The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 17Stevenson, Robert Louis
History
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 17
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Islands of the Pacific -- Fiction; Samoan Islands -- History; Short stories
Haideln and Hufnagel, we can only regret that brave men should stand to
be exposed upon so poor a quarrel, or lives cast away upon an enterprise
so hopeless.
News of the affair reached Apia early, and Moors, always curious of
these spectacles of war, was immediately in the saddle. Near
Matafangatele he met a Manono chief, whom he asked if there were any
German dead. "I think there are about thirty of them knocked over," said
he. "Have you taken their heads?" asked Moors. "Yes," said the chief.
"Some foolish people did it, but I have stopped them. We ought not to
cut off their heads when they do not cut off ours." He was asked what
had been done with the heads. "Two have gone to Mataafa," he replied,
"and one is buried right under where your horse is standing, in a basket
wrapped in tapa." This was afterwards dug up, and I am told on native
authority that, besides the three heads, two ears were taken. Moors next
asked the Manono man how he came to be going away. "The man-of-war is
throwing shells," said he. "When they stopped firing out of the house,
we stopped firing also; so it was as well to scatter when the shells
began. We could have killed all the white men. I wish they had been
Tamaseses." This is an _ex parte_ statement, and I give it for such; but
the course of the affair, and in particular the adventures of Haideln
and Hufnagel, testify to a surprising lack of animosity against the
Germans. About the same time or but a little earlier than this
conversation, the same spirit was being displayed. Hufnagel, with a
party of labour, had gone out to bring in the German dead, when he was
surprised to be suddenly fired on from the wood. The boys he had with
him were not negritos, but Polynesians from the Gilbert Islands; and he
suddenly remembered that these might be easily mistaken for a detachment
of Tamaseses. Bidding his boys conceal themselves in a thicket, this
brave man walked into the open. So soon as he was recognised, the firing
ceased, and the labourers followed him in safety. This is chivalrous
war; but there was a side to it less chivalrous. As Moors drew nearer to
Vailele, he began to meet Samoans with hats, guns, and even shirts,
taken from the German sailors. With one of these who had a hat and a gun
he stopped and spoke. The hat was handed up for him to look at; it had
the late owner's name on the inside. "Where is he?" asked Moors. "He is
dead; I cut his head off." "You shot him?" "No, somebody else shot him
in the hip. When I came, he put up his hands, and cried: 'Don't kill me;
I am a Malietoa man.' I did not believe him, and I cut his head off."
"Have you any ammunition to fit that gun?" "I do not know." "What has
become of the cartridge-belt?" "Another fellow grabbed that and the
cartridges, and he won't give them to me." A dreadful and silly picture
of barbaric war. The words of the German sailor must be regarded as
imaginary: how was the poor lad to speak native, or the Samoan to
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account