{"id":"01KG8AM4JNWJV079N36MHAM1K3","cid":"bafkreih72omxo2ga2jttylztzn52u5i3ok5kzagepvj7u5bsvg7sym6txa","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":1711,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:25.200Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 7","source_file":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","start_line":1653,"text":"They have discovered heathens and barbarians whom by horrible cruelties\r\nthey have exasperated into savages. It may be asserted without fear\r\nof contradictions that in all the cases of outrages committed by\r\nPolynesians, Europeans have at some time or other been the aggressors,\r\nand that the cruel and bloodthirsty disposition of some of the islanders\r\nis mainly to be ascribed to the influence of such examples.\r\n\r\nBut to return. Owing to the mutual hostilities of the different tribes\r\nI have mentioned, the mountainous tracts which separate their respective\r\nterritories remain altogether uninhabited; the natives invariably\r\ndwelling in the depths of the valleys, with a view of securing\r\nthemselves from the predatory incursions of their enemies, who often\r\nlurk along their borders, ready to cut off any imprudent straggler,\r\nor make a descent upon the inmates of some sequestered habitation. I\r\nseveral times met with very aged men, who from this cause had never\r\npassed the confines of their native vale, some of them having never even\r\nascended midway up the mountains in the whole course of their lives, and\r\nwho, accordingly had little idea of the appearance of any other part of\r\nthe island, the whole of which is not perhaps more than sixty miles in\r\ncircuit. The little space in which some of these clans pass away their\r\ndays would seem almost incredible.\r\n\r\nThe glen of the Tior will furnish a curious illustration of this.\r\n\r\nThe inhabited part is not more than four miles in length, and varies\r\nin breadth from half a mile to less than a quarter. The rocky vine-clad\r\ncliffs on one side tower almost perpendicularly from their base to\r\nthe height of at least fifteen hundred feet; while across the vale--in\r\nstriking contrast to the scenery opposite--grass-grown elevations rise\r\none above another in blooming terraces. Hemmed in by these stupendous\r\nbarriers, the valley would be altogether shut out from the rest of the\r\nworld, were it not that it is accessible from the sea at one end, and by\r\na narrow defile at the other.\r\n\r\nThe impression produced upon the mind, when I first visited this\r\nbeautiful glen, will never be obliterated.\r\n\r\nI had come from Nukuheva by water in the ship’s boat, and when we\r\nentered the bay of Tior it was high noon. The heat had been intense, as\r\nwe had been floating upon the long smooth swell of the ocean, for there\r\nwas but little wind. The sun’s rays had expended all their fury upon us;\r\nand to add to our discomfort, we had omitted to supply ourselves with\r\nwater previous to starting. What with heat and thirst together, I became\r\nso impatient to get ashore, that when at last we glided towards it,\r\nI stood up in the bow of the boat ready for a spring. As she shot\r\ntwo-thirds of her length high upon the beach, propelled by three or four\r\nstrong strokes of the oars, I leaped among a parcel of juvenile savages,\r\nwho stood prepared to give us a kind reception; and with them at my\r\nheels, yelling like so many imps, I rushed forward across the open\r\nground in the vicinity of the sea, and plunged, diver fashion, into the\r\nrecesses of the first grove that offered.\r\n\r\nWhat a delightful sensation did I experience! I felt as if floating in\r\nsome new element, while all sort of gurgling, trickling, liquid sounds\r\nfell upon my ear. People may say what they will about the refreshing\r\ninfluences of a coldwater bath, but commend me when in a perspiration to\r\nthe shade baths of Tior, beneath the cocoanut trees, and amidst the cool\r\ndelightful atmosphere which surrounds them.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 7"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJPEC9ESE5GQQSYRWJRGQ","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM4JHEZXY0WRM29GVA7RG","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AM4JNQSY2V7AR5A3T4VN6","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:27.221Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:33.983Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}