DEXTERITY AND DANGER, ON UPSETTING. 165 
group altogether, and have either perished at sea, 
or drifted to some distant island. 
In long voyages, single canoes are considered 
safer than double ones, as the latter are sometimes 
broken asunder, and are then unmanageable; but, 
even though the former should fill or upset at sea, 
as the wood is specifically lighter than the water, 
there is no fear of their sinking. When a canoe is 
upset or fills, the natives on board jump into the 
sea, and all taking hold of one end, which they 
press down, so as to elevate the other end above 
the sea, a great part of the water runs out; they 
then suddenly loose their hold of the canoe, which 
falls upon the water, emptied in some degree of its 
contents. Swimming along by the side of it, they 
bale out the rest, and climbing into it pursue their 
voyage. This has frequently been the case ; and, 
unless the canoe is broken by upsetting or filling, 
the detention is all the inconvenience it occasions. 
The only evil they fear in such circumstances, is 
that of being attacked by sharks, which have some¬ 
times made sad havock among those who have been 
wrecked at sea. 
An instance of this kind occurred a few years 
ago, when a number of chiefs and people, al¬ 
together thirty-two, were passing from one island 
to another, in a large double canoe. They were 
overtaken by a tempest, the violence of which 
tore their canoes from the horizontal spars by 
which they were united. It was in vain for 
them to endeavour to place them upright, or empty 
out the water, for they could not prevent their 
incessant overturning. As their only resource, 
they collected the scattered spars and boards, and 
constructed a raft, on which they hoped they might 
drift to land. The weight of the whole number, 
