surfresearch.com.au  polynesian surfriding : tahiti to 1900

Contents

u3.1    Samuel Wallis, 1767. u3.2    Louis de Bougainville, 1768. u3.3    Joseph Banks, 1769. u3.4    Banks' Surfcraft, 1769. u3.5    William Anderson, 1777. u3.6    The Bounty at Matavai Bay, 1788. u3.7    Surfriding Conditions, 1788. u3.8    James Morrison, 1788. u3.9    Royal Tahitian Surfriding, 1788.

u3.10  William Bligh, 1788. u3.11  George Tobin, 1792. u3.12  James Wilson, 1798. u3.13  Rev. William Ellis, 1822. u3.14  Henry Adams, 1891. u3.15  Tahitian Surfboard Construction. uEndnotes uAppendix A: Maps. uAppendix B: Weather Reports.

Overview
The eariest European explorers of the Pacific Ocean noted the maritime and aquatic skills of the Polynesians.
Joseph Banks, a member of James Cook's first Pacific expedition, reported surfriding on the west coast of Tahiti in 1769.
This was ten years before Cook's visits to the Hawaiian Islands in 1778 and 1779 on his third and final Pacific vovage.
While the exact design and construction of the Tahitian surfcraft in his report is unclear, the activity was undoubtedly surfriding.

The most detailed report of ancient Polynesian surfriding is by James Morrison at Matavai Bay, Tahiti, in 1788.
Boatswain's mate on the Bounty, despatched to Tahiti under the command of William Bligh, Morrison was one of the mutineers and he eventually stayed nearly two years in the Society Islands.
His journal is a substantial record of native culture and his account of surfriding, read in conjunction with Bligh's log, dramatically indicates the extreme surf conditions favoured by Tahitian surfriders.
Calculations based on Bligh's charts indicate these waves were in the range of 10 to 20 feet, still considered a serious challenge by modern surfriders.

Anticipating later Hawaiian accounts, Morrison notes surfriding was practised in large numbers by all ages and classes and that some surfers rode in a standing position.
His report on the expert surfriding skills of the Tahitian chiefs identifies the first named surfrider, Iddeah, the wife of a local chief Ottu (or Tu) and a woman of impressive talents.

The  Rev. William Ellis wrote of surfriding on Huhaine, an island to the north of Tahiti, circa 1820 and in the Hawaiian islands in 1823.
Although he reports Tahitain surfriding and surfboards as inferior to Hawaii, there are significant similarities and in locating the surfriding on the reefs outside of Fare Harbour, Ellis' account indicates that ancient surfriders rode transversely across the wave face closely following the peel of the curl in the manner of modern riders.
While some commentators have insisted the ancients essentially rode straight towards the beach, to do so at these locations could invite serious injury.

Only one report partially details the dimensions and design features of Tahitian surfboards (Wilson, 1798) and there are no accounts of surfboard construction.
However the early journalists provide extensive commentary on native carpentry, particular in relation to canoe buiding.
Analysis of these reports suggest that surfboards were probably shaped from a billet - a seasoned section of timber split from a log; a process in marked contrast with the widely quoted account of Hawaiian surfboard construction by Thomas Thrum in 1896.
Furthermore, the accounts of Banks and Bligh invite speculation as to the possible adaptation of damaged canoes and paddles in the formative era of ancient surfboard construction.

3.1 Samuel Wallis, 1767.
The island of Tahiti was discovered (1) by the English explorer, Samuel Wallis, in command of the Dolphin on 18th June 1767.
Arriving on the east coast, Wallis was unable to locate a suitable anchorage due to the large swell preventing safe entry to the inside of the reef:

"The (long) boats continued sounding till noon, when they returned with an account that the ground was very clear; that it was at the depth of five fathom, within a quarter of a mile of the shore, but that there was a very great surf where we had seen the (drinking) water."  (2, 3)

Despite conditions that threatened the safety of the Dolphin, the ship's officers in the long boats reported that the Tahitians negotiated the surf without difficultly:

The Dolphin was securely anchored on the north coast at Matavai Bay and while contact with the Tahitians was initially confrontational, relations subsequently improved and the expedition was able to trade for much needed provisions during a stay of five weeks.
This was followed by a further visit of two weeks on the neighbouring island of Moorea.
Wallis wrote extensively of the construction of Tahitian canoes, by implication noting advanced maritime skills. (5)
His notes on Tahitian canoe construction are discussed below, see 3.14.
The successful landing, identifying Tahiti as a suitable southern hemishere location to observe the transit of Venus in 1769, was the precedent for the expedition of James Cook.

3.2 Louis de Bougainville, 1768
Two French ships, Etoile and Boudeuse, under the command of Louis de Bougainville arrived on the east coast of Tahiti at Hitia'a on 4th April 1768
While the visit was less than two weeks (they departed 15th April), in Europe the accounts of the crew, largely focused on Tahitian sexuality, were cited as evidence in support of the theory of "the noble savage", propounded by the French philosophers Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau.

French author, Nolwenn Roussel (2005) writes of a brief description of surfriding on Tahiti, attributed to Bougainville himself:

" ... des 1768, Louis Antoine de Bougainville, Francais et commandant la fregate du roi 'La Boudeuse', a rapporte dans ses notes que les insulaires « etaient capables de chevaucher la crete des vagues en se tenant debout sur des planches ».

... in 1768, Louis Antoine de Bougainville, the French commander of the royal frigate 'Boudeuse',
reports in his notes that the islanders 'were able to ride the crest of  waves while standing up on boards'." (6)

Unfortunately, the quotation cleary has a wider context, is not annotated and the source is yet to be identified.
Initial research suggests that, amoung various cultural observations, the French journalists did report on the sailing and swimming skills of the Tahitians. (7)

3.3 Joseph Banks, 1769.
The Endeavour, commanded by Lt. James Cook, arrived at Tahiti  on 13 April 1769 to prepare for observations of the transit of Venus, the visit lasting for two months.
The success of Cook's expedition was substaintally enhanced by the inclusion of a group of scientists and artists led and funded by Joseph Banks.
An immense amount of natural and cultural information was collected, including an early written account of Polynesian surfriding by Joseph Banks. (8)

"Cook's journals are the starting point for all studies of the history and culture of four major island groups in Polynesia (Society, Tonga, New Zealand and Hawai'i) and of eastern Australia, Vanuatu (New Hebrides) and New Caledonia." (9)

While the anthroloplogical evidence connecting Tahiti and the Hawaiian Islands is subject to often conflicting interpretations, most agree regular contact had ceased by the end of the thirteenth century. (10)
The early European reports appear to accurately represent, to the best of the journalists' understanding, the independent developments of several hundred years of ancient Tahitian surfriding.
See Chapter 1 (in preparation).

