{"id":"01KG8AJT05QFK7WVA650WCPKPV","cid":"bafkreies2voe7pjlx7ddnvobeo737e3dsvowqug3mulve6mp7yqciimdhm","type":"chapter","properties":{"description":"# CHAPTER LIII. The Chamois Ashore\n\n## Overview\nThis chapter, titled \"The Chamois Ashore,\" is part of the novel [Mardi: And a Voyage Thither](arke:01KG8AJA6157W2830190N652KA). It was extracted from the file [mardi_vol1.txt](arke:01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK) and is part of the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. The chapter spans from line 5799 to 5877 of the source text.\n\n## Context\n\"The Chamois Ashore\" follows [CHAPTER LII. World Ho!](arke:01KG8AJT051HH7TG8AJK1J85PZ) and precedes [CHAPTER LIV. A Gentleman From The Sun](arke:01KG8AJT0EJ9MG9MFSDKYVA1AQ). This chapter details the arrival of the protagonist, Taji, and his companions, Yillah and Jarl, on an island inhabited by the Mardi people.\n\n## Contents\nUpon landing, the group is met with intense adoration from the islanders, who perceive Yillah as a divine being and Taji as a superior entity, possibly a demigod named \"white Taji.\" Samoa, one of Taji's companions, encourages this belief to ensure their safety and favorable reception. The islanders, particularly interested in Samoa's tattoos, create a clamor around him. Taji, wary of the potential dangers of being mistaken for a deity, awaits the arrival of the island's dignitaries. The chapter concludes with the sound of conch shells signaling the approach of these important figures.","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T20:49:19.416Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"CHAPTER LIII. The Chamois Ashore","end_line":5877,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:39.468Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"CHAPTER LIII. The Chamois Ashore","source_file":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","start_line":5799,"text":"CHAPTER LIII.\r\nThe Chamois Ashore\r\n\r\n\r\nUntil now, enveloped in her robe, and crouching like a fawn, Yillah had\r\nbeen well nigh hidden from view. But presently she withdrew her hood.\r\n\r\nWhat saw the Islanders, that they so gazed and adored in silence: some\r\nretreating, some creeping nearer, and the women all in a flutter? Long\r\nthey gazed; and following Samoa’s example, stretched forth their arms\r\nin reverence.\r\n\r\nThe adoration of the maiden was extended to myself. Indeed, from the\r\nsingular gestures employed, I had all along suspected, that we were\r\nbeing received with unwonted honors.\r\n\r\nI now sought to get speech of my comrades. But so obstreperous was the\r\ncrowd, that it was next to impossible. Jarl was still in his perch in\r\nthe air; his enthusiastic bearers not yet suffering him to alight.\r\nSamoa, however, who had managed to keep out of the saddle, by-and-by\r\ncontrived to draw nearer to the Chamois.\r\n\r\nHe advised me, by no means to descend for the present; since in any\r\nevent we were sure of remaining unmolested therein; the Islanders\r\nregarding it as sacred.\r\n\r\nThe Upoluan attracted a great deal of attention; chiefly from his style\r\nof tattooing, which, together with other peculiarities, so interested\r\nthe natives, that they were perpetually hanging about him, putting\r\neager questions, and all the time keeping up a violent clamor.\r\n\r\nBut despite the large demand upon his lungs, Samoa made out to inform\r\nme, that notwithstanding the multitude assembled, there was no high\r\nchief, or person of consequence present; the king of the place, also\r\nthose of the islands adjacent, being absent at a festival in another\r\nquarter of the Archipelago. But upon the first distant glimpse of the\r\nChamois, fleet canoes had been dispatched to announce the surprising\r\nevent that had happened.\r\n\r\nIn good time, the crowd becoming less tumultuous, and abandoning the\r\nsiege of Samoa, I availed myself of this welcome lull, and called upon\r\nhim and my Viking to enter the Chamois; desirous of condensing our\r\nforces against all emergencies.\r\n\r\nSamoa now gave me to understand, that from all he could learn, the\r\nIslanders regarded me as a superior being. They had inquired of him,\r\nwhether I was not white Taji, a sort of half-and-half deity, now and\r\nthen an Avatar among them, and ranking among their inferior ex- officio\r\ndemi-gods. To this, Samoa had said ay; adding, moreover, all he could\r\nto encourage the idea.\r\n\r\nHe now entreated me, at the first opportunity, to announce myself as\r\nTaji: declaring that if once received under that title, the unbounded\r\nhospitality of our final reception would be certain; and our persons\r\nfenced about from all harm.\r\n\r\nEncouraging this. But it was best to be wary. For although among some\r\nbarbarians the first strangers landing upon their shores, are\r\nfrequently hailed as divine; and in more than one wild land have been\r\nactually styled gods, as a familiar designation; yet this has not\r\nexempted the celestial visitants from peril, when too much presuming\r\nupon the reception extended to them. In sudden tumults they have been\r\nslain outright, and while full faith in their divinity had in no wise\r\nabated. The sad fate of an eminent navigator is a well-known\r\nillustration of this unaccountable waywardness.\r\n\r\nWith no small anxiety, therefore, we awaited the approach of some of\r\nthe dignitaries of Mardi; for by this collective appellation, the\r\npeople informed us, their islands were known.\r\n\r\nWe waited not long. Of a sudden, from the sea-side, a single shrill cry\r\nwas heard. A moment more, and the blast of numerous conch shells\r\nstartled the air; a confused clamor drew nearer and nearer; and flying\r\nour eyes in the direction of these sounds, we impatiently awaited what\r\nwas to follow.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"CHAPTER LIII. The Chamois Ashore"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJA6157W2830190N652KA","peer_type":"novel","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AJT051HH7TG8AJK1J85PZ","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AJT0EJ9MG9MFSDKYVA1AQ","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"next"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:43.621Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:49:20.339Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}