The Underground World: A mirror of life below the surfaceKnox, Thomas Wallace
History
The Underground World: A mirror of life below the surface
Knox, Thomas Wallace
Caves; Mines and mineral resources; Social history -- 19th century; Tunnels
One day a young chief of Hoonga was out on a fishing excursion, and
caught sight of a large turtle. The turtle dived, and so did the
chief, leaving his canoe floating on the surface of the water. The
natives of nearly all the Pacific islands can swim like seals; they
are in the water and learn to swim about as soon as they learn to
walk. It is commonly said that a Feejee baby will swim instinctively,
like a puppy or a kitten; but this is not strictly true. The natives
think nothing of swimming a mile or two at a time, and they frequently
get up swimming matches, in which they show great speed and endurance.
The accomplishment is not confined to the sterner sex; girls and women
swim as well as boys and men, and frequently the girls carry away the
prizes in the swimming matches. It is proper to say that they are not
as elaborately dressed as the young ladies of New York and Paris;
on some of the islands nobody wears any clothing whatever, except a
little oil rubbed over the skin, to keep out the water. Since the
missionaries settled in the South Pacific, more attention is paid to
dress than formerly; but the quantity worn is surprisingly small, and
would not admit the wearers to a fashionable party in America.
The young chief dived for the turtle, and the two had a lively race.
The turtle went into a hole in the rocky shore, and the chief went
after him. The turtle disappeared, and the chief rose to the surface
of the water to regain his boat. But instead of finding himself in
the open air, he was in a cavern, a hundred feet wide and twice as
long, with a dome as high as the roof of an ordinary church. It was
lighted from the water and from a few crevices in the rock, where
nobody could reach them. On one side there was a floor of solid rock,
smooth as the best sidewalk of a city, and evidently the resort of the
turtles of that neighborhood. He explored the cavern, and concluded
that he had hit upon a good thing, and would keep it to himself.
Taking a new twist in his neck-tie, adjusting his collar, and seeing
that his diamond pin was well fastened, he dived into the water, swam
outside, and rose near his canoe. With his thumb on the side of his
nose, he paddled home, lighted his gas, and sat down in his easy-chair.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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