Joseph Banks, in company with Lt. Cook and Dr. Solander, left  the Endeavour's anchorage at Matavai Bay on the 28th May 1769 and travelled to the west coast, initially by boat and then on foot, where they stayed overnight. (11)
The following morning on their return to Matavai Bay, Banks reported in his journal:

"In our return to the boat we saw the Indians amuse or excersise themselves in a manner truly surprizing.
It was in a place where the shore was not guarded by a reef as is usualy the case, consequently a
high surf fell upon the shore, a more dreadfull one I have not often seen: no European boat could
have landed in it and I think no Europaean who had by any means got into could possibly have
saved his life, as the shore was coverd with pebbles and large stones." (12)

Banks is impressed by the potential danger of surfriding, specifically notes the  location as adjacent to a break in the reef allowing the swell to reach the shore (13) and indicates the wave size as "high".
Given the extensive nautical experience of Cook, and the intensive crash-course of Banks and Solander in crossing the Southern Ocean, the wave height was probably considerable.
He continues:

"In the midst of these breakers 10 or 12 Indians were swimming who whenever a surf broke near
them divd under it with infinite ease, rising up on the other side; but their chief amusement was
carried on by the stern of an old canoe, with this before them they swam out as far as the
outermost breach, then one or two would get into it and opposing the blunt end to the breaking wave were hurried in with incredible swiftness.
Sometimes they were carried almost ashore but generaly the wave broke over them before they were
half way, in which case the (they) divd and quickly rose on the other side with the canoe in their
hands, which was towd (originally swam) out again and the same method repeated.
We stood admiring this very wonderfull scene for full half an hour, in which time no one of the actors
atempted to come ashore but all seemd most highly entertaind with their strange diversion." (14)

Initally identifying a dozen bodysurfers, diving under the waves, Banks focuses on  the activities of those using " the stern of an old canoe", hereafter refered to as the surfriders.
The nature of the Tahitian surfcraft is at the core Banks' report and, while apparently specific, invites further analysis given the significance of a first report.
See 3.4, below.

Banks' report of the Tahitian surfriders' performance details four of the basic elements of surfriding: the paddle-out, the take-off, the ride-in and the pull-out. (15)
The performance appears relatively sophisticated; the take-off at "the outermost breach" is probably on the green wave face and not merely in the white-water, maximizing the potential wave size and length of the ride.
Riding on the green face is further indicated: while some rides went all the way to the shore, "generaly the wave broke over them before they were half way".
Banks' phrase "with incredible swiftness" may indicate an element of riding  transversely across the wave, the rider apparently travelling faster than the wave speed.
When the wave "broke over them' the ride was terminated ("the pull-out") by the rider diving down and forcing the board under the water to emerge behind the wave and paddle back out.

"generaly the wave broke over them before they were half way, in which case the (they) divd and quickly rose on the other side with the canoe in their hands, which was towd (originally swam) out again and the same method repeated." (16)

The manouvre could be described as an "island pull-out".
While breaking surf often appears extremely violent to the uninitiated observer, the greatest danger to the experienced surfrider occurs as a result of a collision with a solid object; either the bottom of the seashore, their board or another rider's board.
Control of the board, particularly at the termination of the ride, enhances the safety of all surfriders. (17)

Banks' appreciation of this "truly surprizing (and) strange diversion" features in most subsequent accounts.

3.4 Banks' Surfcraft
Analysis of Joseph Banks' description of the Tahitian surfcraft as "the stern of an old canoe" (and later in the text simply as "the canoe"), from an experienced surfriders' perspective, is intuitively problematic.
Taking the description at face value, it is unclear how the apparent bulk of a canoe stern, even riden with extremes of  strength and skill, could achieve the surfriding performance suggested by Banks.
There is a possibility that the description is misleading and close examination of the text demonstrates some incongruencies.
This is not questioned by J. C. Beaglehole who, perhaps understandably, simply paraphrases Banks (18);

The first, and crucial, difficulty is that as "no one of the actors atempted to come ashore", it is unclear how closely Banks was able to examine the craft or, at this stage, his intimate knowledge of Tahitian canoes.
The surfriding narrative appears six weeks into the visit, long enough to have some familiarity with the culture and language but well short of the knowledge detailed in  Bank's comprehensive notes on Tahitian canoes  compliled ten weeks later as the Endeavour sailed south from the Society Islands. (19)
One possible explanation is suggested, below.

Secondly, the implied dimensions are confusing.
While apparently large enough to support two riders, the craft is small enough that the riders "divd and quickly rose on the other side (of the wave) with the canoe in their hands".

Only the shape of one end of the craft is indicated: "opposing the blunt end to the breaking wave".
However, by implication, this suggests the (unreported) inverse: "the pointed end was directed shore-ward".

J. C. Beagleholes' 1974 edition has Banks noting "the canoe ... was towd out again".
While perhaps consistent with the impression of a "stern of an old canoe" , this is likely an inefficient method of negotiating the surf zone and would require considerable physical strength.
In the original manuscript Banks initially wrote that the craft was "swam" out, but later crossed out the word and adjusted the text to "towd". (20)

The consideration of an alternative term may indicate Bank's difficulty in describing the paddling process

Lasty, in examing the text of the surfriding narrative, while the phrase "one or two would get into it " (my emphasis) appears to imply the concave shape associated with a canoe, it could be interpreted to mean "caught by the wave/s".
Note that Banks has previously used the term "into" to indicate such a meaning:

An examination of the descriptions and illustrations of contemporary Tahitian canoes further complicates an understanding of Banks' description.
Wallis reported in 1767:

The three designs were the all-purpose single log canoe with outrigger, a large double canoe suitable for inter-island voyages and a large double canoe with a covered superstructure for royal or ceremonial use.
The first two were paddled and, depending on size, also had sails, but the later was only ever employed paddlers.
According to function, there were significantly different stern features.
The largest of the double-hull design was the fighting canoe with extremely elongated sterns up to 18 feet above the waterline. (23)
The extreme sterns of these craft, often elaborately decorated with carvings and banners denoting rank or status, are beauifully illustrated by William Hodges in "War Galleys at Tahiti, circa 1774", one of a  series of composite works painted after Cooks' second visit. (24)

The stern was less pronounced on the more common sailing, and the rarer ceremonial, canoes:

According to Banks, the raised stern greatly assisted in negotiating the surf zone:

"The only thing in which they excell is landing in a surf, for by reason of their great lengh and high sterns they would land dry in a surf when our boats could scarcely land at all, and in the same manner put off from the shore as I have often experienc'd." (26)

As Banks notes:

"The form of these Canoes is better to be expressd by a drawing than by any description." (27)

There are a numerous works by visiting European artists illustrating the various designs of Tahitian canoes, including one drawing annotated in Banks' hand. (28)
A large ceremonial canoe was illustrated by one of the two artists aboard the Endeavour, H.D. Sporing:

H.D. Sporing: Purea's canoe. British Museum Add. MS 23921-23a (29) Purea, an elderly queen of Tahiti, is named in the journals as "Oborea".

