Them surfin' Hawaiians

As we crossed the head of the bay, we saw a number of young persons swimming in the surf, which rolled with some violence on the rocky beach. To a spectator nothing can appear more daring, and sometimes alarming, than to see a number of persons splashing about among the waves of the sea as they dash on the shore; yet this is the most popular and delightful of the native sports.

There are perhaps no people more accustomed to the water than the islanders of the Pacific; they seem almost a race of amphibious beings. Familiar with the sea from their birth, they lose all dread of it, and seem nearly as much at home in the water as on dry land. There are few children who are not taken into the sea by their mothers the second or third day after their birth, and many who can swim as soon as they can walk. The heat of the climate is, no doubt, one source of the gratification they find in this amusement, which is so universal, that it is scarcely possible to pass along the shore where there are many habitations near, and not see a number of children playing in the sea. Here they remain for hours together, and yet I never knew but one child being drowned during the number of years I have resided in the islands. They have a variety of games, and gambol as fearlessly in the water as the children of a school do in their playground. The most general and frequent game is swimming in the surf. The higher the sea and the larger the waves, in their opinion the better the sport. On these occasions they use a board, which they call papa he naru or wave sliding board, generally 5 or 6 feet long, and rather more than a foot wide, sometimes flat, but more frequently slightly convex on both sides. It is usually made of wood, stained quite black, and preserved with great care. After using, it is placed in the sun till perfectly dry, when it is rubbed over with cocoa-nut oil, frequently wrapped in cloth, and suspended in some part of their house. Sometimes they choose a place where the deep water reaches to the beach, but generally prefer a part where the rocks are 10 or 20 feet underwater, and extend to a distance from the shore, as the surf breaks more violently over these. When playing in these places, each individual takes his board, and, pushing it before him, swims perhaps a quarter of a mile or more out to sea. They do not attempt to go over the billows which roll towards the shore, but watch their approach, and dive underwater, allowing the billow to pass over their heads. When they reach the outside of the rocks, where the waves first break, they adjust themselves on one end of the board, lying flat on their faces, and watch the approach of the largest billow; they then poise themselves on its highest edge, and, paddling as it were with their hands and feet, ride on the crest of the wave, in the midst of the spray and foam, till within a yard or two of the rocks or the shore; and when the observers would expect to see them dashed to pieces, they steer with great address between the rocks, or slide off the board in a moment, grasp it by the middle, and dive under water, while the wave rolls on, and breaks among the rocks with a roaring noise, The effect of which is greatly heightened by the shouts and laughter of the natives in the water. Those who are expert frequently change their position on the board, sometimes sitting and sometimes standing erect in the midst of the foam. The greatest address is necessary in order to keep on the edge of the wave: for if they get too forward, they are sure to be overturned; and if they fall back, they are buried beneath the succeeding billow.

Sometimes the greater part of the inhabitants of a village go out to this sport and spend the greater part of the day in the water. All ranks and ages are equally fond of it. We have seen some of the highest chiefs in the island, between 50 and 60 years of age, and large corpulent men, balancing themselves on their narrow board, or splashing about in the foam, with as much satisfaction as youths of 16. They frequently played at the mouth of a large river, where the strong current running into the sea, and the rolling of the waves toward the shore, produce a degree of agitation between the water of the river and the sea, that would be fatal to a European. The only circumstance that ever mars their pleasure in this diversion is the approach of the shark. When this happens, though they sometimes fly in every direction, they frequently unite, set up a loud shout, and makes so much splashing in the water, as to frighten him away. The fear of them however, is very great; and after a party returns from this amusement, almost the first question they ask is, "Were there any sharks?"

Polynesian Researches: Hawaii; William Ellis (1794-1872)
(dictated from my NOOK to my phone; am I high tech or what!)