Scars, However, And
Bruises, Were Considered Great Blemishes.
One old fellow, smitten
with the doctor's large mahogany chest (a well-filled one, by the
bye), and finding infinite satisfaction in merely sitting thereon,
was detected in the act of applying a healing ointment to a shocking
scratch which impaired the beauty of the lid.
There is no telling the love of a Tahitian for a sailor's trunk. So
ornamental is it held as an article of furniture in the hut, that the
women are incessantly tormenting their husbands to bestir themselves
and make them a present of one. When obtained, no pier-table just
placed in a drawing-room is regarded with half the delight. For these
reasons, then, our coming into possession of our estate at this time
was an important event.
The islanders are much like the rest of the world; and the news of our
good fortune brought us troops of "tayos," or friends, eager to form
an alliance after the national custom, and do our slightest bidding.
The really curious way in which all the Polynesians are in the habit
of making bosom friends at the shortest possible notice is deserving
of remark. Although, among a people like the Tahitians, vitiated as
they are by sophisticating influences, this custom has in most cases
degenerated into a mere mercenary relation, it nevertheless had its
origin in a fine, and in some instances, heroic sentiment, formerly
entertained by their fathers.
In the annals of the island are examples of extravagant friendships,
unsurpassed by the story of Damon and Pythias:
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