Alternatively, if the surfriding craft was simply one section or panel split from "the stern of an old canoe", then it is difficult to comprehend how Banks was able to provide such an apparently definitive description.
One possible senario, alluded to previously, is that the description was suggested to Banks in conversation with a Tahitian observer or commentator, subject to inaccuracies in translation.
Cook's policy of establishing cordial relations for trade and avoiding potential violent conflicts with the native inhabitants of the Pacific depended upon effective communication.
After anchoring at Matavai Bay, by the end of the first week :

For the crew of the Endeavour, some basic language difficulties were probaly overcome by consultation with those marineers who had visited Tahiti previously with Wallis in 1767. (31)

No subsequent account yet identified describes the use of damaged canoes for surfriding.
Although not detailed in any of the available literature, the recycling of damaged canoes into smaller craft may have been practised in the formative era of ancient surfboard construction.

Before proceeding, further consideration should be directed to Sporing's illustration reproduced above.
Note that if, for any reason, Banks' description refered not to the stern, but to the bow (stem or head) of a Tahitain canoe as described and illustrated above, then the surfcraft was undoubtedly a surfboard.
Thirty years later, missionary James Wilson would use exactly such a description:

Also note the wave study in the lower right of the drawing, detailed right. This is a near photograhic representation of the dynamics a breaking wave - in surfriding parlance: "a hollow left-hander". (33) It features the thick base, thin curl, effervescent white-water, smooth surface (possibly resulting from a light off-shore wind) and, critically, the conical structure of the wave face that is integral to the dynamics of transverse wave riding. These features are all instantly recognised by experienced surfriders. (34)

3.5 William Anderson, 1777.
On Cook's third Pacific voyage, before arriving in Hawaii, a report of canoe surfing in the Society Islands was recorded by William Anderson, surgeon on the 'Resolution' (35), in August-September 1777.

"He went out from the shore till he was near the place where the swell begins to take its rise; and,
watching its first motion very attentively, paddled before it with great quickness, till (it) had
acquired sufficient force to carry his canoe before it without passing underneath.
He sat motionless, and was carried along at the same swift rate as the wave, till it landed him on
the beach.
Then he started out ... and went in search of another swell.
I could not help concluding that this man felt the most supreme pleasure while his was driven so fast
and smoothly by the sea." (36)

The canoe was, almost certainly, fitted with an outrigger and the performance shares the basic surfriding elements identified by Banks.
The take-off is finely calculated by the rider on the outer-most break and ridden "till it landed him on the beach."
The Tahitian canoe surfrider probably rode directly to the beach, at least "as the same swift rate as the wave."
Anderson's evaluation of the rider's amusement as "the most supreme pleasure"  is, arguably, not an exaggeration.

3.6 The Bounty in Tahiti, 1788-1789.
Another member of Cook's crew to visit Tahiti in 1777, and subsequently Hawaii in 1778-1779, was then mid-shipman, William Bligh.
Bligh returned in to Tahiti on 26th October 1788 as captain of the Bounty on an unsuccessful mission to collect and transport breadfruit plants to the West Indies.
The mission was terminated by the infamous mutiny led by Fletcher Christian in 1789, precipitating  Bligh's epic 3600 mile voyage in an open boat. (37)

At Matavai Bay, the first anchorage in Tahiti, the Bounty was subjected to extreme swell events that threatened the safety of the ship.
For a tabulated record of the swell and weather conditions discussed henceforth, see
Appendix B: Weather Reports: Matavai Bay and Toaroah Harbour, Tahiti.

On Thursday 6th November, one week after arrival, Bligh's journal records the first indication that his anchorage is exposed to northern swells (Swell #1):

The swell apparently continued for several days and on Sunday 9th the Bounty's log notes:

A larger second swell (#2) arrived two weeks later, on Monday 24th November Bligh's journal reports:

On Thursday 4th December, eight days later, the swell  (#3) was again on the rise (42) and the log for the following two days notes:

and, more dramatically:

"I experienced a scene of to day of Wind and Weather which I never supposed could have been met with in this place.
By Sun set a very high breaking Sea ran across the Dolphin Bank, and before seven O'Clock (7 am) it made such way into the Bay that we rode with much difficulty and hazard.
Towards Midnight it increased still more, and we rode untill eight in the Morning in the midst of a
heavy broken sea which frequently came over us.
The Wind at times dying away was a great evil to us for the Ship from the tremendous Sea that broke
over the Reefs to the Eastward of Point Venus, producing such an outset thwarting us against the
Surge from the bank which broke over us in such a Manner, that it was necessary to batten every part of the Ship.
In this state we remained the whole Night with all hands up in the midst of torrents of Rain, the Ship
sending and rolling in a most tremendous manner, and the Sea foaming all round us so as to threaten
instant destruction. " (44)

By Wednesday 10th December, this swell had abated:

Continuing the roughly bi-weekly pattern, the swell rose again (#4) and on Saturday 20th December, Bligh reported:

The journal of James Morrison, boatswain's mate on the Bounty, confirms Bligh's report and indicates the difficulties this presented the crew.

"On the 20th (December) we had heavy rains & a strong Gale of Wind from the N W which brought with it a heavy sea from that Quarter breaking so violently on the Dolphin Bank that the Surge run fairly over the Ship, and the Carpenter who was the evening before Confined to his Cabbin, was now released to secure the Hatches.
Several things were washd overboard & had not the Cables been very good the ship must have gone on shore.
Next day the Gale abated, but the surf run very high on the shore so as to prevent landing either in Canoes or Boats." (47)

These events encouraged Bligh to seek an alternative anchorage.for the Bounty.

On the 24th December he relocated the ship south-west of Matavai Bay to Toaroah Harbour for the remainer of his stay.
While riding safe at Toaroah Bay, the northern swells were still in evidence and the log records another increase in swell (Thursday  8th January, #5).
Towards the end of the month there was a further week of extreme surf (#6), 22nd to 28th January :

and, five days later:

The northern swells made one more appearance before Bounty's departure on the 5th April 1789.
On Monday 2nd March, Bligh reports:

"The Wind blowing Strong from the N. W.
I sent a Man down to Taowne Harbour (t) to see if the Sea set much in, it being open to that quarter.
He returned with an Account that a great Sea broke all over it and that it would have been bad riding
there for any Ship, and that a Great surf run on the Shore.
Matavai is equally bad, but here we lye as smooth as in a Mill-pond." (51)

On 8th March, seven days later, this swell (#7) is still very much in evidence:

After relocating the Bounty's anchorage, Bligh summarized the stay at Matavai Bay:

"Since I have been here Matavai has shown itself to be a very dangerous place, a high breaking sea
almost constantly running over the Dolphin Bank unto the Shore, and likewise over the Bank near to
one Tree Hill where the sea breaks with great violence." (53)

3.7 Surfriding Conditions at Matavai Bay, 1788.
The seven major swell events recorded in Bligh's journal in Tahiti, given his previous nautical experience and the danger to the Bounty, certainly indicate waves of considerable, if not extreme, size.

