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william mariner  : surf riding in tonga, 1810 

William Mariner  :  Surf Riding in Tonga, 1810.

 Extracts from:
 Mariner, William; Martin, John:
An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean:
With an Original Gramar and Vocabulary of Their Language
  Volume II
John Martin, London, 1817.
Constable and Company, Edinburgh, 1827.
 

Internet Archive
http://archive.org/details/anaccountnative03martgoog


Introduction.
"William Mariner (1791–1853) was an Englishman who lived in the Tonga Islands from 29 November 1806 to (probably) 8 November 1810.
He wrote an account of his experiences, Tonga Islands, that is now one of the major sources of information on pre-Christian Tonga."

- wikipedia: William Mariner, viewed 3 May 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mariner_(writer)

Also see:

1810 George Vason : Body Surfing in Tonga.


 [Sports and Games]
Page 224

Fanifo swimming in the surf.
This bold and manly exercise has been well described by Cook as seen by him at the Sandwich Islands; but the natives of Tonga use no board.
...
They have a sport the name of which is forgotten; but it consists in carrying alaige stone under water ten feet deep, from one post to another, at
the distance of seventy yards, the party who carries the stone running along the bottom.
The difficulty is to pursue a straight course : a person may thus run much faster than another can swim.
 

[Vocabulary]

Page liii

Caceow. To swim, to wade

Page Iviii

Fanifo. The art of swimming in the surf.

Fanga. Beach, shore.

Foonga. The beach, the deck of a vessel, the top or summit of a hill where it is flat : the top of any thing.

Page lxix

Gnaloo. A billow, surf, surge.

Page lxxxviii

Tee. To swim, to float.

Teetee. A float, to be buoyant.


Mariner, William; Martin, John:
An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands,
in the South Pacific Ocean: 
With an Original Gramar and Vocabulary of Their Language
 John Martin, London, 1817.
Constable and Company, Edinburgh, 1827.
 

Internet Archive
http://archive.org/details/anaccountnative03martgoog


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home catalogue history references appendix

Geoff Cater (2013) : William Mariner : Body Surfing in Tonga, 1810.
http://www.surfresearch.com.au/1810_Mariner_Natives_Tonga.html