226 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
the other. All who were playing in the water 
made the utmost speed to the shore, and those 
who were standing on the beach saw the surf-board 
of the unhappy sufferer floating on the water, 
without any one to guide it. When the canoe 
reached the spot, they saw nothing but the blood 
with which the water was stained for a considerable 
distance, and by which they traced the remains, 
whither they had been carried by the shark, or 
driven by the swell. The body was cut in two by 
the shark, just above the hips; and the lower part, 
together with the right arm, were gone. 
“ Many of the people connect this death with 
their old system of religion; for they have still a 
superstitious veneration for the shark, and this 
veneration is increased rather than diminished by 
such occurrences as these. 
“ It is only about four months since a man was 
killed in the same manner at Waihee, on the 
eastern part of this island. It is said, however, 
that there are much fewer deaths by the sharks 
than formerly. This, perhaps, may be owing to 
their not being so much fed by the people, and 
therefore they do not visit the shores so fre¬ 
quently.’' 
Besides the faahee , or surf-swimming, of which 
Huaouri was the presiding god, and in which the 
adults principally engaged, there were a number 
of aquatic pastimes peculiar to the children; 
among these, the principal was erecting a kind of 
stage near the margin of a deep part of the sea or 
river, leaping from the highest elevation into the 
sea, and chasing each other in the water, diving 
to an almost incredible depth, or skimming along 
the surface. Large companies of children, from 
nine or ten to fifteen or sixteen years of age, have 
