Show 17 0 0 A 5 I 1 lk P V 7 A village in american samoa prepared by the national geographic 1 society Bo clety 1 D C URE B stops stopa among th the n south T sea islands will give a thumb J nail view of the forces that I 1 have played and are playing about those bits of land that have always held field a fascination to travelers from tho the lands of western civilization the first port of call may well be tal obal O 0 bal which has bas neen described as a port of tragedy situated at the innermost pointon point of a horseshoe bay which furnishes a ren rea well protected tal 0 URI ual owe once gave pr promise amise of being a pacific cefic metropolis a rival perhaps to papette Pa peete tahiti miles to alie southwest alio town on largest of the Marque sas islands Is listed as the administrative seat of the french government of the Marque sas but we honor Is a hollow one for the starlie marlie tire are rapidly dying on off T the hundred thousand or more who pe peopled 0 the eleven islands a century ngn ago have dwindled to or when france took the islands over in 1821 1824 the future seemed rosy to if alie 1 e white settlers who went there TI the e islands teemed with superlatively y healthy brawny natives the rain min fall was abundant and vegetation grew rankly D dreams ren ms of pro coconut cotton and varillia vanilla I 1 I 1 plantations fillet filled the heads bends of french adventurers tal tai 0 nal was bu built lit with these dreams in mind and stores inns churches schools and another accompaniment of civilization a jail sprang up I 1 but things did not work out as had been expected the Marque sins did not care to become plantation labor ers they had led lives of ease spending their time in idleness in gathering natures fruits and in war among themselves some unscrupulous planters tried rum and opium as inducements du to tabor labor they brought a certain temporary success but they helped to bring a speedy end to all hope for the survival of the mar blar people to drunkenness and BCd dennes were soon added the white mans diseases diseases which meant little to civilizations of america and europe that had find become largely immune to them but which carried off the islanders like flies tal 0 hal which had waxed as quickly waned today to day less lesa than ir 0 o people live in the vill village age and there Is only a handful of whites the once once populous valleys back in have been abandoned to the rank growth papette a lively town next one may still sail to papette Pa peete the chief port of tahiti metropolis of the pacific the honolulu of the south because of its position almost mid way between panama and new zen zea la land rid and its reasonable distance as south sea distances go from samoa I 1 the Marque sas and hawaii papette la Is a sort of ocean eross crossroads roads and its cosmopolitan aspect never falls to impress visitors on its wharves and in its streets one eti encounters counters vanilla nod and coconut planters traders french british and american en in every line iffie concel conceivable vable from copra and silk stockings to fertilizer azid pearls sea captains captain land sand shipping agents french officials for papette Is the capital of the french pacific missionaries natives the ever pres ent chinaman and the nondescript beachcomber beach comber papette may be far from civilization from the viewpoint of the stay at alhime home but the palate of bf the visitor to papette certainly will not suffer for lk detectable delectable food in the bu bustling astling port town with its 2000 french residents some of niem competent chefs one may find viands thit that would not bo be amiss in the restaurants of the be rue hue ze le la aa paix from vin rouge through poulet roll it U rate cafe moir and if he wishes native rood food he may fare well on an coconut fed pig roasted whole fash alth ith coconut sauce shrimp baked and baked breadfruit the latter with wita a texture like very verk fine cheese and an indescribable mildly plea sant flavor for desart he will have or oranges angos pineapples and various arloue trop rop ical falts an fn alts the noat most ambitious sight trip in tahiti la is a circuit of the flit Isla island tid bj b vehicle along the coastal strip this entails tho the fording of many streams which how flow out of the mountains of the interior or 0 one m may ay push up one of the many valleys valley s over trails that skirt swift streams and plunge through tunnels of verdure to a mountain top if one climbs for the view however the time must be well chosen cli osen for clouds shroud the mountain summits a large part ot of the time the most novel sightseeing trip Is made in a small boat to the coral reefs where through water crystal clear one may look down u upon on a beautiful undersea under sea garden of weird and beautiful growths among which dart brilliantly colored fishes pago wonderful harbor for the third stopping place one should visit pago pago capital of american samoa which Is the only bit I 1 of american soil that ties lies south of the equator pago pago practically fell into the lap of a none too willing america white while various powers were seeking territory in the pacific but if the entire antiro south seas had been combed with all the other nations standing i deferentially by a better location for a naval havill base hardly could have been chosen 5 most lost south sea harbors tire are little more than crescent bays pro by coral reefs their safety largely dependent on the direction of I 1 the wind at pago pago ships sall sail into tb eheart of n buge extinct volcanic crater only ti narrow entrance open to the sea furthermore there Is a sharp turn inside the whole harbor barbor being shaped much like the ankle and foot of a stocking the united states naval station Is situated on the instep its back toward the sea but with high mountains intervening pago pago town lies iles at the toe most of the anchorage Is entirely out of sight of tho the sea and the ships lie ile in deep placid water even when destructive gales are blowing outside giving pago pago the premier place among south sea havens does not do it justice many famous harbors harbora are more commodious but it Is hardly too much to say that pago pago Is at once one of the safest and most beautiful harbors in the world A narrow strip of level land rims the harbor barbor immediately beyond tills this strip the sides rise up steeply to moun heights the sloping walls covered with varying shades of green tropical vegetation in addition to the naval station and pago pago town three or four villages nestle close to the waters edge around the harbor their thatched huts buts half balf hidden by coconut palms the harbor of pago pago almost cuts the island of in two tills this la Is the largest isle of american samoa saincia 17 miles long and about 5 miles wide the other american islands lie he about GO 00 miles to the east only ones one tan about 15 miles in diameter Is of importance though two smaller isles are inhabited altogether the population of american samoa to Is about some residing on tutuila Tu tulla american samoa has been little spoiled by the civilization of the mother country or that of other whites few whites reside in the islands besides the small group of missionaries and the officers ron mn and nurses at the naval station only one plantation Is owned by a white man and only three or four whites have lease holds practically entire surface of the islands Is owned in small tracts by individual anth ea the unit united I 1 Z states even bought from individual d landlords the 40 acres needed for its lt naval establishment |