{"id":"01KG8AM62DYXTQPGRM9Q64RWZQ","cid":"bafkreiej2ifwlhfwbybcfarbva44yl6vkwmsnwh236k7nqybzgh3mbjg4y","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":2821,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:25.200Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 4","source_file":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","start_line":2760,"text":"exertions congealed in icy beads upon my forehead. My thirst was gone,\r\nand I fairly loathed the water. Starting to my feet, the sight of those\r\ndank rocks, oozing forth moisture at every crevice, and the dark\r\nstream shooting along its dismal channel, sent fresh chills through\r\nmy shivering frame, and I felt as uncontrollable a desire to climb up\r\ntowards the genial sunlight as I before had to descend the ravine.\r\n\r\nAfter two hours’ perilous exertions we stood upon the summit of another\r\nridge, and it was with difficulty I could bring myself to believe that\r\nwe had ever penetrated the black and yawning chasm which then gaped at\r\nour feet. Again we gazed upon the prospect which the height commanded,\r\nbut it was just as depressing as the one which had before met our eyes.\r\nI now felt that in our present situation it was in vain for us to think\r\nof ever overcoming the obstacles in our way, and I gave up all thoughts\r\nof reaching the vale which lay beyond this series of impediments; while\r\nat the same time I could not devise any scheme to extricate ourselves\r\nfrom the difficulties in which we were involved.\r\n\r\nThe remotest idea of returning to Nukuheva, unless assured of our\r\nvessel’s departure, never once entered my mind, and indeed it was\r\nquestionable whether we could have succeeded in reaching it, divided as\r\nwe were from the bay by a distance we could not compute, and perplexed\r\ntoo in our remembrance of localities by our recent wanderings. Besides,\r\nit was unendurable the thought of retracing our steps and rendering all\r\nour painful exertions of no avail.\r\n\r\nThere is scarcely anything when a man is in difficulties that he is\r\nmore disposed to look upon with abhorrence than a rightabout retrograde\r\nmovement--a systematic going over of the already trodden ground:\r\nand especially if he has a love of adventure, such a course appears\r\nindescribably repulsive, so long as there remains the least hope to be\r\nderived from braving untried difficulties.\r\n\r\nIt was this feeling that prompted us to descend the opposite side of the\r\nelevation we had just scaled, although with what definite object in view\r\nit would have been impossible for either of us to tell.\r\n\r\nWithout exchanging a syllable upon the subject, Toby and myself\r\nsimultaneously renounced the design which had lured us thus\r\nfar--perceiving in each other’s countenances that desponding expression\r\nwhich speaks more eloquently than words.\r\n\r\nTogether we stood towards the close of this weary day in the cavity of\r\nthe third gorge we had entered, wholly incapacitated for any further\r\nexertion, until restored to some degree of strength by food and repose.\r\n\r\nWe seated ourselves upon the least uncomfortable spot we could select,\r\nand Toby produced from the bosom of his frock the sacred package. In\r\nsilence we partook of the small morsel of refreshment that had been left\r\nfrom the morning’s repast, and without once proposing to violate the\r\nsanctity of our engagement with respect to the remainder, we rose to\r\nour feet, and proceeded to construct some sort of shelter under which we\r\nmight obtain the sleep we so greatly needed.\r\n\r\nFortunately the spot was better adapted to our purpose than the one in\r\nwhich we had passed the last wretched night. We cleared away the tall\r\nreeds from the small but almost level bit of ground, and twisted them\r\ninto a low basket-like hut, which we covered with a profusion of long\r\nthick leaves, gathered from a tree near at hand. We disposed them\r\nthickly all around, reserving only a slight opening that barely\r\npermitted us to crawl under the shelter we had thus obtained.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 4"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQ783ET02G2BZY5DVXE0","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM61ZA8DAP8VDPVMQE5D8","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AM62DVA0MS1V3RMN4JSCH","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:28.749Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:35.272Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}