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‘Home’ in Samoa: R.L. S e enson and he Sou h Paci ic
Ila ia B. Sbo gi
Pape p esen ed a he semina “The House o Fic ion as he House o Li e. Rep esen a ion o he House in Li e a u e
and Cul u e, 1700-1900”, ESSE 2008, Augus 22-26, 2008, Depa men o English, Uni e si y o Aa hus, Denma k.
A e en yea s o ill heal h du ing which he li ed in many di e en places (England,
Sco land, Swi ze land, F ance, he Uni ed S a es), Robe Louis S e enson sailed wi h his amily
owa ds he Sou h Paci ic hoping o bene i om i s milde clima es. I was he summe o 1888.
Du ing his a els and esidence in many islands, he Sco ish au ho gene ally el be e and
epea edly changed his plans o e u n home. In Janua y 1890, he communica ed an ala ming news
o his iends: no only had he bough land and in ended o build a house on he island o Upolu in
he Samoan a chipelago bu when he e u ned home i would be o ‘b eak up’ his es ablishmen
he e. S e enson ne e wen back and li ed he es o his li e in he Sou h Paci ic (he died in 1894).
My pape will examine he au ho ’s decision o se le in Samoa and his desc ip ion o his
es ablishmen he e in o de o show how his house, ‘Vailima’, can be ead bo h as a li e al and
igu a i e example o his encoun e wi h he Paci ic colonial wo ld h ough his own cul u al
he i age, he blending o Sco ish and Samoan, old and new, pe sonal and poli ical. The main objec
o my s udy will be S e enson’s ex an co espondence o which I will e e o he Yale Edi ion by
B ad o d A. Boo h and E nes Mehew1.
Be o e analysing he au ho ’s decision o li e in he Sou h Paci ic we mus conside wha he
mean by ‘home’. In his co espondence o he pe iod, he e m shi s be ween di e en meanings
acco ding o add ess and e e ence. In a le e o No embe 1888 o his Edinbu gh iend, Cha les
Bax e , S e enson includes his “a emp a wo ds o Wande ing Willie” (Le e s, ol. 6, p. 222). His
e sion o he Sco ish song begins hus: “Home no mo e home o me, whi he shall I wande ?”
S e enson was hen w i ing om he illage o Tau i a, on he island o Tahi i, and nos algically
e oking Sco land. His na i e land was e e p esen du ing his li e in he Sou h Paci ic, bo h in his
memo ies and w i ings (Reco d o a Family o Enginee s, Ca iona, Wei o He mis on, S . I es),
and Bax e was he main in e locu o o whom he could exp ess his connec ion wi h his coun y
and his pas 2.
Howe e , i was no Sco land he au ho e e ed o when he communica ed his plans o
e u n ‘home’ a e his Paci ic a els. This is clea ly s a ed in a le e o 2 Decembe 1889 o his
1 The Le e s o Robe Louis S e enson, edi ed by B ad o d A. Boo h and E nes Mehew, Yale Uni e si y P ess, 1994-
1995.
2 Le e s, ol. 6, p. 207 and pp. 358-361.
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iend and edi o , Sidney Col in: “My dea ellow, now ha my a he is done wi h his oubles, and
17 He io Row no mo e han a me e shell, you and he gaun old Monumen in Bloomsbu y a e all
ha I ha e in iew when I use he wo d home; some passing hough s he e may be o he ooms a
Ske y o e, and he blackbi ds in he chine on a May mo ning; bu he essence is S.C. and he
Museum”3.
The ‘Monumen ’ was he au ho ’s way o jokingly desc ibing Col in’s house in he p ecinc s o
he B i ish Museum whe e he la e wo ked as Keepe o he Depa men o P in s and D awings.
‘He io Row’ was S e enson’s amily home in Edinbu gh and ‘Ske y o e’ his house in
Bou nemou h, a own in he Sou h o England whe e he li ed wi h his wi e Fanny om 1884 o
1887, he longes pe iod hey e e spen in one place be o e eaching Samoa. While Sco land hus
ep esen ed his pas – he house whe e he g ew up was a ‘me e shell’ now ha his a he was gone;
England s ood o his p esen . I was in London wi h Sidney Col in ha S e enson el he belonged.
In e es ingly, he le e quo ed abo e was w i en on he schoone Equa o , 190 miles o he
coas o Samoa. Less han wo mon hs la e , on 20 Janua y 1890, he au ho announced o his
Bou nemou h iends, Lady Taylo and D Thomas Bodley Sco , he had decided o se le in he
Polynesian a chipelago and planned o e u n o England only o a isi . His new ‘home’ would be
in he Sou h Paci ic4.