Bligh's charts record the minimum depth of the Dolphin Bank at 2.25 fathoms, approximately 13 feet, allowing for a tidal variation of less than 12 inches. (54)
Basic calculations; assuming ocean waves initially break at a depth of 1.3 times the wave height (55); give a minimum wave height of approximately 10 feet to break on the Dolphin Bank.
To break on the outer limits of the reef (at six fathoms or 36 feet), the estimated wave height is approximately 27 feet.
Bligh's and Morrison's reports indicate some of these swells were probably to the larger end of this range.

Image right: The "Bounty's" anchorage at Matavia Bay, Tahiti 26th October to 24th December, 1788. (56) The compass alignment is an poor approximation. The anchorage is indicated by the inverted anchor symbol. The Dolphin Bank is the reef to the left (north west) of the anchorage. The soundings are in fathoms. Also see Appendix A: Maps As a result of two extreme surf events that threatened the safety of the ship, Bligh moved the Bounty  to Toaroah Harbour for the remainer of the visit, departing Tahiti on Sunday 5th April 1789.

The prevalent wind direction reported during the impact of the large swell events indicate strong on-shore winds (W and NW) at Matavai Bay, less than ideal conditions for surfriding.
However, these swells ran for several days before and before and after the peak impact and alternative wind directions were in evidence.
The log records a significant number of days where the swell was fanned by offshore winds, approximately anywhere in the quadrant from NE to SE.
On Friday 19th December, with the onset of the fourth major swell event, the log records the wind as ESE to ENE and Bligh writes:

Sublime surfriding conditions occur with the combination of suitable bottom contours, signficant swell, off-shore winds, warm air and warm water temperatures.
For the duration of the Bounty's stay in Tahiti, the temperature ranged between 76 and 85 degrees Farenheit, or 25 to 29 degress Celsius.
Without historical documentation, it is probably safe to assume the water temperature was similar to the present range:

While the extreme swell conditions at Matavai Bay, vastly different to his visit with Cook in August-September 1777, came as a suprise to Bligh, they were probably eagerly anticipated by the Tahitian surfriders.
Joseph Banks wrote in 1769:

"The people excell much in predicting the weather, a circumstance of great use to them in their short voyages from Island to Island.

They have many various ways of doing this (Banks notes one method); and in this as well as their other predictions we found them indeed not infallible but far more clever than Europreans." (59)

One critical observation from a study of these accounts that must be stressed is the relative rarity of such extreme and sublime surfriding conditions. (60)
These conditions are not in evidence during the winter visits of Wallace (June 1767), Cook (May 1769, May 1774, August-September 1777) and Bligh's second voyage to transport breadfruit to the West Indies (July 1792).
While the possibly of such events was undoubtedly increased with Bligh's extended stay, the critical factor was seasonal - the visit of the Bounty coincided with Matavai Bay's direct exposure to the summer northern swells.
If the Bounty had arrived at Tahiti four weeks later when the north swells were running, it is likely Bligh would sought an alternate anchorage.
The reports by Cook's crew and the subsequent post-contact accounts in Tahiti and Hawaii, where the expedition commanders invariably sought anchorages protected from the predominant swell direction, must be examined in this context.

3.8 James Morrison, 1788.
James Morrison was boatswain's mate on the Bounty and was one of the mutineers.
His journal is a highly detailed account of ancient Tahitian culture, significantly enhanced by his extended stay in Tahiti from 1788 to1791. (61)
Morrison's long-term exposure, covering the full twelve month climatic cycle, to traditional culture contrasts markedly with the relatively short-term visits to Polynesian islands by most Europeans in the 18th century.
Furthermore, his dramatic account of surfriding is enhanced by the extreme swell conditions that caused Bligh and his crew considerable difficulty and threatened the safety of the ship.
James Morrison's account essentially replicates the earliest Hawaiian surfriding reports.

This report, although in an attached overview of Morrison's stay in Tahiti, specifically dates the surfriding activity to the fourth of the extreme swell events, with an estimated wave height between 10 and 27 feet, reported and discussed above.

"This Diversion took place during the time the Bounty lay in Maatavye (Matavai) Bay when the Surf from the Dolphin Bank ran so high as to break over her, and we were forced to secure the Hatches expecting the Ship to go on shore evry Minute." (62)

Morrison describes some of the basic elements of surfriding, as previously recorded by Banks, except that the most skilled ride in a standing position:

"they get peices of Board of any length with which they swim out to the back of the surf, when they Watch the rise of a surf somtimes a Mile from the shore & laying their Breast on the board, keep themselves poised on the Surf so as to come in on the top of it, with amazing rapidity watching the time that it breaks, when they turn with great Activity and diving under the surge swim out again towing their plank with them ... some are so expert as to stand on their board till the Surf
breaks" (63)

The description of the board "of any length"  indicates a significant range of dimensions; probably determined by skill, body size, social status and/or the materials available for construction.
Certainly the boards were specifically constructed for surfriding, and not an adaptation as possibly implied by Joseph Banks and indicated by William Bligh, discussed below.
Riding in a standing position was not noted by members of Cook's third Pacific voyage and does not appear to be confirmed in accounts from Hawaii until circa 1825 by Rev. William Ellis. (64)
The minimum surfboard dimensions for successful riding in the standing position are open to debate. (65)

Furthermore, Morrison gives some some indication of the extreme surf conditions favoured by Tahitian surfriders, indicating the rider's preference for a critical wave shape and the potential maximum wave height and the length of the ride.
The distance from the beach, "a mile", is consistent with the previously estimated wave heights.

"When the Westerly Winds prevail they have a heavy surf Constantly running to a prodigious height on the Shore ... the part they Choose for their Sport is where the Surf breaks with Most Violence ... they Watch the rise of a surf somtimes a Mile from the shore" (66)

He reports that  the arrival of large surf was a significant community event and surfriding was practised by both sexes and all ages.
The potential dangers were substantially reduced with the selection of suitable ("smaller") conditions and the skill of swimming taught at an early age.

"at this diversion both Sexes are Excellent ... the Children also take their sport in the smaller surfs and as Most learn to swim as soon as walk few or no accidents happen from Drowning....
They resort to this sport in great Numbers and keep at it for several Hours." (67)

The number of riders is considerable, enough to require those paddling out to avoid those riding in:

This was not always successful, but such collisions were apparently considered an integral part of surfriding and the occassional "very Coarse landing"  suffered without rancour or dispute:

"which they somtimes cannot avoid in which case both are Violently dashd on shore where they are thrown neck & heels and often find very Coarse landing, which however they take little Notice of and recovering themselves regain their boards & return to their sport." (69)

Morrison briefly  records Tahitian canoe surfriding, confirming the earlier report of William Anderson and the contemporary account by Bligh, below.

