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Ephraim Eveleth : Notes
from the Sandwich Islands Mission, 1837.
Extracts
from
Eveleth,
Ephraim
et al.: History of the Sandwich Islands,
with an
Account
of the American Mission Established There in 1820,
with a
Supplement
Embracing the History of the Wonderful Displays
of God's
Power
in These Islands in 1827-1839.
American
Sunday-School
Union, Philadelphia, 1837, pages 59 to 62.
First editon
1831.
www.googlebooks.com
Introduction.
Eveleth, Ephraim,
1801-1829
This is a
second-hand
account prefaced by a brief memoir of Mr. Eveleth, who died
before fully
completing his work.
The second
edition
updates the 1831 original.
Page
59
It would
seem
natural to suppose, that a people thus destitute and
degraded, would of
course be melancholy and desponding.
But although
they are frequently borne down with heavy burdens, deprived
of many of
the comforts of life, and all the refined enjoyments of
cultivated society,
yet they have their sports and amusements - their seasons of
recreation
and festivity.
Their
amusements
are such as you would expect to find among a race of
untutored savages;
those which excite the greatest interest are swimming,
racing,
boxing, and dancing.
The first of
these is practised by all - young and old - males and
females.
Even ...
Page 60
...
children,
at the early age of four or five years, become expert
swimmers, acquiring
a courage in dangerous exploits, and a familiarity with the
watery element,
truly wonderful.
In their
common
excursions all seem equally at home on the ocean; and should
their boats
be overturned by the heavy motion of the waves, it is a
matter of little
inconvenience to them.
While Capt.
Cook's
ships were in the vicinity of the Islands, a mother, with
several small
children, in crossing the bay in a canoe, were upset.
The youngest
child, a boy of four years, seeming delighted with the
sport, swam about,
playing various tricks in the water, while the mother and
older children
were busily engaged in righting their boat.
In the
midst of
their recreations the swimmers are sometimes interrupted by
the appearance
of a shark; in which case, a signal being given, the natives
instantly
flock around the new comer, and with surprising dexterity
attack this monster
of the deep, whose daring voracity exceeds that of any other
animal.
They sport
with
his rage, and will even at length carry him in triumph to
the shore.
Sharks,
however,
not unfrequently destroy children while playing in the
water.
An instance
of
this occurred at Lahaina, one of the missionary stations,
not long since.
The unhappy
sufferer,
a boy fourteen years of age, was devoured in the ...
Page 61
...
presence of
friends who were endeavouring, though in vain, to rescue him
from the dreadful
jaws of the fish.
But the
pastime
which these people take most delight in, is sporting in the
surf, at the
times when the sea is thrown into the greatest commotion by
wind or storms,
and rolls in upon the beach in monstrous billows.
The spot
selected
for this amusement is generally one where the shore is lined
with large
rocks, against which the waves beat with the greatest
violence.
The natives,
sometimes to the number of two or three hundred, of every
age, sex and
rank, assemble at this place; and taking each a strip of
plank, from three
to fourteen feet in length, and one or two feet in breadth,
which is made
thinner at the edges than in the middle, they advance with
them into the
surf.
If they
encounter
a high wave, they dive under it, and as it rolls over them,
they rise to
the surface and swim, until meeting another, and another
still, which are
in the same way avoided, they at length gain the smooth sea,
beyond the
breaking of the surf.
This exploit
is attended with some difficulty and danger, for if the
person attempting
it does not succeed in diving under the wave, he is caught
by it and forced
back upon the rocks with great violence, at the risk of
being much bruised,
or perhaps killed.
Having
reached
the calm seas, beyond the ...
Page 62
... reef,
which
is sometimes a quarter of a mile from the shore, they place
themselves
on their narrow boards, having their faces downwards, and
their heads raised
considerably above that extremity of the plank which is
nearest the land.
Then taking
advantage
of one of the highest waves, they are driven towards the
beach with astonishing
impetuosity and rapidity.
They are
anxious
to gain the harbour without being overtaken by other waves,
which follow
on hard behind them, for if they fail of steering their
little barks directly
through the narrow spaces between the rocks on the shore,
they are obliged
to leave them to be dashed against the rocks, while they
make a precipitate
retreat themselves, by diving under the wave that is rushing
upon them
with its violence and fury.
They must
resort
to the same expedient, if, by mistake, they mount one of the
smaller surfs,
which generally breaks before reaching the shore, and drops
them into the
gulf below.
These
experiments
the natives repeat, during two or, three hours at a time,
with incredible
courage and success.
|
Eveleth,
Ephraim
et al.:
History
of the
Sandwich Islands,
with
an Account
of the American Mission Established There in
1820,
with
a Supplement
Embracing the History of the Wonderful
Displays
of
God's Power
in These Islands in 1827-1839.
American
Sunday-School
Union, Philadelphia, 1837.
|
surfresearch.com.au
Geoff Cater (2010-2015) :
Ephraim Eveleth
: Notes from the Sandwich Islands Mission, 1837.
http://www.surfresearch.com.au/1837_Eveleth_Sandwich_Is_Mission.html