Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-06-26
THE HAWAIIAN DIVERS.

Sometimes the native children fix
n long pole so as 10 project from a
bank ever deep water; along this
they chase each other To the utmost
end, learin@, III regular succession,
into the water. Ieaping from high,
perpendicular cliffs is :. favOrite and
daring sport with the men. They
choose = place where the water is
not less tnau fifteen or twenty feet
in depth at the foOtOf the cliff; then
taking = rousing run. 10 get fairly
under way-like Washington lr-
wings Dutchman, who sttrted to
Jump over the mountain-they
bound far into the air from the edge
of the cliff. As the leapar falls from
that dizzy e:ght-sometimeS hun
dred feet by neasuremcnt-tow
the water, he bends himself almost
double, as III wanton muscular play;
but just before striking the water he
partially straightens himself so that
his whole body is slightly curved
forward at the moment OF the plunge,
agd the feet are, perhaps, : foot in
advance Of a perpendicular line let
fall from the head. He strikes the
water without q splash, entering 1t
with that quick dull chuck that 4
smooth pebble makes when thrown
| forcibly in the water, and at an angle
with the surface so nicely calculated
that he is equally brought to the
surface again by the momentum OF
| the fall. With his body curved as |
| have described, he shoots through
| the are of circle under the water,
and after two or three seconds comes
up, feet foremost. The first thing
YOU see of him is his toes, emerging
l. at
/ in front of the place where he went
under. No athletic feat is more dar-
| ing and beautiful.
| The sensations experienced by one
| who fails from Il great height have
not, l think, been described in print
\ singular good fortune having made
the writer of this article an export il
| the Hawaiian manner, he is able &c
| give some account of them. Until
you are thoroughly practiced in the
| leap, you have i decided inclination
to think twice about the matter be-
fore you risk it. You first dive al
the foot of the cliff and satisfy your
self that there is sufficient depth o.
water. You watch one after another
of your companions as they bound
away in long, parabolic curves from
the edge of the cliff; but it requires
some nerve TO throw yourself delib-
erately from q high precipice into
mid-air The solid ground seems Q
much more comfortable place. Al
last nerving yourself you run and
leap. Instantly you have 4 feeling
of floating rather than of falling
such a feeling, | suppose as bird
has when rapidly alighting from al
elevated flight. There is no sense 81
| accelerated motion rs YOU fail ; but
YOU feel your hair blown upward by
a fierce current Of air. This does
not, however, in the least embarrass
your breathing. The notion that
people have "their breath taken
away in falling from q hight is er-
| roneous. In an instant comes the
| plunge: and you must enter the
| water III exactly the right position
or it will hurt you almost like the
solid earth. If you enter it with :
splash, you meet its resistance toe
suddenly, and may be famed OF
stunned The great leaper, San
| Patch, lost his life thus. Had ht
! possessed Hawaiian skill and sober
| head, he would never have lost his
position while falling, ~ in his las1
leap at Genesec Falls. Gould an Is
| lander have taught him how to CONF
| out toes foremost he might have beel
alive and lcapIng at the present day
! You, wiser than he, come safe To the
surface, swim ashore and prepar,
! for another leap Hearth ant
| Nome.