{"id":"01KG8AKWQHG45B3S5G2M49GTZP","cid":"bafkreiblj3hzwcrs66rmwhtpy7kq7iifijaa2hz7b5wl7mlvgf77o6e2ha","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":9917,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.153Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","start_line":9843,"text":"karhowree sabbee lee-lee ena arva tee maitai!” in other words, what a\r\nblockhead of a white man! this is the real stuff!\r\n\r\nWe could not have been more startled had a frog leaped from his mouth.\r\nFor an instant, he looked confused enough himself; and then placing a\r\nfinger mysteriously upon his mouth, he contrived to make us understand\r\nthat at times he was subject to a suspension of the powers of speech.\r\n\r\nDeeming the phenomenon a remarkable one, every way, the doctor desired\r\nhim to open his mouth so that he might have a look down. But he\r\nrefused.\r\n\r\nThis occurrence made us rather suspicious of our host; nor could we\r\nafterward account for his conduct, except by supposing that his\r\nfeigning dumbness might in some way or other assist him in the\r\nnefarious pursuits in which it afterwards turned out that he was\r\nengaged. This conclusion, however, was not altogether satisfactory.\r\n\r\nTo oblige him, we at last took a sip of his “arva tee,” and found it\r\nvery crude, and strong as Lucifer. Curious to know whence it was\r\nobtained, we questioned him; when, lighting up with pleasure, he seized\r\nthe taper, and led us outside the hut, bidding us follow.\r\n\r\nAfter going some distance through the woods, we came to a dismantled\r\nold shed of boughs, apparently abandoned to decay. Underneath, nothing\r\nwas to be seen but heaps of decaying leaves and an immense, clumsy jar,\r\nwide-mouthed, and by some means, rudely hollowed out from a ponderous\r\nstone.\r\n\r\nHere, for a while, we were left to ourselves; the old man placing the\r\nlight in the jar, and then disappearing. He returned, carrying a long,\r\nlarge bamboo, and a crotched stick. Throwing these down, he poked under\r\na pile of rubbish, and brought out a rough block of wood, pierced\r\nthrough and through with a hole, which was immediately clapped on the\r\ntop of the jar. Then planting the crotched stick upright about two\r\nyards distant, and making it sustain one end of the bamboo, he inserted\r\nthe other end of the latter into the hole in the block: concluding\r\nthese arrangements by placing an old calabash under the farther end of\r\nthe bamboo.\r\n\r\nComing up to us now with a sly, significant look, and pointing\r\nadmiringly at his apparatus, he exclaimed, “Ah, karhowree, ena\r\nhannahanna arva tee!” as much as to say, “This, you see, is the way\r\nit’s done.”\r\n\r\nHis contrivance was nothing less than a native still, where he\r\nmanufactured his island “poteen.” The disarray in which we found it was\r\nprobably intentional, as a security against detection. Before we left\r\nthe shed, the old fellow toppled the whole concern over, and dragged it\r\naway piecemeal.\r\n\r\nHis disclosing his secret to us thus was characteristic of the “Tootai\r\nOwrees,” or contemners of the missionaries among the natives; who,\r\npresuming that all foreigners are opposed to the ascendancy of the\r\nmissionaries, take pleasure in making them confidants, whenever the\r\nenactments of their rulers are secretly set at nought.\r\n\r\nThe substance from which the liquor is produced is called “Tee,” which\r\nis a large, fibrous root, something like yam, but smaller. In its green\r\nstate, it is exceedingly acrid; but boiled or baked, has the sweetness\r\nof the sugar-cane. After being subjected to the fire, macerated and\r\nreduced to a certain stage of fermentation, the “Tee” is stirred up\r\nwith water, and is then ready for distillation.\r\n\r\nOn returning to the hut, pipes were introduced; and, after a while,\r\nLong Ghost, who, at first, had relished the “Arva Tee” as little as\r\nmyself, to my surprise, began to wax sociable over it, with Varvy; and,\r\nbefore long, absolutely got mellow, the old toper keeping him company.\r\n\r\nIt was a curious sight. Everyone knows that, so long as the occasion\r\nlasts, there is no stronger bond of sympathy and good feeling among men\r\nthan getting tipsy together. And how earnestly, nay, movingly, a brace\r\nof worthies, thus employed, will endeavour to shed light upon, and\r\nelucidate their mystical ideas!\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJMW6K5EVYCY8NXD315S1","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKWQKTB6CY6A6JCX47G89","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKWQK0PGE79QZ9EGK0CMH","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:19.185Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:32.148Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}