The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson for Boys and Girls

Back Forward Menu

The first Christmas at Vailima they had a party for the children who had
never before seen a Christmas tree.

Tusitala's birthday was always a special event to his island friends.
The feast was served in native style; all seated about on the floor.
Rather large gatherings they must have been, to judge from Mrs. Strong's
account. "We had sixteen pigs roasted whole underground, three enormous
fish (small whales, Lloyd called them), four hundred pounds of beef,
ditto of pork, 200 heads of taro, great bunches of bananas, native
delicacies done up in bundles of _ti_ leaves, 800 pineapples, many
weighing fifteen pounds, all from Lloyd's patch. Among the presents for
Tusitala, besides flowers and wreaths, were fans, native baskets ... and
cocoanut cups beautifully polished."

[Illustration: A feast of chiefs]

On these occasions the hosts were often entertained with dances and