Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SAMOA

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 116 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

SAMOA , an See also:

archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, about 1 50 M. N. of See also:Tonga and nearly midway between the New See also:Hebrides and See also:Tahiti, 1600 m. from See also:Auckland (New See also:Zealand), 2410 from See also:Sydney and 4200 from See also:San Francisco. (For See also:Map, see PACIFIC OCEAN.) It consists of 14 islands forming a slightly curved See also:chain from W. by N. to E. by S., between 13° 30' and 14° 30' S., 168° and 1730 W. as follows: Savaii, Manono, Apolima, Upolu, Fanuatapu, Manua, Nuutele and Nuulua, belonging to See also:Germany, and Tutuila, See also:Anna, Of u, Olosenga, Tau and See also:Rose, belonging to the See also:United States of See also:America. The See also:principal of these are Savaii (See also:area, 66o sq. m., pop. 13,200), Upolu (340 sq. m., pop. 18,400), Tutuila ($4 sq. m., pop. 3800), and the Manua See also:group, which includes Tau with Ofu and Olosenga (25 sq. m., pop. 2000). Some of the smaller islands are also thickly populated, so that the See also:total See also:population is about 39,000, whites numbering about 500. With the exception of Rose See also:Island, which is an uninhabited See also:coral islet 70 M. E. of its nearest See also:neighbour, and therefore scarcely belongs geographically to the group, all the islands are considerably elevated, with several See also:extinct or quiescent craters rising from 2000 ft. in Upolu to 4000 (Mua) in Savaii. Although there are no active cones, Upolu has in comparatively See also:recent times been subject to volcanic disturbances, and according to a See also:local tradition, outbreaks must have occurred in the 17th or 18th See also:century.

In 1866 a submarine See also:

volcano near the islet of Olosenga was the See also:scene of a violent commotion, discharging rocks and mud to a height of 2000 ft. Earthquakes are not uncommon and sometimes severe. Coral reefs protect the coasts in many parts; they are frequently interrupted, but the passages through them are often difficult of See also:navigation. The whole group is abundantly watered, and the igneous See also:soil is marvellously fertile. The scenery of the islands is extremely beautiful. Upolu is See also:long and narrow; it has a backbone of mountains whose flanks are scored with lovely valleys, at the See also:foot of which are See also:flat cultivable tracts. Of its harbours Apia and Saluafata, both on the N. See also:coast, are most important. See also:Mount Vaea, which overlooks Apia and Vailima, the See also:home of See also:Robert See also:Louis See also:Stevenson, is his See also:burial-See also:place and bears a See also:monument to his memory. Tutuila, the principal island belonging to the United States, resembles Upolu, and has on its S. See also:side the See also:harbour of Pago Pago or Pango Pango, the finest ,in the group. See also:Climate, See also:Flora, See also:Fauna.—The climate is moist and sometimes oppressively hot, though pleasant on the whole. A See also:fine See also:season extends from See also:April to See also:September; a wet season from See also:October to See also:March. The temperature is equable—at Apia the mean See also:annual temperature is 78 F., the warmest See also:month being See also:December (8o°) and the coldest See also:July (75°-76°).

The prevalent winds, which See also:

temper the See also:heat, are the S.E. trades, but W. winds supervene from See also:January to March. The archipelago lies in the track of the fierce hurricanes which occur usually in this See also:period. On the 16th of March 1889 the heavy tidal waves created havoc in the harbour of Apia. The See also:American warship " Nipsic " was See also:cast upon the See also:beach, but was afterwards floated and saved. Two other United States warships, " Trenton " and " Vandalia," were beaten to pieces on the coral See also:reef ; and the See also:German warships " See also:Olga " and " See also:Eber " were wrecked with See also:great loss of See also:life. The See also:British warship " See also:Calliope " (See also:Captain See also:Pearson) was in the harbour, but succeeded in getting up See also:steam and, See also:standing out to See also:sea, escaped destruction. In A Footnote to See also:History R. L. Stevenson vividly describes the heroism of the captain and See also:crew. The Samoan forests are remarkable for the See also:size and variety of their trees, and the luxuriance and beauty of See also:tree-ferns, creepers and parasites. The coco-See also:nut See also:palm and See also:bread-See also:fruit are of See also:peculiar value to the inhabitants; there are sixteen varieties of the one, and twenty of the other. See also:Hand See also:timber trees, of use in See also:boat-See also:building, &c., are especially characteristic of Savaii.

