title: The Beach of Falesa (Sp 194)
author: Robert Stevenson
description: Long story by Robert Louis Stevenson, first published as "Uma" in 1892 and collected in Island Nights' Entertainments (1893). An adventure romance fused with realism, it depicts a man's struggle to maintain his decency in the face of uncivilized hostility. John Wiltshire, the story's narrator and protagonist, is a white trader on the exotic island of Falesa in the South Seas. He is befriended by Case, a fellow trader who persuades him to marry the native Uma. When Wiltshire does so, the natives ostracize the couple. Gradually Wiltshire learns that Case has subdued the natives by manipulating their fears of the supernatural. Wiltshire exposes Case as a fraud and kills him in self-defense. -- <i><a href="/exec/obidos/isbn=0877790426/${0}">The Merriam-Webster Encylopedia of Literature</a></i>
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  # The Beach of Falesa
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Robert Louis Stevenson
  
  
  This page copyright © 2002 Munsey's.
  
  
  http://www.munseys.com
  
  CHAPTER I. A SOUTH SEA BRIDAL.
  
  
  THE BEACH OF FALESÁ—(BEING THE NARRATIVE OF A
  
  
  SOUTH SEA TRADER)
  
  
  CHAPTER II. THE BAN.
  
  
  CHAPTER III. THE MISSIONARY.
  
  
  CHAPTER IV. DEVIL-WORK.
  
  
  CHAPTER V. NIGHT IN THE BUSH.
  
  
  
  
  
  TO THREE OLD SHIPMATES AMONG THE ISLANDS
  
  
  HARRY HENDERSON
  
  
  BEN HIRD
  
  
  JACK BUCKLAND
  
  
  THEIR FRIEND
  
  
  R. L. S.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### CHAPTER I. A SOUTH SEA BRIDAL.
  
  
  
  
  
    
  I saw that island first when it was neither night nor morning. The
  
  
  moon was to the west, setting, but still broad and bright. To the east,
  
  
  and right amidships of the dawn, which was all pink, the daystar
  
  
  sparkled like a diamond. The land breeze blew in our faces, and smelt
  
  
  strong of wild lime and vanilla: other things besides, but these were
  
  
  the most plain; and the chill of it set me sneezing. I should say I had
  
  
  been for years 