But Pago Pago harbor is large and deep. What is still better, it is surrounded by bluffs and mountains that will shelter a big fleet against even the fury of a typhoon.
Most of the islands are covered with a dense vegetation, tropical and richly colored. There is an abundance of hardwood trees, but the breadfruit, banana, and cocoa-palm are the most useful. The breadfruit-tree grows wild, but it is also cultivated. The fruit is about the size of an ordinary cantaloupe. In some species the fruit is filled with seeds nearly as large as chestnuts and these are sometimes eaten. The best fruit, however, is filled with starchy matter.
It is cooked in many ways, but it is greatly relished when baked in hot ashes covered with live coals. After it is thus cooked, it is cut open and the rich juicy pulp scooped out. When cooked with meat and gravy it is superior to the finest mushrooms.
The cocoa-palm is a source of not a little profit. The thick husk yields a fibre that is much used in making coarse mats; the dried meat of the nut is the copra of commerce. Large quantities are exported to the United States and Europe in order to obtain the oil; and the oil is used chiefly to make soap.
The native Samoans are lighter colored than most Polynesians, and are the finest native peoples of the South Pacific Ocean. Many years ago missionaries and teachers settled in Samoa and they found the natives to be pretty apt scholars. By nature they were dignified and polite; they also learned quickly the arts of civilized life. Nowadays nearly every native village has its church and school-house. The Samoans are fond of music and one may hear American hymns and melodies in nearly every native house.
The native houses are larger than most of the houses one finds among the Pacific islands. Two or more long posts support the ridge pole and a great number of shorter posts hold the lower edges of the roof. The roof itself consists of closely fitted mats of brush thickly thatched with the leaves of wild sugar cane. A well-made roof lasts a dozen years or more.
Mats of sugar-cane closely woven are loosely fastened to the outer rows of posts so that they can be easily put up or taken down. They form the side walls of the house. The floor is made of clay, paved with pebbles. Usually there is a floor covering of mats. In the centre of the floor is a fire pit which serves for the purpose of cooking during the day and to drive out the mosquitoes at night. The beds and chairs are mats and the pillows are made of bamboo.
The Samoans know how to live well. With each house there is pretty certain to be a garden in which yams, taro, sweet potatoes, bananas, fruit, and chickens are grown. Then, there are fish and shrimps that can be caught in abundance. But the chief and most highly prized dish is called "poi." Taro and kalo are names—or a name, rather; for they are different forms of the same word—given to several plants that grow from starchy bulbs. One kind of taro looks much like a lily that grows higher than a tall man. The bulb, or root, is first baked and then ground to a paste with water. When thus prepared, it is set aside until it begins to ferment; then it is ready to be eaten. A great dish or pot of poi is placed on a mat and the family gather around, one after another dipping it out with their hands. To foreigners poi has a most unpleasant, disagreeable taste. When made into cakes and baked, however, it is much relished by foreigners.
Kava is the national drink. It is made from the roots of a shrub belonging to the pepper family. The root is ground between stones and then soaked in water. After a while it is pounded and rubbed until all the milky juice is squeezed out of it. When "extra-fine" kava is wanted, young girls chew the root until it has become pulpy. After standing a day or two it is strained and is then ready to be drunk. It is a cooling and refreshing drink, but if taken too freely is apt to tangle one's legs uncomfortably.
On account of its delightful climate and beautiful scenery, Samoa is one of the most attractive places in the world in which to live. Back in the mountains, a few miles from Apia, Robert Louis Stevenson spent the last few years of his life, and his body is buried on the top of the mountain near by. Stevenson was greatly beloved by the natives, and after his death he was mourned by them as one of their very best friends.