surfresearch.com.au  polynesian surfriding : 7

7.1 Walter  Colton (1797-1851), an American naval officer (?), recorded royal surfriding at Waikiki (?) in his dairy, the entry dated 19th June 1846.

Reminisent of Gilbert's account (5.3), Coulton records attempts by visitors to replicate native surfriding skills, with litle success.

"A young American, who was among them, not liking to be outdone in a sport which seemed so simple, thought he would try the board and billow.
He ventured out a short distance, watched his opportunity; and, as the roller came, jumped upon his plank, was capsized, and have, half strangled, on the beach." (2)

7.2 From the same location and in the same year (Waikiki,1846), Chester S Lyman also reported surfriding activity in his travel diary .

"Rode to Waititi (Waikiki) 3 miles where there is fine bathing in the surf.
The premises there are in the hands of the chiefs.
Near the beach are fine groves of coconut trees, & Kou trees, also several thatched houses one of which is occupied by the young Chiefs as a dressing apartment while bathing.
They have an attendant on the grounds.
... The young chiefs are all provided with surfboards, which are kept in the house above mentioned. They are from 12 to 20 feet long, 1ft wide, & in the middle 5 or 6 inches thick, thinning towards the sides & ends so as to form an edge.
Some of these have been handed down in the royal family for years, as this is the royal bathing place. None of these belonging to Kamehameha 1st are now left, but one used by Kaahumanu & others belonging to other distinguished Chiefs & premiers are daily used by the boys, & on one of them (Kaahumanu's I believe) I had the pleasure of taking a surf ride towards the beach in the native style.
Tho' the motion is swift it is very pleasant & by no means dangerous unless the surf be strong." (3)

Arago's illustration (1820) is the first indication that surfriding was a royal activity, and Stewart (1825) writes that it was practised by commoners and chiefs of both genders:

Lyman describes some of the privileges of royal birth - a Waikiki beachfront cottage, board storage and an attendants.
The boards are long olos (I'i, 1870) or thick boards (Malo, 1838), similar to the depiction by Arago (1820):

He does not identify the timber used to build these boards or their relative weight.
The boards are apparently of a considerable age:

"Some of these have been handed down in the royal family for years, as this is the royal bathing place.
None of these belonging to Kamehameha 1st are now left, but one used by Kaahumanu & others
belonging to other distinguished Chiefs & premiers are daily used" (6)

Malcom Gault Williams notes Kaahumanu (1768-1832) was the favorite wife of the noted surfrider
Kamehameha the Great (1753?-1819) and served as regent from 1824 to1832 (7)
Lyman's claim that one of the boards was  "used by Kaahumanu"  would possibly date the board's construction
around 1800-1810, likely her mature surfriding years, but it may be older.

The continued use of these well-aged  boards is possibly the result of the unavailability of suitable timbers and/or the lack of skilled surfboard builders, both resources significantly depleted with continued western exploitation.

7.3 Reverend Henry T. Cheever's report from Lahania, Maui circa 1850 does not describe the boards or the dynamics of surfriding, rather directing the reader to the accompanying (anonymus) illustration.
However, one comment is noted here with possible relevance to a future discussion of royal surfriding activities.:

 "Even the huge Premier (Ahuea) has been known to commit her bulky person to a surfboard; and the chiefs generally; when they visit Lahaina, take a turn or two at this invigorating sport with billows and board." (8)

7.4 Mrs. E.M. Parker reported in the briefest of accounts, that at Waikiki in 1852:

7.5 Charles Warren Stoddard, in a flamboyant tale of surfriding activity in Maui, circa 1866 notes:

From this brief description, the board is about six feet with a foiled template, implied by the description "a good lid to his coffin".
The description is reprised in Isabella Bird's 1873  report from Hilo (7.9) and John Dean Caton's report, also from Maui, circa 1788 (7.11).

The light weight possibly indicates the timber as willi willi and the finish, "as smooth as glass",  is of exceptional quality.

7.6 Between 1868 and 1870 native Hawaiian John Papa I'i published a series of historical articles, some with surfing content, in the Hawaiian language newspaper, Ka Nupepa Kuokoa.
The articles were subsequently translated by Mary Kawena Pukui and published by the Bishop Museum Press as Fragments of Hawaiian History in 1959. (11)
After extensively detailing many surfriding locations throughout the Hawaiian Islands (pages133 to185), I'i lists and, for the first time names, three designs of surfboards, the olo, kiko'o and alia.