"They have also a diversion in Canoes, which they steer on the top of the Surf with Great dexterity, and can either turn them out before it breakes or land safe tho it Break ever so high."  (70)

3.9 Royal Tahitian Surfriding, 1788.
Significantly James Morrison's account notes the expert surfriding skills of the Tahitian ruling class, consistent with Polynesian legends but not recorded in the earliest accounts from Hawaii by Europeans. (71)

"The Chiefs are in general best at this as well as all other Diversions, nor are their Weomen behind hand at it.
Eddea is one of the Best among the Society Islands & able to hold it with the Best of the Men Swimmers." (72)

Note that the assessment of Iddeah's (Morrison's Eddea) surfriding skill may not be Morrisson's independent view, but was probably based on the communal consent of Tahitian surfriders.
It is unlikely to be the result of some organised competitive event.
See Chapter 1 (in preparation).

Iddeah and her husband Tu (also known as Otoo, named as Tinah by Bligh) formed a personal and commercial relationship with Bligh. (73)
Upon first meeting her on board the Bounty at Matavai Bay in October 1788, Bligh wrote:

"His wife (Iddeah) I judged to be about twenty-four years of age: she is likewise much above the common size of the women at Otaheite, and has a very animated and intelligent countenance." (74)

Three months later, while preparing to depart Tahiti, Bligh affirmed his initial assessment:

Besides her surfriding skills, Iddeah's social, physical and mental prowess was considerable.
Invited to witness a wrestling competition, Bligh reported:

A mother of several children; with (a somewhat surprised) Bligh she discussed and demonstrated native childbirth, and was highly amused by his account of English methods. (77)

Some of Iddeah's other talents were less maternal:

"Iddeah has learnt to load and fire a musquet with great dexterity, ...
It is not common for women in this country to go to war, but lddeah is a very resolute woman, of a large make, and has great bodily strength." (78)

On a day recorded as one of the most extreme surf condtions (5th-6th December), her canoe paddling skill was outstanding.
Bligh's journal notes:

"The sea broke very high on the beach; nevertheless, a canoe put off, and, to my surprise, Tinah, his wife (Iddeah), and Moannah, made their way good through the surf, and came on board to see me.
There was no other person in the canoe, for the weather did not admit of useless passengers: each of them had a paddle, which they managed with great activity and skill." (79)

Ten years later, Iddeah's son was now the local chief, Pomare.
Circa 1798, the newly arrived English missionary, John Williams, post-dated  James Morrison's report of her surfing skills:

"The women are very dexterous at this sport; and Iddeah, the queen-mother, is considered the most expert in the whole island." (80)

3.10 William Bligh, 1788.
Following the second major swell event at Matavai Bay, on Friday 28th November William Bligh also briefly reported canoe surfriding; confirming the accounts of William Anderson and James Morrison.

They also practise with small Cannoes in these high surfs, and it is seldom that any of them get
overturned or filled. " (81)

He was more expansive on the subject of Tahitian surfriders, apparently using canoe paddles as surfcraft, recording some of the basic elements of surfriding (paddle-out, take-off and ride-in) and, like Banks, notes the potential danger of the activity.

"The heavy surf which has run on the shore for a few days past has given great amusement to many
of the Natives, but is such as one would suppose would drown any European.
The general plan of this diversion is for a number of them to advance with their paddles to where the
Sea begins to break and placing the broad part under the Belly holding the other end with their Arms
extended at full length, they turn themselves to the surge and balancing themselves on the Paddles
are carried to the shore with the greatest rapidity." (82)

Given this report parrallels James Morrison's, there is a remote possibility Bligh's description of the surfcraft as "paddles" is misleading, although Bligh's reputation for exactitude makes this highly unlikely.
Joseph Banks, assisted by J. C. Beaglehole's Footnote, describes Tahitian paddles as:

The use of inverted canoe paddles is confirmed by the method of "placing the broad part under the Belly holding the other end with their Arms".
Such a technique was unlikely to be suitable in deep water and the paddles were probably used close to the beach.
One, highly spectulative, senario is that the extreme and sublime conditions placed such high demand on the available surfboards that canoe paddles were used by some surfriders as substitute craft.
The use of canoe paddles as surfcraft by ancient surfriders invites further speculation. (84)

Laurie McGinness (1997) partially quotes Bligh's report (85) and comments:

"The sport was very crude in those early years.
They did not have specially constructed boards, but simply used paddles, presumably from their canoes.
Nor, apparently, did they attempt to trim across the wave, but rode straight in to the shore.
Surfing of this type was widespread throughout Polynesia.
It had no cultural importance and took no great skill to perform.
Only in Hawaii did surfing develop significantly." (86)

To some extent this is an understandable analysis based on Bligh's edited report, however James Morrison's account obviously contradicts several of McGinness' conclusions.

Like Morrison, Bligh also notes the potential for riders colliding and notes such encounters are successfully avoided by "duck-diving":

"As several seas follow each other they have those to encounter on their return, which they do by
diving under them with great ease and cleverness." (87)

Bligh confirms previous assessments of the rider's pleasure and notes the practical advantages of swimming and surfriding skills.

"The delight they take in this amusement is beyond anything, and is of the most essential good for
them, for even in their largest and best Cannoes they are so subject to accidents of being overturned
that their lives depend on their swimming, and habituing themselves to remain long in the Water. " (88)

The question of why Bligh did not make the connection between Tahitian and Hawaiian surfriding, given that he probably saw or, at the least, heard reports of Hawaiian surfriding ten years earlier with Cook in 1778-1779, remains unanswered.

3.11 George Tobin, 1792.
Bligh was again dispatched to Tahiti in 1791 in the Providence, accompanied by Lt. Nathaniel Portlock in the Assistant, successfully completing the transportation of breadfruit plants to the West Indies in 1793.
In July 1792, George Tobin, an amateur artist and journal-keeper for the voyage, recorded juvenile surfriding in Tahiti.

"It is common to see the children at five or six years of age amusing themselves in the heaviest surf with a small board on which they place themselves outside the breaking, whence they are driven with great velocity to the shore, fearless themselves, nor are the least apprehensions of accidents entertained by their parents."  (89)

Any concerns of the parents were, no doubt, allayed by their own familiarity with the dangers of surfriding.
Clearly, the surf conditions did not compare with those peviously experienced by the Bounty in 1788-1789 and Tobin appears not to have conversed with Bligh or others on the subject.

3.12 James Wilson, 1798.
European contact with the already waring Polynesian chiefdoms would dramatically realign political power, with a near terminal impact on the traditional culture.
Military power was dependent on acquiring western firearms, munitions and sail power and the alignment of the Bounty mutinners with the house of Tu significanly altered Tahitian politics.
In 1797, the traditional culture was confronted with an alternate spirituality by the arrival of Christian missionaries from the Missionary Society (later the London Missionary Society) on the Duff.
One of the missionaries, James Wilson wrote of the exceptional swimming skills of the Tahitians:

"They are uniformly excellent swimmers and divers; it was affirmed that one of the natives swam from Otaheite to Eimeoi (15 miles;) he was in consequence esteemed and worshipped as a god; for they declared that as the channel was infested with numerous sharks, and the distance so great, none but a god could pass safely." (90)

His account of surfriding, highly reminiscent of Morrison, recognises the challenge of extreme conditions:

"They have various sports and amusements; swimming in the surf appears to afford them singular
delight.
At this sport they are very dexterous; and the diversion is reckoned great in proportion as the surf runs highest and breaks with the most violence:  they will continue it for hours together, till they are tired." (91)

Wilson provides the earliest dimensions for Tahitian surfboards, in this case certainly ridden prone, and notes that some riders were bodysurfers.

