LETTER VII.] 



SURF-BOARD RIDING. 



69 



according as the signer was man or woman. I remember that 

 in my first letter I fell into the vulgarism, initiated by the 

 whaling crews, of calling the natives Kanakas. This is univer- 

 sally but very absurdly done, as Kanaka simply means man. 

 If a Hawaiian word is absolutely necessary, we might translate 

 native and have maole, pronounced maori, like that of the New 

 Zealand aborigines. Kanaka is to me decidedly objectionable, 

 as conveying the idea of canaille. 



I had written thus far when Mr. Severance came in to say 

 that a grand display of the national sport of surf-bathing was 

 going on, and a large party of us went down to the beach for 

 two hours to enjoy it. It is really a most exciting pastime, and 

 in a rough sea requires immense nerve. The surf-board is a 

 tough plank shaped like a coffin lid, about two feet broad, and 

 from six to nine feet long, well oiled and cared for. It is 

 usually made of the erythrina, or the breadfruit tree. The surf 

 was very heavy and favourable, and legions of natives were 

 swimming and splashing in the sea, though not more than forty 

 had their Pafia-he-nalu, or " wave sliding boards," with them. 

 The men, dressed only in malos, carrying their boards under 

 their arms, waded out from some rocks on which the sea was 

 breaking, and, pushing their boards before them, swam out 

 to the first line of breakers, and then diving down were seen 

 no more till they re-appeared as a number of black heads 

 bobbing about like corks in smooth water half a mile from shore. 



What they seek is a very high roller, on the top of which 

 they leap from behind, lying face downwards on their boards. 

 As the wave speeds on, and the bottom strikes the ground, the 

 top breaks into a huge comber. The swimmers appeared posing 

 themselves on its highest edge by dexterous movements of their 

 hands and feet, keeping just at the top of the curl, but always 

 apparently coming down hill with a slanting motion. So they 

 rode in majestically, always just ahead of the breaker, carried 

 shorewards by its mighty impulse at the rate of forty miles an 

 hour, yet seeming to have a volition of their own, as the more 

 daring riders knelt and even stood on their surf-boards, waving 

 their arms and uttering exultant cries. They were always 

 apparently on the verge of engulfment by the fierce breaker 

 whose towering white crest was ever above and just behind 

 them, but when one expected to see them dashed to pieces, 

 they either waded quietly ashore, or sliding off their boards, 

 dived under the surf, taking advantage of the undertow, and 

 were next seen far out at sea preparing for fresh exploits. 



