surfresearch.com.au  davis  : surf riding at waikiki, 1869

(Waikiki)
It is a favorite pastime with the Kanakas, generally, to go down to the shore where, and when

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the waves were rolling in most furiously, and dive under them, coming up two or three hundred yards off, outside of the surf.
When they return they commit themselves to the highest wave, and ride to the shore on its crest.
They often carry with them a piece of board which they bear before them in their hands.
From the deck of the ship we could see their dark bodies plunging all day long into the white surf that broke on the reefs.
It would not be much out of the way to say that a Kanaka is as much at home in the water as on the land.

Their canoes are formed from trunks of trees, and invariably carry outriggers to stiffen them.
The canoe is their national craft, and they are, of course, skillful in the use of it.

Davis, R.C.: Reminiscences of a voyage Around the World. : Chase's Steam Printing House, Ann Arbor, Michigan,1869. books.google.com books.google.com.au/books?id=M6xaH2TDEAIC

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