{"id":"01KG8AM7AK9RB7V4SE7G6ESFGZ","cid":"bafkreico6iy6ztnmwduih4kfu44anl4qfx62uzijhejg6ossuiz3inhify","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":3851,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:25.200Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","start_line":3798,"text":"us comprehend the full extent of the kindly feelings by which he was\r\nactuated. The almost insuperable difficulty in communicating to one\r\nanother our ideas affected the chief with no little mortification. He\r\nevinced a great desire to be enlightened with regard to the customs and\r\npeculiarities of the far-off country we had left behind us, and to which\r\nunder the name of Maneeka he frequently alluded.\r\n\r\nBut that which more than any other subject engaged his attention was\r\nthe late proceedings of the ‘Frannee’ as he called the French, in the\r\nneighbouring bay of Nukuheva. This seemed a never-ending theme with him,\r\nand one concerning which he was never weary of interrogating us. All the\r\ninformation we succeeded in imparting to him on this subject was little\r\nmore than that we had seen six men-of-war lying in the hostile bay at\r\nthe time we had left it. When he received this intelligence, Mehevi, by\r\nthe aid of his fingers, went through a long numerical calculation, as if\r\nestimating the number of Frenchmen the squadron might contain.\r\n\r\nIt was just after employing his faculties in this way that he happened\r\nto notice the swelling in my limb. He immediately examined it with the\r\nutmost attention, and after doing so, despatched a boy who happened to\r\nbe standing by with some message.\r\n\r\nAfter the lapse of a few moments the stripling re-entered the house with\r\nan aged islander, who might have been taken for old Hippocrates himself.\r\nHis head was as bald as the polished surface of a cocoanut shell, which\r\narticle it precisely resembled in smoothness and colour, while a long\r\nsilvery beard swept almost to his girdle of bark. Encircling his temples\r\nwas a bandeau of the twisted leaves of the Omoo tree, pressed closely\r\nover the brows to shield his feeble vision from the glare of the sun.\r\nHis tottering steps were supported by a long slim staff, resembling the\r\nwand with which a theatrical magician appears on the stage, and in\r\none hand he carried a freshly plaited fan of the green leaflets of the\r\ncocoanut tree. A flowing robe of tappa, knotted over the shoulder, hung\r\nloosely round his stooping form, and heightened the venerableness of his\r\naspect.\r\n\r\nMehevi, saluting this old gentleman, motioned him to a seat between us,\r\nand then uncovering my limb, desired him to examine it. The leech\r\ngazed intently from me to Toby, and then proceeded to business. After\r\ndiligently observing the ailing member, he commenced manipulating it;\r\nand on the supposition probably that the complaint had deprived the leg\r\nof all sensation, began to pinch and hammer it in such a manner that I\r\nabsolutely roared with pain. Thinking that I was as capable of making\r\nan application of thumps and pinches to the part as any one else, I\r\nendeavoured to resist this species of medical treatment. But it was\r\nnot so easy a matter to get out of the clutches of the old wizard; he\r\nfastened on the unfortunate limb as if it were something for which he\r\nhad been long seeking, and muttering some kind of incantation continued\r\nhis discipline, pounding it after a fashion that set me well nigh crazy;\r\nwhile Mehevi, upon the same principle which prompts an affectionate\r\nmother to hold a struggling child in a dentist’s chair, restrained me\r\nin his powerful grasp, and actually encouraged the wretch in this\r\ninfliction of torture.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQ7QHJRR79154PWN9CAH","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM7AKENZFCMM3WVV9G22P","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AM7AGN155Q3FDJ0VJCXNG","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:30.035Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.193Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}