Of the extremely limited Samoan fauna, consisting mainly of an indigenous See also:

rat, four See also:species of See also:snakes and a few birds, the most interesting member is the Didunculus strigirostris, a ground See also:pigeon of iridescent greenish-See also:black and See also:bright See also:chestnut plumage, which forms a See also:link between the extinct See also:dodo and the living See also:African Treroninae. Natives.—The Samoans are pure Polynesians, and according to the traditions of many Polynesian peoples Savaii was the centre of See also:dispersion of the See also:race over the Pacific Ocean from See also:Hawaii to New Zealand. Apart from tradition, Samoan is the most archaic of all the Polynesian See also:tongues, and still preserves the organic See also:letter s, which becomes h or disappears in nearly all the other archipelagos. Thus the See also:term Savaii itself, originally Savaiki, is supposed to have been carried by the Samoan wanderers over the ocean to Tahiti, New Zealand, the See also:Marquesas and See also:Sandwich See also:groups, where it still survives in such variant forms as Havaii, Hawaiki, Havaiki and Hawaii. In any See also:case, the Samoans are the most perfect type of Polynesians, of a See also:light See also:brown See also:colour, splendid physique, and hand-some See also:regular features, with an See also:average height of 5 ft. to in. Their See also:mental and social See also:standard is high among Pacific peoples; they are See also:simple, See also:honourable, generous and hospitable, but brave fighters. Their See also:idolatry (polytheistic) was unaccompanied by human See also:sacrifice. The dead were buried, and their See also:spirits believed to travel to a See also:world entered by a See also:pool at the western extremity of Savaii. They have become mainly Protestants, Catholics or See also:Mormons, but retain many superstitions connected with their native See also:religion. The See also:women and See also:children are well treated. A youth is not regarded as eligible to marry till tattooed from. the hips to the knees. The principal foods of the Samoans are vegetables, coco-nut, bread-fruit, See also:fish and pork.

They are famous as sailors and boat-builders. The Samoan See also:

language is soft and liquid in See also:pronunciation, and has been called " the See also:Italian of the Pacific." It is difficult to learn thoroughly, owing to its many inflexions and accents, and its being largely a language of idioms. (See also See also:POLYNESIA.) See also:Administration and See also:Trade.—The German islands See also:form a See also:crown See also:colony. There is an imperial See also:governor, having under him a native high See also:chief assisted by a native See also:council; and there are both German and native See also:judges and magistrates. The United States, on assuming See also:sovereignty over Tutuila and the islands E. of it in 1900, with the written consent of the native chiefs, appointed a See also:naval governor. Cultivation has been extended under See also:European and American See also:rule, and in 1904 the exports from the German islands had reached a value of £83,750, and those from the American islands of £4200. See also:Copra and See also:cocoa beans are the chief articles of export. History.—It is generally considered that the Manua group was sighted by the Dutch navigator See also:Jacob Roggeveen in 1722, and named by him the Baaumann islands after the captain of one of his See also:ships. Louis de See also:Bougainville obtained a See also:fuller acquaintance with the archipelago in 1768, and called them the Navigators' Islands (Iles See also:des Navigateurs). This name is still used. La Perouse was among the islands in 1787, and on Tutuila lost some of his crew in a conflict with some natives of Upolu visiting the island. Subsequent explorers were Captain See also:Edwards of the " See also:Pandora " in 1791, and See also:Otto von See also:Kotzebue in 1824.

