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| THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDERS - Opposite the Javanese Settlement, at Madison avenue, on
Midway Plaisance, was the rude theatre and village of the Samoan and
Wallis Islanders, and these were the best physical specimens of
manhood offered by the World's Fair. The engraving shows five of the
men seated for a song. Their Kava-house is in the background. The
Samoans were the most industrious
entertainers on the Plaisance. On a high platform overlooking the
street were two hollow logs. Two men usually belabored these logs in
the name of music, and as there was much rhythm and some variation of
sound, this music, like that of the Turks, would soon take possession
of the mind. Forming in single procession, the villagers would march
out of their front gate and by semi-circle into their theatre,
enticing a dozen, a score, or a hundred of followers at a fee of
twenty-five cents. This march would be repeated while the audience
waited, and when a sufficient "house" was obtained the four dances
and songs which comprised the programme would be given with ardor
and realistic effect. The engraving shows their costume. Their
skins were of a bright yellow, well oiled. They were not Kanaks, and
were superior in all ways to that great but unhappy tribe of men.
There were four women and a little girl, who were dressed in the
latest American fashion. The dances were quite remarkable, showing
unity, skill, and ingenuity. |
