{"id":"01KG8AKXATE2NCPV9MQHTEYAZV","cid":"bafkreiephhjcxyr6woijrzjutlmsntendmrq54cdm5qfdd2qjrl53g5z7i","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":10362,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.153Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","start_line":10291,"text":"one corner, like a parcel of gipsies in a ruin, were a few vagabond\r\nnatives. They had their dwelling here.\r\n\r\nCurious to know who on earth could have been thus trying to improve the\r\nvalue of real estate in Partoowye, we made inquiries; and learned that\r\nsome years previous the block had been thrown up by a veritable Yankee\r\n(one might have known that), a house-carpenter by trade, and a bold,\r\nenterprising fellow by nature.\r\n\r\nPut ashore from his ship, sick, he first went to work and got well;\r\nthen sallied out with chisel and plane, and made himself generally\r\nuseful. A sober, steady man, it seems, he at last obtained the\r\nconfidence of several chiefs, and soon filled them with all sorts of\r\nideas concerning the alarming want of public spirit in the people of\r\nImeeo. More especially did he dwell upon the humiliating fact of their\r\nliving in paltry huts of bamboo, when magnificent palaces of boards\r\nmight so easily be mortised together.\r\n\r\nIn the end, these representations so far prevailed with one old chief\r\nthat the carpenter was engaged to build a batch of these wonderful\r\npalaces. Provided with plenty of men, he at once set to work: built a\r\nsaw-mill among the mountains, felled trees, and sent over to Papeetee\r\nfor nails.\r\n\r\nPresto! the castle rose; but alas, the roof was hardly on, when the\r\nYankee’s patron, having speculated beyond his means, broke all to\r\npieces, and was absolutely unable to pay one “plug” of tobacco in the\r\npound. His failure involved the carpenter, who sailed away from his\r\ncreditors in the very next ship that touched at the harbour.\r\n\r\nThe natives despised the rickety palace of boards; and often lounged\r\nby, wagging their heads, and jeering.\r\n\r\nWe were told that the queen’s residence was at the extreme end of the\r\nvillage; so, without waiting for the doctor to procure a fiddle, we\r\nsuddenly resolved upon going thither at once, and learning whether any\r\nprivy counsellorships were vacant.\r\n\r\nNow, although there was a good deal of my waggish comrade’s nonsense\r\nabout what has been said concerning our expectations of court\r\npreferment, we, nevertheless, really thought that something to our\r\nadvantage might turn up in that quarter.\r\n\r\nOn approaching the palace grounds, we found them rather peculiar. A\r\nbroad pier of hewn coral rocks was built right out into the water; and\r\nupon this, and extending into a grove adjoining, were some eight or ten\r\nvery large native houses, constructed in the handsomest style and\r\ninclosed together by a low picket of bamboos, which embraced a\r\nconsiderable area.\r\n\r\nThroughout the Society Islands, the residences of the chiefs are mostly\r\nfound in the immediate vicinity of the sea; a site which gives them the\r\nfull benefit of a cooling breeze; nor are they so liable to the\r\nannoyance of insects; besides enjoying, when they please, the fine\r\nshade afforded by the neighbouring groves, always most luxuriant near\r\nthe water.\r\n\r\nLounging about the grounds were some sixty or eighty handsomely-dressed\r\nnatives, men and women; some reclining on the shady side of the houses,\r\nothers under the trees, and a small group conversing close by the\r\nrailing facing us.\r\n\r\nWe went up to the latter; and giving the usual salutation, were on the\r\npoint of vaulting over the bamboos, when they turned upon us angrily,\r\nand said we could not enter. We stated our earnest desire to see the\r\nqueen; hinting that we were bearers of important dispatches. But it was\r\nto no purpose; and not a little vexed, we were obliged to return to\r\nPo-Po’s without effecting anything.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJNHZR4WX524RGQ4NXZZD","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKXAN9K4G749MD9BB2BS0","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:19.802Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:32.512Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}