The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1866-12-01
ADYERTIslNG MATEs.
How the KonoIlns Swim

How the Kanaltas swim
Every man, woman or child, who has
ever written home concerning the, Sand
wich islanders, has described their surf
boards" aud their astonishing skin In guild
ing them througha surf in whlch,po civil
ized man could live. as also their excellence
in swimming, and almost superhuman en-
durance In the water. Travellers are apt to
term n Kauaka half nfan, half fish"
Should say that he was rOne7third man and
two-thirds tlshn--for no fish thatswims the
ocean could have any command over itselt
In breakers where the island boys and girls
sport for hours, s'perfectly ut home as ON
| dry land i'it. % itisa .lsi. iAGi
The surf-board is apiece Of tbin plank
five or six feet long by about eighteen
Inches in breadth When the hong, green
swells are rolling with terrifiol violence
with din and crash that out-thunders
thunder itself then men, women and child
| rep flock to the beach, and divesting them
selves Of their stperiluous clothing, dash
Into the breakers. board in hand. With
lmarvelo agility thoy dodge, the heaviest
rollers, plunging beneath, them aS they be-
gin to crest, and reaching the outside
lbreakers, PERHAPS for their lightning ride
lshoreward. '.''' '"~ .'4'' ~
Malicious as their outward progress
through a boiling surf, which no whale
boat would attempt, seemed 70 us, setting
Z the force of suction and undertow com
/. lpletely at defiance, we felt thrill of horror
as we looked upon couple OF delicate
Hooking girls kneeling upon!a irRil board,
rushing in as if shot from A. bomb, upon
the crest of great, green billow, which,
l raising its head As they came, just manag-
ing to keep in such position as to avoid
the break Of the roller, and inless time than
l. have taken to describe, with screams of
delight they dashed up to the very spot
where we were standing. ""
nj As swimmers they have no equals, men
ar n u "A ~
ers of endurance; and most astonishing
y facts ftheir aquatic feats are recorded one
lof the most miraculous of Which is worth
% repeating. A large native canoe, having
on board number of natives, Jeff one of
Al 1.-The southern islands, bound TO the north
lward; when only q part of the way across
1.-THE Owyhee passage, Where tliCte Is always
a heavy cross sea and furious currents. n
10 suuall struck and eapsized her; among the
passengers was native woman, the daugh-
ter of chief, with her husband, white
man the OTHERS beihh all kafi;fkas, they of
tourse struck ont for themselves toward
ishore, distance of some thirty miles; but
4 the white man could not swim, and his true
hearted wiio, directing him TO put his
: hands upon her shoulders, struck out for
the nearest land ,i 10
For hoursand hours they toiled along,
%. the fond woman inspiring the husband, re-
| hIsing TO leave him all day and all right
they buifetcd the ahkry CURRENTS, till at
Hast human nature gave way, and the white
O man gave up the ghost; still lingering to
'' his cold clay. the widow toiled on, till at
last, becoming insensible, her efforts relax
d. ed, and she knew no more until she found
te herself resusitated by some friendly hands,
.S land. on inquiry. found that a tayorlng cur
. rent had drifted her upon an island, where
= she had been discovered and brought to
life by her deliverers. =" "'t'""'-
Another instance, scarcely 1ess remarka-
BILE, occurred during the period of my visit
TO Honolulu. At that time there was a
, large number OF Whaling vessels in port,
-, many Of which were short of men, and
IN consequently sailors wages were very
= high, and large advance we're given to any
Kanakas who would Ship. One ship, in
: particular, had lost thewhUlg of one watch
r. by desertion, and finally had succeeded in
= obtaining her complemept; the men, al
Kanakas, received their 500 each, as Al
or advance, and went on board and the shiI
"a cot under Weigh. An WENT on very wei
for tile first day and night, and the captain
'hu was .oongratulnting himself ON his goot
80 luck. During the middle watch of th
S'S second night, however stepping out ol
Il deck, the captain was astoniShed To find n,
IL one about, and asking the man at the whec
b.. what 1t meant, was told he didn't know
.. what had become of the people, but pre-
or, sumed they had gone below:
I'd Calling the mate and mastering the crew
he found To- his CONSERVATION that ever
Kanaka had disappeared they must hay
III deliberately jumped overheard, determin
sept mo 10 slTfui ashore n distance of siSt
'tbn tbc miles. On board whale ships the mates d
pot. not generally stand night watch-th
watch generally being in charge of one {
-, the 'boat-steerers," aud IN this instanc
E. the "boat-steefei' w!fs d KAnala, and the
all went off together the plan was prob'
BOG bly, hit upon before they JET port-eac
ak man received his one hundred dollars nc
,Ing vance, and they deliberately formed the
in, desperate plot for breaking their engage
ment. ...tt .Iat4Gl..i