{"id":"01KG8AKVG70CB3R02EWQ2T3157","cid":"bafkreif7w5t6tn4lolf2tpg3o52kyeaati3mew34cjfe3whl5od3fr3fga","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":2612,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.149Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 4","source_file":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","start_line":2536,"text":"some unaccountable chance, once more missed. Though it is well known\r\nthat such failures will happen at times, they, nevertheless, occasion\r\nthe bitterest disappointment to a boat’s crew, generally expressed in\r\ncurses both loud and deep. And no wonder. Let any man pull with might\r\nand main for hours and hours together, under a burning sun; and if it\r\ndo not make him a little peevish, he is no sailor.\r\n\r\nThe taunts of the seamen may have maddened the Mowree; however it was,\r\nno sooner was he brought up again, than, harpoon in hand, he bounded\r\nupon the whale’s back, and for one dizzy second was seen there. The\r\nnext, all was foam and fury, and both were out of sight. The men\r\nsheered off, flinging overboard the line as fast as they could; while\r\nahead, nothing was seen but a red whirlpool of blood and brine.\r\n\r\nPresently, a dark object swam out; the line began to straighten; then\r\nsmoked round the loggerhead, and, quick as thought, the boat sped like\r\nan arrow through the water. They were “fast,” and the whale was\r\nrunning.\r\n\r\nWhere was the Mowree? His brown hand was on the boat’s gunwale; and he\r\nwas hauled aboard in the very midst of the mad bubbles that burst under\r\nthe bows.\r\n\r\nSuch a man, or devil, if you will, was Bembo.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nCHAPTER XX.\r\nTHE ROUND ROBIN—VISITORS FROM SHORE\r\n\r\n\r\nAfter the captain left, the land-breeze died away; and, as is usual\r\nabout these islands, toward noon it fell a dead calm. There was nothing\r\nto do but haul up the courses, run down the jib, and lay and roll upon\r\nthe swells. The repose of the elements seemed to communicate itself to\r\nthe men; and for a time there was a lull.\r\n\r\nEarly in the afternoon, the mate, having left the captain at Papeetee,\r\nreturned to the ship. According to the steward, they were to go ashore\r\nagain right after dinner with the remainder of Guy’s effects.\r\n\r\nOn gaining the deck, Jermin purposely avoided us and went below without\r\nsaying a word. Meanwhile, Long Ghost and I laboured hard to diffuse the\r\nright spirit among the crew; impressing upon them that a little\r\npatience and management would, in the end, accomplish all that their\r\nviolence could; and that, too, without making a serious matter of it.\r\n\r\nFor my own part, I felt that I was under a foreign flag; that an\r\nEnglish consul was close at hand, and that sailors seldom obtain\r\njustice. It was best to be prudent. Still, so much did I sympathize\r\nwith the men, so far, at least, as their real grievances were\r\nconcerned; and so convinced was I of the cruelty and injustice of what\r\nCaptain Guy seemed bent upon, that if need were, I stood ready to raise\r\na hand.\r\n\r\nIn spite of all we could do, some of them again became most refractory,\r\nbreathing nothing but downright mutiny. When we went below to dinner\r\nthese fellows stirred up such a prodigious tumult that the old hull\r\nfairly echoed. Many, and fierce too, were the speeches delivered, and\r\nuproarious the comments of the sailors. Among others Long Jim, or—as\r\nthe doctor afterwards called him—Lacedaemonian Jim, rose in his place,\r\nand addressed the forecastle parliament in the following strain:\r\n\r\n“Look ye, Britons! if after what’s happened, this here craft goes to\r\nsea with us, we are no men; and that’s the way to say it. Speak the\r\nword, my livelies, and I’ll pilot her in. I’ve been to Tahiti before\r\nand I can do it.” Whereupon, he sat down amid a universal pounding of\r\nchest-lids, and cymbaling of tin pans; the few invalids, who, as yet,\r\nhad not been actively engaged with the rest, now taking part in the\r\napplause, creaking their bunk-boards and swinging their hammocks. Cries\r\nalso were heard, of “Handspikes and a shindy!” “Out stun-sails!”\r\n“Hurrah!”\r\n\r\nSeveral now ran on deck, and, for the moment, I thought it was all over\r\nwith us; but we finally succeeded in restoring some degree of quiet.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 4"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJH07Y1Q0CCD1EWKJXEM0","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKVG7571VPQ759N47EZRN","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKVG78ZDWA8YBSMH71NZ8","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:17.927Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:25.252Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}