{"id":"01KG8AM4K2PCRCMX427DGB5XG3","cid":"bafkreibtdrzxcwrjda7z5vs477dpt5cwi4vvcb7e5ibh7cobf7b4s4biva","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":7219,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:25.203Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 10","source_file":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","start_line":7164,"text":"earrings and spear, both well polished, lay beside him, while the highly\r\ndecorative pair of shoes hung suspended from a projecting cane against\r\nthe side of the house. The young men were similarly employed; and the\r\nfair damsels, including Fayaway, were anointing themselves with ‘aka’,\r\narranging their long tresses, and performing other matters connected\r\nwith the duties of the toilet.\r\n\r\nHaving completed their preparations, the girls now exhibited themselves\r\nin gala costume; the most conspicuous feature of which was a necklace\r\nof beautiful white flowers, with the stems removed, and strung closely\r\ntogether upon a single fibre of tappa. Corresponding ornaments were\r\ninserted in their ears, and woven garlands upon their heads. About their\r\nwaist they wore a short tunic of spotless white tappa, and some of them\r\nsuper-added to this a mantle of the same material, tied in an elaborate\r\nbow upon the left shoulder, and falling about the figure in picturesque\r\nfolds.\r\n\r\nThus arrayed, I would have matched the charming Fayaway against any\r\nbeauty in the world.\r\n\r\nPeople may say what they will about the taste evinced by our fashionable\r\nladies in dress. Their jewels, their feathers, their silks, and\r\ntheir furbelows, would have sunk into utter insignificance beside the\r\nexquisite simplicity of attire adopted by the nymphs of the vale on this\r\nfestive occasion. I should like to have seen a gallery of coronation\r\nbeauties, at Westminster Abbey, confronted for a moment by this band of\r\nisland girls; their stiffness, formality, and affectation, contrasted\r\nwith the artless vivacity and unconcealed natural graces of these savage\r\nmaidens. It would be the Venus de’ Medici placed beside a milliner’s\r\ndoll. It was not long before Kory-Kory and myself were left alone in the\r\nhouse, the rest of its inmates having departed for the Taboo Groves.\r\nMy valet was all impatience to follow them; and was as fidgety about my\r\ndilatory movements as a diner out waiting hat in hand at the bottom\r\nof the stairs for some lagging companion. At last, yielding to his\r\nimportunities, I set out for the Ti. As we passed the houses peeping out\r\nfrom the groves through which our route lay, I noticed that they were\r\nentirely deserted by their inhabitants.\r\n\r\nWhen we reached the rock that abruptly terminated the path, and\r\nconcealed from us the festive scene, wild shouts and a confused blending\r\nof voices assured me that the occasion, whatever it might be, had\r\ndrawn together a great multitude. Kory-Kory, previous to mounting the\r\nelevation, paused for a moment, like a dandy at a ball-room door, to put\r\na hasty finish to his toilet. During this short interval, the thought\r\nstruck me that I ought myself perhaps to be taking some little pains\r\nwith my appearance.\r\n\r\nBut as I had no holiday raiment, I was not a little puzzled to devise\r\nsome means of decorating myself. However, as I felt desirous to create a\r\nsensation, I determined to do all that lay in my power; and knowing that\r\nI could not delight the savages more than by conforming to their style\r\nof dress, I removed from my person the large robe of tappa which I was\r\naccustomed to wear over my shoulders whenever I sallied into the open\r\nair, and remained merely girt about with a short tunic descending from\r\nmy waist to my knees.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 10"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJR1KKRF4W20PAGWA82S1","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM4K2CM5NB6ENREVA8VQK","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AM4K2M9P9SWHCVMPTNNEN","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:27.234Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:39.722Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}