The first is the olo.

Note that the board, unlike the other two designs he specifies, does not have an approximate length; its characteristic feature is the thickness.

I'i attempts to describe the suitable wave dynamics and riding technique for this design.

"It is a good board for a wave that swells and rushes shoreward but not for a wave that rises up high
and curls over.
If it is not moved sideways when the wave rises high, it is tossed upward as it moves shoreward.
There are rules to be observed when riding on a surf." (13)

A suitable wave has a gentle slopped face that breaks lightly, if at all.
Such surf conditions are frequently in evidence at Waikiki, Ohau.
Importantly, note that I'i specifically indicates that when the wave face is steep ("when the wave rises high") the board must transverse the slope ("move sideways") or it will pearl in the trough and "it is tossed upward as it moves shoreward."

The second design, the kiko'o, has not been identified by any other commentator.

"The 'kiko'o' reaches a length of 12 to 18 feet and is good for a surf that breaks roughly.
This board is good for surfing, but it is hard to handle.
Other surfers are afraid of it because of its length and its great speed on a high wave that is about to
curl over.
It can ride on all the risings of the waves in its way until they subside and the board reaches shore." (14)

Significantly, kiko'o has several other meanings, the most common:

Holmes (1996) notes this meaning of the word, and adds:

It is highly unlikely that I'i, or the source of his report, was not aware of this meaning of the term and it would appear to indicate the depth of the board (the equivalent to Holmes' depth of a canoe) as aproximately six inches, consistent with several previous reports. (17)
Thus for I'i, the kiko'o is a long (12 to 18 feet) version of the olo (thick) board.

However this may be at odds with the olo's suggested performance characteristics.
Note that Tom Blake does not examine the work of I'i and Finney and Houston (1996) do not discuss the design, although it is listed in Appendix A. (15)

The third design noted by John I'i is:

"The 'alaia' board, which is 9 feet long, is thin and wide in front, tapering toward the back." (16)

The length cannot be taken as definitive measurement, but probably an average over a number of boards.
Possibly these ranged from approximately 7 to 11 feet.
Note here that there is no record of the width or the preferred timber of the alaia, or the other two designs previously discussed.
The thinness and foiled template are consistant with many previous reports.
The thinness is emphasised in the report of the board's riding characteristics.

"On a rough wave, this board vibrates against the rider's abdomen, chest, or hands when they rest flat
on it, or when fingers are gripped into a fist at the time of landing." (17)

The experience of board vibration at high speed is occasionally reported by modern malibu riders.

The further discussion of the alaia's riding characteristics is less clear.

"Because it tends to go downward and cut through a wave it does not rise up with the wave as it
begins to curl over.
Going into a wave is one way to stop its gliding, and going onto the curl is another." (18)

The terminology is difficult to interpret from a modern surfriding perspective and any attempt may be misleading.
The following sentence has significant implications.

"Skilled surfers use it frequently, but the unskilled are afraid of this board, choosing rather to sit on a
canoe or to surf on even smaller boards." (19)

I'i indicates that mid-length alaia boards were used by skilled riders, however the potential danger of a board of this size encouraged less skilled (juvenile? elderly? ) riders to "surf on even smaller boards."
The context strongly suggests  these "smaller boards" are shorter versions of the alaia, previously estimated as 9 feet, and significantly increases the range of length of this design.
It is unlikely that I'i was identifying these boards as a separate fourth design.

Significantly, I'i decribes body surfing technique incorpotating the classic Polynesian swimming stroke and the transverse  progrees across the wave face, to the right or the left, similar to board riders..

"Body surfers use their shoulders like surfboards.
When the surf rises before breaking, it is time to slip onto the wave by kicking hard and working the
arms.
The contraction in the back of a surfer causes him to be lifted by the wave and carried ashore.
The right shoulder becomes the surfboard bearing him to the right, or the left shoulder becomes the
board bearing him to the left.
Liholiho was most skillful in this sport." (20)
(page 135)

Like the other native hawaiian historian, David Malo (6.11), is is important to note what I'i does not say.
There is no report of the use of specific designs as restricted to certain classes or that construcion entailed religious ceremony.

7.7 Frenchman, Charles de Varigny, recorded Hawaiian surfriding activity circa 1870, however his description of the board, which he labels a 'canoe of a new genre' , is limited to merely noting its light weight- which may, as noted previously, indicate the use of willi willi.