In 183o the respected missionary See also:

John See also:Williams paid his first visit to Samoa. Surveys of the archipelago were made by the American explorer See also:Charles Wilkes. The islands, especially Upolu, now began to attract American and European (mostly German) capitalists, and the See also:Hamburg See also:firm of J. C. Godeffroy & Son See also:developed the trade of the island. Meanwhile a See also:series of See also:petty See also:civil See also:wars greatly interfered with the prosperity of the native population, who grouped themselves into two opposing See also:political parties. Americans and Europeans began to discuss the question of See also:annexation, recognizing the importance of the See also:geographical position of the islands. In 1877 the American See also:consul hoisted his See also:country's See also:flag, but the See also:action was repudiated by his See also:government, which, however, in x878 obtained Pago Pago as a coaling station and made a trading treaty with the natives. In 1879 Germany obtained the harbour of Saluafata. Great See also:Britain followed suit, but under a political arrangement between the See also:powers no single See also:power was to appropriate the islands. But in 1887 and 1888 civil See also:war prevailed on the question of the See also:succession to the native kingship, the Germans supporting Tamasese, and the British and American residents supporting Malietoa. After the latter had been deported by the Germans, the British and American support was transferred to his successor, Mataafa.

In the course of the fighting which ensued some fifty German sailors and See also:

marines were killed or wounded by the adherents of Mataafa. A See also:conference between the three powers was thereupon held at See also:Berlin, and a treaty was executed by those powers and by Samoa, on the 14th of See also:June 1889, by virtue of which the See also:independence and See also:autonomy of the islands were guaranteed, Malietoa was restored as See also:king, and the three powers constituted themselves practically a See also:protectorate over Samoa, and provided a chief See also:justice and a See also:president of the See also:municipality of Apia, to be appointed by them, to aid in carrying out the provisions of the treaty. The government was administered under this treaty, but with considerable See also:friction, until the end of 1898,. when, upon the See also:death of Malietoa, two See also:rival candidates for the See also:throne again appeared, and the chief justice selected by the three powers decided against the claims of Mataafa, and in favour of a boy, Malietoa Tanu, a relative of the deceased Malietoa. Civil war immediately ensued, in which several American and British See also:officers and sailors were killed by the natives, the Germans upholding the claims of Mataafa, and the British and Americans supporting the rival See also:candidate. The three powers thereupon sent a See also:commission to Samoa to investigate and adjust the difficulties. The situation, however, was found to be so complicated and embarrassing that, See also:early in 1900, the so-called Berlin treaty was abrogated, Great Britain withdrew her claims to any portion of the islands and received See also:compensation from Germany by concessions in other parts of the world, and the United States withdrew from all the islands W. of Tutuila. In 1902 the king of See also:Sweden, as arbitrator under a See also:convention signed at See also:Washington in 1899, decided that Great Britain and the United States were liable for injuries due to action taken by their representatives during the military operations of 1899. See Robert Louis Stevenson, A Footnote to History (See also:London, 1892), and Vailima Letters (London, 1895) ; G. See also:Turner, Samoa a See also:Hundred Years Ago and Long Before (London, 1884) ; W. B. Churchward, My Consulate in Samoa (London, 1887); J. B.

See also:

Stair, Old Samoa (London, 1897) ; See also:Mary S. See also:Boyd, Our Stolen Summer (London, 1900) ; L. P. See also:Churchill, Samoa ' Uma (London, 1902) ; See also:Journal des museums Godeffroy (Hamburg, 1871–1874); G. Kurze, Samoa, das See also:Land, See also:die Leute and die See also:Mission (Berlin, 1899) ; O. Ehlers, Samoa, die Perle der Siddsee (Berlin, 1900) ; F. See also:Reinecke, Samoa (Berlin, 1901) ; A. Kramer, Die Samoa Inseln (See also:Stuttgart, 1902 seq.) ; See also:parliamentary papers, See also:Correspondence respecting the Affairs of Samoa (London, 1899, &c.), and 1902 (Samoa, Cd. 1083) for the See also:arbitration of the king of Sweden.

End of Article: SAMOA

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SAMNITES 		[next]
SAMOS

Site © 2006 - Net Industries