Savages did this very nimbly, gleaming through the waves with their warpaint fading along their arms and shoulders, ....?

Gleaming is not here to describe the warpaint nor the eye sight of the savages. It is here to describe the movement of the savages moving through the waves!

同上，這篇是"描寫文"，文字中是描述這些"野人"(或者應該是指土著吧)，描述他們手臂肩膀上的紋身圖案在海浪之間穿透隱現(形容力量的類比)，把獵物(應該是魚獲吧)拖上沙灘時的輕鬆尤如不費吹灰之力。

例如以上的中文寫作，用了很多中文的形容詞和"成語"，亦不能把它們(例如「不費吹灰之力」直譯或理解為"less than the strenght to blow on ashes"而是"effortless"或用類似的英文諺語"it is a piece of cake"。