"... this 'canoe of a new genre' ... The light board, easily maneuvered, was raised like a feather on the crest ..." (21)

de Varigny, like Rev Ellis (3.5), also reports the board was capable of being ridden in a standing position, apparently by adults:

7.8 de Varigny's published work included two images of surfriding activity, both titled "Jeux Havaiens" (Hawaiians playing).(23)
Like many of the surfriding images published in this period, their status is questionable and they may not be a record of direct observation by the artists. (24)
The artists may have had access to previously published images, unpublished sketches or (highly improbably) photographs, but they may be merely based on oral and/or written reports. (25)

 Of the two (26), the illustration by Emile Bayard (27) is of most interest, reproduced below.

Emile Bayard :  "Jeux Havaiens" (Hawaiians playing),  circa 1873. (28) DelaVega (ed, 2004) Page17.

7.9 Isabella Bird, a woman of independent means and an enthusiastic traveller, recorded one of several accounts of surfriding at Hilo on the east coast of Hawai'i in the late 1800s. (32)
The similarity of these accounts called into question whether this is a result of efficient primary research or simply replicating other reports.
While the individual detail of the respective accounts indicate the journalists personally witnessed surfriding, undoubtedly they had read previously published accounts; principally James King (1789, known to them as Cook) and Rev. Ellis (1824); and their writings indicate some of these influences.
The template description, "shaped like a coffin lid", was first used by Warren Stoddard, circa 1866 (7.5)
Bird writes:

"The surf-board is a tough plank shaped like a coffin lid, about two feet broad, and from six to nine feet
long, well oiled and cared for.
It is usually made of the erythrina, or the breadfruit tree." (29)

Significantly, ten years before Mark Twain's celebrated attempts, Isabella Bird reports that some Europeans have successfully learnt the skills of surfriding on boards.
At Makaueli on Kaua, she encountered an immigrant family in which:

 "The young people all speak Hawaiian as easily as English, and the three young men, who are superb young fellows, about six feet high, not only emulate the natives in feats of horsemanship, such as throwing the lasso, and picking up a coin while going at full gallop, but are surf-board riders, an art which it has been said to be impossible for foreigners to acquire." (30) p203

7.10 An comtemporary account from 1873 also from Hilo, is recorded by Charles Nordhoff.
, Nordhoff writes at length about surfriding activity, however his surfboard description is brief.

Importantly, he notes that some riders adopt a standing position:

Nordhoff is the first to recognise surfrider's use of rips ("under-tow") to negiate passage through the surf break.

7.11 John Dean Caton, in 1878, also observed surfriding at Hilo and he described the surfboards thus:

"... bathing-board, which was about three quarters of an inch thick, seven feet long, coffin-shaped, rounded at the ends, and chamfered at the edges; it was about fifteen inches wide at the widest near the forward end, and eleven inches wide at the back end.
When I examined them carefully after the sport was over, I observed that one of these boards was
considerably warped, but its owner said that did not injure it for use." (33)

The board is seven feet long and the "coffin-shaped" template is foiled - about fifteen inches at the wide point, possibly about 12 inches forward of centre.
The nose and the "eleven inches wide" tail are rounded and the rails are chamfered.
At "three quarters of an inch thick", this is the thinest board reported in the literature.
Note that apart from the distinct difference in thickness (3/4 inch compared with 4to 5 inches), Caton's dimensions (7ft x 15 x 11 inches) closely resemble those of George Gilbert (1788): 6ft x 16 x 9 inches. (4.3)
.
Note that Blake's commentary on Caton (34, page 42) includes the claim that the boards are constructed of koa (Acacia koa) or breadfruit (ulu) (Artocarpus incisus), probably a reasonable assumption.

"Clearly boards of the aliea, or thin design, were usually made of koa or wood of the breadfruit tree."
(34)

7.12 A report of Hawaiian surfriding by John George Wood circa 1880 (35) includes portions of Lt. King's journal entry as edited by Douglas (2.7) as well as the observations below.

"For adults they are about six feet in length.
They are slightly convex on both sides, and are kept very smooth all surf-swimmers cherishing a pride
in the condition of their boards, and taking care to keep them well polished and continually rubbed
with cocoa-nut oil." (36)

Given the report does not indicate a location or date and the extensive scope of his work (The Uncivilized Races of Men in all Countries of the World), it is probable that his report is not based on personal observation.
It appears to essentially paraphrase Rev.Ellis (3.5), above.

