me: "I begin to be weary of white men on the
beach."

But the true centre of trouble, the head of the boil of which Samoa
languishes, is the German firm. From the conditions of business, a great
island house must ever be an inheritance of care; and it chances that
the greatest still afoot has its chief seat in Apia bay, and has sunk
the main part of its capital in the island of Upolu. When its founder,
John Caesar Godeffroy, went bankrupt over Russian paper and Westphalian
iron, his most considerable asset was found to be the South Sea
business. This passed (I understand) through the hands of Baring
Brothers in London, and is now run by a company rejoicing in the
Gargantuan name of the _Deutsche Handels und Plantagen Gesellschaft fuer
Sued-See Inseln zu Hamburg_. This piece of literature is (in practice)
shortened to the D.H. and P.G., the Old Firm, the German Firm, the Firm,
and (among humorists) the Long Handle Firm. Even from the deck of an
approaching ship, the island is seen to bear its signature--zones of
cultivation showing in a more vivid tint of green on the dark vest of
forest. The total area in use is near ten thousand acres. Hedges of
fragrant lime enclose, broad avenues intersect them. You shall walk for
hours in parks of palm-tree alleys, regular, like soldiers on parade; in
the recesses of the hills you may stumble on a mill-house, toiling and
trembling there, fathoms deep in superincumbent forest. On the carpet
of clean sward, troops of horses and herds of handsome cattle may be
seen to browse; and to one accustomed to the rough luxuriance of the
tropics, the appearance is of fairyland. The managers, many of them
German sea-captains, are enthusiastic in their new employment.
Experiment is continually afoot: coffee and cacao, both of excellent
quality, are among the more recent outputs; and from one plantation
quantities of pineapples are sent at a particular season to the Sydney
markets. A hundred and fifty thousand pounds of English money, perhaps
two hundred thousand, lie sunk in these magnificent estates. In
estimating the expense of maintenance quite a fleet of ships must be
remembered, and a strong staff of captains, supercargoes, overseers, and
clerks. These last mess together at a liberal board; the wages are high,
and the staff is inspired with a strong and pleasing sentiment of
loyalty to their employers.

Seven or eight hundred imported men and women toil for the company on
contracts of three