{"id":"01KG8AKXGG3JSHD48P3BHKRDRM","cid":"bafkreigscsdkhh5rjq2kmodnhxyyyrdrp6j7h5ogdhh7fimtbsujeyj7yy","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":4584,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.149Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","start_line":4513,"text":"CHAPTER XXXIII.\r\nWE RECEIVE CALLS AT THE HOTEL DE CALABOOZA\r\n\r\n\r\nOur place of confinement being open all round, and so near the Broom\r\nRoad, of course we were in plain sight of everybody passing; and,\r\ntherefore, we had no lack of visitors among such an idle, inquisitive\r\nset as the Tahitians. For a few days, they were coming and going\r\ncontinually; while, thus ignobly fast by the foot, we were fain to give\r\npassive audience.\r\n\r\nDuring this period, we were the lions of the neighbourhood; and, no\r\ndoubt, strangers from the distant villages were taken to see the\r\n“Karhowrees” (white men), in the same way that countrymen, in a city,\r\nare gallanted to the Zoological Gardens.\r\n\r\nAll this gave us a fine opportunity of making observations. I was\r\npainfully struck by the considerable number of sickly or deformed\r\npersons; undoubtedly made so by a virulent complaint, which, under\r\nnative treatment, almost invariably affects, in the end, the muscles\r\nand bones of the body. In particular, there is a distortion of the\r\nback, most unsightly to behold, originating in a horrible form of the\r\nmalady.\r\n\r\nAlthough this, and other bodily afflictions, were unknown before the\r\ndiscovery of the islands by the whites, there are several cases found\r\nof the Fa-Fa, or Elephantiasis—a native disease, which seems to have\r\nprevailed among them from the earliest antiquity. Affecting the legs\r\nand feet alone, it swells them, in some instances, to the girth of a\r\nman’s body, covering the skin with scales. It might be supposed that\r\none, thus afflicted, would be incapable of walking; but, to all\r\nappearance, they seem to be nearly as active as anybody; apparently\r\nsuffering no pain, and bearing the calamity with a degree of\r\ncheerfulness truly marvellous.\r\n\r\nThe Fa-Fa is very gradual in its approaches, and years elapse before\r\nthe limb is fully swollen. Its origin is ascribed by the natives to\r\nvarious causes; but the general impression seems to be that it arises,\r\nin most cases, from the eating of unripe bread-fruit and Indian turnip.\r\nSo far as I could find out, it is not hereditary. In no stage do they\r\nattempt a cure; the complaint being held incurable.\r\n\r\nSpeaking of the Fa-Fa reminds me of a poor fellow, a sailor, whom I\r\nafterward saw at Roorootoo, a lone island, some two days’ sail from\r\nTahiti.\r\n\r\nThe island is very small, and its inhabitants nearly extinct. We sent a\r\nboat off to see whether any yams were to be had, as, formerly, the yams\r\nof Roorootoo were as famous among the islands round about, as Sicily\r\noranges in the Mediterranean. Going ashore, to my surprise, I was\r\naccosted, near a little shanty of a church, by a white man, who limped\r\nforth from a wretched hut. His hair and beard were unshorn, his face\r\ndeadly pale and haggard, and one limb swelled with the Fa-Fa to an\r\nincredible bigness. This was the first instance of a foreigner\r\nsuffering from it that I had ever seen, or heard of; and the spectacle\r\nshocked me accordingly.\r\n\r\nHe had been there for years. From the first symptoms, he could not\r\nbelieve his complaint to be what it really was, and trusted it would\r\nsoon disappear. But when it became plain that his only chance for\r\nrecovery was a speedy change of climate, no ship would receive him as a\r\nsailor: to think of being taken as a passenger was idle. This speaks\r\nlittle for the humanity of sea captains; but the truth is that those in\r\nthe Pacific have little enough of the virtue; and, nowadays, when so\r\nmany charitable appeals are made to them, they have become callous.\r\n\r\nI pitied the poor fellow from the bottom of my heart; but nothing could\r\nI do, as our captain was inexorable. “Why,” said he, “here we\r\nare—started on a six months’ cruise—I can’t put back; and he is better\r\noff on the island than at sea. So on Roorootoo he must die.” And\r\nprobably he did.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJJFYN2ARDCNXWFGNX0J7","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKXGBHG90QCH611SSPBMT","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:19.984Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:27.235Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}