{"id":"01KG8AKWQQYKRQ3ZHAE4KT28YH","cid":"bafkreibhe32q3k6t2whtcjp3zkr2xwonuzfqik4zivttellc5utyuexvfa","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":10220,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.153Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","start_line":10151,"text":"CHAPTER LXXIV.\r\nRETIRING FOR THE NIGHT—THE DOCTOR GROWS DEVOUT\r\n\r\n\r\nThey put us to bed very pleasantly.\r\n\r\nLying across the foot of Po-Po’s nuptial couch was a smaller one made\r\nof Koar-wood; a thin, strong cord, twisted from the fibres of the husk\r\nof the cocoa-nut, and woven into an exceedingly light sort of network,\r\nforming its elastic body. Spread upon this was a single, fine mat, with\r\na roll of dried ferns for a pillow, and a strip of white tappa for a\r\nsheet. This couch was mine. The doctor was provided for in another\r\ncorner.\r\n\r\nLoo reposed alone on a little settee with a taper burning by her side;\r\nthe dandy, her brother, swinging overhead in a sailor’s hammock The two\r\ngazelles frisked upon a mat near by; and the indigent relations\r\nborrowed a scant corner of the old butler’s pallet, who snored away by\r\nthe open door. After all had retired, Po-Po placed the illuminated\r\nmelon in the middle of the apartment; and so, we all slumbered till\r\nmorning.\r\n\r\nUpon awaking, the sun was streaming brightly through the open bamboos,\r\nbut no one was stirring. After surveying the fine attitudes into which\r\nforgetfulness had thrown at least one of the sleepers, my attention was\r\ncalled off to the general aspect of the dwelling, which was quite\r\nsignificant of the superior circumstances of our host.\r\n\r\nThe house itself was built in the simple, but tasteful native style. It\r\nwas a long, regular oval, some fifty feet in length, with low sides of\r\ncane-work, and a roof thatched with palmetto-leaves. The ridgepole was,\r\nperhaps, twenty feet from the ground. There was no foundation whatever;\r\nthe bare earth being merely covered with ferns; a kind of carpeting\r\nwhich serves very well, if frequently renewed; otherwise, it becomes\r\ndusty, and the haunt of vermin, as in the huts of the poorer natives.\r\n\r\nBesides the couches, the furniture consisted of three or four sailor\r\nchests; in which were stored the fine wearing-apparel of the\r\nhousehold—the ruffled linen shirts of Po-Po, the calico dresses of his\r\nwife and children, and divers odds and ends of European\r\narticles—strings of beads, ribbons, Dutch looking-glasses, knives,\r\ncoarse prints, bunches of keys, bits of crockery, and metal buttons.\r\nOne of these chests—used as a bandbox by Arfretee—contained several of\r\nthe native hats (coal-scuttles), all of the same pattern, but trimmed\r\nwith variously-coloured ribbons. Of nothing was our good hostess more\r\nproud than of these hats, and her dresses. On Sundays, she went abroad\r\na dozen times; and every time, like Queen Elizabeth, in a different\r\nrobe.\r\n\r\nPo-Po, for some reason or other, always gave us our meals before the\r\nrest of the family were served; and the doctor, who was very discerning\r\nin such matters, declared that we fared much better than they. Certain\r\nit was that, had Ereemear’s guests travelled with purses, portmanteau,\r\nand letters of introduction to the queen, they could not have been\r\nbetter cared for.\r\n\r\nThe day after our arrival, Monee, the old butler, brought us in for\r\ndinner a small pig, baked in the ground. All savoury, it lay in a\r\nwooden trencher, surrounded by roasted hemispheres of the breadfruit. A\r\nlarge calabash, filled with taro pudding, or poee, followed; and the\r\nyoung dandy, overcoming his customary languor, threw down our\r\ncocoa-nuts from an adjoining tree.\r\n\r\nWhen all was ready, and the household looking on, Long Ghost, devoutly\r\nclasping his hands over the fated pig, implored a blessing. Hereupon,\r\neverybody present looked exceedingly pleased; Po-Po coming up and\r\naddressing the doctor with much warmth; and Arfretee, regarding him\r\nwith almost maternal affection, exclaimed delightedly, “Ah! mickonaree\r\ntata matai!” in other words, “What a pious young man!”\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJNJB30HVBR6X2XR6HY0E","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKWQQVD9BMH4MGTBSYDEB","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:19.191Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:32.392Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}