life and fire.  The act was of his own conception; the dull dog was ambitious.  Brandeis declares he would not be dissuaded; perhaps his adviser did not seriously try, perhaps did not dream that in that welter of contradictions, the Samoan constitution, any one point would be considered sacred.  I have told how Tamasese assumed the title of Tuiatua.  In August 1888 a year after his installation, he took a more formidable step and assumed that of Malietoa.  This name, as I have said, is of peculiar honour; it had been given to, it had never been taken from, the exiled Laupepa; those in whose grant it lay, stood punctilious upon their rights; and Tamasese, as the representative of their natural opponents, the Tupua line, was the last who should have had it.  And there was yet more, though I almost despair to make it thinkable by Europeans.  Certain old mats are handed down, and set huge store by; they may be compared to coats of arms or heirlooms among ourselves; and to the horror of more than one-half of Samoa, Tamasese, the head of the Tupua, began collecting Malietoa mats.  It was felt that the cup was full, and men began to prepare secretly for rebellion.  The history of the month of August is unknown to whites; it passed altogether in the covert of the woods or in the stealthy councils of Samoans.  One ominous sign was to be noted; arms and ammunition began to be purchased or inquired about; and the more wary traders ordered fresh consignments of material of war.  But the rest was silence; the government slept in security; and Brandeis was summoned at last from a public dinner, to find rebellion organised, the woods behind Apia full of insurgents, and a plan prepared, and in the very article of execution, to surprise and seize Mulinuu.  The timely discovery averted all; and the leaders hastily withdrew towards the south side of the island, leaving in the bush a rear-guard under a young man of the name of Saifaleupolu.  According to some accounts, it scarce numbered forty; the leader was no great chief, but a handsome, industrious lad who seems to have been much beloved.  And upon this obstacle Brandeis fell.  It is the man’s fault to be too impatient of results; his public intention to free Samoa of all debt within the year, depicts him; and instead of continuing to temporise and let his enemies weary and disperse, he judged it politic to strike a blow.  He struck it, with what seemed to be success, and the sound of it roused Samoa to rebellion.

About two in the morning of August 31st, Apia was wakened by men marching.  Day came, and Brandeis and his war-party were already long disappeared in the woods.  All morning belated Tamaseseites were still to be seen running with their guns.  All morning shots were listened for in vain; but over the top of the forest, far up the mountain, smoke was for some time observed to hang.  About ten a dead man was carried in, lashed under a pole like a dead pig, his rosary (for he was a Catholic) hanging