Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/107

 voices, but are wonderfully correct in beating time. When a native wishes to take a wife he gets the consent of the chief. Then he takes a basket of bread-fruit and offers it to the girl of his choice. If she accepts, his suit is gained. He then must pay to her parents a certain price for her. A chiefs daughter is valued as high as a musket, a half-dozen hatchets or plane-irons, or as many  yards of sheeting. Tattooing is called "ta-ta-tau." The natives are very fond of it, and it is not uncommon to see the whole body covered. It is performed by persons who make it a regular business.

Having finished the survey of Tutuila, we up anchor and stood for the island of Upolu about forty miles to  the westward. Next morning we dropped anchor in the harbor of Apia. We were soon visited by the big chief of the Christian party, his wife, two daughters, and a  number of small chiefs. Pea, the big chief, wore a sailor’s jacket, trousers, a white vest, a tall beaver hat, and shoes. His wife wore a short calico jacket and a straw bonnet, but no shoes. He looked like a grandson beside her, for he was a very small man, while she was an extremely  large woman. Their two daughters were very gayly dressed. They wore short gingham frocks, flashy waist- ribbons, and morocco shoes. The small chiefs wore nothing but their native tapa tied round their waists so  as to cover the lower part of the body. After visiting the different parts of the ship, refreshments were served  in the wardroom, where they ate and ate until they could  eat no more.

During our surveying trip across the island we visited many of the "Devils’" towns, or those not yet Christian-