第11章

OnemorewordabouttheSouthSeas，inanswertoaquestionI

observeIhaveforgottentoanswer。TheTahitiparthasneverturnedup，becauseithasneverbeenwritten。AsfortellingyouwhereIwentorwhen，oranythingaboutHonolulu，Iwouldratherdie；thatisfairandplain。HowcananybodycarewhenorhowIleftHonolulu？Amanofupwardsoffortycannotwastehistimeincommunicatingmatterofthatindifference。Theletters，itappears，aretedious；theywouldbemoretediousstillifIwastedmytimeuponsuchinfantileandsucking-bottledetails。IfeverIputinanysuchdetail，itisbecauseitleadsintosomethingorservesasatransition。Totellitforitsownsake，never！ThemistakeisallthroughthatIhavetoldtoomuch；Ihadnotsufficientconfidenceinthereader，andhaveoverfedhim；

andhereareyouanxioustolearnhowI-OColvin！Supposeithadmadeabook，allsuchinformationisgiventooneglanceofaneyebyamapwithalittledottedlineuponit。

Butletusforgetthisunfortunateaffair。

WEDNESDAY。

YesterdayIwentdowntoconsultClarke，whotooktheviewofdelay。Hashechangedhismindalready？Iwonder:hereatleastisthenews。SomelittlewhilebacksomemenofManono-whatisManono？-aSamoanrottenborough，asmallisleofhugepoliticalimportance，heavenknowswhy，whereahandfulofchiefsmakehalfthetroubleinthecountry。SomemenofManono(whichisstrongMataafa)burneddownthehousesanddestroyedthecropsofsomeMalietoaneighbours。ThePresidentwenttheretheotherdayandlandedaloneontheisland，which(togivehimhisdue)wasplucky。Moreover，hesucceededinpersuadingthefolkstocomeupandbejudgedonaparticulardayinApia。Thatdaytheydidnotcome；butdidcomethenext，and，totheirvastsurprise，weregivensixmonths’imprisonmentandclappedingaol。Thosewhohadaccompaniedthemcriedtothemonthestreetsastheyweremarchedtoprison，’Shallwerescueyou？’Thecondemned，marchinginthehandsofthirtymenwithloadedrifles，criedout’No’！Andthetrickwasdone。Butitwasardentlybelievedarescuewouldbeattempted；thegaolwaslaidaboutwitharmedmendayandnight；buttherewassomequestionoftheirloyalty，andthecommandantoftheforces，averyniceyoungbeardlessSwede，becamenervous，andconceivedaplan。

Howifheshouldputdynamiteunderthegaol，andincaseofanattemptedrescueblowupprisonandall？HewenttothePresident，whoagreed；hewenttotheAmericanman-of-warforthedynamiteandmachine，wasrefused，andgotitatlastfromtheWreckers。Thethingbegantoleakout，andtherearoseamutteringintown。Peoplehadnofancyforamateurexplosions，foronething。Foranother，itdidnotclearlyappearthatitwaslegal；themenhadbeencondemnedtosixmonths’prison，whichtheywerepeaceablyundergoing；theyhadnotbeencondemnedtodeath。Andlastly，itseemedasomewhatadvancedexampleofcivilisationtosetbeforebarbarians。Themutterinshortbecameastorm，andyesterday，whileIwasdown，acutterwaschartered，andtheprisonersweresuddenlybanishedtotheTokelaus。Whohaschangedthesentence？Wearegoingtostirinthedynamitematter；wedonotwantthenativestofancyusconsentingtosuchanoutrage。

Fannyhasreturnedfromhertrip，andonthewholelooksbetter。TheHIGHWOODSareunderway，andtheirnameisnowtheBEACHOFFALESA，andtheyarniscured。Ihaveaboutthirtypagesofitdone；itwillbefiftytoseventyI

suppose。Nosupernaturaltrickatall；andescapedoutofitquiteeasily；can’tthinkwhyIwassostupidforsolong。

