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A Footnote to History



by Robert Louis Stevenson












PREFACE







AN affair which might be deemed worthy of a note of a few lines in 

any general history has been here expanded to the size of a volume 

or large pamphlet。  The smallness of the scale; and the singularity 

of the manners and events and many of the characters; considered; 

it is hoped that; in spite of its outlandish subject; the sketch 

may find readers。  It has been a task of difficulty。  Speed was 

essential; or it might come too late to be of any service to a 

distracted country。  Truth; in the midst of conflicting rumours and 

in the dearth of printed material; was often hard to ascertain; and 

since most of those engaged were of my personal acquaintance; it 

was often more than delicate to express。  I must certainly have 

erred often and much; it is not for want of trouble taken nor of an 

impartial temper。  And if my plain speaking shall cost me any of 

the friends that I still count; I shall be sorry; but I need not be 

ashamed。



In one particular the spelling of Samoan words has been altered; 

and the characteristic nasal N of the language written throughout 

NG instead of G。  Thus I put Pango…Pango; instead of Pago…Pago; the 

sound being that of soft NG in English; as in SINGER; not as in 

FINGER。





R。 L。 S。

VAILIMA;

UPOLU;

SAMOA。







EIGHT YEARS OF TROUBLE IN SAMOA







CHAPTER I … THE ELEMENTS OF DISCORD: NATIVE







THE story I have to tell is still going on as I write; the 

characters are alive and active; it is a piece of contemporary 

history in the most exact sense。  And yet; for all its actuality 

and the part played in it by mails and telegraphs and iron 

warships; the ideas and the manners of the native actors date back 

before the Roman Empire。  They are Christians; church…goers; 

singers of hymns at family worship; hardy cricketers; their books 

are printed in London by Spottiswoode; Trubner; or the Tract 

Society; but in most other points they are the contemporaries of 

our tattooed ancestors who drove their chariots on the wrong side 

of the Roman wall。  We have passed the feudal system; they are not 

yet clear of the patriarchal。  We are in the thick of the age of 

finance; they are in a period of communism。  And this makes them 

hard to understand。



To us; with our feudal ideas; Samoa has the first appearance of a 

land of despotism。  An elaborate courtliness marks the race alone 

among Polynesians; terms of ceremony fly thick as oaths on board a 

ship; commoners my…lord each other when they meet … and urchins as 

they play marbles。  And for the real noble a whole private dialect 

is set apart。  The common names for an axe; for blood; for bamboo; 

a bamboo knife; a pig; food; entrails; and an oven are taboo in his 

presence; as the common names for a bug and for many offices and 

members of the body are taboo in the drawing…rooms of English 

ladies。  Special words are set apart for his leg; his face; his 

hair; his belly; his eyelids; his son; his daughter; his wife; his 

wife's pregnancy; his wife's adultery; adultery with his wife; his 

dwelling; his spear; his comb; his sleep; his dreams; his anger; 

the mutual anger of several chiefs; his food; his pleasure in 

eating; the food and eating of his pigeons; his ulcers; his cough; 

his sickness; his recovery; his death; his being carried on a bier; 

the exhumation of his bones; and his skull after death。  To address 

these demigods is quite a branch of knowledge; and he who goes to 

visit a high chief does well to make sure of the competence of his 

interpreter。  To complete the picture; the same word signifies the 

watching of a virgin and the warding of a chief; and the same word 

means to cherish a chief and to fondle a favourite child。



Men like us; full of memories of feudalism; hear of a man so 

addressed; so flattered; and we leap at once to the conclusion that 

he is hereditary and absolute。  Hereditary he is; born of a great 

family; he must always be a man of mark; but yet his office is 

elective and (in a weak sense) is held on good behaviour。  Compare 

the case of a Highland chief:  born one of the great ones of his 

clan; he was sometimes appointed its chief officer and conventional 

father; was loved; and respected; and served; and fed; and died for 

implicitly; if he gave loyalty a chance; and yet if he sufficiently 

outraged clan sentiment; was liable to deposition。  As to 

authority; the parallel is not so close。  Doubtless the Samoan 

chief; if he be popular; wields a great influence; but it is 

limited。  Important matters are debated in a fono; or native 

parliament; with its feasting and parade; its endless speeches and 

polite genealogical allusions。  Debated; I say … not decided; for 

even a small minority will often strike a clan or a province 

impotent。  In the midst of these ineffective councils the chief 

sits usually silent:  a kind of a gagged audience for village 

orators。  And the deliverance of the fono seems (for the moment) to 

be final。  The absolute chiefs of Tahiti and Hawaii were addressed 

as plain John and Thomas; the chiefs of Samoa are surfeited with 

lip…honour; but the seat and extent of their actual authority is 

hard to find。



It is so in the members of the state; and worse in the belly。  The 

idea of a sovereign pervades the air; the name we have; the thing 

we are not so sure of。  And the process of election to the chief 

power is a mystery。  Certain provinces have in their gift certain 

high titles; or NAMES; as they are called。  These can only be 

attributed to the descendants of particular lines。  Once granted; 

each name conveys at once the principality (whatever that be worth) 

of the province which bestows it; and counts as one suffrage 

towards the general sovereignty of Samoa。  To be indubitable king; 

they say; or some of them say; … I find few in perfect harmony; … a 

man should resume five of these names in his own person。  But the 

case is purely hypothetical; local jealousy forbids its occurrence。  

There are rival provinces; far more concerned in the prosecution of 

their rivalry than in the choice of a right man for king。  If one 

of these shall have bestowed its name on competitor A; it will be 

the signal and the sufficient reason for the other to bestow its 

name on competitor B or C。  The majority of Savaii and that of Aana 

are thus in perennial opposition。  Nor is this all。  In 1881; 

Laupepa; the present king; held the three names of Malietoa; 

Natoaitele; and Tamasoalii; Tamasese held that of Tuiaana; and 

Mataafa that of Tuiatua。  Laupepa had thus a majority of suffrages; 

he held perhaps as high a proportion as can be hoped in these 

distracted islands; and he counted among the number the 

preponderant name of Malietoa。  Here; if ever; was an election。  

Here; if a king were at all possible; was the king。  And yet the 

natives were not satisfied。  Laupepa was crowned; March 19th; and 

next month; the provinces of Aana and Atua met in joint parliament; 

and elected their own two princes; Tamasese and Mataafa; to an 

alternate monarchy; Tamasese taking the first trick of two years。  

War was imminent; when the consuls interfered; and any war were 

preferable to the terms of the peace which they procured。  By the 

Lackawanna treaty; Laupepa was confirmed king; and Tamasese set by 

his side in the nondescript office of vice…king。  The compromise 

was not; I am told; without precedent; but it lacked all appearance 

of success。  To the constitution of Samoa; which was already all 

wheels and no horses; the consuls had added a fifth wheel。  In 

addition to the old conundrum; 〃Who is the king?〃 they had supplied 

a new one; 〃What is the vice…king?〃



Two royal lines; some cloudy idea of alternation between the two; 

an electorate in which the vote of each province is immediately 


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