n. It was not without a
feeling of reverential awe that I received the books so nearly
directly from the hand of Tusitala, 'who sleeps in the forest.'
Aolele, the _Spray_ will cherish your gift!

"On another day the family from Vailima went to visit the _Spray_. The
sloop being in the stream, we boarded her from the beach abreast, in
the little razeed Gloucester dory, which had been painted a smart
green. Our combined weight loaded it gunwale to the water, and I was
obliged to steer with great care to avoid swamping. The adventure
pleased Mrs. Stevenson greatly, and as we paddled along she sang 'They
went to sea in a pea-green boat.' I could understand her saying of her
husband and herself 'Our tastes were similar.'

"Calling to say good-bye to my friends at Vailima, I met Mrs.
Stevenson, in her Panama hat, and went over the estate with her. Men
were at work clearing the land, and to one of them she gave an order
to cut a couple of bamboo trees for the _Spray_ from a clump she had
planted four years before, and which had grown to a height of sixty
feet. I used them for spare spars, and the butt of one served on the
homeward voyage for a jib-boom.

"After a farewell _ava_ ceremony in Samoan fashion at Vailima, the
_Spray_ stood out of the harbor August 20, 1896, and continued on her
course. A sense of loneliness seized upon me as the islands faded
astern, and as a remedy for it I crowded on sail for lovely Australia,
which was not a strange land to me; but for long days in my dreams
Vailima stood before the prow."

It is sad to know that this brave sailor tempted fate once too often,
for he sailed out of New York harbor some years ago and was never
heard of again.

Even though their beloved Tusitala was with them no more, the Samoans
did not forget his widow, and they often went to Vailima in bodies to
do her honour. In a letter to her mother-in-law she describes one of
these visiting parties:

"A couple of months ago the Tongan village sent to ask if they might
come and dance for us on Christmas. They were the men that considered
they belonged particularly to Louis; do you remember my telling you
how their village was put into mourning at the time of his death--in
Tongan fashion--for three days? And then how they marched up here,
every man in a new black lavalava, some forty strong, to decorate the
grave? I did not feel much like gaieties, but could not refuse the
Tongans. I asked Chief Justice Ide, his daughter