THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN. 309 



how little exertion we are capable of. As I ran up and 

 down our lofty spars a few days ago, I thought over the 

 probability of getting permission to penetrate the interior 

 of the island, to scale Mauna Loa, fourteen thousand feet, 

 and descend into its heart thousands of feet; to take a lava 

 bath with Pele, and write a history of volcanoes in general, 

 with a concise theory of earthquakes appended, and a top 

 view of thunder-clouds. All this seemed as a good, honest 

 day's work; heights and depths counted as nothing to my 

 aroused imagination. Only put me ashore, I thought, and 

 to scale the heavens or descend to hell will be but boys' play. 

 But on shore, behold me ! Before my dinner is cooked, my 

 poor scurvy-tainted limbs are sore and aching under me ; I 

 am sitting, resting my prematurely old bones, on the rocks, 

 singing " Well done !" to the poor shell-divers. 



When rested, we were attracted by the shouts of natives, 

 and we sauntered to a point of rocks on which a magnifi- 

 cent surf was breaking. Here we witnessed an exhibition 

 of skill in swimming, in striking contrast with that of the 

 women we had just left, and one perhaps to be witnessed no- 

 where else. Here we found a large number of the natives 

 enjoying themselves on the surf-board. It was a new sight 

 to us to see men and women playing in a surf such as we 

 would scarcely expect the natives of the water to live in, 

 such as it is questionable whether the seal and the otter 

 could have contended against; and it was with some ter- 

 ror that we watched them riding, with head inclined, on the 

 crest of a foaming wave, with the speed of a bird. They came 

 shooting forward, almost on to the terrible rocks, against 

 which a preceding wave had broken in a deafening roar; 

 but just as they seemed fated to strike the deadly barrier, 

 just as they were on the very boiling suds of foam, the hap- 

 py, shouting performers would disappear beneath the sur- 

 face ; a moment more, and they would be seen buffeting the 



