Twice indeed he interfered, both times with success; and
once, when his own person had been endangered, with vehemence; but during
all the strange doings I have to narrate, he remained in close intimacy
with the German consulate, and on one occasion may be said to have acted
as its marshal. After the worst is over, after Bismarck has told Knappe
that "the protests of his English colleague were grounded," that his own
conduct "has not been good," and that in any dispute which may arise he
"will find himself in the wrong," Knappe can still plead in his defence
that Captain Hand "has always maintained friendly intercourse with the
German authorities." Singular epitaph for an English sailor. In this
complicity on the part of Hand we may find the reason--and I had almost
said, the excuse--of much that was excessive in the bearing of the
unfortunate Knappe.
On the 11th December, Mataafa received twenty-eight thousand cartridges,
brought into the country in salt-beef kegs by the British ship
_Richmond_. This not only sharpened the animosity between whites;
following so closely on the German fizzle at Laulii, it raised a
convulsion in the camp of Tamasese. On the 13th Brandeis addressed to
Knappe his famous and fatal letter.
Pages:
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181