, 1866-12-21
EANAEAS,
How they Swim-Kaalf Man and Half
R136.

How they SSgtM-Haff man and HAtf |
Fish.
written hume concerning the 5audwich
Islanders, haA described ,helr surf:btards,"
and their astopishing skill In guiLins them
through A surf IN which no civilized man
could ltvc. Is also their excellence in .wiul- |
ming, and almost superhuman endurance in
kalaka "halt man, half fish," 1 should say
that he was "one-third man and two-third,
1eh"-ioF no fish that swims the ocean could
have my command over itself In breakers
Whert the island boys aud girls sport for
hou1e. as perfectly at home as on dry land.
TIC su1fboard is piece OF thin plauk, five
OF SIX iect long by about eighteen inches In
breadth when the long, green swells are
rolling with terrific violence-with din and
crash that out-thundcrs thunder Itself, then
men, women and children flock to the beach.
and diveaitng themselves Of their supertiuous
dakh into the breakers, board in
hand. With marvellous agility they dodge
the heaviest rollers, plunge beneath them as
they begin to Crest, aud reaching the ont
side hrsaksrss prepare for their lightning
Miraculous aa Their outward progrcss
through boiling surf, which no whaleboat
would attempt, seemed to lis, setting the
force Of suction nud undcrtow completely at
defiance, we 1elt thrill Of horrnr as we
Looked uEou couple # delicate looking
us II shot from bomb, upon the crest Of a
great green billow, which raised its head ns
they cumc, just managing to Keep iu such q
position Us t. =. old the break Of the roller,
eribc, with screams Of delight they dashed
up 10 the very spot where We we're standing.
As swimmers they have no equals. men
and women appearing to possess equal pow
eys OF endurance; and most astounding facts
of their aquatic irats arc recorded, one of the
- nf To
Ing. A large native canoe, having on hoard
number OF natives, lett one OF The southern
ielands, bound to the uorthward; when only
part Of the way across the Owy hec passage,
whe1e there Is always a heayY cross eca and
furious currents, a squall struck and capsized
her; atnoDg the passengers va. native
woman, the daughter Of a CHIEF, with her
husband, white man the others being all
kanukas, they OF course struck out for them.
selves toWarts shore, distance OF come
thirty miles; but the white man could not
bwim, and his true hearted wife, dirrct!t E
him to put Ills hands on her shoulders, struck
ont for the nearest land. ..
For hours and hours they toiled along, The
fond woman inspiring the husband, refusing
to leave him i; all day end all night they buf.
fcted the auery currents, tn At last human
up the ghost; still eltnging to his cold clay,
the widow tolled on, till ut last. becoming
Inaccessible, her efforts relaxed, aud she knew
no more until she found neEseif resuscitated
BY some friendly hands, aud. on inquiry.
found TINT fayorlng curreht had driited
her upon an Island. where she had been dis
covered and brought TO life by her dclivcrers.
Another instance, scarcely less remarka-
bic, occurred during tho period of my visit
to Honolulu. At tint time there was nlarge
number of whnlinE vessels IN port, tliany of
which were short Of men, md consequently
sailors wages were very high, and 1arge ad-
yances were given to any kauakas who
would ship, One ship in particular, had
lost the Whole Of One watch by dcserliUn,
and finally had succeeded in ohtainlnE her
complement the men, all knnaka+, received
their 500 cnch. nn advance, and went
Oh Lonrd and the ship got nndcr weigh. All
wrnt on very we'll for the inst day and night,
and the Captain was coDgratulating himself
Oil his good luck. During tile middle watch
on deck, the Captain was astonishea 10 dn'i
no one about, aud asking tho man al the
wheel what 1t nicant, was told he didn't
know what Ind become Of the people, but
presumed they hud gone below.
Calling the mate and mastering the crew,
he fund that every Kanaka had disappeared;
they must bare deliberately jumped over
boArd, determined to swim ashore, distance
OF sixty miles! On board whaleships the
i mates do not generally st4ua night watch
the watch generally being in chnrte of one
Of the "boat -steercrs," ind in this Instance
all went otl together; the plan was probably
hit upon before they left rort-cach man rc-
ceiycd bis one hundred dollars advance, and
then they deliberately formed thclt desperate
plot for breaking their engagement.
French Manufacture Of Postage Stnn1pe
and I,Iay lug 2.aFtis.
From Gaiienanle Messenger. Farit.]
The manufacture Of these valuable little
bits Of paper is Government monopoly In
hrE .laVa },y,t
Arn'cd ont 10 private contractor. who liz:
his workshops in the hack part of the Hotel
dcs Mnnnies or Mint, where million md q
half OF rostnge stamps arc daiy produced at
cost TO the Government Of 9oc per 1,0oO, &c
that In the lowest description ol stamps, o
the value OF 1c., the t;oseru1n,ut profit Is
9lcc., or Dr. 1nc. per 1,090. The same work.
shops also produce the postage stamps for
the French colonies, the Kingdom OF Greece,
the Republic Of Guatemala, and abT other
fpi eign countries t1al utny choose to apply
The sheets used IN tAis manufacture ar.
first subjected to J. preliminary y, ocess, viz.
| That Of covering The whole sur:ace with q
snrt Of white, transparent ink, m operation
| which 10 performed by means OF cylinders
Tho object Of this procession i 10 prevent
forgery, for were any one to attempt trans
| tcfrlnE ihc design 10 d Photographic stone
| buth The Inks, thc white aud c11orcd ono
~e1Id stick to the stone, and nothing bat !
| nniform culorcd impression. could be obtain
| Gu lAc Ct1nHosilluu VI 1Ac "AltG Ah Is
secret. In the press room twelve powerful
| presses are constantly at work, tho met
having a number Of colors spread ou
befc,e them on marble klabs. Bu
there is portion of the opera
tien which, after printing. Is entirely effected
by the hand This consists Of IL, Inv on Ger
tain spccks or color with tho brush. TIL
last operation consists tn pricking holes al
round zach clamp; this is done BY machine
ry In the following way: The sheets. whct
printed, orc taken to another workshop
" hen thty azc cut into half.shcets, each con
sheets nrc laid one upnu The other, AMI
strongly pressed together In fi1lne, au op
Grafton performed By two boys; the franz
then PISS es under The ptscslng apparatus
and Is thcuce brought back TO The worklNe,
by combination Of pnl'eys. The BAT
stamps are now picked out, and the rcmn!u
der sent 10 tho Gcut raj Post Office.
The state having n1tn the monopoly q
playing cards, the manufacture cnnncctc
with II Is also partly conducted In the aboy
workshops The State causes peculia
paper, bearing transparent figure OF tn
ut the postage stamps manufactory the typr
OF the court cards and the acc of clubs ar
engraved ~ electricity; at the inpt.ia
printing Office thcsc types are used tn psin
on the shects marked viii, the eagle; tn
lapcr in which the packs are wrapped up
STAMPED ut the lfotel lu Timbrc. Card maE
utnctusere. therefore. arc Obliged to bay {
the GuvernmcnttLe court cards, aces ofrlub:
wrappers, and paper on which to priu, Il,
low cards, which they do themsclv .. 1t
they who make up the packs aud send thet
to the retail dealers.
Artcmun Wards Trr~l,luS Machine.
My wifc's q exceedingly rraciycal woma,
! luz her uauchly, however, and humor he
llltlc ways. Its rccklis fnlschond that sh
l I mn nd hR S,,r