7.13 A account from Hilo, of similar status to Wood's report, was published by James Greenwood in a work detailing worldwide indigineous practices, circa 1885. (37)
Although he quotes from "Ellis", this report correponds to neither William Ellis (1778, see 2.2) nor  the Rev. William Ellis (1825, see 3.5).

"They used a small board, which they called papa faahee- swam from the beach to a considerable
distance, sometimes nearly a mile- watched the swell of the wave, and when it reached them, resting
their bosoms on the short, flat-pointed board, they mounted on its summit, and amid the foam and
spray rode on the crest of the wave to the shore; sometimes they halted among the coral rocks, over
which the waves broke in splendid confusion." (38)

The board is descibed as small and short, flat with a pointed nose and ridden prone.
The name of the board, "papa faahee", is not recorded in any other reference and may have been incorrectly transcibed from the original source.
No use of "F" in the hawaaian language.
I am unable to positively identify the location of the report other than noting it is located in the Hawaiian Islands.

Further details may be availble when the original reference (Ellis #3?) is located.

7.14 In 1886, America author Mark Twain, travelled to the Pacific and recorded a brief account of native surfriding on the Kona coast, on the large island, Hawai'i. (40)
Unfortunately, his desciption of the board is simply, "short".
Twain writes of his subsequent attempts at prone surfriding and his failure to master the activity.
He concluded, apparently without consulting Bird (4.8), above:

7.15  Another report from Hilo, a less detailed but significantly different,  circa 1888 is by Thomas W. Knox.

"Each man had a surf-board, which was a thick plank twelve or fifteen feet long and perhaps thirty
inches wide, and said to be made from the trunk of a bread-fruit tree." (42)

The thickness and the length (12 to 15 feet) of the boards appear to describe the olo or thick design.
The reported width of "perhaps thirty inches" is certainly extreme.
As maximum board width is essentially determined by the width of the paddler's shoulders (2.10, above), the boards were probably somewhat narrower.

7.16 The specifications collated from the detailed reports above are summarized in the following tables.

Reports: 1841-1890

Three timbers for board construction are identified- willi willi, koa and breadfruit (ulu).

Stewart and Ellis (collectively) report that the boards were stained and polished to a fine finish and were sun dried and treated with a preserving oil before they were carefully stored after use.

The length is at an extreme, 15 feet, but olo.
Otherwise 10 feet.

Caton compare Gilbert - thinness!

2. Coulton: Op. Cit.

3. Lyman, Chester S. (1814-1890):Around The Horn To The Sandwich Islands And California 1845 -1850.
New Haven: Yale University Press 1924) Chapter II, page 73.
Travel diary in 1846 notes.
Quoted in DelaVega (ed, 2004): Op. cit., page 22

4.  Stewart, Charles Samuel: A Journal of Residence in the Sandwich Islands during the Years 1823,
1924 and 1825.
Fisher, Son and Jackson, London,  1828.
Chapter 10, Sports of the Surf, page 256.

5. Lyman in DelaVega (ed, 2004): Op. cit., page 22.

6. Lyman in DelaVega (ed, 2004): Op. cit., page 22.

7. Gault-Williams: Legendary Surfers: Volume 1 - 2500 B.C. to 1910 A.D.
www.cafepress.com/legendarysurfer/ 2005 page 181.

8. Cheever, Rev. Henry T.:
Life in the Sandwich Islands, or the Heart of the Pacific, as it was and as it is.
A.S. Barnes and Co. NY, H.W.Derby, Cincinnati. 1856. page 67
Making of America Books.
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/
Access Cheever via Subject Menu (Hawaii) at
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;type=simple;rgn=subject;q1=Hawaii

9. Parker,E.M.:The Sandwich Islands as they are, not as they should be.
Burgess, Gilbert & Still, San Francisco, 1852. page 15.
Making of America Books.
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/
Access Parker via Subject Menu (Hawaii) at
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;type=simple;rgn=subject;q1=Hawaii

10. Stoddard, Charle : Summer Cruising in the South Seas.
Gay Sunshine Press Inc. PO Box 40397 San Francisco CA 94140. 1987. page 95

11. I'i, John Papa: Fragments of Hawaiian History
Bernice P. Bishop Museum,
1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, Hawaii. 968117
First printed 1959. Second printing 1963, Third printing 1973.
Revised edition 1983 as Special publication 70. Second revised edition 1993. Sixth printing 1995.
.
12. I'i: Op.Cit., page 135

13. I'i: Op.Cit., page 135

14. I'i: Op.Cit., page 135

15. Pukui, Mary Kawena and Elbert, Samuel H.:
Hawaiian Dictionary: Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian.
Revised and Enlarged Edition.
University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1986. page 150
First edition 1957.
Subsequently 1961, 1964, 1965, 1971.

