Mount Vaeais a 472 m[1]summit overlookingApia,the capital ofSamoalocated on the north central coast ofUpoluisland. The mountain is situated south about 3 km inland from Apia township and harbour. The settlement at the foothills on the northern side of the mountain is calledLalovaea(below VaeainSamoan).
| Mount Vaea | |
|---|---|
 View of Mt Vaea fromLepeavillage to the northwest. | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 472 m (1,549 ft)[1] |
| Prominence | 472 m (1,549 ft) |
| Coordinates | 13°51′49″S171°46′25″W/ 13.86361°S 171.77361°W[1] |
| Geography | |
Connections to Robert Louis Stevenson
editMount Vaea is best known as the burial place of the Scottish writer and poetRobert Louis Stevenson,who lived the last four years of his life in Samoa before his death on 3 December 1894. Stevenson, who had lived on the east side of Mount Vaea, had chosen the mountain top as his final resting place. The day following his death, his coffin was carried by Samoans to the summit for burial.[2]The steep path to his grave is called the 'Road of Loving Hearts.'[2]It takes about an hour to ascend by foot. Stevenson was called Tusitala (Samoan language:tusi'book',tala'writer') by the people of Samoa.[3]
Inscribed on Stevenson's tomb is his epitaph:
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 grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,[4]
And the hunter home from the hill.
The ashes of his wifeFanny Stevenson,who died inCaliforniain 1914, were taken back by her daughter to Samoa in 1915 and buried beside her husband.[5]The bronze plaque for Fanny bears her Samoan name 'Aolele' (Flying CloudinSamoan).
Stevenson's estate and colonial home, Villa Vailima, is now theRobert Louis Stevenson Museumin his honour. It is situated in the village ofVailimaat the eastern foot of Mount Vaea.[6]
Memorial and Scenic Reserve
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Stevenson's memorial on Mount Vaea and more than 100 acres (0.40 km2) from the estate are protected by law in Samoa through theStevenson Memorial Reserve and Mount Vaea Scenic Reserve Ordinance 1958.[7]
Part of the 1958 Law states;
- Certain lands on Mount Vaea which is the resting place of Robert Louis Stevenson formerly of Vailima (known to the people of Samoa as Tusitala), and of Fanny Stevenson, his wife, has been given to theGovernment of Samoaby theheirof the said Fanny Stevenson as a memorial to Robert Louis Stevenson.
- The lands described...shall be known as the Stevenson Memorial Reserve and shall be maintained in perpetuity by the Government of Samoa in memory of Robert Louis Stevenson and his love for the people of Samoa.
- ....theMount Vaea Scenic Reserveshall be maintained in perpetuity by the Government of Samoa as a scenic reserve.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abc"Mount Vaea, Samoa".Retrieved1 July2010.
- ^abAlbert Wendt, Robert Louis Stevenson, Roger Robertson (2004).Robert Louis Stevenson; his best Pacific writings.University of Queensland Press. p. 318.ISBN978-0-7022-3429-3.Retrieved1 July2010.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^Samoan Dictionary, G.B.Milner
- ^While published versions of the poem typically render this phrase as"home from sea,"the actual gravestone includes the definite article. See, for example, this"Robert Louis Stevenson grave photo".
- ^Terry, Reginald Charles (1996).Robert Louis Stevenson interviews and recollections.University of Iowa Press. p. 207.ISBN978-0-87745-512-7.Retrieved1 July2010.
- ^"Robert Louis Stevenson Museum".Atlas Obscura.Retrieved2021-05-16.
- ^"Stevenson Memorial Reserve and Mount Vaea Scenic Reserve Ordinance 1958".Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute.Retrieved1 July2010.
External links
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Media related toMount Vaea, Samoaat Wikimedia Commons