JUVENILE AMUSEMENTS. 
227 
often been seen, the greater part of the forenoon, 
eagerly following this apparently dangerous game, 
with the most perfect confidence of safety. An¬ 
other amusement, which appears to afford high 
satisfaction to the children of the islanders, is the 
construction of small canoes, boats, or ships, and 
floating them in the sea. Although they are rude 
in appearance, and soon destroyed, many of the 
boys display uncommon ingenuity in constructing 
this kind of toy. The hull is usually made with a 
piece of light wood of the hibiscus, the cordage of 
bark, and the sails are either of the leaflets of the 
cocoa-nut, or the native cloth. The owners of 
these little vessels frequently go in small parties, 
and, taking their small-craft in their hands, wade 
up to their waist or arm-pits in the sea, and some¬ 
times swim still further out; and then, launching 
their miniature fleets, consisting of ships, brigs, 
sloops, boats, canoes, &c. return towards the shore. 
They usually fix a piece of stone at the bottom of 
the little barks, which keeps them upright; and as 
the wind wafts them along the bay, their owners 
run along up to their knees in the sea, splashing 
and shouting as they watch their progress. 
Such were some of the amusements of the 
natives in the South Sea Islands. In these, when 
not engaged in war, they spent much of their time. 
There were also others, of a less athletic kind, and 
of less universal prevalence. Among these, the 
aperea was one of the most prevalent; it consisted 
in jerking a reed, two feet and a half or three feet 
in length, along the ground. The men seldom 
played at it, but it was a common diversion for the 
women and children. Timo, or timotimo , was an¬ 
other game with the same class. The parties sat 
on the ground, with a heap of stones by their side, 
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