"Some use a small board, about two feet and a half long, formed with a sharp point, like the fore part
of a canoe; but others depend wholly on their own dexterity." (92)

While the basic mechanics of surfriding are effectively described, Wilson notes the stylish raising of the outside or non-steering leg, apparently indicating the riders transversed the wave face:

"They swim out beyond the swell of the surf, which they follow as it rises, throwing themselves on  the top of the wave, and steering with one leg, whilst the other is raised out of the water, their breast reposing on the plank, and moving themselves forward with one hand, they are carried with amazing velocity, till the surf is ready to break on the shore, when, in a moment, they steer themselves with so quick a motion as to dart head foremost through the wave, and, rising on the outside, swim back again to the place where the surf begins to swell, diving all the way through the waves, which are running furiously on the shore." (93)

Wilson also reports surfriding is practised in smaller conditions by children and the activity, despite the inherent danger to European eyes, is essentially injury free:

"The children take the same diversion in a weaker surf, learning to swim as soon as tbey can walk, and seldom meet with any accident except being dashed on the beach; but hardly is ever is a person drowned." (94)

Whereas some writers (such as Ellis, below) make much of the potential danger of shark attack, Wilson records a remarkable response by these Tahitian surfriders:

"If a shark comes in amoung them, they surround him, and force him on shore, if they get him into the surf, though they use no instrument for the purpose: and should he escape, they continue their sport without fear." (95)

Such acts of bravado were likely directed at smaller specimens of the species.

3.13 Rev William Ellis, 1822.
The religious conversions and the rejection of "pagan" values (96) so eagerly sought by the missionaries failed to materialize.
Facing irrelevance and challenged by the increasing influence of European commerical interests, under intense local pressure the missionaries eventually provided access to armaments, imported from the new British colony  in Australia.
Again, most benefit went to the house of Tu, now lead by his son, Pomare II. (97)
Victory by Pomare II at the battle of Feipi in 1815 firmly entrenched the Christian church in Tahitian politics and commerce and effectively established an alternate state religion, directly in conflict with the traditional beliefs. (98)

In this period of political and cultural upheaval, William Ellis arrived on island of Huahine, north-west of Tahiti, in June 1818 with other Missionary Society members to further advance Christianity in the Pacific islands.
Ellis moved on to Hawaii in 1822, but after completing a tour of the major islands his wife's illness forced a return, via America, to England. (99)
On his return he published  A Journal of a Tour Around Hawaii  in 1825 (100) and quickly followed with an expanded work, Narrative of a Tour of Hawaii in 1826 that included a report of surfriding. (101)
In 1829 he produced a three volume work, Polynesian Researches,  detailing his missionary experience and cultural observations in the Society Islands, Tubuai Islands and New Zealand. (102)
Volume I included a report of surfriding at Fare harbour on Huhaine. (103)
Polynesian Researches was reprinted in 1831 with the addition of a fourth volume on Hawaii including the earlier surfriding account from the Narrative (1826) and the earliest printed surfriding illustration. (104)

While Ellis's report of surfriding at Huhaine certainly preceeds the Hawaiian account, the publication dates appear to imply the reverse.
Interpretation is further complicated by Ellis' comments that compare and contrast elements of the two Polynesian cultures, no doubt written later in preparing his notes for publication. (105)
Ellis writes:

"One of their favourite sports is the 'horue' or 'faahee', swimming in the surf, when the waves are high, and the billows break in foam and spray among the reefs.
Individuals of all ranks and ages and both sexes follow this sport with great avidity.
<...>
I have often seen along the border of the reef forming the boundary line to the harbour of Fare in
Huahine, from fifty to a hundred persons of all ages, sporting like so many porpoises in the surf that
has been rolling with foam and violence towards the land; sometimes mounted on the top of the
wave, and almost enveloped in spray, at other times plunging beneath the mass of water that has
swept like mountains over them, cheering and animating each other; and by the noise and shouting
they made rendering the roar of the sea and the dashing of the surf comparatively imperceptible." (106)

The surfriding breaks are located at the channels through the surrounding coral reefs:

"They usually selected the openings in the reefs or entrances of some of the bays, where the long
heavy billows rolled in unbroken majesty upon the reef or the shore." (107)

Ellis's account, apart from the naming of the board, closely corresponds with the previous report by James Morrison at Matavai Bay:

"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." (108)

The Tahitian name for the surfboard, "papa faahee", is similar to the Hawaiian "papa he'e nalu", transcibed by Rev. Ellis circa 1824 as "papa hi naru". (109)
He records variatrions of the island pull-out, originally noted by Banks and also reported by Morrision, and notes the relative lack of danger for skilled riders:

"When they approached the shore, they slid off the board, which they grasped with the hand, and either fell behind the wave or plunged towards the deep and allowed it to pass over their heads.
Sometimes they were thrown with violence upon the beach, or among the rocks on the edges of the
reef.
So much at home, however, do they feel in the water, that it is seldom any accident occurs." (110)

As previously noted, Ellis compares Tahitian and Hawaiian surfboards and the respective surfriding populations:

"Their surf-boards are inferior to those of the Sandwich islanders, and I do not think swlmming in the sea as an amusement, whatever it might have been formerly; is is now practiced so much by the natives of the South, as by the North." (111)

The inferiority of the boards perceived by Ellis probably refers to the larger dimensions and/or the fine polished and stained finish that he noted of the the Hawaiian boards. (112)
The comparison of the popularity of surfriding between the two island groups, "not ... now practiced so much by ... the South (Tahiti), as by the North (Hawaii)", may reflect a recent rapid deterioration in the traditional culture under the impact of divergent European influences, but this discrepancy in numbers was probably always the case given the Hawaiian islands larger population, larger landmass with greater natural resources and the superior quality and quantity of the Hawaiian surf.

Ellis relates the danger of shark attack to surfriders from both locations:

"Both were exposed in this sport to one common cause of interruption; and this was, the intrusion of
the shark.
The cry of a 'mao' among the former (Tahiti), and a 'mano' among the latter (Hawaii), is one of the most terrific they ever hear; and I am not surprised that such should be the effect of the approach of one of
these voracious monsters.
The great shouting and clamour which they make, is principally designed to frighten away such as
may approach.
Notwithstanding this, they are often disturbed, and sometimes meet their death from these formidable
enemies. (113)

The danger of shark attack is reported by other 18th century commentators, however in most cases they detail attacks as the result of vessels breaking up at sea, the sharks progressively consuming the survivors.
Such an account is provided by Ellis himself. (114)
Statisically, in modern times the number of fatal sharks attacks on surfriders in the surf zone is small compared to the danger in the open ocean or enclosed bays and rivers.
Athough shark numbers were significantly reduced during the twentith century by fishing and, in some places, by a policy of extermination (115), Ellis possibly exaggerates the danger to surfriders for dramatic effect.

