Part 7 (2/2)
My diet on these long passages usually consisted of potatoes and salt cod and biscuits, which I made two or three tiar, and flour I carried usually a good supply of potatoes, but before reaching Sahly prized sailors' luxury Through uese named Manuel Carroza, who nearly traded me out of my boots, I ran out of potatoes in mid-ocean, and retched thereafter I prided uese froave ot froround for boasting He wanted ot to sea I found that his tubers were rank and unedible, and full of fine yellow streaks of repulsive appearance I tied the sack up and returned to the few left of ry the island potatoes would iain, and out flew ed insects! Manuel's potatoes had all turned to moths I tied them up quickly and threw all into the sea
Manuel had a large crop of potatoes on hand, and as a hint to whaleetables, he wished me to report whales off the island of Juan Fernandez, which I have already done, and big ones at that, but they were a long way off
Taking things by and large, as sailors say, I got on fairly well in the e across the Pacific I found always some small stores to help the fare of luxuries; what I lacked of fresh meat was made up in fresh fish, at least while in the trade-winds, where flying-fish crossing on the wing at night would hit the sails and fall on deck, so except when thethe
On the 16th of July, after considerable care and some skill and hard work, the _Spray_ cast anchor at Apia, in the kingdoat once on shore I sat under it till late in the evening, listening with delight to the musical voices of the Sa down the harbor, with three young women in it, rested her paddles abreast the sloop One of the fair crew, hailing with the naive salutation, ”Talofa lee” (”Love to you, chief”), asked:
”Schoon come Melike?”
”Love to you,” I answered, and said, ”Yes”
”You ain I answered, ”Yes”
”I don't believe that You had other hed ”What for you co,” I replied
[Illustration: First exchange of courtesies in Sa on Their voices filled the air with rove of tall palms on the other side of the harbor and back Soon after this six young ing in parts and beating time with their oars In my intervieith them I came off better than with the damsels in the canoe They bore an invitation from General Churchill for me to cos about the consulate at Saeneral's boat, and saw to it that they wore a s, which in the first week Mrs Churchill herself could sing like a native girl
Next ht and early Mrs Robert Louis Stevenson ca day I was of course thrilled when I found myself, after so ht wohted h and through, sparkled e compared notes of adventure I marveled at so with her husband, she had voyaged in allthe islands of the Pacific, reflectively adding, ”Our tastes were siavedirectories for the Mediterranean, writing on the fly-leaf of the first:
To CAPTAIN SLOcum These volumes have been read and re-read many times by my husband, and I am very sure that he would be pleased that they should be passed on to the sort of seafaring man that he liked above all others fanny V DE G STEVENSON
Mrs Stevenson also gave reat directory of the Indian Ocean It was not without a feeling of reverential awe that I received the books so nearly direct from the hand of Tusitala, ”who sleeps in the forest” Aolele, the _Spray_ will cherish your gift
[Illustration: Vailima, the home of Robert Louis Stevenson]
The novelist's stepson, Mr Lloyd Osbourne, walked through the Vailima mansion with ht it would be presumptuous to do that; it was sufficient for me to enter the hall on the floor of which the ”Writer of Tales,”
according to the Sah the main street of Apia one day, with my hosts, all bound for the _Spray_, Mrs Stevenson on horseback, I walking by her side, and Mr and Mrs Osbourne close in our wake on bicycles, at a sudden turn in the road we found ourselves mixed with a remarkable native procession, with a somewhat primitive band of music, in front of us, while behind was a festival or a funeral, we could not tell which Several of the stoutest men carried bales and bundles on poles
Some were evidently bales of tapa-cloth The burden of one set of poles, heavier than the rest, however, was not so easily made out My curiosity hetted to knohether it was a roast pig or soruesome nature, and I inquired about it ”I don't know,” said Mrs Stevenson, ”whether this is a wedding or a funeral Whatever it is, though, captain, our place see in the stream, we boarded her from the beach abreast, in the little razeed Gloucester dory, which had been painted a sunwale to the water, and I was obliged to steer with great care to avoid swareatly, 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”
As I sailed farther from the center of civilization I heard less and less of ould and ould not pay Mrs Stevenson, in speaking of e, did not once ask e, the chief did not ask the price of gin, or say, ”How ?” but, ”Dollar, dollar,”
said he; ”white man know only dollar”
”Never mind dollar The _tapo_ has prepared ava; let us drink and rejoice” The tapo is the virgin hostess of the village; in this instance it was Taloa, daughter of the chief ”Our taro is good; let us eat On the tree there is fruit Let the day go by; why should weThe breadfruit is yellow in the sun, and froood, cost but the labor of building it, and there is no lock on the door”