{"id":"01KG8AM2S4JE84Y8BX6NW14EQJ","cid":"bafkreiavzgibidep65fuuhhcv54ru6ppa5i3pbtv2bmz7plpishabmbbum","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":5667,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:25.203Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","start_line":5602,"text":"IMPROVEMENT IN HEALTH AND SPIRITS--FELICITY OF THE\r\nTYPEES--THEIR ENJOYMENTS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF MORE ENLIGHTENED\r\nCOMMUNITIES--COMPARATIVE WICKEDNESS OF CIVILIZED AND UNENLIGHTENED\r\nPEOPLE--A SKIRMISH IN THE MOUNTAIN WITH THE WARRIORS OF HAPPAR\r\n\r\n\r\nDay after day wore on, and still there was no perceptible change in the\r\nconduct of the islanders towards me. Gradually I lost all knowledge of\r\nthe regular recurrence of the days of the week, and sunk insensibly into\r\nthat kind of apathy which ensues after some violent outburst of despair.\r\nMy limb suddenly healed, the swelling went down, the pain subsided, and\r\nI had every reason to suppose I should soon completely recover from the\r\naffliction that had so long tormented me.\r\n\r\nAs soon as I was enabled to ramble about the valley in company with the\r\nnatives, troops of whom followed me whenever I sallied out of the house,\r\nI began to experience an elasticity of mind which placed me beyond the\r\nreach of those dismal forebodings to which I had so lately been a prey.\r\nReceived wherever I went with the most deferential kindness; regaled\r\nperpetually with the most delightful fruits; ministered to by dark-eyed\r\nnymphs, and enjoying besides all the services of the devoted Kory-Kory,\r\nI thought that, for a sojourn among cannibals, no man could have well\r\nmade a more agreeable one.\r\n\r\nTo be sure there were limits set to my wanderings. Toward the sea my\r\nprogress was barred by an express prohibition of the savages; and after\r\nhaving made two or three ineffectual attempts to reach it, as much to\r\ngratify my curiosity as anything else, I gave up the idea. It was in\r\nvain to think of reaching it by stealth, since the natives escorted me\r\nin numbers wherever I went, and not for one single moment that I can\r\nrecall to mind was I ever permitted to be alone.\r\n\r\nThe green and precipitous elevations that stood ranged around the\r\nhead of the vale where Marheyo’s habitation was situated effectually\r\nprecluded all hope of escape in that quarter, even if I could have\r\nstolen away from the thousand eyes of the savages.\r\n\r\nBut these reflections now seldom obtruded upon me; I gave myself up to\r\nthe passing hour, and if ever disagreeable thoughts arose in my mind, I\r\ndrove them away. When I looked around the verdant recess in which I was\r\nburied, and gazed up to the summits of the lofty eminence that hemmed me\r\nin, I was well disposed to think that I was in the ‘Happy Valley’,\r\nand that beyond those heights there was naught but a world of care\r\nand anxiety. As I extended my wanderings in the valley and grew more\r\nfamiliar with the habits of its inmates, I was fain to confess that,\r\ndespite the disadvantages of his condition, the Polynesian savage,\r\nsurrounded by all the luxurious provisions of nature, enjoyed an\r\ninfinitely happier, though certainly a less intellectual existence than\r\nthe self-complacent European.\r\n\r\nThe naked wretch who shivers beneath the bleak skies, and starves among\r\nthe inhospitable wilds of Tierra-del-Fuego, might indeed be made happier\r\nby civilization, for it would alleviate his physical wants. But the\r\nvoluptuous Indian, with every desire supplied, whom Providence has\r\nbountifully provided with all the sources of pure and natural enjoyment,\r\nand from whom are removed so many of the ills and pains of life--what\r\nhas he to desire at the hands of Civilization? She may ‘cultivate his\r\nmind--may elevate his thoughts,’--these I believe are the established\r\nphrases--but will he be the happier? Let the once smiling and populous\r\nHawaiian islands, with their now diseased, starving, and dying natives,\r\nanswer the question. The missionaries may seek to disguise the matter\r\nas they will, but the facts are incontrovertible; and the devoutest\r\nChristian who visits that group with an unbiased mind, must go away\r\nmournfully asking--‘Are these, alas! the fruits of twenty-five years of\r\nenlightening?’\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJR1YVNRFP81YQ12CYVKC","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM2SGSQFB7KBPA0W2YZKP","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:25.380Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:38.159Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}