In eading S e enson’s co espondence o he ime, his adical decision may seem ab up ye i
is no su p ising. S e enson o en modi ied his plans du ing his Paci ic oyages. His heal h was a
majo ac o in hese changes. A e he c uise on he schoone Casco o he Ma quesas, he
Paumo u (Tuamo u) and Tahi i (28 June 1888 - 24 Janua y 1889), he planned o s ay in Hawaii o a
couple o mon hs be o e e u ning home. Ye he wea he he e was ‘colde ’ han in he islands he
had ecen ly isi ed and his made him d ead he idea o going back o England and p obably being
con ined again “ o my old li e o he house and sick- oom”5. Du ing his c uise on he Casco, he had
enjoyed good heal h and had been able o do hings p e iously unimaginable such as sea-ba hing
and li ing “almos en i ely in he open ai ”6. The con as wi h his li e a home was sha p.
I was hus ha ins ead o lea ing Hawaii in Ap il 1889 on his homewa d jou ney, S e enson
w o e o his iends ha he was going o pos pone his e u n o ano he yea in o de o “go a he
a ield in he Paci ic, and see mo e, and ge mo e heal h, and ge (I do no doub ) o lo e his pa o
he wo ld be e han e e ”7. The au ho and his amily le Hawaii in June on he ading schoone
Equa o and headed owa d he Gilbe Islands. His g owing in e es in he Paci ic egion and his
3 Ibid., ol. 6, p. 337.
4 Ibid., ol. 6, pp. 351-354.
5 Robe Louis S e enson, In he Sou h Seas (1896), edi ed by Neil Rennie, Penguin, London, 1998, p. 5.
6 See Fanny S e enson’s le e o Col in o 4 Decembe [1888] in Le e s, ol. 6, p. 227.
7 Le e s, ol. 6 p. 268.
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desi e o w i e an e hno-his o ical accoun o his a els, a big book on he ‘Sou h Seas’, we e
ano he de e mining ac o . The new oyage would p o ide new ma e ial, “i would be madness o
come home now, wi h an impe ec book”, S e enson w o e o Col in om Honolulu on 2 Ap il
18898.
Du ing he p epa a ions o his second c uise, he au ho o en men ioned Samoa as a possible
s op in his i ine a y. Ye i was no he i s ime he add essed he a chipelago in his
co espondence. Sho ly be o e planning his second oyage, he had w i en a le e o he Edi o o
The Times (10 Feb ua y 1889) in which he desc ibed he colonial dispu es in Samoa be ween
Ge many, B i ain and he Uni ed S a es9. Though he had no ye isi ed he islands and was s ill
planning o e u n home in he summe , he el compelled o w i e abou wha he knew o hei
poli ical si ua ion a e alking wi h King Kalakaua o Hawaii.
Samoa, mo eo e , had been p esen in he au ho ’s imagina ion o many yea s. In a le e o
May 1889 o Edwa d L. Bu lingname, S e enson men ions how he should ha e mo ed he e
“ i een yea s ago […] as I uly designed o, unde he spu o M . Seed’s ad ice”10. William Seed
was a public se an om New Zealand whom he had me in he summe o 1875. Seed had
desc ibed he Sou h Paci ic o S e enson (“ ill I was sick wi h desi e o go he e”) and pa icula ly
ecommended Samoa as a place o li e11.
I was hus o a combina ion o easons ha he au ho ’s decision o buy land and se le on he
island o Upolu was no as sudden as i may ini ially seem. On he one hand, i ul illed his need o
ind a place whe e his heal h could imp o e and esponded o his desi e o s ay in he Paci ic, a
‘ emp a ion’ he had admi ed o Bax e sho ly a e he c uise o he Casco (8 Feb ua y 1889); on
he o he , i was an excellen loca ion o i s mail se ice, being on he na al ou e be ween Sydney
and San F ancisco. This mean keeping in egula con ac wi h his iends, publishe s and eade s in
England and he Uni ed S a es12.
In addi ion, Samoa eminded S e enson o Sco land. The island o Upolu, he au ho no es, “has
beau i ul i e s, o abou he bigness o ou wa e s in he Lo hians, wi h pleasan o ds and
wa e alls and o e hanging e du e, and o en a g ea olume o sound, so ha once I hough I was
passing nea a mill, and i was only he oice o he i e ”13. Upolu’s na u e was simila o
Edinbu gh’s su oundings.
