surfresearch.com.au  ancient hawaiian surfboards: #3

3.1 In the wake of the success of the publication of Cook's journals in 1884, further tales of Pacific adventure were in demand.
Archibald Campbell published an account of his travels that included a reference to surfriding in Hawaii, circa 1812, briefly describing the board as

3.2 John B. Whitman (possibly) wrote the first account of surfriding at Waikiki (indicated as Honolulu), Oahu, circa 1815, outlining surfboard construction and maintainance.

"The surf board... is admirably adapted to the purpose for which it is used. ...They are preserved with the greatest care, as with their crude tools it is an immensity of labor to make one." (2)
 

3.3 French naval officier (?), Louis Claude Freycinet recorded prone surfriding in the Hawaiian islands (?), circa 1820.

"When using the board, he holds it in his hands and lies down flat on his stomach, head toward the rounded end, or else he uses his hands like paddles and with his feet directs this sort of a float with astonishing skill and swiftness." (3)

Freycinet's report, while probably inferring the boards were short, only confirms that the nose was round.

The buildings closely resemble a house initally drawn by John Webber in 1779 titled "An Offering before Capt Cook in the Sandwich Ilses".
An engraving, based on the drawing by S. Middleman and J. Hall,  was included in Cook's published journals in 1884. (5)

Given the scale of the illustration, the board is approximately 15 feet long, 20 inches wide and, less accuarately, three inches thick.
The template is foiled with a round nose and square tail, the later possibly indicating a convex bottom profile.
While the rails appear square, this possiblly is an artistic compromise to give the board perspective.
The print, below, shows the board constructed from a light-toned timber, perhaps indicating willi willi rather than the significantly darker koa wood.

Jacques Arago, Engraving by Alphonse Pellion:  "The Houses of Kraimokou", circa 1819. Finney and Houston (1996) Page 37. (6) First image of an Olo board.

... a plank of light wood, eight or ten feet long, two feet broad, decreasing to a sharp edge at the sides and ends, which are rounded, and having the whole surface finely polished, is necessary; and forms an article of personal property among all the chiefs, male and female, and among many of the common people." (7)

Stewart's estimation of width ("two feet broad" ) and  the weight ("light wood"), and description the rail profile ("a sharp edge at the sides and ends") have precedents, however the length is significantly longer than in any of the previous reports.
This is the first report of the board as "having the whole surface finely polished".
The fine polished finish was a noted feature of ancient Hawaiian canoes.
This was achieved by fine sanding with selected stones and corals. and sealed with a variety of organic paints, generally called pa'ele. (8)

While the dimensions would appear to indicate that the boards were potentially suitable for standing surfriding, there is some difficulty in determing the postion of the riders as reported by Stewart:
"with the arms and feet skillfully keep their poise in the swell, so as not to be sufficiently forward to be
overwhelmed by its combing, nor so far behind as to lose its impetus" (9)
The phrase "with the arms and feet skillfully keep their poise" could equally be interpreted to descibe prone or standing surfriding.

3.5 Rev. William Ellis's highly detailed descripton is congruent with Stewart's, circa 1825, but there are significant differences probably due to observations at different locations, in this case from the large island, Hawai'i.(10)

"a board, which they call papa hi naru [papa he'e nalu], (wave sliding-board,) generally five or six feet long, and rather more than a foot wide, sometimes flat, but more frequently slightly convex on both sides.
It is usually made of the wood of the erythrina, stained quite black, and preserved with great care. (11)

The length ("generally five or six feet ") and rail shape ("sometimes flat, but more frequently slightly convex on both sides") are similar to the previous reports from Cook's crew and the width ("rather more than a foot" ) is probably at least 18 inches.
Athough these dimensions may appear to indicate a "small" board, Ellis cleary reports the boards were capable of being ridden in a standing position, presumably by adults.

"Those who are expert frequently change their position on the board, sometimes sitting and
sometimes standing erect in the midst of the foam."(12)

This is the first report confirming the wood used for board construction, in this case willi willi ("erythrina "), the perferred timber for outrigger floats, or ama. (13)
Noted for its light weight, willi willi may have been the wood used for board construction as described by Ellis's namesake in 1769 (2.2, above).

Also, the board is described as "stained quite black".
The dark stain was a feature of ancient Hawaiian canoes that sealed the wood with a paint  produced from a variety of organic products, generally called pa'ele.(14)

Of particular significance is the report of the indegenous name, "papa hi naru [papa he'e nalu], (wave sliding-board)", which in translation srongly infers the actvity entails the angling of the board on the wave face.

Elli's account further reports the neccessity to dry the board after use and the application of oil, possibly to prevent the timber splitting  and probably to act as a water repellent when next immersed.

"After using, it is placed in the sun till perfectly dry, when it is rubbed-over with cocoa-nut oil, frequently wrapped in cloth, and suspended in some part of their dwelling-house." (15)
 

3.6 Captain Byron, of H.M.S. Blonde, witnessed surf-riding at Hilo, Hawai'i in 1825 and commented on the status of surfboards in Hawaiian culture.
 "...to have a neat floatboard, well-kept, and dried, is to a Sandwich Islander what a tilbury or cabriolet, or whatever ligh!t carriage may be in fashion is to a young English man." (16)

His report is consistent with Ellis's (4.3) account that the boards are "neat .., well-kept, and dried".

