Reverend William Ellis, from London, traveled and wrote extensively, and is best remembered for his book Polynesian Researches. Less ideologically severe than fellow missionaries such as Hiram Bingham, and more inclined to observation and science, Ellis' description of surfing, as surf historian Patrick Moser noted, was "the most influential account of surfriding throughout the 19th century," and "inspired the imaginations of countless travelers seeking to witness, even try for themselves, this exciting native sport."


We found Arapai, the chief, and a number of his men, busy on the beach shipping sandalwood on board a sloop belonging to the governor, then lying at anchor in a small bay off the mouth of the valley. He received us kindly, and directed two of his men to conduct us to his house, which was on the opposite side. The valley, though not so spacious or cultivated as Waipio, was equally verdant and picturesque; we could not but notice
the unusual beauty of its natural scenery. The glittering cascades and waterfalls that rolled down the deep sides of the surrounding mountains seemed more numerous and beautiful than those at Waipio.

As we crossed the head of the bay, we saw a number of young persons swimming in the surf, which rolled with some violence on the rocky beach. To a spectator, nothing can appear more daring, and sometimes alarming, than to see a number of persons splashing about among the waves of the sea as they dash on the shore; yet this is the most popular and delightful of the native sports.

There are perhaps no people more accustomed to the water than the islanders of the Pacific; they seem almost a race of amphibious beings. Familiar with the sea from their birth, they lose all dread of it and seem nearly as much at home in the water as on dry land. There are few children who are not taken into the sea by their mothers the second or third day after their birth, and many who can swim as soon as they can walk. The heat of the climate is, no doubt, one source of the gratification they find in this amusement, which is so universal, that it is scarcely possible to pass along the shore where there are many habitations near, and not see a number of children playing in the sea. Here they remain for hours together, and yet I never knew of but one child being drowned during the number of years I have resided in the islands. They have a variety of games, and gambol as fearlessly in the water as the children of a school do in their playground. Sometimes they erect a stage eight or ten feet high on the edge of some deep place, and lay a pole in an oblique direction over the edge of it, perhaps twenty feet above the water; along this they pursue each other to the outermost end, when they jump into the sea. Throwing themselves from the lower yards, or bowsprit, of a ship, is also a favourite sport, but the most general and frequent game is swimming in the surf. The higher the sea and the larger the waves, in their opinion, the better the sport.

On these occasions they use a board, which they call 

 (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 

, stained quite black, and preserved with great care. 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.

[When in the surf, they] prefer a part where the rocks are ten or twenty feet underwater, and extend to a distance from the shore, as the surf breaks more violently over these. When playing in these places, each individual takes his board, and, pushing it before him, swims perhaps a quarter of a mile or more out to sea. They do not attempt to go over the billows which roll towards the shore, but watch their approach, and dive underwater, allowing the billow to pass over their heads. When they reach the outside of the rocks, where the waves first break, they adjust themselves on one end of the board, lying flat on their faces, and watch the approach of the largest billow; they then poise themselves on its highest edge, and, paddling as it were with their hands and feet, ride on the crest of the wave, in the midst of the spray and foam, till within a yard or two of the rocks or the shore; and when the observers would expect to see them dashed to pieces, they steer with great address between the rocks, or slide off their board in a moment, grasp it by the middle, and dive underwater, while the wave rolls on, and breaks among the rocks with a roaring noise, the effect of which is greatly heightened by the shouts and laughter of the natives in the water. Those who are expert frequently change their position on the board, sometimes sitting and sometimes standing erect in the midst of the foam. The greatest address is necessary in order to keep on the edge of the wave: for if they get too forward, they are sure to be overturned; and if they fall back, they are buried beneath the succeeding billow.

Sometimes the greater part of the inhabitants of a village go out to this sport, when the wind blows fresh towards the shore, and spend the greater part of the day in the water. All ranks and ages appear equally fond of it. We have seen Kalanimoku and Kaikioewa, some of the highest chiefs in the island, both between fifty and sixty years of age, and large corpulent men, balancing themselves on their narrow board, or splashing about in the foam, with as much satisfaction as youths of sixteen. They frequently play at the mouth of a large river, where the strong current running into the sea, and the rolling of the waves towards the shore, produce a degree of agitation between the water of the river and the sea that would be fatal to a European, however expert he might be; yet in this they delight: and when the king or queen, or any high chiefs, are playing, none of the common people are allowed to approach these places, lest they should spoil their sport. The chiefs pride themselves much on excelling in some of the games of their country; hence Kaumualii, the late king of Kauai, was celebrated as the most expert swimmer in the surf, known in the islands.

The only circumstance that ever mars their pleasure in this diversion is the approach of a shark. When this happens, though [the natives] sometimes fly in every direction, they frequently unite, set up a loud shout, and make so much splashing in the water, as to frighten him away. Their fear of them, however, is very great; and after a party returns from this amusement, almost the first question they are asked is, “Were there any sharks?”

The fondness of the natives for the water must strike any person visiting their islands: long before he goes onshore, he will see them swimming around his ship; and few ships leave without being accompanied part of the way out of the harbour by the natives, sporting in the water; but to see fifty or a hundred persons riding on an immense billow, half immersed in spray and foam, for a distance of several hundred yards together, is one of the most novel and interesting sports a foreigner can witness in the islands.

1823: MISSIONARY WILLIAM ELLIS, WAIMANU, HAWAII: "THE ONLY CIRCUMSTANCE THAT EVER MARS THEIR PLEASURE IS THE APPROACH OF A SHARK"

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