3.14 Henry Adams, 1891.
Continuous outbreaks of conflict, Chrisian evangelism, commerical exploitation and the ravages of introduced diseases on the native population preciptated a rapid decline in traditional culture and the old religion. (116)
At the time of Cook's first visit in 1769 the population of Tahiti was probably about 40,000.
By 1800 it plummeted to less than half that; by 1840 the native popuation was 9,000 and continued to decline even  further. (117)
With the increasing challenge to Brtish power by France and the Roman Catholic church in the late 1830s, the situation deteriorated into another war, culminating in the surrender of Tahitian political power to France in 1847. (118)

Later reports reflect a corresponding progressive decline of surfriding in the Society Islands.
Henry Adams, possibly indicating the domination of Christian worship over the traditional culture, reported from Tahiti circa 1891:

"If they have amusements or pleasures, they conceal them.
Neither dance nor game have I seen or heard of; nor surfing, swimming, nor ball-playing nor anything but the stupid, mechanical himene (hymn-singing)." (119)

The only indigenous writing on Tahitian surfriding is by Tueria Henry,  published by the Bishop Museum Press in 1928.
The work was based on material collected by John M. Orsmond, a contemporary of fellow missionaries John Williams and William Ellis.
Unfortunately, her entry for surfriding in a retrospective of Tahitian sports is probably based on Rev. Ellis' report of circa 1820 and offers no new insights, apart from contradicting Henry Adams in noting that it is still practised:

" 'Fa'ahe'e", surf-riding, was much indulged in, mostly by young men and women in favorable places where the sea rolled in breakers over sunken rocks.
The board used was called 'papa-fa'ahe'e' (board-for-surfriding).
The pleasure in this sport would have been unalloyed but for sharks that sometimes came and wounded or carried away someone out of reach of timely help.
Surf-riding is still practised to a small extent." (120)

More interesting is the, previously unrecorded, entry for high-diving:

" 'Neue or naue'.. plunging into water, has always been a favorite pastime of children and grown people.
They plunge off high cliffs into the deep sea or off rocks and trees into deep fresh-water pools, and they swim and dive like fishes.
Diving is called 'titi-aho-roa' (holding-long-breath), and swimming is called 'au'." (121)

While underwater diving and swimming are obviously part of surfriding activity, high diving parallels surfriding in the elements of "thrill' and "style".
Some commentators on Hawaiian culture, noteably John 'Ii, also detail high diving activities. (122)

In the 1950's, with the widespread adoption of the modern Californian and Hawaiian surfboard, surfriding began a return to popularity in Tahitian waters, despite the fact that by then it was well known "There is no surf in Tahiti." (123)

3.15 Tahitian Surfboard Design and Construction.
The most detailed desciption of a Tahitian surfboard is by James Wilson in 1798:

The other descriptions are less informative, indeed Banks' surfcraft report of 1769  is possibly misleading.
Morrison's "peices of Board of any length"  (1788) probably indicates some boards were longer than Wilson's estimate, given he reports they  were able to be ridden in a standing position.
Ellis' "short, flat-pointed board" (c1820)  confrirms the pointed nose indicated by Wilson and the flat cross section "like the fore part of a canoe", see the discussion of Banks' Surfcraft, above.
The flat cross section is common in most examples of ancient Hawaiian surfboards.
See Chapter 4, and following. (in preparation)

Not unsuprisingly, there are no accounts of how these boards were constructed; however Samuel Wallace, Joseph Banks, Sydney Parkinson and James Morrison wrote extensively of the skill of Tahitian carpenters and canoe builders.

In Polynesian tradition, natural resources (like timber) were provided by a host of gods, spirits and departed ancestors.
Harvesting was often accompanied by a variety of religious rites, often including an element of sacrifice, usually proscribed by a priest or master craftsman.
See Chapter 1 (in preparation)
Natural resources were also subject to control by a ruling elite that was complex synthesis of secular and religious power. (125)

"One aspect of their power was their authority to impose a taboo: they could forbid the harvesting of certain plants, the killing of certain animals, or the fishing of sections of a lagoon.
And while this power was usually only exercised fer a brief period to ensure ample supplies for forthcoming feasts on ritual occasions, it gave them strong powers of conservation - essential to island living." (126)

Like many European marineers who followed him, Samuel Wallace studied Polynesian canoes and described their construction, rigging and use in Tahiti:

"The boats or canoes of these people, are of three different sorts.
Some are made out of a single tree, and carry from two to six men: these are used chiefly for fishing, and we constantly saw many of them busy upon the reef: some were constructed of planks, very dexterously sewed together: these were of different sizes, and would carry from ten to forty men.
Two of them were generally lashed together, and two masts set up between them; if they were single, they had an out-rigger on one side, and only one mast in the middle.
With these vessels they sail far beyond the sight of land, probably to other islands, and bring home plantains, bananas, and yams, which seem also to be more plenty upon other parts of this island, than that off which the ship lay. " (127)

Discussing the second design, Wallace observed:

"The plank of which these vessels are constructed, is made by splitting a tree, with the grain, into as many thin pieces as they can.
They first fell the tree with a kind of hatchet, or adze, made of a tough greenish kind of stone, very dexterously fitted into a handle; it is then cut into such lengths as are required for the plank, one end of which is heated till it begins to crack, and then with wedges of hard wood they split it down: some of these planks are two feet broad, and from 15 to 20 feet long.
The sides are smoothed with adzes of the same materials and construction, but of a smaller size.
Six or eight men are sometimes at work upon the same plank together, and, as their tools presently lose their edge, every man has by him a cocoa nut-shell filled with water, and a flat stone, with which he sharpens his adze almost every minute." (128)

The timbers favoured for canoe construction are identified as "the apple tree" and the breadfruit. (129)

"The wood which they use for their large canoes, is that of the apple tree, which grows very tall and strait.
Several of them that we measured, were near eight feet in the girth, and from 20 to 40 to the branches, with very little diminution in the size.
Our carpenter said, that in other respects it was not a good wood for the purpose, being very light.
The small canoes are nothing more than the hollowed trunk of the bread-fruit tree, which is still more light and spongy.
The trunk of the bread-fruit tree is six feet in girth, and about 20 feet to the branches." (130)

Both timbers were subsequently similarly identified by Sydney Parkinson, one of two artists employed by Joseph Banks on the Endeavour voyage, in 1769.
Parkinson lists seven species used for canoe construction in his catalogue of plants. (131)
The breadfruit (Tahitian: uru, Hawaiian: ulu) is recorded as one of the species suitable for Hawaiian canoes and surfboards. (132)

Joseph Banks records an inventory of Tahitian stone-age tools for carpentry:

