surfresearch.com.au  bates : surfriding, lahaina, 1854

For other 19th century reports from Lahaina, Maui, see:
1824 Charles Stewart : Surf-riding at Lahaina, Maui.
1850 Lt. Henry Wise : Surfriding at Lahaina
1851 Rev. Cheever : Surfriding at Lahaina.

Of the numerous national games and amusements formerly practiced by the Hawaiians, surf-bathing is about the only one which has not become extinct.
Lahaina is the only place on the group where it is maintained with any degree of enthusiasm, and even there it is rapidly passing out of existence.
In other days, there was no amusement which more displayed the skill, or bestowed a greater physical benefit on the performer, than this.
Formerly it was indulged in by all classes of persons, of all ages and both sexes, from royalty to the lowest plebeian, at one time and in the same place.
Even the huge regent Kaahumanu, and others, by whose coffins I stood and pondered in the royal tomb at Honolulu, were in the habit of bathing in the surf at Lahaina.
At this day, the sport is confined more to the youthful portion of the community.

Surf-bathing is an exciting sport to the swimmer, and a ...

Page 299

... cause for excitement and astonishment on the part of an unaccustomed spectator.
The swimmers start out from the shore, taking with them their surf-boards.
These boards are of dimensions suited to the muscular strength and capacity of the swimmers.
As they proceed seaward, they dive, like ducks, underneath the heavy rollers, and come up on the other side.
This course is pursued until the outermost roller is reached - sometimes nearly a mile from the shore. The higher the roller, the more exciting and grand is the sport.
Placing themselves on these boards, the bathers gradually approach the inward current of the roller as it sweeps over the reef, and, lying on the chest, striding, kneeling, or standing up on the board, they are borne on the foaming crest of the mighty wave - with the speed of the swiftest race-horse toward the shore, where a spectator looks to see them dashed into pieces or maimed for life.
By a dexterous movement, however, they slip off their boards into the water, grasp them in their hands, dive beneath the yet foaming and thundering surge, and go out seaward to repeat the sport. This they do for hours in succession, until a traveler is almost led to suppose they are amphibious. This game involves great skill; it is acquired only by commencing it in the earliest childhood.
A standing position on the swiftly-gliding surf-board is a feat of skill never yet surpassed by any circus-rider.

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Bates, George Washington: Sandwich Island Notes.
Harper & Brothers, New York, 1854, pages 298 to 299.

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