16. Holmes, Tommy :
 The Hawaiian Canoe - Second Edition.
 Editions Limited, PO Box 10558 Honolulu, Hawaii 96816. 1996. page 175.
 First Edition 1981. Second Edition 1993. Second Printing 1996.
The annotation is
Emerson: Emerson: Unspecified.
In the Bibliograhy Holmes lists two works by Joeseph S. Emerson and four by Nathaniel B. Emerson, page 187.
PE: Pukui and Elbert (1971):Op.Cit.

17. See Gilbert (1779), Stewart (1824), Lyman (1846) and I'i (1868-1870), all above.

15. Finney, Ben and Houston, James D.:  Surfing – A History of the Ancient Hawaiian Sport
 Pomegranate Books  P.O. Box 6099 Rohnert Park, CA 94927  1996 page 95.

16. I'i: Op.Cit., page 135

17. I'i: Op.Cit., page 135

18. I'i: Op.Cit., page 135

19. I'i: Op.Cit., page 135

20. I'i: Op.Cit., page 135

21. de Varigny, Charles: "Quatorze Ans Aux Iles Sandwich (Iles Havai)" (Fourteen years in the Sandwich Islands)
Le Tour du Monde Volume II, 1873. pages 224, 237and 238.
Quoted in
Dela Vega, Timothy T. (editor):  200 Years of Surfing Literature - An Annoted Bibliography
Published by Timothy T. Dela Vega. Produced in Hanapepe, Kaui, Hawaii. 2004 page17.

22. de Varigny in Dela Vega (2004): Op. cit., page 17.

23. Dela Vega (2004): Op. cit., page 17.
"Two engravings both titled "Jeux Havaiens" (Hawaiians playing) by Emile Bayard (page 224) and by de E. Riou (page 237)."

24. The accuracy of many printed illustrations is questionable, as in these examples.
Even those depictions that are probably based on personal observation often lack detailed board features that would be of assistance to this paper, for example Francis Olmsted's "Sandwich Islanders  Playing in the Surf,  circa 1841."
In some cases the depiction of the boards ridden in a standing position is unrealistically small, for example F. Howard's "Sandwich Island Surf-riders, circa 1830".
I have limited discussion to the images of Weber (2.4), Arago (3.4) and Bayard (4.4).
For a general discussion of surfriding illustrations, including the images noted above by Riou, Olmsted and Howard,  see:
www.surfresearch.com.au: Surfing images : 1788 to Photography.

25. I have been unable to locate any record inferring Bayard or Riou, the illustrators  of "Voyage Aux Iles Sandwich (Iles Havai)", visited the Hawaiian Islands.

26. The other illustration, E. Riou's (1833-1900) "Jeux Havaiens" (Hawaiians playing) is a wide seascape that views the boards from a considerable distance.
Lueras (1984) page 52, notes the illustration has "a Tahiti-like backdrop"and (inexplicably) there are several standing riders apparently riding away from the beach.
There are some similarities with Howard (1830), particually the attire.
As previously noted, see Geoff Cater (www.surfresearch.com.au): Surfing images : 1788 to Photography.
At best, the boards could be estimated as flat, six feet long and 20 inches wide.

27. Bayard, Emile (1837-1891): "Jeux Havaiens" (Hawaiians playing),  circa 1873
de Varigny, Charles: Op. Cit.,  Page 224.
As with Riou's illustration, there are some similarities with Howard (1830), particually the attire.
The side pespective is probably unique, the wave detail possibly influenced by Japanese woodblock prints.
See Geoff Cater (www.surfresearch.com.au):The Wave in Art.
The image is as dominated by the dramatic cliff-face as much as the surf-riders.
Although the standing rider's positioning on the wave is unfortunate, this is typical of many images of this period.
The image  records community activity and possibly off-shore winds.
It is unclear whether the two riders onshore are merely watching the action, or possibly sliding down the beach
into the water.

