If one should reach Apia on Sunday he would be apt to find the hair on the heads of a majority of men a yellow and reddish color; and were one to stop at the same port on a Tuesday or Wednesday the hair would be black, the natural color. Coral lime will change the color of hair in two or three days, when he puts on his best lava-lava (kilt; sulu in Fiji), the light-colored hair indicating he is dressed up. The hair is straight, and worn brushed back. The lava-lava is often a bath towel with red stripes. From his waist up he is bare, and he wears no shoes. From waist-line to the cap of the knee he is tattooed. His skin is a gold-bronze color, and he walks with a princely step, but not a swagger stride. Natives are of good size, but not so strongly built as the Zulus.
Samoan women are noted for their beauty, and their comeliness measures up to this coveted distinction not only among the South Sea Islands races, but of native races of the world. They wear the lava-lava, as the men, together with a loose-fitting waist, with short, loose sleeves. Wrappers, however, are sometimes worn. The clothing worn on the islands is made with the object of affording comfort. The hair generally presents a tidy appearance. Flowers, ferns or leaves are often seen deftly placed in the folds of the thick black hair of Samoan women, which usually shines from a liberal application of cocoanut oil. Garlands, worn about the neck, also play a part in their dress. These are sometimes composed of orange blossoms, buds of other flowers, berry-like seeds from trees, small seashells, pits from certain fruits, or of pieces of bone resembling teeth of wild beasts. As a rule, their expressions are pleasing, and they have a healthy appearance. Some wear sandals, but most natives are in their bare feet. As with the wearing apparel of most races, the lava-lavas and waists are not all of the same color, but vary according to the fancy of the wearer; and the seed of fancy and caprice seems to be implanted in the hearts of women of all races, as manifested not only by the different colors of the lava-lava, but also by the patterns of silks, sealskins, feathers, and precious stones, as the case may be.
These natives are too proud to unload ships, so Nieu "boys," natives from the Savage Islands, are carried from port to port to do the work. Each Samoan owns a small piece of land, and the copra, cocoa, bananas and other tropical products from this amply supply his needs.
When eating in a Samoan's hut a mat is spread for the visitor to sit on. Another mat is placed before the visitor, which might be termed a tablecloth. A banana-leaf plate, placed on the second mat, may contain a baked fish or perhaps a pigeon. Still another dinner mat, with a banana-leaf plate, contains greens, the taro leaf, and cocoanut cream; then there may be a third course, with mat and "plate," containing a native delicacy. The native beverage, kava, is served in a cocoanut shell by one of the daughters. All the while chatting is going on and compliments paid the visitor by the family through an interpreter, if one cannot speak their language. Sipping liquid is not a custom in Samoa; but swallowing whatever is offered in the nature of drink at one gulp, and then sending the cup spinning back across the mat to the person who served it, is proper. One is supposed to sit cross-legged on a mat during the meal.
Most of the natives seemed to own a horse and buggy, and no signs of poverty are apparent. People are in no hurry in Samoa, which may account for the term, "The land of delicious idleness." The weather is hot, never below 90 degrees in the shade, and hovers about the 100 mark. The temperature does not vary 10 degrees all the year round.
For miles around Apia is a great botanical garden. It is said the best cocoanut palms grow in Samoa; bananas grow as prolific as weeds; the broad-leafed cocoa tree, with its large, purple-covered pods, covers large areas; the papaw, or mummy apple, is seen at every turn; coffee bushes are a luxurious growth; pineapples, mango trees, breadfruit trees, with broad leaves and rough skin—any tree or plant that grows in the tropics may be found in Samoa. The exports from that port are chiefly copra and cocoa. Samoa is the only place in the South Sea Islands where cocoa trees will thrive.
Nobody locks doors at night, and nothing is ever taken from huts. Calling on an acquaintance who kept a general store, we found the place filled with Samoans—not room enough to move. He had occasion to step to the rear for some article called for, leaving the goods, which were piled up on the counters, to the mercy of the natives, and much floor space was taken up with merchandise, too. After the customers had left the store, the storekeeper was asked if he did not fear that his goods would be taken while he was at the rear of the building. "If I had turned around while walking from the front to the rear of the store," he explained, "something would have been missing, for I would have offended their sense of honesty, but by giving no sign of suspicion—trusting them—had I remained away an hour everything in the place would be, on my return, as it was when I went away."
Samoans are a religious race. On Sundays the streets are crowded with natives dressed in highly-colored lava-lavas, each carrying a Bible and hymn book. They are good singers.
Only a few miles from Apia, Robert Louis Stevenson, the novelist, lived and died. On Mount Vaca, rising a thousand feet above Apia, his remains lie, and a portion of the tomb may be seen through the thick foliage when sailing into the harbor. His home, "Vailima," is now the residence of the Governor-General.
"Talofa" is the passing salute in Samoa, which, translated, is "My love to you." "Tofa" is the parting word on leaving a Samoan home, meaning "good-by."