always polished like the boot, for this spur. The spur just described is to be worn with the boot. In the foreign cavalry a "strap" spur is never worn on the gaiter or shoe: it is replaced by various forms of box-spur. In one of the best styles of these, the arm is delicately made and fits entirely around the heel to its front edges. On the inside is a projecting piece which fits into a spring box inside the heel. A spur of this sort is worn by European cavalry when dismounted (in shoes). It is also worn whenever foot trousers and straps are used mounted. For military dress occasions, where the boot is forbidden, as, for instance, military balls, a small button replaces the rowel, to prevent the wearer's entanglement in carpets and dresses.

The above styles of spur, or similar ones, if adopted by our service, might be made of gilt for general- and field-officers, and nickel for junior ones. They would prove a sightly substitute for our present fantastic mode in this article. This sort of spur could be imported and profitably sold by Eastern dealers at two dollars and twenty-five cents or two dollars and fifty cents for the "strap," and about the same for the other, with the box included.

The gauntlet has been discarded by several of the European services, and in the French cavalry a soft "wash-leather" glove of two buttons substituted for it. In our army we hope it will be retained, if only for its military appearance. The styles we wear are not always uniform, but are generally neat and handsome. If any change be suggested, it is that, for the grades below field-officer, it be made of white or yellow leather, and that it fit somewhat more closely about the arm.

As to a sabre-knot, for undress, the regulations are as silent as in the item of boots. The omission is a singular one in both cases. The knot is supposed to be for practical use. The men have it, and the tactics prescribe it in the manual of the sabre. How, though, can the officer use on drill, or in actual service, the flimsy gilt thing now worn with our full dress? It is evidently valueless, applied to the legitimate purpose of such a knot, of retaining the sabre in the grasp, and can only be regarded as a fancy ornament. We need a substantial, useful article in addition. I would advocate for this a leather knot, braided so as to be round in shape, and furnished with leather slides and tassels, becomingly made. Indeed, many officers now wear knots of this very pattern made by their troop saddlers. Why could not these be officially prescribed ?

As to the rest of our cavalry dress, it is becoming and generally very military. Were we disposed to be ultra-critical, we might object that our forage-cap is too shallow for mounted purposes; that our dress-coat should be six inches shorter in the skirt; and that officers should have a neat, comfortable "stable-jacket," for the same reasons for which the men wear fatigue-dress and stable-frocks; but we are advocating simply "mild reform" instead of revolutionary measures, and so pass these

points by. If we should only carry out the previous suggestions concerning foot-wear and trousers, enough would be accomplished in the way of improvement. Everything proposed could just as easily be procured of exact uniform pattern as are now procured our other articles of military wear.

Finally, it may be added that absolute neatness in a mounted officer's harness is essential to the preservation of anything like a spotless dress. A soiled rein or saddle should not be seen in garrison. An officer's groom should make up his mind to hard work, if the officer makes up his mind to be irreproachable in these matters. Good varnish, brushes, sponges, etc., a groom who thoroughly understands the necessary appliances of his art (the word is advisedly used), and who takes pride in the animal and trappings he cares for,-these are indispensable requisites for such an officer.

Should any number of our officers, or those who make our regulations in Washington, deem this question to be of sufficient import to demand attention, various patterns of the articles above mentioned could be obtained and turned over as models to any good houses that might be selected, and which would undertake to furnish them reasonably to the service in uniform styles. I believe that all officers of the mounted service would feel the satisfaction of wearing neat, officer-like equipment of regulation make, instead of the incongruous and uncouthlooking articles which we now often get. To these, the above suggestions are offered for what they are worth.

S. C. ROBERTSON, Lieutenant First U. S. Cavalry.

AND

SAMOA AND THE SAMOANS.

THE Samoan, or Navigator Islands, as they are indiscriminately called, are situated between latitudes 13° 27′ south and 14° 18′ south, and longitudes 169° 28′ west and 172° 48′ west. The group consists of nine inhabited islands, viz.: Savaii, Upolu, Tuituila, Manua, Ofu, Olosinga, Anuu, Apolima, and Manono. The first four are the largest and principal islands, containing respectively 659, 355, 52, and 20 square miles, and about 10,000, 18,000, 3500, and 1800 inhabitants. The whole group contains 1162 square miles, and an estimated population of 33,000.

The islands are all of volcanic origin, and most of them are surrounded by coral reefs; but although there are many well-defined craters of volcanoes, the natives have no tradition of eruptions of any of them. In 1867, however, severe shocks were felt throughout the islands, and a submarine volcano rose from the sea between the islands of Manua and Olosinga. For two weeks it remained in a state of eruption, shooting up, to a height of two thousand feet, dense columns of sand and stones, and jets of sand and smoke. At the expiration of this time it disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving no permanent traces above the level of the sea, and it was difficult to obtain soundings on its site.

