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Bryon met both Ellis
and Bingham on his visit to Hawaii (page 148), and transported Stewart
between two islands.
(Footnote)
* Float-board:
this is a board a little longer than the human body, feathered at the edges,
on which these Islanders stretch themselves and float for hours on the
water, using their limbs as paddles to guide them, or at other times trusting
to the impulse of the waves: the very children have their little boards;
and to have a neat float-board, well kept and dried, is to a Sandwich Islander
what a tilbury, or cabriolet, or whatever Ijght carriage may be in fashion,
is to a young Englishman."
Page 138
... show that good workmen will make good work in spite of their
tools."
Hawaiian
Aquatic Activity : Waterfall Riding, Cliff Jumping and Surfriding.
Wairuku Falls,
? 1825.
Page 166.
"At these falls we were often amused by looking on, while the
natives enjoyed themselves in the water.
Some of their exercises, indeed, were almost fearful: they would
strip even their maro, and then plunge into the river above the first fall,
and allow themselves to be carried down into the deep pool below, in which
they would disappear, and then rise again at some distance and draw breath
to be ready for the second fall, down which they would go, and then return
to the upper rocks to renew their sport; nay, some of them, would ascend
the cliffs above, a height of thirty or forty feet, and leap from thence
into the water, seemingly enjoying our terror at their daring diversion;
but they are like the amphibious animals, accustomed to the water from
infancy, and whether rolling about in the surf on their float-boards, or
dashing down the cascades along with the waters, seem equally at home."
"On the 8th
August, to our great surprise, land was descried from the mast-head; and
as we were uncertain, from its position, whether it was one of the islands
discovered by Captain Cook, we bore up for it, and about 3 P. M. we were
within two miles of the nearest point.
A heavy swell
rolled towards the land, and broke on a long chain of coral which appeared
to surround the Island.
Within, it
appeared to be wooded, but our glasses were turned landwards in vain to
discover either canoes or huts.
At length,
as we sailed slowly along the north-west side, we were suddenly gratified
by the sight of a native emerging from the woods, and placing himself upon
a rock, whence he continued to look steadfastly on the ship.
<...>
Page 207.
<...>
Next morning
we proceeded to the lee-side of the Island and perceiving several canoes
coming off to us, we lay-to about three miles off the shore.
The first
that reached us was a single man, whose, costume soon convinced us that
we were not the first visitors of this solitary place.
He wore a
straw hat, shaped like a common English hat; and besides his maro or waist-cloth,
he wore a cloak of tapa, of the same form with the South American poncho.
The language
of this man seemed to bear some affinity to the Hawaiian, but not sufficient
for any of our people to comprehend him fully; however, we made out that
the Island was called Mauti.
While we were
questioning our visitor, another canoe, of very singular construction,
came along- side of us.
Though double,
like the war-canoes of the ...
Page 208.
... Sandwich
Islands, its form is very different.
The prows
and waists were two, but the sterns united, so as to form but one, and
this stern, curiously carved, was carried up in a curve to the height of
six or seven feet above the water's edge.
Two persons,
who, by their dress and appearance, seemed to be of some importance, now
stepped on board, and, to our great surprise, produced a written document
from that branch of the London Missionary Society settled at Otaheite,
qualifying them to act as native teachers in the Island of Mauti. They
were very fine looking men, dressed in cotton shirts, cloth jackets, and
a sort of petticoat of very fine mat instead of trowsers.
<...>
As soon as
their curiosity was satisfied, we determined to avail ourselves of their
local knowledge as guides, and to go ashore.
We embarked
in two boats, taking one of the missionaries in each; but we found the
surf on the beach so ...
Page 209.
... violent
that we got into the natives' canoes, and trusted to their experience to
get us safely through: this they did admirablele dexterity, and our passage
in the canoes convinced us that no boat of ours could have effected a landing.
<...>
Our path lay
through a shady wood, on the skirts of which, in a small open space on
the left, two handsome canoes were building.
They were
each eighty feet long; the lower part, as usual, of a single tree, hollowed
out with great skill."
|
Voyage of the 'H.M.S. Blonde' to the Sandwich Islands in the Years 1825-26. John Murray, Albemable Street, London. 1826. Title page: Mitchell Library, Sydney. |
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