146 
A VOYAGE TO 
1779. fame manner with the firft; the great difficulty confifting 
^ Ma rch ^ in f eiz £ n g p ro per moment of diving under it, which, if 
miffed, the perfon is caught by the furf, and driven back 
again with great violence; and all his dexterity is then re¬ 
quired to prevent himfelf from being dafhed againft the 
rocks. As foon as they have gained, by thefe repeated ef¬ 
forts, the fmooth water beyond the furf, they lay them- 
felves at length on their board, and prepare for their return. 
As the furf confifts of a number of waves, of which every 
third is remarked to be always much larger than the others, 
and to flow higher on the fhore, the reft breaking in the 
intermediate fpace, their firft objedt is to place themfelves 
on the fummit of the largeft furge, by which they are 
driven along with amazing rapidity toward the fhore. If by 
miftake they fhould place themfelves on one of the fmaller 
waves, which breaks before they reach the land, or fhould 
not be able to keep their plank in a proper direction on the 
top of the fwell, they are left expofed to the fury of the 
next, and, to avoid it, are obliged again to dive, and regain 
the place from which they fet out. Thofe who fucceed in 
their objecft of reaching the fhore, have ftill the greateft 
danger to encounter. The coaft being guarded by a chain 
of rocks, with, here and there, a, fmall opening between 
them, they are obliged to fteer their board through one of 
thefe, or, in cafe of failure, to quit it, before they reach the 
rocks, and, plunging under the wave, make the beft of 
their way back again. This is reckoned very difgraceful, 
and is alfo attended with the lofs of the board, which I 
have often feen, with great terror, dallied to pieces, at the 
very moment the illander quitted it. The boldnefs and ad- 
drefs, with which we faw them perform thefe difficult and 
dangerous 
