{"id":"01KG8AM5Y0Q1W0GRR5SS2SDT4A","cid":"bafkreibc326pv3kro6s65w6j2hnxkfceboj43vnk6wtisfbph523cncj7u","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":8037,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:25.203Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","start_line":7976,"text":"diminutive. The early period of life at which the human form arrives\r\nat maturity in this generous tropical climate, likewise deserves to be\r\nmentioned. A little creature, not more than thirteen years of age, and\r\nwho in other particulars might be regarded as a mere child, is often\r\nseen nursing her own baby, whilst lads who, under less ripening skies,\r\nwould be still at school, are here responsible fathers of families.\r\n\r\nOn first entering the Typee Valley, I had been struck with the marked\r\ncontrast presented by its inhabitants with those of the bay I had\r\npreviously left. In the latter place, I had not been favourably\r\nimpressed with the personal appearance of the male portion of the\r\npopulation; although with the females, excepting in some truly\r\nmelancholy instances, I had been wonderfully pleased. I had observed\r\nthat even the little intercourse Europeans had carried on with the\r\nNukuheva natives had not failed to leave its traces amongst them. One of\r\nthe most dreadful curses under which humanity labours had commenced its\r\nhavocks, and betrayed, as it ever does among the South Sea islanders,\r\nthe most aggravated symptoms. From this, as from all other foreign\r\ninflictions, the yet uncontaminated tenants of the Typee Valley were\r\nwholly exempt; and long may they continue so. Better will it be for them\r\nfor ever to remain the happy and innocent heathens and barbarians\r\nthat they now are, than, like the wretched inhabitants of the Sandwich\r\nIslands, to enjoy the mere name of Christians without experiencing any\r\nof the vital operations of true religion, whilst, at the same time, they\r\nare made the victims of the worst vices and evils of civilized life.\r\n\r\nApart, however, from these considerations, I am inclined to believe that\r\nthere exists a radical difference between the two tribes, if indeed\r\nthey are not distinct races of men. To those who have merely touched at\r\nNukuheva Bay, without visiting other portions of the island, it would\r\nhardly appear credible the diversities presented between the various\r\nsmall clans inhabiting so diminutive a spot. But the hereditary\r\nhostility which has existed between them for ages, fully accounts for\r\nthis.\r\n\r\nNot so easy, however, is it to assign an adequate cause for the endless\r\nvariety of complexions to be seen in the Typee Valley. During the\r\nfestival, I had noticed several young females whose skins were almost as\r\nwhite as any Saxon damsel’s; a slight dash of the mantling brown being\r\nall that marked the difference. This comparative fairness of complexion,\r\nthough in a great degree perfectly natural, is partly the result of an\r\nartificial process, and of an entire exclusion from the sun. The juice\r\nof the ‘papa’ root found in great abundance at the head of the valley,\r\nis held in great esteem as a cosmetic, with which many of the females\r\ndaily anoint their whole person. The habitual use of it whitens and\r\nbeautifies the skin. Those of the young girls who resort to this method\r\nof heightening their charms, never expose themselves selves to the\r\nrays of the sun; an observance, however, that produces little or no\r\ninconvenience, since there are but few of the inhabited portions of the\r\nvale which are not shaded over with a spreading canopy of boughs, so\r\nthat one may journey from house to house, scarcely deviating from the\r\ndirect course, and yet never once see his shadow cast upon the ground.\r\n\r\nThe ‘papa’, when used, is suffered to remain upon the skin for several\r\nhours; being of a light green colour, it consequently imparts for\r\nthe time a similar hue to the complexion. Nothing, therefore, can be\r\nimagined more singular than the appearance of these nearly naked damsels\r\nimmediately after the application of the cosmetic. To look at one of\r\nthem you would almost suppose she was some vegetable in an unripe state;\r\nand that, instead of living in the shade for ever, she ought to be\r\nplaced out in the sun to ripen.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJR1YH02P9Q4PCAN5J7F8","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM56XEHAXFWTJM7PE02BD","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AM5Y04VZCJ53DW0BQBQFT","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:28.608Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:40.927Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}