3.7 Dutchman, Frank J. A. Broeze, visited Hawaii circa 1828 and wrote of the the natives familarity with the ocean from their earliest years and their subsequent exposure to the use of surfboards.

"Thus the children become daily accustomed to stay in Neptune's element...
Finally, when the child has learned to walk, he is given a plank, like a rectangular shield.
He goes into the water with it, farther and farther away from the shore." (17)

Broeze' description of "a plank, like a rectangular shield" is difficult to interpret.
The use of "shield" may be intended to convey the approximate dimensions, the ratio of length and width, or some other feature of the board.

3.6 Theodore Adolphe Barrot (1803-1870) visited Hawaii in 1836 and recorded a instance of female surfriding, possibly at Kealaleakua Bay, Hawai'i.

"the entire female population of Kealaleakua assembled to bathe... Then they plunged thence entirely naked, into the waves which were breaking upon the shore; a plank, six or eight feet in length, and pointed at one end, enabled them to sustain themselves on the crest of the waves. It was indeed, a singular picture..." (18)

The  description of board length ("six or eight feet") is familar from earlier reports, however this is one of the earliest report of a pin nose ("pointed at one end"), possibly indicating a nose profile similar to Elli's (2.2) "sharkboard".

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

"Nothing here has amused me more than the surfsports of the young chiefs. Each takes a smooth board, of some eight feet in length" (19)

Reminisent of Gilbert's account (2.2), 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." (20)

3.9 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 (d. 1819)are now left, but one used by Kaahumanu (Regent 1824-1832) & 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." (21)

Lyman describes what is usually know as an Olo board, makes the earliest assocciation between this design and Hawaiian royalty and identifies Waikiki as a royal surfing location.
More please.

3.10 The detailed reports of the early 19th century commentators are summarized in the following table.

2. Whitman, John B.: An Account of the Sandwich Islands: the Hawaiian Journal of John B.Whitman, 1813-1815.
Honolulu: Topgallant Pub. Co.; Salem: Peabody Museum of Salem, 1979. pages 57-58.
Quoted in DelaVega (ed, 2004): Op. cit., page 22.

3. Freycinet, Louis Claude de Sau1ses De (1779-1842)
A46- Voyage autour du monde [microform].. entrepris par ordre du roi, exe- cute sur les corvettes dR S.M. L'Uranie et In Physicienne pendant les annees 1817,1818, 1819 et 1820 (Voyage around the World Undertaken by Order ofdle King, PerfOnIled on
His Majesty's Sloops L'Uranie and L'Physicienne in the yean; 1817, 1818, 1819,cafi'
7 Vol. (Paris: Olez Pillet alne, 1825) vol. 2, part 2, bk4. ch. xxvn, pages 517-516j2.
Engravingby A. Pellion 'The houses of Chief Kraimokou, Prime Minister of the King" Kailua, on page 9).
Quoted in DelaVega (ed, 2004): Op. cit., page 22.

4. The image was originally printed in
Arago, J : Narrative of a Voyage round the World, in the Uranie and Physicienne Corvettes,
Commanded by Captain Freycinet, During the Years 1817, 1818, 1819, and 1820.
Treuttel and Wurtz, Treuttel, Jun. and Richter. London. 1823.
. . . With Twenty-Six Engravings . . . . :
Folding frontispiece map and twenty-five lithographed plates after Arago.
and
Freycinet, L : Voyage autour du mode ... 1817 - 1820.  (Voyage around the world ... 1817 - 1820.)
Chez Pillet aine, Paris.  1825,
Volume 2, Part 2, Book 4, Chapter XXVII, Pages 517 to 622 (?).
Dela Vega:Op. Cit., page 20.
Also
Arago, J : Recollections of a Blind Man
Cited by Finney and Houston (1996) Page 38.

De Rienzi, Domeny (1789-1843) & Gregoire Louis
Oceanie; au cinquieme partie du monde revue geogrophique et ethnogrophique de la Malaisie, de la Micronesie, de la Polynesie et de la Melanesie; offrant les resultats des voyages et des decouvertes de l'auteur et de ses devanciers, ainsi que ses nouvelles classifications et divisions de ces con trees (The Universe, History
and Description, of All the People) 3 Volumes (Paris: Firmin Didot 1836-7) vol. 2, plate 115. "Habitations" Image of house and surfboard (See next page bottom). French cultural anthropology book. No surfing content.
Dela Vega: Op. Cit., page16

5. Beaglehole, J.C.: The Life of James Cook
Stanford University Press Stanford, California. 1974.
Original publisher : A. & C. Black, Ltd. London, 1974.
Plate 41, between pages 672 and 673.

