374 
MISSIONARY TOUR 
rocks arc ten or twenty feet under water, and extend 
to a distance from the shore, as the surf breaks more 
violently over these. When playing in these places, 
each individual takes his board, and, pushing it before 
him, swims perhaps a quarter of a mile or more out to 
sea. They do not attempt to go over the billows which 
roll towards the shore, but watch their approach, and 
dive under water, allowing the billow to pass over 
their heads. When they reach the outside of the rocks, 
where the waves first break, they adjust themselves on 
one end of the board, lying flat on their faces, and 
watch the approach of the largest billow; they then 
poise themselves on its highest edge, and, paddling as 
it were with their hands and feet, ride on the crest of 
the wave, in the midst of the spray and foam, till 
within a yard or two of the rocks or the shore; and 
when the observers would expect to sec them dashed 
to pieces, they steer with great address between the 
rocks, or slide off their board in a moment, grasp it by 
the middle, and dive under water, while the wave rolls 
on, and breaks among the rocks with a roaring noise, 
the effect of which is greatly heightened by the shouts 
and laughter of the natives in the water. Those who 
arc expert frequently change their position on the 
board, sometimes sitting and sometimes standing erect 
hi the midst of the foam. The greatest address is 
necessary in order to keep on the edge of the wave: 
for if they get too forward, they are sure to be over¬ 
turned; and if they fall back, they are buried beneath 
the succeeding billow. 
Occasionally they take a very light canoe; but this, 
though directed in the same manner as the board, is 
much more difficult to manage. Sometimes the greater 