MightygladtohaveFannybacktothis’HelloftheSouthSeas，’astheGermanCaptaincalledit。WhatwillCedarcrantzthinkwhenhecomesback？Todohimjustice，hadhebeenhere，thisManonohashwouldnothavebeen。

Hereisaprettything。WhenFannywasinFijialltheSamoaandTokelaufolkswereagogaboutour’flash’house；butthewhiteshadneverheardofit。

ROBERTLOUISSTEVENSON，AuthorofTHEBEACHOFFALESA。

MYDEARCOLVIN，-SinceIlastlaiddownmypen，IhavewrittenandrewrittenTHEBEACHOFFALESA；somethinglikesixtythousandwordsofsterlingdomesticfiction(thestory，youwillunderstand，isonlyhalfthatlength)；andnowI

don’twanttowriteanymoreagainforever，orfeelso；andI’vegottooverhaulitonceagaintomysorrow。Iwasallyesterdayrevising，andfoundalotofslacknessesand(whatisworseinthiskindofthing)someliteraryisms。Oneofthepuzzlesisthis:Itisafirstpersonstory-atradertellinghisownadventureinanisland。WhenIbeganI

allowedmyselfafewliberties，becauseIwasafraidoftheend；nowtheendprovedquiteeasy，andcouldbedoneinthepace；sothebeginningremainsaboutaquartertoneout(inplaces)；butIhaveratherdecidedtoletitstayso。Theproblemisalwaysdelicate；itistheonlythingthatworriesmeinfirstpersontales，whichotherwise(quo’Alan)’setbetterwi’mygenius。’Thereisavastdealoffactinthestory，andsomeprettygoodcomedy。ItisthefirstrealisticSouthSeastory；ImeanwithrealSouthSeacharacteranddetailsoflife。Everybodyelsewhohastried，thatIhaveseen，gotcarriedawaybytheromance，andendedinakindofsugar-candyshamepic，andthewholeeffectwaslost-therewasnoetching，nohumangrin，consequentlynoconviction。NowIhavegotthesmellandlookofthethingagooddeal。YouwillknowmoreabouttheSouthSeasafteryouhavereadmylittletalethanifyouhadreadalibrary。Astowhetheranyoneelsewillreadit，Ihavenoguess。Iaminanofftime，butthereisjustthepossibilityitmightmakeahit；fortheyarnisgoodandmelodramatic，andthereisquitealoveaffair-forme；andMr。Wiltshire(thenarrator)isahugelark，thoughIsayit。Butthereisalwaystheexoticquestion，andeverything，thelife，theplace，thedialects-trader’stalk，whichisastrangeconglomerateofliteraryexpressionsandEnglishandAmericanslang，andBeachdeMar，ornativeEnglish，-theverytradesandhopesandfearsofthecharacters，areallnovel，andmaybefoundunwelcometothatgreat，hulking，bulleringwhale，thepublic。

SinceIwrote，IhavebeenlikewisedrawingupadocumenttosendittothePresident；ithasbeendreadfullydelayed，notbyme，butto-daytheyswearitwillbesentin。Alistofquestionsaboutthedynamitereportarehereinlaidbeforehim，andconsiderationssuggestedwhyheshouldanswer。

EversincemylastsnatchIhavebeenmuchchiviedaboutoverthePresidentbusiness；hisanswerhascome，andisanevasionaccompaniedwithschoolboyinsolence，andwearegoingtotrytoanswerit。Idrewmyanswerandtookitdownyesterday；butoneofthesignatorieswantsanotherparagraphadded，whichIhavenotyetbeenabletodraw，andastothewisdomofwhichIamnotyetconvinced。

