THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 297 



a pleasant hour was spent in watching the rising of 

 those luminaries of heaven, which we had been 

 accustomed to behold in our native land, but which 

 for many years had been invisible. When the polar 

 star rose above the horizon, and Ursa Major, with 

 other familiar constellations, appeared, we hailed 

 them as long-absent friends; and could not but 

 feel that we were nearer England than when we 

 left Tahiti, simply from beholding the stars that 

 had enlivened our evening excursions at home."* 



A stranger is forcibly struck with the remark- 

 able fearlessness which the natives of these islands 

 have of the sea. They appear almost as amphi- 

 bious as seals, sporting about in the deep sea for 

 many hours, sometimes for nearly a whole day 

 together. No sooner does a ship approach a 

 large island, than the inhabitants swim off to wel- 

 come her; and long before she begins to take in 

 sail, she is surrounded by human beings of both 

 sexes, apparently as much at home in the Ocean 

 as the fishes themselves. The children are taken 

 to the water when but a day or two old, and many 

 are able to swim as soon as they are able to walk. 

 In coasting along the shore, it is a rare thing to 

 pass a group of cottages, at any hour of the day, 

 without seeing one or more bands of children joy- 

 ously playing in the sea. They have several dis- 

 tinct games which are played in the water, and 

 which are followed with exceeding avidity, not only 

 by children, but by the adult population. One of 

 these is the fastening of a long board or pole on 



* Poly. Res. iii. 164. 



