{"id":"01KG8AKVEB3X9FYQCT50NWEYMB","cid":"bafkreidjfxtrqpirg2yel7bqfdyu4tk56h3x45ceygbc7l647ge6k2bxye","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":8894,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.153Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","start_line":8816,"text":"CHAPTER LXV.\r\nTHE HEGIRA, OR FLIGHT\r\n\r\n\r\n“I say, doctor,” cried I, a few days after my adventure with the\r\ngoblin, as, in the absence of our host, we were one morning lounging\r\nupon the matting in his dwelling, smoking our reed pipes, “Tamai’s a\r\nthriving place; why not settle down?”\r\n\r\n“Faith!” said he, “not a bad idea, Paul. But do you fancy they’ll let\r\nus stay, though?”\r\n\r\n“Why, certainly; they would be overjoyed to have a couple of Karhowrees\r\nfor townsmen.”\r\n\r\n“Gad! you’re right, my pleasant fellow. Ha! ha! I’ll put up a\r\nbanana-leaf as a physician from London—deliver lectures on Polynesian\r\nantiquities—teach English in five lessons, of one hour each—establish\r\npower-looms for the manufacture of tappa—lay out a public park in the\r\nmiddle of the village, and found a festival in honour of Captain Cook!”\r\n\r\n“But, surely, not without stopping to take breath,” observed I.\r\n\r\nThe doctor’s projects, to be sure, were of a rather visionary cast; but\r\nwe seriously thought, nevertheless, of prolonging our stay in the\r\nvalley for an indefinite period; and, with this understanding, we were\r\nturning over various plans for spending our time pleasantly, when\r\nseveral women came running into the house, and hurriedly besought us to\r\nheree! heree! (make our escape), crying out something about the\r\nMickonarees.\r\n\r\nThinking that we were about to be taken up under the act for the\r\nsuppression of vagrancy, we flew out of the house, sprang into a canoe\r\nbefore the door, and paddled with might and main over to the opposite\r\nside of the lake.\r\n\r\nApproaching Rartoo’s dwelling was a great crowd, among which we\r\nperceived several natives, who, from their partly European dress, we\r\nwere certain did not reside in Tamai.\r\n\r\nPlunging into the groves, we thanked our stars that we had thus\r\nnarrowly escaped being apprehended as runaway seamen, and marched off\r\nto the beach. This, at least, was what we thought we had escaped.\r\n\r\nHaving fled the village, we could not think of prowling about its\r\nvicinity, and then returning; in doing so we might be risking our\r\nliberty again. We therefore determined upon journeying back to Martair;\r\nand setting our faces thitherward, we reached the planters’ house about\r\nnightfall. They gave us a cordial reception, and a hearty supper; and\r\nwe sat up talking until a late hour.\r\n\r\nWe now prepared to go round to Taloo, a place from which we were not\r\nfar off when at Tamai; but wishing to see as much of the island as we\r\ncould, we preferred returning to Martair, and then going round by way\r\nof the beach.\r\n\r\nTaloo, the only frequented harbour of Imeeo, lies on the western side\r\nof the island, almost directly over against Martair. Upon one shore of\r\nthe bay stands the village of Partoowye, a missionary station. In its\r\nvicinity is an extensive sugar plantation—the best in the South Seas,\r\nperhaps—worked by a person from Sydney.\r\n\r\nThe patrimonial property of the husband of Pomaree, and every way a\r\ndelightful retreat, Partoowye was one of the occasional residences of\r\nthe court. But at the time I write of it was permanently fixed there,\r\nthe queen having fled thither from Tahiti.\r\n\r\nPartoowye, they told us, was by no means the place Papeetee was. Ships\r\nseldom touched, and very few foreigners were living ashore. A solitary\r\nwhaler, however, was reported to be lying in the harbour, wooding and\r\nwatering, and to be in want of men.\r\n\r\nAll things considered, I could not help looking upon Taloo as offering\r\n“a splendid opening” for us adventurers. To say nothing of the\r\nfacilities presented for going to sea in the whaler, or hiring\r\nourselves out as day labourers in the sugar plantation, there were\r\nhopes to be entertained of being promoted to some office of high trust\r\nand emolument about the person of her majesty, the queen.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJMW29HSTF991W8C0ZGZQ","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKVEE8E132YZ2405NGVV6","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:17.867Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:31.085Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}