l 5 2 
Wild Life in Southern Seas. 
in the van, when he was suddenly seized by the 
feet by two little imps, just as a sweeping roller 
lifted him high up. And down the white man 
went, and away went his surf-ooard shoreward 
amid the shrieking laughs of the girls. 
“ Never mind,” shouted Temana, shaking 
his black curly head like a water-spaniel; and 
seizing a board from a girl near him, and 
pushing her under at the same time, he shot 
it over towards me ; and then Toria, with a 
wrathful exclamation, caught one of the imps 
who had caused my disaster and, twining his 
left hand in her long, floating hair, pitched her 
board away behind him. This little incident, 
however, lost us our places, and amid the merry 
gibes of some naked infants who were in the 
ruck, we swam on in face of the slapping seas, 
and at last gained the edge of the reef, which 
was now alive with nude, brown-skinned figures, 
trying to keep their position in the boiling 
surf for the first grand “ shoot ” shoreward. 
Between the lulls of the frequent seas the 
water was only about four feet deep, and presently 
some sort of order was formed, and we awaited 
the next big roller. Over the outer reef it 
reared its greeny crest, curled and broke with 
