PacTravel
Remembering Tusitala
Robert Louis Stevenson's Memory Lives On In Samoa
Pacific Islands have long attracted the dispossessed, those fleeing past lives or souls in search of adventure and romance. Many of those from other parts who have made the long voyage to remote islands have found the reality of day-to-day life daunting: isolation, limited resources and the difficulty of fully integrating into local culture.
This was not the case for Robert Louis Stevenson, the Scot who, by 1889, had already made an international name for himself as the author of such tales as Treasure Island and Kidnapped. It was no doubt because Stevenson was a man of means that his South Pacific sojourn was, in nearly all respects, considerably more comfortable than was usual for the beachcombers and sailors who washed up on distant islands.
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Stevenson, his wife Fanny, and an entourage that included her children from a previous marriage, arrived in Apia, the capital of Samoa, in 1889. The writer was in search of a climate that would help him cope with his tuberculosis. The Stevensons had spent time in Hawaii before sailing through the South Pacific for two years, a voyage that ended in Samoa.
Then, as now, Samoa was a place of striking beauty, its lush islands thick with coconuts, taro and fruit trees. The sea provided a bounty of fish. And Samoans, justly proud of their rich culture, took to the slightly-framed writer, a man they called Tusitala, the “teller of tales.”
The Stevensons spent their first year in Apia in a two-story home fronting the harbor. The building still stands today, and its upper floor houses Sails, a highly-regarded restaurant whose ambiance suggests the 19th century.
But it was in the hills above Apia that Stevenson and his family put down roots. He acquired a large parcel, and in 1890 built a two-story home that he called Vailima. The Stevenson estate became something of a cultural center in Samoa, attracting the Samoan elite and expatriates of all persuasions.
Stevenson also wrote a number of stories at Vailima, including Island Nights’ Entertainments: Consisting of The Beach of Falesa, The Bottle Imp, The Isle of Voices and Ebb Tide. Stevenson died in December 1894, at his beloved Vailima. He was buried on the summit of Mt. Vaea, a mountain that overlooks his estate.
While much has happened to Samoa—and Vailima—since 1894, Vailima is more than ever imbued with Stevenson’s spirit. The home, which was expanded after Stevenson’s death, housed a series of German and then British colonial administrators. After independence in 1962, it became the official residence of Samoa’s head of state. In the mid-1990s, Vailima was turned into the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, run by a non-profit agency to preserve the estate and Stevenson’s contributions to Samoan history and culture.
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Vailima is open Monday through Friday, and half a day on Saturday. It is a must see for anyone traveling to Apia, and it can be reached in a few minutes by taxi from all hotels in the city. Well-trained docents weave Stevenson’s life story into the various rooms, most using recreations of the furniture that would have graced the home late in the 19th century. These are intimate tours; the docents are knowledgeable and happy to share their insights into the man and property.
Whether it is the wallpaper made of tapa, the open verandas that surround the home, or the parlor cooled by trade winds blowing up Mt. Vaea, it is easy to imagine Stevenson and his family at work and play at Vailima.
The more adventurous traveler will also make the time to hike to Stevenson’s grave. It takes some effort—and time—but is well worth the muddy walk. There, at the summit, Stevenson and Fanny (who died in the United States, but whose remains were returned to Samoa) rest in peace.
Look carefully on Stevenson’s grave, and you’ll find the oft-repeated lines:
Under the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you game for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
The Robert Louis Stevenson Museum in Apia, Samoa is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is open on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Call (685) 20-798, or fax (685) 25-428 for more information.
