The natives usually dislike acting as servants to the whites, but in this instance for some reason all of her neighbors were eager to render assistance. Though she entered upon her housekeeping duties with enthusiasm, the languorous sunshine was so enervating and brought with it such a spirit of indolence that she was willing to leave much of the work to others.

So I guess that she doesn’t have to feel any guilt about her situation, as the servants are all smiling and happy. Thus, she is allowed to be overcome by the other 15/16ths of her blood, which is purely white, and becomes lazy and dependent, sitting in the shade and sipping cocoanut milk. *Sigh*

I will give Hugh Cannon credit for doing a pretty good job of describing the intensity of the storm, and the struggle of the ships against the storm surge and winds. I can’t recall the name of the movie, but there was a Hollywood film that had a climax in the 1898 cyclone, which was pretty impressive special effects for the 1930′s when the film was made. It’s as convincing as anything I think I’ve seen since.