FIVE SAMOAN WARRIORS IN A CHARACTER SONG.—There was a theatre in the village where the Samoans were, and they gave daily performances of no mean quality. Among these were the Tapate, a dance peculiar to the Wallis islanders in which both men and women appeared, the men carrying paddles which they struck together as the dance proceeded to the time beaten on a stick by one of the number sitting on the ground and controlling the movements of the others. A religious dance was another feature, accompanied by a singular chant and with the hitting of sticks together in a not unpleasant cadence. All the dances and performances of the islanders appeared to be descriptive, and one descriptive of the long journey from Samoa to Chicago must have been counted a great work of the composer and librettist of the party, if it were not a joint production. It consisted of songs and choruses and was accompanied with much clapping of palms and graceful movements, all in excellent time. At the close of the song all engaged sprang to their feet and danced and sang about the drummer, who played a rapid and merry rataplan. The Samoans have certainly a marked degree of natural histrionic ability and, if they advance in wealth and culture as is hoped, the time may some day come when in their opera houses will be given performances not to be excelled. That time is not, however, in the immediate future. The islanders left the Fair with new impressions, for they were eager to learn and asked thousands of questions about the marvelous country to which they had been brought.
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