surfresearch.com.au  ancient hawaiian surfboards: #5

4.3 Frenchman, Charles de Varigny, recorded Hawaiian surfriding activity circa 1850, however his description of the board, which he labels a 'canoe of a new genre' , is limited to merely noting its light weight- which may, as noted previously, indicate the use of willi willi.

"... this 'canoe of a new genre' ... The light board, easily maneuvered, was raised like a feather on the crest ..." (1)

de Varigny , like Rev Ellis (3.5), also reports the board was capable of being ridden in a standing position, apparently by adults.
"I saw a native accomplish this 'tour de force' while upright atop the board." (2)

de Varigny's published work features two images of surfriding activity (4.5 and 4.6).

4.4 In 1886, America author Mark Twain, travelled to the Pacific and recorded a brief account of native surfriding on the Kona coast, on the large island,Hawai'i. (3)
Unfortunately, his desciption of the board is simply, "short".
Twain writes of his subsequent attempts at surfriding and his failure to master the activity.
He concluded:

"None but the natives ever master the art of surf-bathing thoroughly." (4)
 

4.4 A report of Hawaiian surfriding by John George Wood circa 1880 includes portions of Lt. King's journal entry (as edited by Douglas, 1874) as well as the observations below.

"For adults they are about six feet in length.
They are slightly convex on both sides, and are kept very smooth all surf-swimmers cherishing a pride
in the condition of their boards, and taking care to keep them well polished and continually rubbed
with cocoa-nut oil." (5)

Given the report does not indicate a location or date and the extensive scope of his work (The Uncivilized Races of Men in all Countries of the World), it is probable that his report is not based on personal observation.
It appears to essentially paraphrase Rev.Ellis (3.5), above.

4.5 A accoun\t of similar status to Wood's report was published by James Greenwood in a work detailing worldwide indigineous practices, circa 1885.
Although he quotes from "Ellis", this report is neither William Ellis (1778, see 2.2) nor  the Rev. William Ellis (1825, see 3.5).
"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." (6)

The book also includes an illustration on page 96, "Surf Swimming off the Coast of Hawaii", the woodcut and design by Harden S.Melville.
The image is probably not based on observation, and is most likely an enhanced copy of "Surf swimming at Hawaii, Sandwich Islands"  published in 1866 in Leslie's Illustrated Weeky.
See

4.5 Two late 19th century reports are located at Hilo, Hawai'i. (7)
The first, circa1880, by John Dean Caton (8) records:

 "... these boards as being about one and one-half inches thick, seven feet long, coffin shaped, rounded at the ends, chamfered (beveled - Blake) at the edges; about fifteen inches wide at the widest point near the forward end, and eleven inches wide at the back end.
... boards of the aliea, or thin design, were usually made of koa or wood of the breadfruit tree." (9)

The board is identified as an "alaia, or thin design" - presumably there was an alternative thick design.
It is seven feet long and one and a half inches thick.
The template is foiled ("coffin-shaped") and about fifteen inches at the wide point, possibly about 12 inches forward of centre.
The nose and the "eleven inches wide" tail are rounded.
The rails are chamfered, or as Blake (10) indicates bevelled.
The board is constructed of koa (Acacia koa) or breadfruit (ulu) (Artocarpus incisus).

4.6  The other, a less detailed but significantly different, report from Hilo (circa 1888) is by Thomas W. Knox.(11)

"Each man had a surf-board, which was a thick plank twelve or fifteen feet long and perhaps thirty
inches wide, and said to be made from the trunk of a bread-fruit tree." (12)

The thickness and the length (12 to 15 feet) of the boards appear to describe the olo or thick design.
The reported width of "perhaps thirty inches" is certainly extreme.
As maximum board width is essentially determined by the width of the paddler's shoulders (2.10, above), the boards were probably somewhat narrower.

Knox's book includes a engraving titled "Surf Bathing, circa 1873" by Com. William Bainbridge Hoff ,

4.7 The specifications collated from the detailed reports above aresummarized in the following table.

Post Contact Reports: Late 19th Century

4.8 These reports add several specific features to the initial reports by Cook's crew, .
Two native surfboard names are recorded- "papa hi naru [papa he'e nalu], (wave sliding-board,)" and "the aliea, or thin design".

Three timbers for board construction are identified- willi willi, koa and breadfruit (ulu).

Stewart and Ellis (collectively) report that the boards were stained and polished to a fine finish and were sun dried and treated with a preserving oil before they were carefully stored after use.

The length is at an extreme, 15 feet, but olo.
Otherwise 10 feet.

Caton compare Gilbert - thinness!

14. de Varigny, Charles: Op. cit.,

15. Twain, Mark : Roughing It.
American Publishing Company, Hartford. 1872.
F.G. Gilman and Co. Chicago. 1872.
G. Routledge and Sons, Lonon. 1872. page 526.
"Fully illustrated by eminent artists", the book includes two illustrations of surfriding activity.
The relevant text from Roughing It is excerpted in Finney and Houston (1996) Appendix D pages 100 - 101.

16. Twain: Op. cit., page  526.

17. Wood, John George (1827-1889): The Uncivilized Races of Men in all Countries of the World : Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics.
G. Routledge and Sons, London. 1868-80 2 Vol.Pages 168 to169.
Includes portions of Lt. King's entry as well as the observations below.
Also
Wood, John George (1827-1889) : The Uncivilized races, or, natural history of man; being a complete account of the manners and customs, and the physical, social and religious condition and characteristics of the uncivilized races of men throughout the entire world.
2 Vol.Pages 168 to169. ???
Hartford American Publishing Co. 1870.

Digitally collated and formatted from ..
Dela Vega (ed, 2004) Page17.

18. Hilo was a famed surfing location on the large island, Hawaii, and said to rival Waikiki for the quality of it's surf.  Finney and Houston (1996) identify seven different breaks, page 28.

19. This quotation has been collated from Blake (1935), see below, and may not accuartely reproduce Caton's. text.

20. Caton, John Dean (1812-1895): Miscellanies
 Houghton, Osgood & Co. Boston. 1880 Pages 242 to 244.
Digitally collated and formatted from
Tom Blake : Hawaiian Surfriders 1935
Mountain and Sea Publishing.
Box 126 Redondo Beach California 90277 1983 Pages 41 to 43.

21. Thomas W. Knox was a journalist and profilic author, most noted for his Boy Travellers series, originally
based a a world tour in 1866.
The 1888 Australasian volume was produced in conjunction with Australia's centennial.
The 1971 edition includes an Appreciation by Charles V. S. Borst, that notes...

     "All these works are inspired by Knox's philosophy of travel which is expressed in his little
     guide How to Travel (New York, 1881): "To an observant and thoughtful individual, the
     invariable effect of travel is to teach respect for the opinions, the faith, or the ways of
     others, and to convince him that other civilizations than his own are worthy of consider-
     ation." This lack of condescension - rare for the often patronizing Victorian traveller - of
     course contributed to the accuracy of Knox's reporting in such a book as The Boy
     Travellers in Australasia. Combined with this accuracy is his insatiable curiosity about all
     aspects of life in the countries he visited - his work indeed foreshadowing the writing of
     modern anthropologists"  - page xiii

22. Knox, Thomas W. (1835-1896) :The Boy Travellers in Australasia.
Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to the Sandwich, Marquesas, Sociey, Samoan and Feejee
Islands and Through the Colonies of New Zealand, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria,
Tasmania and South Australia.
New York Harper & Brothers 1889.
Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1902.
Charles Tuttle Co, Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan. reprinted1971.

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