334 NIMROD OF THE SEA; OR, 



good cheer, the entire party plunged into the water and 

 struck out for the shore. 



* ' Fearlessly they skim along : 

 Their hopes are high, their limbs are strong ; 

 They spread their arms like the swallow's wing,. 

 And they throw their feet with a frog-like fling." 



Their friends on board showed no concern whatever ; yet 

 we must have been more than two miles outside of the reef, 

 with a heavy surf breaking. Doubtless it was a slight effort 

 to these splendid swimmers. The following incident, taken 

 from Wilkes, shows what these people are capable of in the 

 water: "All swim, and have little fear of loss of life by 

 drowning. They appear quite as much at home on the wa- 

 ter as on land, and many of them more so. Many remarka- 

 ble instances of their patience under this kind of fatigue 

 were mentioned to me. One of them, which happened the 

 year of our arrival, is well authenticated, and will also tend 

 to show very great attachment and endurance in their fe- 

 males. As the Hawaiian schooner Kiola^ commanded by 

 an American named Thompson, married to Kaiha, a female 

 chief, was going to Hawaii, having on board many passen- 

 gers, the vessel ran ashore on getting into the straits be- 

 tween Maui and Hawaii, and all on board, forty-five in num- 

 ber, were obliged to take to swimming for safety. Thomp- 

 son could swim but little, but his wife was quite expert in 

 the art. She promptly came to his aid, placed him on an 

 oar, and swam for the shore. The accident occurred on 

 Sunday about noon, when she, with many others, began to 

 swim for the nearest land, which was Kahoolawe. She con- 

 tinued to support her husband until Monday morning, when 

 he died from exhaustion, and she did not reach the shore 

 until that afternoon. She clung to him to the last, at the 

 imminent risk of her own life, and was thirty hours in the 

 water." 



