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 Morse 
 
 Robert Louis Stevenson as I foiind him
 
 1 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES

 
 ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.
 
 Robert Louis Stevenson 
 
 as I Found Him 
 in His Island Home. 
 
 By 
 CAPTAIN HIRAM G. MORSE.
 
 Copyright, 1902, 
 
 by 
 
 HIRAM G. MORSE.
 
 
 RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 
 TO THE FRIENDS AND ADMIRERS 
 
 OF 
 
 ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. 
 
 853927
 
 y
 
 Robert Louis Stevenson as 1 Found Him 
 in His Island Home. 
 
 P.Y 
 
 Capt. H. G. Morse, 
 Ex. S. S. "Alameda." 
 
 Many have asked why this author should 
 have settled in such an out-of-the-way place. 
 My reply was that, as Mr. Stevenson had 
 been an invalid for 3^ears and searched for a 
 climate most suital)le for himself, he finally 
 fixed on "Apia" in the Samoan group. 
 Although an invalid, he was capable of 
 greater exertion than many who were appar-
 
 enth^ his superiors ph5^sically. His wonder- 
 ful will-power to accomplish whatever he 
 undertook was noticeable when some self- 
 imposed task would be done that an ordinary 
 person, in good health, would shrink from. 
 He would plunge headlong into the work, 
 whatever it might be, at the desk or climb- 
 ing over some untrodden part of the island, 
 straining ever}^ nerve and muscle to keep 
 pace with his thoughts. With his active brain 
 he could give a dozen orders to as many 
 different persons without even changing the 
 tone of his voice, or he could sit quietl}^ in 
 his boat, apparently as unconscious as a 
 native, waiting for the mail steamer to 
 anchor and the side steps (gangway) to be 
 lowered. At the first glance one would have 
 thought him a tourist coming on board to 
 look around or to see what was going on.
 
 Once upon his feet he was all action, mov- 
 ing with an air becoming his name, and bow- 
 ing gracefully to those who recognized him. 
 On his gaining m}^ room, and seated on the 
 floor like the natives, he would commence to 
 prepare a cigarette, asking such questions as 
 were to him the most important. His counte- 
 nance was no index to his thoughts, further 
 than that he appeared eager for a few head- 
 lines of what the outside world w^as doing 
 and which evidently he would grasp before I 
 had finished. His penetrating e3^e was suffi- 
 cient to keep one from ever attempting to 
 exaggerate whatever he wanted to know. I 
 was always impressed with the idea that he 
 invariabh' anticipated what a^ou were about 
 to say and had commenced to think of some- 
 thing else. At no time nor under any condi- 
 tion was his mind at rest. 1 remember his
 
 lO 
 
 talking on one subject and at the same time 
 he was, mentally, in Honolulu with the 
 Queen. The HaAvaiian Islands were then in 
 a disturbed state politically and Stevenson 
 had a great desire to see the Queen back on 
 the throne. 
 
 His mind was his motive power; what- 
 ever he considered he should be doing the 
 body was compelled to yield in obedience to 
 the brain. When from overwork the body' 
 and brain refused to do duty together, then 
 one was obliged to give way to the other. 
 Knowing that the human system has its 
 limits and to prevent any unhappy thoughts 
 from controlling his mind, it was his custom 
 to invite the ''band boys" from whatever 
 English warship might be in port to come up 
 to his house and play. Seated on a veranda 
 with his wife and stepdaughter, " Belle
 
 II 
 
 Strong." one on each side, and the native 
 servants comprising his household, and with 
 a small clanship of native servants gave to 
 the observer a strange appearance. Naked 
 men and half clad women, European band 
 bo3^s and natives all mixed up, while the 
 clear notes of such airs as the author might 
 select vibrated among the hills, giving the 
 impression that nature was assisting to make 
 the gathering a pleasant one. It was such 
 surroundings, which Nature alone can offer, 
 that gave to his mind a freedom of thought 
 and which enabled him to grapple with the 
 universe itself. If Nature has furnished 
 gifts to those who are selected to enlighten 
 their fellowmen, it is to Nature the}" appeal 
 and look for assistance. The mind should be 
 nursed and surrounded by Nature's luxuries; 
 it is only from this world that man can
 
 12 
 
 speak. To define the grandest phases in 
 Nature one must have dwelt in her midst, 
 and where is she more liberal with gifts than 
 in those islands placed as far as possible from 
 harm and mutilation ? Yet man will be the 
 assassin of all in the end. 
 
 Long before his death, Stevenson asked 
 me how I could express to people in San 
 Francisco his life in Samoa so the}^ would 
 understand and realize the situation. 1 now 
 sadh' repeat ni}^ version. His home in 
 Yailima was situated about half-wa}^ up the 
 mountain side, accessible at an angle of 15 
 degrees, on a plateau formerly occupied b}^ 
 native chiefs, many of the trees (cocoanut) 
 3^et standing as landmarks. Here, in the 
 early morning, from five to half -past five, 
 after having his coffee, he would sit in one 
 of the upper rooms, the balm}' atmosphere of
 
 13 
 
 the gentle trade winds sifting through the 
 tropical foliage, the mountain extending 
 some 900 feet above his home and thickh^ 
 clad with trees indigenous to the soil, in- 
 habited by birds singing their national airs. 
 From this altitude he could look down into 
 the harbor of Apia where the ships were 
 lying. Far out on the horizon, distant t went}^ 
 miles, he could discern the ships and mail 
 steamers approaching the Island bringing 
 with them letters from his far distant home. 
 Here in his new home, in the virgin soil of a 
 tropical island, he experienced the pleaures 
 of an iuA'alid beginning, after many 3'ears, 
 to resume an outdoor life and exercise. 
 In one of his letters to his friend. Calvin, 
 he says: " Nothing is so inieresting as 
 weeding, clearing and path-making. The 
 oversight of laborers becomes a disease. It
 
 14 
 
 is quite an effort not to drop into the farmer 
 and it does make you feel so well. "' "" ^" 
 I scarce pull up a weed but I invent a 
 sentence on the matter to 5^ourself." It was 
 here, with these surroundings, that Mr. 
 Stevenson's best and most prominent works 
 were produced. 
 
