{"id":"01KG8AKYRK9B8DHWYDREKWWSC4","cid":"bafkreifdgxnj47sz6jhncqakvvo2llszwyuq24owu3fx5tzm3q6ju53twy","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":6126,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.149Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","start_line":6058,"text":"floor is composed of rude planks. Regular aisles run between ranges of\r\nnative settees, bottomed with crossed braids of the cocoa-nut fibre,\r\nand furnished with backs.\r\n\r\nBut the pulpit, made of a dark, lustrous wood, and standing at one end,\r\nis by far the most striking object. It is preposterously lofty; indeed,\r\na capital bird’s-eye view of the congregation ought to be had from its\r\nsummit.\r\n\r\nNor does the church lack a gallery, which runs round on three sides,\r\nand is supported by columns of the cocoa-nut tree.\r\n\r\nIts facings are here and there daubed over with a tawdry blue; and in\r\nother places (without the slightest regard to uniformity), patches of\r\nthe same colour may be seen. In their ardour to decorate the sanctuary,\r\nthe converts must have borrowed each a brush full of paint, and\r\nzealously daubed away at the first surface that offered.\r\n\r\nAs hinted, the general impression is extremely curious. Little light\r\nbeing admitted, and everything being of a dark colour, there is an\r\nindefinable Indian aspect of duskiness throughout. A strange, woody\r\nsmell, also—more or less pervading every considerable edifice in\r\nPolynesia—is at once perceptible. It suggests the idea of worm-eaten\r\nidols packed away in some old lumber-room at hand.\r\n\r\nFor the most part, the congregation attending this church is composed\r\nof the better and wealthier orders—the chiefs and their retainers; in\r\nshort, the rank and fashion of the island. This class is infinitely\r\nsuperior in personal beauty and general healthfulness to the\r\n“marenhoar,” or common people; the latter having been more exposed to\r\nthe worst and most debasing evils of foreign intercourse. On Sundays,\r\nthe former are invariably arrayed in their finery; and thus appear to\r\nthe best advantage. Nor are they driven to the chapel, as some of their\r\ninferiors are to other places of worship; on the contrary, capable of\r\nmaintaining a handsome exterior, and possessing greater intelligence,\r\nthey go voluntarily.\r\n\r\nIn respect of the woodland colonnade supporting its galleries, I called\r\nthis chapel the Church of the Cocoa-nuts.\r\n\r\nIt was the first place for Christian worship in Polynesia that I had\r\nseen; and the impression upon entering during service was all the\r\nstronger. Majestic-looking chiefs whose fathers had hurled the\r\nbattle-club, and old men who had seen sacrifices smoking upon the\r\naltars of Oro, were there. And hark! hanging from the bough of a\r\nbread-fruit tree without, a bell is being struck with a bar of iron by\r\na native lad. In the same spot, the blast of the war-conch had often\r\nresounded. But to the proceedings within.\r\n\r\nThe place is well filled. Everywhere meets the eye the gay calico\r\ndraperies worn on great occasions by the higher classes, and forming a\r\nstrange contrast of patterns and colours. In some instances, these are\r\nso fashioned as to resemble as much as possible European garments. This\r\nis in excessively bad taste. Coats and pantaloons, too, are here and\r\nthere seen; but they look awkwardly enough, and take away from the\r\ngeneral effect.\r\n\r\nBut it is the array of countenances that most strikes you. Each is\r\nsuffused with the peculiar animation of the Polynesians, when thus\r\ncollected in large numbers. Every robe is rustling, every limb in\r\nmotion, and an incessant buzzing going on throughout the assembly. The\r\ntumult is so great that the voice of the placid old missionary, who now\r\nrises, is almost inaudible. Some degree of silence is at length\r\nobtained through the exertions of half-a-dozen strapping fellows, in\r\nwhite shirts and no pantaloons. Running in among the settees, they are\r\nat great pains to inculcate the impropriety of making a noise by\r\ncreating a most unnecessary racket themselves. This part of the service\r\nwas quite comical.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJK7HSRQYKTR9AQ3B6S2Z","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKYRKBJQQFE9AJWMDWKCA","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKRZP4CEPZK9F3Z9BZ2WS","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:21.267Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:28.813Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}