第13章

Mataafahasbeenproclaimedarebel；thePresidentdidthisact，andthenresigned。Bysingulargoodfortune，Mataafahasnotyetmoved；nothankstoouridiotgovernors。Theyhaveshottheirbolt；theyhavemadearebeloftheonlyman(TOTHEIROWNKNOWLEDGE，ONTHEREPORTOFTHEIROWNSPY)whoheldtherebelpartyincheck；andhavingthuscalledonwartofall，theycandonomore，sitequally’expertes’ofVIS

andcounsel，regardingtheirhandiwork。Itisalwaysacrywiththesefolkthathe(Mataafa)hadnoammunition。I

alwayssaiditwouldbefound；andweknowoffiveboat-loadsthathavefoundtheirwaytoMaliealready。Wheretherearetraders，therewillbeammunition；aphorismbyR。L。S。

NowwhatamItodonext？

LivesoftheStevensons？HISTORIASAMOAE？AHistoryforChildren？Fiction？Ihavehadtwohardmonthsatfiction；I

wantachange。Stevensons？Iamexpectingsomemorematerial；perhapsbetterwait。Samoa；rathertempting；mightbeusefultotheislands-andtome；foritwillbewritteninadmirabletemper；Ihaveneveragreedwithanyparty，andseemeritsandexcusesinall；shoulddoit(ifIdid)veryslacklyandeasily，asifhalfinconversation。HistoryforChildren？ThisflowsfrommylessonstoAustin；nobookisanygood。ThebestIhaveseenisFreeman’sOLDENGLISH

HISTORY；buthisstyleissorasping，andachildcanlearnmore，ifhe’sclever。IfoundmysketchofgeneralAryanHistory，giveninconversation，tohavebeenpracticallycorrect-atleastwhatImeanis，Freemanhadverymuchthesamestuffinhisearlychapters，onlynotsomuch，andI

thoughtnotsowellplaced；andthechildrememberedsomeofit。Nowthedifficultyistogivethisgeneralideaofmainplace，growth，andmovement；itisneedfultotackitonayarn。NowScotchistheonlyHistoryIknow；itistheonlyhistoryreasonablyrepresentedinmylibrary；itisaverygoodoneformypurpose，owingtotwocivilisationshavingbeenfacetofacethroughout-orratherRomancivilisationfacetofacewithourancientbarbariclifeandgovernment，downtoyesterday，to1750anyway。ButtheTALESOFA

GRANDFATHERstandinmyway；IamteachingthemtoAustinnow，andtheyhaveallScott’sdefectsandallScott’shopelessmerit。Icannotcompetewiththat；andyet，sofarasregardsteachingHistory，howhehasmissedhischances！

IthinkI’lltry；Ireallyhavesomehistoricsense，Ifeelthatinmybones。Thenthere’sanotherthing。ScottneverknewtheHighlands；hewasalwaysaBorderer。Hehasmissedthatwhole，long，strange，patheticstoryofoursavages，and，besides，hisstyleisnotveryperspicuoustochildhood。

Gad，IthinkI’llhaveaflutter。Buridan’sAss！Whethertogo，whattoattack。Mustgotootherletters；shalladdtothis，ifIhavetime。

MYDEARCOLVIN，MYDEARCOLVIN，-IwonderhowoftenI’mgoingtowriteit。Inspiteofthelossofthreedays，asI

havetotell，andalotofweedingandcacaoplanting，Ihavefinishedsincethemailleftfourchapters，forty-eightpagesofmySamoahistory。Itistruethatthefirstthreehadbeenagooddealdraftedtwoyearsago，buttheyhadalltobewrittenandre-written，andthefourthchapterisallnew。

ChapterI。ElementsofDiscord-Native。II。ElementsofDiscord-Foreign。III。TheSuccessofLaupepa。IV。Brandeis。

V。Willprobablybecalled’TheRiseofMataafa。’VI。FUROR

CONSULARIS-adevilofalongchapter。VII。StuebelthePacificator。VIII。GovernmentundertheTreatyofBerlin。

IX。PracticalSuggestions。Saythree-sixthsofitaredone，maybemore；bythismailfivechaptersshouldgo，andthatshouldbeagoodhalfofit；saysixtypages。AndifyouconsiderthatIsentbylastmailtheendoftheWRECKER，comingonforseventyoreightypages，andthemailbeforethattheentireTaleoftheBEACHOFFALESA，IdonotthinkI

canbeaccusedofidleness。Thisismyseason；Ioftenworksixandseven，andsometimeseighthours；andthesamedayI

amperhapsweedingorplantingforanhourortwomore-andIdaresayyouknowwhathardworkweedingis-anditallagreeswithmeatthistimeoftheyear-like-likeidleness，ifamanofmyyearscouldbeidle。

MyfirstvisittoApiawasashocktome；everysecondpersontheghostofhimself，andtheplacereekingwithinfection。

ButIhavenotgotthethingyet，andhopetoescape。ThisshowshowmuchstrongerIam；thinkofmeflittingthroughatownofinfluenzapatientsseeminglyunscathed。Weareallonthecacaoplanting。

ThenextdaymywifeandIrodeovertotheGermanplantation，Vailele，whosemanagerisalmosttheonlyGermanlefttospeaktous。Seventylabourersdownwithinfluenza！

