{"id":"01KG8AKY4H8QRXSRM2A12EV1B8","cid":"bafkreihkoq2vg462muvux2b5kwktuo2zvalpwiomixl6tchw4amwzv653i","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":5143,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.149Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","start_line":5076,"text":"CHAPTER XXXVII.\r\nTHE FRENCH PRIESTS PAY THEIR RESPECTS\r\n\r\n\r\nA day or two after the events just related, we were lounging in the\r\nCalabooza Beretanee, when we were honoured by a visit from three of the\r\nFrench Priests; and as about the only notice ever taken of us by the\r\nEnglish missionaries was their leaving their cards for us, in the shape\r\nof a package of tracts, we could not help thinking that the Frenchmen,\r\nin making a personal call, were at least much better bred.\r\n\r\nBy this time they had settled themselves down quite near our\r\nhabitation. A pleasant little stroll down the Broom Road, and a rustic\r\ncross peeped through the trees; and soon you came to as charming a\r\nplace as one would wish to see: a soft knoll, planted with old\r\nbreadfruit trees; in front, a savannah, sloping to a grove of palms,\r\nand, between these, glimpses of blue, sunny waves.\r\n\r\nOn the summit of the knoll was a rude chapel, of bamboos; quite small,\r\nand surmounted by the cross. Between the canes, at nightfall, the\r\nnatives stole peeps at a small portable altar; a crucifix to\r\ncorrespond, and gilded candlesticks and censers. Their curiosity\r\ncarried them no further; nothing could induce them to worship there.\r\nSuch queer ideas as they entertained of the hated strangers. Masses and\r\nchants were nothing more than evil spells. As for the priests\r\nthemselves, they were no better than diabolical sorcerers; like those\r\nwho, in old times, terrified their fathers.\r\n\r\nClose by the chapel was a range of native houses; rented from a chief,\r\nand handsomely furnished. Here lived the priests; and very comfortably,\r\ntoo. They looked sanctimonious enough abroad; but that went for\r\nnothing; since, at home, in their retreat, they were a club of Friar\r\nTucks; holding priestly wassail over many a good cup of red brandy, and\r\nrising late in the morning.\r\n\r\nPity it was they couldn’t marry—pity for the ladies of the island, I\r\nmean, and the cause of morality; for what business had the\r\necclesiastical old bachelors with such a set of trim little native\r\nhandmaidens? These damsels were their first converts; and devoted ones\r\nthey were.\r\n\r\nThe priests, as I have said before, were accounted necromancers: the\r\nappearance of two of our three visitors might have justified the\r\nconceit.\r\n\r\nThey were little, dried-up Frenchmen, in long, straight gowns of black\r\ncloth, and unsightly three-cornered hats—so preposterously big that, in\r\nputting them on, the reverend fathers seemed to extinguish themselves.\r\n\r\nTheir companion was dressed differently. He wore a sort of yellow,\r\nflannel morning gown, and a broad-brimmed Manilla hat. Large and\r\nportly, he was also hale and fifty; with a complexion like an autumnal\r\nleaf—handsome blue eyes—fine teeth, and a racy Milesian brogue. In\r\nshort, he was an Irishman; Father Murphy, by name; and, as such, pretty\r\nwell known, and very thoroughly disliked, throughout all the Protestant\r\nmissionary settlements in Polynesia. In early youth, he had been sent\r\nto a religious seminary in France; and, taking orders there, had but\r\nonce or twice afterwards revisited his native land.\r\n\r\nFather Murphy marched up to us briskly; and the first words he uttered\r\nwere, to ask whether there were any of his countrymen among us. There\r\nwere two of them; one, a lad of sixteen—a bright, curly-headed\r\nrascal—and, being a young Irishman, of course, his name was Pat. The\r\nother was an ugly, and rather melancholy-looking scamp; one M’Gee,\r\nwhose prospects in life had been blasted by a premature transportation\r\nto Sydney. This was the report, at least, though it might have been\r\nscandal.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJJG5XZR2VHHYH87ZBRJP","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKY4HEKG8WC12M5N7E5YB","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:20.625Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:27.680Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}