{"id":"01KG8AKRZV1GCNAQ08532FASY1","cid":"bafkreifyp4lhjxnat43nbo6q4xaduqcv3b6kuk3hywhae2nb2kl6qsvpnq","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":6550,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.152Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","start_line":6487,"text":"CHAPTER XLVII.\r\nHOW THEY DRESS IN TAHITI\r\n\r\n\r\nExcept where the employment of making “tappa” is inflicted as a\r\npunishment, the echoes of the cloth-mallet have long since died away in\r\nthe listless valleys of Tahiti. Formerly, the girls spent their\r\nmornings like ladies at their tambour frames; now, they are lounged\r\naway in almost utter indolence. True, most of them make their own\r\ngarments; but this comprises but a stitch or two; the ladies of the\r\nmission, by the bye, being entitled to the credit of teaching them to\r\nsew.\r\n\r\nThe “kihee whihenee,” or petticoat, is a mere breadth of white cotton,\r\nor calico; loosely enveloping the person, from the waist to the feet.\r\nFastened simply by a single tuck, or by twisting the upper corners\r\ntogether, this garment frequently becomes disordered; thus affording an\r\nopportunity of being coquettishly adjusted. Over the “kihee,” they wear\r\na sort of gown, open in front, very loose, and as negligent as you\r\nplease. The ladies here never dress for dinner.\r\n\r\nBut what shall be said of those horrid hats! Fancy a bunch of straw,\r\nplaited into the shape of a coal-scuttle, and stuck, bolt upright, on\r\nthe crown; with a yard or two of red ribbon flying about like\r\nkite-strings. Milliners of Paris, what would ye say to them! Though\r\nmade by the natives, they are said to have been first contrived and\r\nrecommended by the missionaries’ wives; a report which, I really trust,\r\nis nothing but scandal.\r\n\r\nCurious to relate, these things for the head are esteemed exceedingly\r\nbecoming. The braiding of the straw is one of the few employments of\r\nthe higher classes; all of which but minister to the silliest vanity.\r\n\r\nThe young girls, however, wholly eschew the hats; leaving those dowdy\r\nold souls, their mothers, to make frights of themselves.\r\n\r\nAs for the men, those who aspire to European garments seem to have no\r\nperception of the relation subsisting between the various parts of a\r\ngentleman’s costume. To the wearer of a coat, for instance, pantaloons\r\nare by no means indispensable; and a bell-crowned hat and a girdle are\r\nfull dress. The young sailor, for whom Kooloo deserted me, presented\r\nhim with a shaggy old pea-jacket; and with this buttoned up to his\r\nchin, under a tropical sun, he promenaded the Broom Road, quite elated.\r\nDoctor Long Ghost, who saw him thus, ran away with the idea that he was\r\nunder medical treatment at the time—in the act of taking, what the\r\nquacks call, a “sweat.”\r\n\r\nA bachelor friend of Captain Bob rejoiced in the possession of a full\r\nEuropean suit; in which he often stormed the ladies’ hearts. Having a\r\nmilitary leaning, he ornamented the coat with a great scarlet patch on\r\nthe breast; and mounted it also, here and there, with several\r\nregimental buttons, slyly cut from the uniform of a parcel of drunken\r\nmarines sent ashore on a holiday from a man-of-war. But, in spite of\r\nthe ornaments, the dress was not exactly the thing. From the tightness\r\nof the cloth across the shoulders, his elbows projected from his sides,\r\nlike an ungainly rider’s; and his ponderous legs were jammed so hard\r\ninto his slim, nether garments that the threads of every seam showed;\r\nand, at every step, you looked for a catastrophe.\r\n\r\nIn general, there seems to be no settled style of dressing among the\r\nmales; they wear anything they can get; in some cases, awkwardly\r\nmodifying the fashions of their fathers so as to accord with their own\r\naltered views of what is becoming.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJK7H4F6BFNB55PY7P560","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKRZV64D9TZPZZQAVRZ67","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.355Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:29.174Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}