8 Ibid., ol.6, p. 275.
9 This was he i s o en le e s ha we e subsequen ly published by The Times, he Pall Mall Gaze e and he Daily
Ch onicle be ween 1889 and 1894, in which S e enson add essed He would la e publish a book on he subjec i led A
Foo no e o His o y. Eigh Yea s o T ouble in Samoa (1892).
10 Le e s, ol. 6, p. 299.
11 Ibid., ol. 2, p. 145.
12 See G aham Bal ou , The Li e o Robe Louis S e enson, Me huen & Co., London, 1901, ol. 2, p. 89.
13 Le e s, ol. 6, p. 347.
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Du ing his Paci ic a els, he au ho o en compa ed wha he saw o his na i e land, bo h om
a na u al and a cul u al s andpoin . The poin s o simila i y be ween “a Sou h Sea people and some
o my own olk a home,” S e enson obse ed in his accoun o his oyages, “ an much in my head
in he islands; and no only inclined me o iew my esh acquain ances wi h a ou , bu con inually
modi ied my judgemen ”14. The analogies he saw be ween he pligh o 18 h cen u y Sco ish
Highlande s and he condi ion o na i es in he Paci ic colonial wo ld, p o ided him wi h a means
o unde s anding he peoples he encoun e ed. Rousing and sha ing a sense o “kinship”, he au ho
belie ed, was a undamen al ing edien in he dynamics o c oss-cul u al exchange. O he wise i
was be e no o a el a all.
I England was he ‘home’ o his li e a y and in ellec ual cons i uency, Sco land ep esen ed his
cul u al iden i y, he sou ce om which he qua ied he ma e ial he ba e ed wi h he na i es o
acqui e knowledge o hei cul u es. “[Wha ] I knew o he Cluny Macphe sons, o o he Appin
S ewa s”, S e enson commen s, “enabled me o lea n, and helped me o unde s and, abou he
Te as o Tahi i”15. I was h ough Sco land ha he au ho encoun e ed he Paci ic.
No only did Upolu he e o e emind him o he su oundings o Edinbu gh – and pe haps his
esemblance con ibu ed o his choice – bu he expe ienced his new home h ough his s ong bond
wi h his coun y and cul u al he i age. This eme ges clea ly in he au ho ’s desc ip ion o his house
and li e in Samoa.
Fi s o all we mus bea in mind ha S e enson’s decision o se le also in ol ed his amily.
His mo he , Ma ga e , his wi e, Fanny and he son Lloyd had a elled wi h him o he Paci ic on
he Casco. Ma ga e e u ned o Sco land a e his i s c uise, bu Lloyd, Fanny and he daugh e ’s
husband, Joe S ong, wen wi h him on he Equa o . In Samoa hey would all li e oge he joined
by Fanny’s daugh e , Belle S ong and he son Aus in. On 10 Janua y 189016, he au ho signed he
legal deed o he pu chase o 314 ac es wo miles inland om Apia, he capi al o Samoa17. He
named his es a e ‘Vailima’ (in Samoan ‘ i e wa e s’), because o he s eams ha an h ough he
land18. The g ounds we e co e ed wi h dense ege a ion and had o be clea ed in o de o build a
house and de elop a cacao plan a ion ha was o help S e enson suppo his ex ended amily.
The au ho and his wi e le o Sydney in Feb ua y 1890, while he Ame ican ade H. J.
Moo s supe ised wo k a Vailima. They planned o e u n o England in he summe and “wind
up”19 hei a ai s he e, bu he au ho ell g a ely ill in Aus alia and he only emedy seemed o go
14 In he Sou h Seas, p. 13.
15 Ibidem.
16 Le e s, ol. 6, p. 352, no e 1.
17 Li e, ol. 2, p. 88.
18 See Le e s, ol. 6, p. 393; Li e, ol. 2, p. 106.
19 Le e s, ol. 6, p. 353.
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on a hi d c uise on he s eame Jane Nichol (Ap il - July 1890). When hey e u ned o Samoa in
Sep embe 1890 he and Fanny mo ed o a empo a y co age ha had been buil on hei es a e so
hey could li e he e while supe ising he building o hei ‘Old Colonial Home’20.