The group was discovered by the celebrated French navigator Bougainville, in 1768. On account of the skill of the natives in handling their canoes he called it L'Archipel des Navigateurs, which name it retains to-day as the Navigator Islands. The natives call the group Samoa and themselves Samoans; both names are applied to the group, preference, however, being given to the latter. In 1787, La Pérouse touched at the island of Tuituila, and the commander of one of his vessels and a boat's crew of eleven men were killed by the natives. From this affair they gained a name for treachery and cruelty which they did not merit; for one of their people had been shot on

1 Litton Forbes, in the Overland Monthly, vol. xv., in an article on the Navigator Islands, says, "It is generally conceded now that the first white man who visited Samoa (to which, however, he gave the name of the Bauman Islands) was the Dutch commander Roggewein, in the year 1721." We do not know from what source he gets authority for this statement.

board one of the French ships, and they took the earliest opportunity to retaliate. Men-of-war of various nations and an occasional whaler touched at the islands after this; but it was not until 1839 that they were surveyed and explored, when the United States Exploring Expedition, under the command of Captain Wilkes, visited the islands, and gave to the world the first reliable information concerning them.

The climate is mild and equable, the thermometer ranging from 70° F. to 86° F. The rainy season is in January, February, and March, when heavy rain-storms, with north winds, prevail. During the remainder of the year the rain is evenly distributed in moderate showers.

The interior of the islands is covered with dense tropical vegetation, and many valuable timber trees are found. Bananas, cocoanuts, oranges, lemons, limes, pine-apples, guava-apples, mangos, bread-fruit, tacca (from which arrow-root is made), plantains, yams, and the taro are found in abundance. Bamboo and rattan grow wild in profusion. Tobacco is raised in small quantities, and also small crops of cotton; and citron, indigo, nutmegs, coffee, and sugar-cane would yield large returns if cultivated. There are no traces of native mammalia, except a species of bat (Pteropus ruficollis), which often measures four feet from top to tip of wings. Wild pigeons of a most delicious flavor and small birds of various kinds are found in the woods; and fowl of all descriptions, horses, swine, and cattle have been introduced.

Savaii, the largest island of the group, is forty miles long and twenty broad. It is exceedingly mountainous, being traversed its whole length by a range from two thousand to five thousand feet in height. There is very little level ground, except along the coast, from which the land slopes back to the interior, and there are no good harbors or streams. Very few foreigners have settled there. The interior has never been explored by foreigners, and the natives appear to know little about it. The principal object of interest is a series of wonderful caves, which have as yet been explored only two and one-half miles from their entrance, and probably extend much farther.

Upolu, the second island in size, and the principal one in importance, is thirty-seven miles long and ten wide, and lies about seventy miles from Savaii and thirty-six from Tuituila. It is well watered, of moderate height, with many fertile plains and broad valleys. Its principal harbor, and the next best in the group to Pago-Pago, is that of Apia, on the north side. It is surrounded by a coral reef with the exception of the channel, which is narrow but deep. The reef forms a natural breakwater, behind which vessels may lie in perfect security; but the harbor is small, and vessels must anchor bow and stern.

Apia is the seat of government, and it is there that the "King of Samoa" lives. The town is stretched along the shores of the harbor, the foreigners living in one portion and the natives in another,—the

majority of the latter still living in their primitive huts. Several large German firms have important trading-houses here, both wholesale and retail; and the products of all the other islands are shipped from this port, being brought to it by the natives in their canoes. There is a considerable number of foreigners on the island, principally Germans; and the consuls of America, England, and Germany form a consular court, before which all cases are tried. The town is orderly and well governed, and there are two hotels, where one can obtain tolerably good lodgings and fair meals. Apia is the headquarters of the missionaries of the London Missionary Society and of the French Roman Catholic Missionary Bishop, the former having two churches here, and the latter one.

The first Protestant missionaries to this group landed on the island of Savaii in 1830. They were sent out by the London Missionary Society (Congregational), and came to Samoa from the Society Islands: in 1836 they were joined by others from England. The first Roman Catholic missionaries arrived in 1846. These latter, who are French, have not so many converts as the Protestants, possibly because they have not been so long established here: it certainly is not from their want of zeal and self-sacrifice. Their small stone church at Apia, where services are held for the natives, is a substantial building; and they have a large house where the Father Superior and the Brothers live; they are, I believe, Jesuits.

The Roman Catholics have two schools, one for native boys and the other for native girls, which occupy excellent situations and are admirably conducted. When this mission was first established, the missionaries purchased a large tract of land a short distance back from the shores of the harbor. On this they planted cocoanuts, bread-fruit, bananas, and various other important food-fruits on which the natives live. These, with little cultivation, have now developed into large plantations, and furnish enough supplies of their kind for the whole mission at Apia.

Visiting the Father Superior one day, he kindly and politely offered to show us through the girls' school and explain the methods of instruction. Leaving the house, we passed to the rear and entered the plantation, which was indeed beautiful. We walked along an avenue of graceful cocoa-palms most regularly laid out, their tall and bushy heads shutting out the hot rays of the sun; the rich, ripe bunches of bananas and clusters of bread-fruit growing profusely on every side, reminding one of the generous provision of bountiful nature, and showing the wise forethought of their planters.

At the end of this avenue we came to a fence inclosing the grounds of the school, and beyond which the children are not allowed to pass; but they have ample room inside, and do not seem to miss their former unrestrained life. This school is under the immediate supervision of