{"id":"01KG8AM1334ZGD06BSZCKVE29G","cid":"bafkreiebukh3c5lohhsyv27orchyxxwadeboamzqi3gacaqx22dn3s7kpm","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":5760,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:18.535Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","start_line":5689,"text":"CHAPTER LII.\r\nWorld Ho!\r\n\r\n\r\nFive suns rose and set. And Yillah pining for the shore, we turned our\r\nprow due west, and next morning came in sight of land.\r\n\r\nIt was innumerable islands; lifting themselves bluely through the azure\r\nair, and looking upon the distant sea, like haycocks in a hazy field.\r\nTowering above all, and mid-most, rose a mighty peak; one fleecy cloud\r\nsloping against its summit; a column wreathed. Beyond, like purple\r\nsteeps in heaven at set of sun, stretched far away, what seemed lands\r\non lands, in infinite perspective.\r\n\r\nGliding on, the islands grew more distinct; rising up from the billows\r\nto greet us; revealing hills, vales, and peaks, grouped within a\r\nmilk-white zone of reef, so vast, that in the distance all was dim. The\r\njeweled vapors, ere-while hovering over these violet shores, now seemed\r\nto be shedding their gems; and as the almost level rays of the sun,\r\nshooting through the air like a variegated prism, touched the verdant\r\nland, it trembled all over with dewy sparkles.\r\n\r\nStill nearer we came: our sail faintly distended as the breeze died\r\naway from our vicinity to the isles. The billows rolled listlessly by,\r\nas if conscious that their long task was nigh done; while gleamed the\r\nwhite reef, like the trail of a great fish in a calm. But as yet, no\r\nsign of paddle or canoe; no distant smoke; no shining thatch. Bravo!\r\ngood comrades, we’ve discovered some new constellation in the sea.\r\n\r\nSweet Yillah, no more of Oroolia; see you not this flowery land?\r\nNevermore shall we desire to roam.\r\n\r\nVoyaging along the zone, we came to an opening; and quitting the\r\nfirmament blue of the open sea, we glided in upon the still, green\r\nwaters of the wide lagoon. Mapped out in the broad shadows of the\r\nisles, and tinted here and there with the reflected hues of the sun\r\nclouds, the mild waters stretched all around us like another sky. Near\r\nby the break in the reef, was a little island, with palm trees harping\r\nin the breeze; an aviary of alluring sounds, that seemed calling upon\r\nus to land. And here, Yillah, whom the sight of the verdure had made\r\nglad, threw out a merry suggestion. Nothing less, than to plant our\r\nmast, sail-set, upon the highest hill; and fly away, island and all;\r\ntrees rocking, birds caroling, flowers springing; away, away, across\r\nthe wide waters, to Oroolia! But alas! how weigh the isle’s coral\r\nanchor, leagues down in the fathomless sea?\r\n\r\nWe glanced around; but all the islands seemed slumbering in the\r\nflooding light.\r\n\r\n“A canoe! a canoe!” cried Samoa, as three proas showed themselves\r\nrounding a neighboring shore. Instantly we sailed for them; but after\r\nshooting to and fro for a time, and standing up and gazing at us, the\r\nIslanders retreated behind the headland. Hardly were they out of sight,\r\nwhen from many a shore roundabout, other proas pushed off. Soon the\r\nwater all round us was enlivened by fleets of canoes, darting hither\r\nand thither like frighted water-fowls. Presently they all made for one\r\nisland.\r\n\r\nFrom their actions we argued that these people could have had but\r\nlittle or no intercourse with whites; and most probably knew not how to\r\naccount for our appearance among them. Desirous, therefore, of a\r\nfriendly meeting, ere any hostile suspicions might arise, we pointed\r\nour craft for the island, whither all the canoes were now hastening.\r\nWhereupon, those which had not yet reached their destination, turned\r\nand fled; while the occupants of the proas that had landed, ran into\r\nthe groves, and were lost to view.\r\n\r\nCrossing the distinct outer line of the isle’s shadow on the water, we\r\ngained the shore; and gliding along its margin, passing canoe after\r\ncanoe, hauled up on the silent beach, which otherwise seemed entirely\r\ninnocent of man.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJT051HH7TG8AJK1J85PZ","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM138V3S5K9BRKWZR26JV","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:23.651Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:30.337Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}