6. Finney and Houston (1996) Page 37.
The image, in various sizes and/or cropped versions, has been reproduced in many surfing books.
Finney and Houston (1966) Plate 12.
Margan and Finney (1971) Page 19
Nat's History (1983) Page 33 Badly cropped.
Lueras (1984) Page 35. Colourised, see below.
Kampion : Stoked (1997) Page 31. Credited as  "Kraimoku Homestead" by Villroy. Bishop Museum.
Dela Vega (ed, 2004) page 20.

4. Charles Stewart's cultural and religous perspective is possibly indicated by his comments on Hawaii in "The Advertisement" (1839 edition). Page ? ...
"It is yet scarce twenty years since the American churces first projected the enterprise of introducing the blessings of Christianty and civilization to that people - then a nation of open and gross idolators, degraded not only by all the pollutions of paganism, but doubly cursed with vices and scourges of destruction, imported and widely spread through the population by dissolute and reckless visiters from Europe and America."

5. "Stewart  ... was personally acquainted with Rev. William Ellis."
Stewart's work includes an account in Chapter XI of  "A Visit to Mr. and Mrs. Ellis", Pages 232-233?
The Fifth Edition (Enlarged) of  1839 includes  an "Inroduction by the Rev. William Ellis, from the London Edition' and is dedicated to "the Honorable Samuel L. Southard, Secretary to the Navy, etc, etc."

Stewart was probably aware of Ellis' work (which also includes an account of surfriding) and both authors were published by the same London company.
The two accounts have some similarities, see  Ellis (1831).

6.Finney and Houston (1999) note four located (and two unlocated) ancient surf breaks at Lahaina, Maui, page 30.

7. Stewart, Charles Samuel: A Journal of Residence in the Sandwich Islands during the Years 1823, 1924 and 1825.
Fisher, Son and Jackson, London, 1829.
Chapter 10, Sports of the Surf, Pages 196 to 197.
Reproduced in
Quoted in DelaVega (ed, 2004): Op. cit.,  Pages 27 to 28.

8. Holmes, Tommy: The Hawaiian Canoe - Second Edition
Editions Limited, PO Box 10558 Honolulu, Hawaii 96816.
First Edition 1981. Second Edition 1993. Second Printing 1996. page 40.

9. Stewart, Charles Samuel: Op.cit.

10. Ellis records the location of his observations as Waimanu , Hawai'i.
Finney and Houston (1999), pages 28 and 29, locate Waimanu ("bird - water") on the north coast of the large island, Hawai'i in their list of ancient surfriding  breaks.

11. Ellis, Rev. William: Polynesian Researches, During a Residence of Nearly Eight Years in the Society and Sandwich Islands, Volumes I to IV..
Fisher, Son and Jackson, London, 1831. Pages 368 to 372.
Reproduced in
Finney, Ben and Houston, James D. : Surfing – A History of the Ancient Hawaiian Sport. 1996.
Appendix C. Pages 98 to 99.

12. Ellis, Rev. William: Op. cit.

13. "wili wili.  2. n. A Hawaiian leguminous tree ('Erythrina sandwicensis', formerly called 'E. monosperma'), found on dry coral plains and on lava flows, somewhat spiny, with short thick trunk.
<...>
The wood is very light and formerly was used for surfboards, canoe outriggers, net floats."
Pukui, Mary Kawena and Elbert, Samuel H.:Hawaiian Dictionary
University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. 1986 page 385.

14. Holmes, Tommy: Op. cit., page 41.

15. Ellis, Rev. William: Op. cit.

16. Byron, the Rt. Hon. Lord (1789-1868): Voyage of the 'H.M.S. Blonde' to the Sandwich Islands in the years 1825-26.
London: J. Murray, 1826. pages 97 and 166.
Quoted in DelaVega (ed, 2004): Op. cit.,  Pages 27 to 28.

17. Barrot, Theodore Adolphe (1803-1870):"Les Iles Sandwich"
Revue des deux mondes (a French magazine)
August 1, 15, 1839.
Later reprinted in a translated version as
"Visit of the French Sloop of War 'Bonite', to the Sandwich Islands, in 1836."
The Friend
Serialized Jan.-Nov.,1850.

18. Broeze, Frank J. A.: Voyage to the East and West Coast of South America and thence to the Sandwich and Philippine Islands, China, etc.; done in the years 1826-1829 (
Amsterdam, Holland: 1835-6) ch. 21. Original in Dutch.
"Thus the children become daily accustomed to stay in Neptune's element... Finally, when the child has learned to walk, he is given a plank, like a rectangular shield. He goes into the water with it, farther and farther away from the shore."
Quoted in DelaVega (ed, 2004): Op. cit., page 19.

19. Walter  Colton (1797-1851): Deck and port; Incidents of a cruise in the United States Frigate Congress to California.. with sketches of Rio de Janeiro, Valparaiso, Lima, Honolulu, and San Francisco
NY: A.S. Barnes & Co.; Cincinnati: H.W. Derby & Co., 1850)
Notes of 6/19/1846, pages 352-353.
Quoted in DelaVega (ed, 2004): Op. cit., page 19?

20. Coulton: Op. Cit.

21. 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

ancient surfboard design and construction: part 4

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