- end_line
- 9652
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:15.153Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 9629
- text
- spray in our faces, almost extinguishing the flambeaux; and, far as the
eye could reach, the darkness of sky and water was streaked with a
long, misty line of foam, marking the course of the coral barrier. The
wild fishermen, flourishing their weapons, and yelling like so many
demons to scare their prey, sprang from ledge to ledge, and sometimes
darted their spears in the very midst of the breakers.
But fish-spearing was not the only sport we had at Loohooloo. Right on
the beach was a mighty old cocoa-nut tree, the roots of which had been
underwashed by the waves so that the trunk inclined far over its base.
From the tuft of the tree a stout cord of bark depended, the end of
which swept the water several yards from the shore. This was a Tahitian
swing. A native lad seizes hold of the cord, and, after swinging to and
fro quite leisurely, all at once sends himself fifty or sixty feet from
the water, rushing through the air like a rocket. I doubt whether any
of our rope-dancers would attempt the feat. For my own part, I had
neither head nor heart for it; so, after sending a lad aloft with an
additional cord, by way of security, I constructed a large basket of
green boughs, in which I and some particular friends of mine used to
swing over sea and land by the hour.
- title
- Chunk 2