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- 5985
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- 2026-01-30T20:48:25.203Z
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- structure-extraction-lambda
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- 5934
- text
- CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
SWIMMING IN COMPANY WITH THE GIRLS OF THE VALLEY--A CANOE--EFFECTS
OF THE TABOO--A PLEASURE EXCURSION ON THE POND--BEAUTIFUL FREAK OF
FAYAWAY--MANTUA-MAKING--A STRANGER ARRIVES IN THE VALLEY--HIS MYSTERIOUS
CONDUCT--NATIVE ORATORY--THE INTERVIEW--ITS RESULTS--DEPARTURE OF THE
STRANGER
Returning health and peace of mind gave a new interest to everything
around me. I sought to diversify my time by as many enjoyments as lay
within my reach. Bathing in company with troops of girls formed one of
my chief amusements. We sometimes enjoyed the recreation in the waters
of a miniature lake, to which the central stream of the valley expanded.
This lovely sheet of water was almost circular in figure, and about
three hundred yards across. Its beauty was indescribable. All around
its banks waved luxuriant masses of tropical foliage, soaring high above
which were seen, here and there, the symmetrical shaft of the cocoanut
tree, surmounted by its tufts of graceful branches, drooping in the air
like so many waving ostrich plumes.
The ease and grace with which the maidens of the valley propelled
themselves through the water, and their familiarity with the element,
were truly astonishing. Sometimes they might be seen gliding along just
under the surface, without apparently moving hand or foot--then throwing
themselves on their sides, they darted through the water, revealing
glimpses of their forms, as, in the course of their rapid progress, they
shot for an instant partly into the air--at one moment they dived deep
down into the water, and the next they rose bounding to the surface.
I remember upon one occasion plunging in among a parcel of these
river-nymphs, and counting vainly on my superior strength, sought to
drag some of them under the water, but I quickly repented my temerity.
The amphibious young creatures swarmed about me like a shoal of
dolphins, and seizing hold of my devoted limbs, tumbled me about and
ducked me under the surface, until from the strange noises which rang in
my ears, and the supernatural visions dancing before my eyes, I thought
I was in the land of the spirits. I stood indeed as little chance among
them as a cumbrous whale attacked on all sides by a legion of swordfish.
When at length they relinquished their hold of me, they swam away in
every direction, laughing at my clumsy endeavours to reach them.
There was no boat on the lake; but at my solicitation and for my special
use, some of the young men attached to Marheyo’s household, under
the direction of the indefatigable Kory-Kory, brought up a light and
tastefully carved canoe from the sea. It was launched upon the sheet
of water, and floated there as gracefully as a swan. But, melancholy to
relate, it produced an effect I had not anticipated. The sweet nymphs,
who had sported with me before on the lake, now all fled its vicinity.
The prohibited craft, guarded by the edicts of the ‘taboo,’ extended the
prohibition to the waters in which it lay.
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