The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1869-08-26
rHE HAWAIIAN DIyRRs.

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long pole so as to project from a bank
over deep water; along this they chase
each other to the utmost end, leap
ing, in regular succession, into the
water. Leaping from high, perpen-
dicular cliffs is a fayorite and daring
sport with the men. They choose a
place where the water is not less than
fifteen or twenty feet in depth at the
foot of the cliff; then taking q rous-
ing run, to get fairly under way--like
Washington Irving's Dutehman, who
started to jump over the mountain
they bound far into the air from the
edge of the cliff. AS the leaper falls
from that dizzy height-sometimes a.
hundred feet by Recommendation
ard the water, he bends himself al
most double, as in wanton muscular
play but just before striking the wa
ter he partially straightens himself SO
that his whole body is slightly curved
forward at the moment of the plunge,
and the feet are, perhaps, a foot in ad
vance of a perpendicular line let fall.
from the head. He strikes the water.
without a splash, entering it with that
quick dull chuck that a, smooth pebble
makes when thrown forcibly in the
water, and at an angle with the sur,
face SO nicely calculated that he is
equally brought to the surface again
by the momentum of the fall. With
his body curved as I have described,
he shoots through the arc Of a 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 from, the water fifteen,
or twenty feet in front OF, the place
where he went under. No athletic
feat is more daring and beautiful.
IS The sepsations experienced by one
who falls from great height have
not, I think, been described in print.
A singular good fortune having made
the writer of this article an expert in
the Hawaiian manner, he is able to
give some account of them. Until
you are thoroughly practiced in the
leap, you have decided inclination
to think twice about the matter be-
fore you risk it. You first dive at the
foot of the cliff, and satisfy yourself
that there is sufficient depth of 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 deliberately from a
high precipice into mid-air. The SOL
id ground seems a much more COM
Portable place. AT last nerving your
self, you ruin and leap. Instantly you
have feeling of floating rather than
of falling such a feeling, suppose
as as bird has when rapidly alighting-
from an-elevated flight. There is no
sense of accelerated motion as you
fall !; but you feel your hair blown up
ward by fierce current of air. This
does not, however, in theleast embar-
rass your breathing. The notion that
people have their breath taken
away in falling from hight is erro-
neous. In an instant comes tn e
plunge; and you must enter the water
in exactly the right position, or it will
hurt you almost like the solid eal tn.
II you enter it with splash, you
must meet its resistance too suddenly,
and may be famed or stunned. The
great leaper, Sam Patch, lost his life
thus. Had he possessed Hawaiian.
skill and sober head, he would never
have lost his position while falling,
as in his last leap at Genesee Falls
Could an Islander have taught him
how to come out toes foremost he
might have been alive and leaping at
the present day. You, wiser than he,
come safe to the surface, swim ashore
and prepare for anotherleap.-Reorth
and Home. aaVJsa Ats ~ b, tn& ."'s..
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