 Mr. Stevenson's mode of attire was notice- 
 able to strangers. Light colored, tight fit- 
 ting pants, top boots, velvet jacket and a shirt 
 with a turn down collar and loose tie; in fact, 
 his dress was slightly Byronic, but more 
 Stevenson. 
 
 When at his desk Mr. Stevenson wrote 
 from six A.M. to eleven A.M. and from 
 noon until late in the afternoon, omitting 
 the siesta, so dear to Europeans in the 
 tropics. 
 
 The sad news of Stevenson's death, which
 
 15 
 
 was flashed over the wires as soon as it came 
 within reach of tele<^raphic communication, 
 was a blow not onl}^ to the world of letters, 
 but to all the civilized world. He had a 
 mind laden with noble sentiments, lived a 
 life punctuated by silent beneficence, was 
 brave as a lion when surrounded by danger, 
 pleasant, affable and genial in domestic life, 
 feared b}" his enemies and beloved b}' his 
 friends. 
 
 His grave is on the very apex of Viamea 
 Mountain, where a monument will mark the 
 last resting-place of one of the greatest 
 authors of the present century. Nature has 
 been more kind for she has given liim the 
 Island itself, anchored in its ocean bed, there 
 to remain forever and forever. Stevenson 
 has given to Samoa a place in histor}^ such 
 as Napoleon gave to St. Helena, one from
 
 i6 
 
 ■choice, the other from force; one wielded the 
 pen, the other the sword. 
 
 Whatever Mr. Stevenson's political aspira- 
 tions may have been I cannot say. His 
 apparent leaning towards the cause of King 
 Malietoa was the outcome of his intense 
 sympathy for the weak rather than for 
 the political troubles of that unfortunate 
 monarch. Proud of his ancestry of clansmen 
 in his own beloved Scotland, he entered into 
 and partook of the joy, hopes and fears of the 
 native chiefs in and around his district. His 
 home, Vailima, was built on the site of their 
 ancient stronghold. He loved to hear them 
 recount the valorous deeds of their fore- 
 fathers and his interest in them never 
 flagged. His S3^mpathetic nature won these 
 poor natives to him. They loved him and 
 looked up to him for advice, and the advice 
 
 i
 
 17 
 
 that he gave them was ever on the side of 
 peace. 
 
 The growing power of Stevenson with 
 these primitive, unlettered people caused 
 grave alarm among the German residents in 
 the Samoan Islands, whose sympathies and 
 interests lay with the opposite party. At 
 one time it was rumored that he was acting 
 in the interests of Great Britain, but it was 
 only rumor. His power with the islanders 
 was certainly very great, but the idea of 
 accepting ofhce in their behalf never once 
 entered his mind. 
 
 His manner of life was frugal and abste- 
 mious. He arose early, breakfasted at six, 
 worked at his desk from seven until lunch 
 and from two until five P.M.; bed at eight- 
 thirty and usually his lamp was out by ten. 
 It is needless to say he was an extraordi-
 
 i8 
 
 narily productive writer. At times when his 
 literar}" work became monotonous he would 
 join his native workers in the bush, dropping 
 down the woods and tropical undergrowth. 
 This, in addition to his pon}^ and flageolet, 
 constituted his everyda}^ life in "Apia." 
 The constant care and watchfulness of his 
 wife, the " Fann}" " of whom he speaks so 
 frequently and so tenderh^ in his letters, 
 did much to prolong his life. 
 
 It has seldom fallen to the lot of an author 
 to be surrounded by such a literar}^ house- 
 hold. 
 
 During the disturbed condition of the 
 countr}^ Matafa retired to his stronghold on 
 the small island of Monono. Acting on 
 advice, he gave himself up to the British 
 war-ship on that station in consideration of 
 his being treated as became his rank. From
 
 19 
 
 some unknown cause he was handed to a 
 German man-of-war, who, in turn, deported 
 him to the Marshall Islands and there 
 limited him to a coral reef. The twent}^- four 
 lesser chiefs who surrendered with Matafa 
 were imprisoned at Apia, and but for the 
 private funds supplied by Mr. Stevenson 
 many of them would have died of starvation 
 and the want of medical attention. Steven- 
 son, with the Roman Catholic priest, used all 
 the influence possible in effecting their re- 
 lease, which was accomplished after one 
 3^ear's imprisonment. 
 
 To show their appreciation of his care and 
 interest during their incarceration these 
 twenty-four lesser chiefs built with their 
 own hands a graded road through the 
 tangled, tropical forest, where heretofore 
 was only a mountain trail, and termed it the
 
 20 
 
 "Road of Gratitude," or, more properly 
 
 translated, "Road of the Loving Heart." 
 
 This road extended from Apia to his house, 
 
 Vailima. 
 
 H. G. Morse.
 
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