{"id":"01KG8AM3CM25RC53YDSE9J89MP","cid":"bafkreifiu64k7rjiscfklrew74b3iqrvfeurd54mhgpotmna2ez642jwbq","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":5985,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:25.203Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","start_line":5934,"text":"CHAPTER EIGHTEEN\r\n\r\nSWIMMING IN COMPANY WITH THE GIRLS OF THE VALLEY--A CANOE--EFFECTS\r\nOF THE TABOO--A PLEASURE EXCURSION ON THE POND--BEAUTIFUL FREAK OF\r\nFAYAWAY--MANTUA-MAKING--A STRANGER ARRIVES IN THE VALLEY--HIS MYSTERIOUS\r\nCONDUCT--NATIVE ORATORY--THE INTERVIEW--ITS RESULTS--DEPARTURE OF THE\r\nSTRANGER\r\n\r\n\r\nReturning health and peace of mind gave a new interest to everything\r\naround me. I sought to diversify my time by as many enjoyments as lay\r\nwithin my reach. Bathing in company with troops of girls formed one of\r\nmy chief amusements. We sometimes enjoyed the recreation in the waters\r\nof a miniature lake, to which the central stream of the valley expanded.\r\nThis lovely sheet of water was almost circular in figure, and about\r\nthree hundred yards across. Its beauty was indescribable. All around\r\nits banks waved luxuriant masses of tropical foliage, soaring high above\r\nwhich were seen, here and there, the symmetrical shaft of the cocoanut\r\ntree, surmounted by its tufts of graceful branches, drooping in the air\r\nlike so many waving ostrich plumes.\r\n\r\nThe ease and grace with which the maidens of the valley propelled\r\nthemselves through the water, and their familiarity with the element,\r\nwere truly astonishing. Sometimes they might be seen gliding along just\r\nunder the surface, without apparently moving hand or foot--then throwing\r\nthemselves on their sides, they darted through the water, revealing\r\nglimpses of their forms, as, in the course of their rapid progress, they\r\nshot for an instant partly into the air--at one moment they dived deep\r\ndown into the water, and the next they rose bounding to the surface.\r\n\r\nI remember upon one occasion plunging in among a parcel of these\r\nriver-nymphs, and counting vainly on my superior strength, sought to\r\ndrag some of them under the water, but I quickly repented my temerity.\r\nThe amphibious young creatures swarmed about me like a shoal of\r\ndolphins, and seizing hold of my devoted limbs, tumbled me about and\r\nducked me under the surface, until from the strange noises which rang in\r\nmy ears, and the supernatural visions dancing before my eyes, I thought\r\nI was in the land of the spirits. I stood indeed as little chance among\r\nthem as a cumbrous whale attacked on all sides by a legion of swordfish.\r\nWhen at length they relinquished their hold of me, they swam away in\r\nevery direction, laughing at my clumsy endeavours to reach them.\r\n\r\nThere was no boat on the lake; but at my solicitation and for my special\r\nuse, some of the young men attached to Marheyo’s household, under\r\nthe direction of the indefatigable Kory-Kory, brought up a light and\r\ntastefully carved canoe from the sea. It was launched upon the sheet\r\nof water, and floated there as gracefully as a swan. But, melancholy to\r\nrelate, it produced an effect I had not anticipated. The sweet nymphs,\r\nwho had sported with me before on the lake, now all fled its vicinity.\r\nThe prohibited craft, guarded by the edicts of the ‘taboo,’ extended the\r\nprohibition to the waters in which it lay.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJR251ZEN5NNWESSQRASD","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM3CSJVWJETF1N3S2APMP","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:26.004Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:38.296Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}