perhaps to lose them. With the month of November they began to
arrive: on the 2nd twenty boats, on the 3rd twenty-nine, on the 5th
seventeen. On the 6th the position Mataafa had so long occupied on the
skirts of Apia was deserted; all that day and night his force kept
streaming eastward to Laulii; and on the 7th the siege of Lotoanuu was
opened with a brisk skirmish.

Each side built forts, facing across