Vailima p o ided an abundance o opical p oduc s (bananas, b ead ui , cocoanu s, gua as,
a o, mangos, o anges, limes, e c.), bu he cacao plan a ion was no success ul. The “i egula and
ocky su ace o he g ound made i di icul o keep clean, and also caused he plan a ion o be e y
s aggling and i egula ”21. S e enson, his cousin G aham Bal ou obse es, was no i “ o be he
success ul manage o a plan a ion un o his own p o i ”22.
The house on he o he hand was a splendid achie emen . In Ap il 1891, a i s sec ion was
comple ed and he au ho could inally mo e o his own space whe e he could “shu my doo and
make my own con usion”, a e li ing six mon hs in close qua e s, “in he mids o all he my iad
mis o unes o he plan e ’s li e”23. By Janua y 1893, he second pa o he house was also
inished24. The building, Bal ou no es, “consis ed o wo blocks o equal size, placed […] in
échelon. I was made “o wood h oughou , pain ed a da k g een ou side, wi h a ed oo o
co uga ed i on”. The downs ai s accommoda ion consis ed o “ h ee ooms, a ba h a s o e oom and
cella s below, wi h i e bed ooms and he lib a y ups ai s”. S e enson’s oom was ob ained by
boa ding in hal o he ups ai s e andah. Bal ou desc ibes i as “a so o ma in’s nes , plas e ed
as i we e upon he ou side o he house”25.
The u ni u e a Vailima was a combina ion o pieces om Ske y o e, He io Row and he
au ho ’s Paci ic a els. In he la ge hall which “occupied he whole o he g ound loo o he
newe po ion o he house” and was “lined and ceiled wi h a nished edwood om Cali o nia”26,
he e we e, among o he hings, an oak cabine , wo Bu mese s a ues, pain ings by S e enson’s
cousin Bob, Sa gen ’s po ai o he au ho and Fanny, and a plas e g oup by Rodin. In he
bed ooms he loo s we e co e ed wi h na i e ma s and he e we e apa hangings on he walls. The
lib a y, Bal ou ecalls, was “lined wi h books […] The mos impo an di isions we e he shel es
allo ed o he his o y o Sco land, o F ench books ei he mode n o ela ing o he i een h cen u y,
o mili a y his o y, and o books ela ing o he Paci ic”27.
The Vailima household embodied a simila blending o Sco ish, Ame ican and Samoan. “I am
he head o he household o i e whi es, and wel e Samoans”, S e enson w o e o Geo ge
20 Ibid., ol. 6, p. 393.
21 Li e, ol. 2, p. 118.
22 Ibidem.
23 Le e s, ol. 7, p. 63.
24 Ibid., ol. 7, p. 464.
25 Li e, ol. 2, pp. 107-108.
26 Ibid., ol. 2, p. 109.
27 Ibid., ol. 2, pp. 108-109.

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Me edi h on 5 Sep embe 1893, “ o all o whom I am he chie and a he ; my cook comes o me
and asks lea e o ma y – and his mo he , a ine old chie woman, who has ne e li ed he e, does
he same”28. The au ho , Jenni Calde obse es, “liked o be chie o his clan, o eel ha he was
able o ca e o his people”29. Vailima allowed S e enson o ashion himsel as a land p op ie o and
clan leade acco ding o he alues o adi ional Sco ish cul u e. A “la ge sense o amily
ela ions, o gene ous sen imen o clanship”, he belie ed, “is he only oad o sa e y o oubled
mankind as a ace”30.
S e enson’s wo ds highligh he e hical s ance ha unde lay his posi ion as employe o Samoan
wo ke s and cha ac e ised his in ol emen in Samoan poli ics e e since his i s le e o The
Times. The au ho , howe e , was also awa e o he p ac ical ad an ages o being ecognized as a
chie . “[No] Samoan wo ks excep o his amily”, he w o e in Decembe 1893 o a New Zealand
jou nalis , “[a]cco dingly in o de o insu e pe manen se ice in Samoa I ha e ied o play he
na i e chie wi h necessa y Eu opean a ia ions. Jus now i looks as i I was succeeding”31.
Clanship was an e hical ma e ye i was also pa o he colonial game.
‘Vailima’, he house and he household, can hus be ead as an example o S e enson’s
encoun e wi h he Paci ic colonial wo ld h ough his own cul u al he i age, a dynamics o c oss-
cul u al exchange ha shaped bo h his expe ience o he egion and his w i ings abou i .
28 Le e s, ol. 8, p. 163.
29 Jenni Calde , RLS: A Li e S udy, Hamish Hamil on, London, p. 283.
30 Le e s, ol. 6, p. 296.
31 Ibid., ol. 8, p. 200.