" ... an axe of Stone in the shape of an adze, a chisel or gouge made of a human bone, a file or rasp of Coral, skin of Sting rays, and coral sand to polish with, are a sufficient set of tools for building a house and furnishing it with boats ...
Their stone axes are made of a black stone not very hard but tolerably tough; they are of different sizes, some that are intended for felling weigh 3 or 4 Pounds, others which are usd only for carving not so many ounces.
Whatever these tools want in goodness is made up by the industry of the people who use them." (133)

J. C. Beaglehole's footnote identifies the stone (a variety of basalt) and the quarry location:

"These adzes (and other stone tools very often) were made from a black dolerite found on the island of Maurua (modern Maupiti) 24 miles west of Borabora, where there was a sort of quarry which
supplied the whole of the Society Islands with the valued material. " (134)

Tommy Holmes' (1993) account of Hawaiian canoe building tools (Chapter 4) also indicates their adzes were made from basalt and the quarrying  paralleled the Tahitian case, on a substantially larger scale:

"Most Hawaiian stone adzes came from one of the quarries on Hawai'i, Kaho'olawe, Moloka'i, O'ahu, or Kaua'i.
...
The most important of these quarries was on the southern flank of Mauna Kea.
It was not only the largest in Hawai'i but the largest in the entire Pacific region, covering some 7 1/2 square miles, at an elevation of between 11,000 and 12,400 feet" (135)

Clearly the harvesting of timber, usually from the hinterland, required a major community effort.
Joseph Banks notes:

"Felling a tree is their greatest labour, a large one requires many hands to assist and some days
before it can be finishd, but when once it is down they manage it with far greater dexterity than is
credible to an Europrean."  (136)

James Morrison was intimately acquainted with native carpenters.
In early 1790, under his direction, some of the Bounty mutineers remaining at Tahiti planned to build a schooner with the intention of returning to England. (137)
A journal entry in January 1790 records the first steps in construction:

"On the 4th the Weather being fair, I set out to the Hills accompanied by some of Poenos Men, & one
who lived with myself Constantly, in quest of timbers, and returned with several, the Poorow being
plenty in the Mountains; but Mostly at a Good distance as they always take the first at hand for their
own Use- these We sided as usual and laid them to dry" (138)

The timber Morrison harvested, "Poorow", is currently unidentified.
Significantly, note that Morrison includes a period of seasoning  in the harvesting process ("these We sided as usual and laid them to dry"), necessary to produce stronger and lighter timber that is less partial to splitting or warping.(139)

For Tahitian canoe construction the largest trees were used in their entirety, Banks writes:

However, in most cases timber was required in smaller dimensions and to this end Banks reports the log was split into billets (141):

"If it is to be made into boards they put wedges into it, and drive them with such dexterity (as they have told me -for I never saw it) that they divide it into slabs of 3 or 4 inches in thickness, seldom meeting with an accident if the tree is good." (142)

Banks may not have witnessed the splitting process, but Wallace did (see above) and Morrison observed:

In November 1788, William Bligh had no difficulty in commissioning supplies of timber:

"I had no want of my own People to cut Wood, for the Trees were felled and cut up with the greatest ease and readyness by the Natives, who also with much chearfulness carried every billet of it to the Tents altho near half a Mile distant." (144)

The reduction into billets, if the log was not required whole, probably occurred at the logging site, significantly reducing the labour in transporting the timber to the coast.
James Morrison's experience is representative:

"And here I may also observe that a deal of Labour might have been saved by workmen, who
understood their business, by trimming the Timber in the Mountains, which would have made a
Considerable Odds in the Weight" (145)

Alternatively, on one occasion Bligh noted the transportation of complete logs from the forest to the shoreline, as must be the case for canoe hulls.

The billets were trimmed to the required surfboard dimensions and shape, no doubt after a period of seasoning.
Banks writes of the speed and dexterity of Tahitian carpenters:

"These slabs they very soon dubb down with their axes to any given thinness; in this work they certainly excell; indeed their tools are better adaptd for it than any other performance; I have seen them dubb of the first rough coat of a plank at least as fast as one of our carpenters could have done it; and in hollowing, where they have liberty to raise large floors of the wood, they certainly work quicker, owing to  the weight of their tools: those who are masters of this business, will take of a surprizing thin coat from a whole plank, without missing a stroke; they can also work upon a peice of wood of any shape as well as they can upon a flat one, for in making their canoes every peice is formd first into its proper shape, bilging or flat: for as they never bend a Plank all the bilging peices must be shap'd by hand which is done intirely with axes."    (147)

Of the canoe builders on Raiatea, one of the Leeward Islands, he notes:

Banks was not impressed with the examples of fine carving he examined, but notes the fine finish evident on Tahitian woodwork:

"All their work however acquires a certain neatness in the finishing for they polish every thing, even the side of a canoe or a Post of a house, with Coral sand rubbd on in the outer husk of a Cocoa nut and rays skin, which makes them very smooth and neat." (149)

Sydney Parkinson observed Tahitian canoes under construction and also recorded the use of abrasives:

"This day we also saw them polishing their canoes, which was done with the madrepora fungites, a
species of coral, or sea mushroom, with which they also polish the beams of their houses." (150)

The above analysis clearly suggests a method of construction of Tahtian surfboards (and probably paddles).
Harvesting was usually accompanied by specified religious rites.
Trees of the required dimensions, likely one of the species identified for canoe construction, were felled at inland locations with heavy stone adzes.
The fallen trees were trimmed of the branches and cut to length into logs.
The logs were then split, sometimes by heating one end to crack the timber, into billets about  four inches thick with timber (possibly stone) wedges.
After and/or before a period of seasoning, for probably at least 12 months, the billets were transported to the coast.
Billets of suitable dimensions were shaped into surfboards with a selection of progressively smaller and finer stone adzes. (151)
A smooth finish was produced with various natural abrasives.

Note that this method does not parallel, indeed contradicts, significant elements of the most detailed and widely quoted account of Hawaiian surfboard construction published by Thomas Thrum in 1896. (152)
See Chapter 7 (in preparation).

2. For screen clarity, the text is presented in my standard online format.
Each sentence takes a new line and paragraphs are indicated by a spaced line (replacing indentation), thus:

Reproduced text  is in "bold italics", enclosed in double apostrophes.
Reproduced text in the Endnotes is in "italics", enclosed in double apostrophes.
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3. Wallis, Samuel in
Hawkesworth, John: An Account of the Voyages in the Southern Hemisphere by Commodore Byron, Captain Carteret, Captain Wallis and Captain Cook.
Drawn up from the Journals which were kept by the several Commanders and from the Papers of Joseph Banks, Esq.
In Three Volumes
Printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell in the Strand,1773.
Volume II ?, page 438.
http://southseas.nla.gov.au/journals/hv23/contents.html

4. Wallis in Hawkesworth: Voyages (1773), page 438.
As experienced ocean voyagers, the Tahitians were obviously familiar with the immediate needs of marineers and, on occassions, probably supplied their own crews with this method.

5. In 1990, Bengt Danielson wrote (i