28. DelaVega (ed, 2004) Page17.
de Varigny in Dela Vega (2004): Op. cit., page 17.

29. Bird, Isabella L.:
Six Months in the Sandwich Isles- Amoung Hawai'i's Palm Groves, Coral Reefs and Volcanoes.
Mutual Publishing, 1215 Center Street, Suite 210
Honolulu, Hawaii 96816. 1988, 2001, 2004. page 69.

30.Nordhoff, Charles : Northern California, Oregon and the Sandwich Islands
Harpers and Brothers, New York, 1874.
Reprinted Ten Speed Press Box 4310 Berkeley, California 94704. 1974. page 51.

31. Hilo was a famed surfing location on the large island, Hawaii, and said to rival Waikiki for the quality of it's surf.  Finney and Houston (1996) identify seven different breaks, page 28.

32. Caton, John Dean (1812-1895): Miscellanies
 Houghton, Osgood & Co. Boston. 1880 pages 242 to 244.

33. Blake, Tom: Hawaiian Surfriders 1935
Mountain and Sea Publishing.
Box 126 Redondo Beach California 90277 1983 pages 41 to 43.

33. Wood, John George (1827-1889): The Uncivilized Races of Men in all Countries of the World : Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics.
G. Routledge and Sons, London. 1868-80 2 Vol.Pages 168 to169.
Includes portions of Lt. King's entry as well as the observations below.
Also
Wood, John George (1827-1889) : The Uncivilized races, or, natural history of man; being a complete account of the manners and customs, and the physical, social and religious condition and characteristics of the uncivilized races of men throughout the entire world.
2 Vol.Pages 168 to169. ???
Hartford American Publishing Co. 1870.

34. Wood: Op. Cit., pages 168 to169.

35. Greenwood, James: The Wild Man at Home: or, Pictures of Life in Savage Lands
 Ward, Lock, and Co.,
 Warwick House, Dorset Buildings, Salsbury Square, E.C. 1885
 Woodcuts and design by Harden S. Melville.
 Engraved by Newsom Woods.
The book also includes an illustration on page 96, "Surf Swimming off the Coast of Hawaii", the woodcut and design by Harden S.Melville.
The image is probably not based on observation, and is most likely an enhanced copy of "Surf swimming at Hawaii, Sandwich Islands"  published in 1866 in Leslie's Illustrated Weeky.
See Geoff Cater (www.surfresearch.com.au): Surfing images : 1788 to Photography

36. Greenwood: Op. Cit., page 110.

37. Greenwood: Op. Cit., page 110.

38. Twain, Mark : Roughing It.
American Publishing Company, Hartford. 1872.
F.G. Gilman and Co. Chicago. 1872.
G. Routledge and Sons, Lonon. 1872. page 526.
"Fully illustrated by eminent artists", the book includes two illustrations of surfriding activity.
The relevant text from Roughing It is excerpted in Finney and Houston (1996) Appendix D pages 100 - 101.

39. Twain: Op. cit., page  526.

40. Knox, Thomas W. (1835-1896) :The Boy Travellers in Australasia.
Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to the Sandwich, Marquesas, Sociey, Samoan and Feejee
Islands and Through the Colonies of New Zealand, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria,
Tasmania and South Australia.
New York Harper & Brothers 1889.
Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1902.
Charles Tuttle Co, Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan. reprinted1971.
Paul Flesch & Company, Melbourne.1971.

Knox's book includes a engraving titled "Surf Bathing, circa 1873" by Com. William Bainbridge Hoff.
See Geoff Cater (www.surfresearch.com.au): Surfing images : 1788 to Photography

Thomas W. Knox was a journalist and profilic author, most noted for his Boy Travellers series, originally
based a a world tour in 1866.
The 1888 Australasian volume was produced in conjunction with Australia's centennial.
The 1971 edition includes an Appreciation by Charles V. S. Borst, that notes...

     "All these works are inspired by Knox's philosophy of travel which is expressed in his little
     guide How to Travel (New York, 1881): "To an observant and thoughtful individual, the
     invariable effect of travel is to teach respect for the opinions, the faith, or the ways of
     others, and to convince him that other civilizations than his own are worthy of consider-
     ation." This lack of condescension - rare for the often patronizing Victorian traveller - of
     course contributed to the accuracy of Knox's reporting in such a book as The Boy
     Travellers in Australasia. Combined with this accuracy is his insatiable curiosity about all
     aspects of life in the countries he visited - his work indeed foreshadowing the writing of

41. Knox: Op. Cit.,  Pages 31-33.?

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polynesian surfriding : chapter 8

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