NEXTDAY，OCT。7TH，THERIGHTDAY。

WeareallinratheramuddledstatewithourPresidentaffair。Idoloathepolitics，butatthesametime，Icannotstandbyandhavethenativesblownintheairtreacherouslywithdynamite。Theyarestillquiet；howlongthismaycontinueIdonotknow，thoughofcoursebymereprescriptiontheGovernmentisstrengthened，andisprobablyinsuredtillthenexttaxesfalldue。Buttheunpopularityofthewhitesisgrowing。Mynativeoverseer，thegreatHenrySimele，announcedto-daythathewas’wearyofwhitesuponthebeach。

Alltooproud，’saidthisveraciouswitness。Oneoftheproudoneshadthreatenedyesterdaytocutoffhisheadwithabushknife！Theseare’nativeoutrages’；honourbright，andsettingtheftaside，inwhichthenativesareactive，thisisthemainstreamofirritation。Thenativesaregenerallycourtly，farfromalwayscivil，butreallygentle，andwithastrongsenseofhonouroftheirown，andcertainlyquiteasmuchcivilisedasourdynamitingPresident。

WeshallbedelightedtoseeKipling。Igotobedusuallyabouthalf-pasteight，andmylampisoutbeforeten；I

breakfastatsix。Wemaysayroughlywehavenosodawaterontheisland，andjustnowtruthfullynowhisky。IHAVE

heardthechimesatmidnight；nownomore，Iguess。BUT-

FannyandI，assoonaswecangetcoinsforit，arecomingtoEurope，nottoEngland:IamthinkingofRoyat。Barwars。

Ifnot，perhapstheApenninesmightgiveusamountainrefugefortwomonthsorthreeinsummer。Howisthatforhigh？

Butthemoneymustbeallinhandfirst。

OCTOBER13TH。

HowamItodescribemylifetheselastfewdays？Ihavebeenwhollyswallowedupinpolitics，awretchedbusiness，withfineelementsoffarceinittoo，whichrepayamaninpassing，involvingmanydarkandmanymoonlightrides，secretcounselswhichareatoncedivulged，sealedletterswhicharereadaloudinconfidencetotheneighbours，andamassoffudgeandfun，whichwouldhavedrivenmecrazytenyearsago，andnowmakesmesmile。

OnFriday，Henrycameandtoldushemustleaveandgoto’mypooroldfamilyinSavaii’；why？Idonotquiteknow-but，Isuspect，tobetattooed-ifso，thenprobablytobemarried，andweshallseehimnomore。Itoldhimhemustdowhathethoughthisduty；wehadhimtolunch，drankhishealth，andheandIrodedownabouttwelve。WhenIgotdown，Isentmyhorsebacktohelpbringdownthefamilylater。Myownafternoonwascutoutforme；mylastdraftforthePresidenthadbeenobjectedtobysomeofthesignatories。Istoodout，andoneofoursmallnumberaccordinglyrefusedtosign。HimIhadtogoandpersuade，whichwentoffverywellafterthefirsthottishmoments；youhavenoideahowstolidmytemperisnow。Byaboutfivethethingwasdone；andwesatdowntodinnerattheChinaman’s-

theVerreyorDoyen’sofApia-G。andIateachendashosts；G。’swife-Fanua，latemaidofthevillage；her(adopted)fatherandmother，SeumanuandFaatulia，Fanny，Belle，Lloyd，Austin，andHenrySimele，hislastappearance。

Henrywasinakiltofgrayshawl，withabluejacket，whiteshirtandblacknecktie，andlookedlikeadarkgenteelguestinaHighlandshooting-box。Seumanu(oppositeFanny，nextG。)ischiefofApia，aratherbigguninthisplace，lookinglikealarge，fatted，militaryEnglishman，barthecolour。

Faatulia，nextme，isabiggerchiefthanherhusband。Henryisachieftoo-hischiefname，Iiga(Ee-eeng-a)，hehasnotyet’taken’becauseofhisyouth。Wewereinfinesociety，andhadapleasantmeal-time，withlotsoffun。ThentotheOpera-Ibegyourpardon，ImeantheCircus。Weoccupiedthefirstrowinthereservedseats，andthereintherowbehindwereallourfriends-CaptainFossandhisCaptain-