Itisalovelyride，half-waydownourmountaintowardsApia，thenturntotheright，fordtheriver，andthreemilesofsolitarygrassandcocoapalms，towheretheseabeatsandthewildwindblowsunceasinglyabouttheplantationhouse。

OnthewaydownFannysaid，’NowwhatwouldyoudoifyousawColvincomingup？’

NextdaywerodedowntoApiatomakecalls。

Yesterdaythemailcame，andthefatwasinthefire。

NOV。29TH？

BOOK。Allright。ImustsayIlikeyourorder。Andthepapersaresomeofthemuptodick，andnomistake。Iagreewithyouthelightsseemalittleturneddown。Thetruthis，Iwasfarthrough(ifyouunderstandScots)，andcamenonetoosoontotheSouthSeas，whereIwastorecoverpeaceofbodyandmind。Nomanbutmyselfknewallmybitternessinthosedays。Rememberthat，thenexttimeyouthinkIregretmyexile。Andhoweverlowthelightsare，thestuffistrue，andIbelievethemoreeffective；afterall，whatIwishtofightisthebestfoughtbyarathercheerlesspresentationofthetruth。Theworldmustreturnsomedaytothewordduty，andbedonewiththewordreward。Therearenorewards，andplentyduties。Andthesooneramanseesthatandactsuponitlikeagentlemanorafineoldbarbarian，thebetterforhimself。

Thereismyusualpuzzleaboutpublishers。Chattooughttohaveit，ashehasalltheotheressays；theseallbelongtome，andChattopublishesonterms。Longmanhasforgottenthetermsweareon；lethimlookupourfirstcorrespondence，andhewillseeIreservedexplicitly，aswasmyhabit，therighttorepublishasIchoose。HadthesamearrangementwithHenley，MagazineofArt，andwithTullochFraser’s-

Foranynecessarynoteorpreface，itwouldbearealserviceifyouwouldundertakethedutyyourself。Ishouldloveaprefacebyyou，asshortoraslongasyouchoose，threesentences，thirtypages，thethingIshouldlikeisyourname。Andtheexcuseofmygreatdistanceseemssufficient。

IshallreturnwiththisthesheetscorrectedasfarasI

havethem；therestIwillleave，ifyouwill，toyouentirely；letitbeyourbook，anddisclaimwhatyoudislikeinthepreface。Youcansayitwasatmyeagerprayer。I

shouldsayIamthelesswillingtopassChattoover，becausehebehavedtheotherdayinaveryhandsomemanner。HeaskedleavetoreprintDAMIEN；Igaveittohimasapresent，explainingIcouldreceivenoemolumentforapersonalattack。Andhetookoutmyshareofprofits，andsenttheminmynametotheLeperFund。IcouldnotbearafterthattotakefromhimanyofthatclassofbookswhichIhavealwaysgivenhim。Tellhimthesametermswilldo。Clarktoprint，uniformwiththeothers。

Ihavelostallthedayssincethisletterbeganre-handlingChapterIV。oftheSamoaracket。Idonotgoinforliterature；addressmyselftosensiblepeopleratherthantosensitive。And，indeed，itisakindofjournalism，Ihavenorighttodally；ifitistohelp，itmustcomesoon。Intwomonthsfromnowitshallbedone，andshouldbepublishedinthecourseofMarch。IproposeCassellgetsit。Iamgoingtocallit’AFootnotetoHistory:EightYearsofTroubleinSamoa，’Ibelieve。Irecoilfromseriousnames；

theyseemsomuchtoopretentiousforapamphlet。ItwillbeaboutthesizeofTREASUREISLAND，Ibelieve。Ofcourse，asyounowknow，mycaseofconsciencecleareditselfoff，andI

beganmyinterventiondirectlytooneoftheparties。Theother，theChiefJustice，Iamtoinformofmybookthefirstoccasion。Godknowsifthebookwilldoanygood-orharm；

butIjudgeitrighttotry。Thereisoneman’slifecertainlyinvolved；anditmaybeallourlives。Imustnotstandandslouch，butdomybestasbestIcan。Butyoumayconceivethedifficultyofahistoryextendingtothepresentweek，atleast，andwherealmostalltheactorsuponallsidesareofmypersonalacquaintance。Theonlywayistojudgeslowly，andwriteboldly，andleavetheissuetofate。

Iamfarindeedfromwishingtoconfinemyselftocreativework；thatisaloss，theotherrepairs；theonechanceforaman，and，aboveall，foronewhogrowselderly，ahem，istovarydrainageandrepair。ThatistheonethingIunderstand-thecultivationoftheshallowSOLUMofmybrain。ButIwouldrather，fromsoonon，bereleasedfromtheobligationtowrite。Infiveorsixyearsthisplantation-supposeitandusstilltoexist-shouldprettywellsupportusandpaywages；notbefore，andalreadythesixyearsseemlongtome。Ifliteraturewerebutapastime！

IhaveinterruptedmyselftowritethenecessarynotificationtotheChiefJustice。

IseeinlookingupLongman’sletterthatitwasasusualtheletterofanobliginggentleman；sodonottroublehimwithmyreminder。Iwishallmypublisherswerenotsonice。AndIhaveafourthandafifthbayingatmyheels；butforthese，ofcourse，theymustgowanting。