Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-11-27
SURF RIDING.
h Exciting Sport Practiced by the Ma
tives of the Hawaiian Islands.

tives of the Hawaiian Islands.
Owing to the entire absence of coral
reef, the surf at all times breaks on
these shores with prodigious violence.
But in stormy weather this is of course
increased tenfold, and the great green
pillows come rushing in with over
whelming force. These are the delight
of the surf-riders. Each carries a surf
board, which is simplya wooden plank,
and raiment is of course almost nil.
Plunging beneath the first wave, they
rise beyond it, and swim out to sea I'M
til they meet another, in each case
diving just at the right moment to al
low the billow to pass over them. If
they miscalculate by one second, the
surf catches them and dashes them
shoreward, when they need to be good
swimmers to escape being battered on
the rocks. But long practice makes
perfect, and many of the surf-riders
dive safely beneath each success
sive wav till they reach the COM
paratively smooth water beyond the
swell. Then laying themselves flat on
their board they prepare for their ex-
cling ride. Their first care is to secure
a winning sea-horse. They calculate
that every third wave is larger than
the rest and rushes higher on the beach,
so their aim is to mount the biggest
billow, which carries them shoreward
at almost lightning speed.
The ride has all the excitement of a
race; for should the rider fail to keep
his plank at exactly the right angle on
the crest of the green bi1low, he will
be overtaken by the breaking surf of
the wave which follows, and to avoid
this must again dive beneath it and
swim out to sea to make a fresh start.
Should he fail to select the right
wave as his courser, and find himself
on M of the lesser waves, the result
is the same, as it will break
ere he reaches the shore, and he must
again do battle with the pitiless surf and
swim for his life. But the man whose
skill and luck are alike good has a
wildly exhilarating race. He lies
poised on the rushing wave, apparently
in perfect security. with the tumultuous
waters and the dashing surf raging on
| every side. If he can direct his course
toward the sandy beach, the wave will
| carry him right OF to it; but there is
always danger of being swept on to
| the cruel black rocks, where the ablest
steerer finds it hard to discern the mar
row passages through which the seeth-
ing waters rush so madly, and often
he is compelled to abandon his trusty
surf-board. and again turning seward.
| plunge beneath the wave and make his
way to some point where he a swim
ashore in safety. His surf-board is
probably reduced to splinters in a few
seconds-a loss which is as serious as
that of q favorite bat to a cricketer.
The boards most in favor are made
from the wood of the viri-viri, which is
very light. 1t grows in the mountains,
and is much used for making fences, as
it is a kindly shrub. You have but to
stick one of it's branches in the earth,
and it takes root and is soon covered
with q blaze of scarlet blossoms. A
good surf-board is about an inch and a
half in thickness, about eight feet long,
and should be Slightly followed down
the center and rounded at one end. 1t
is stained black, frequently rubbed with
cocoanut oil, and preserved with the
greatest care, being wrapt up in cloth
and hung up in some safe corner of the
house. 1t is called papa he nalu-
which means wave-sliding board-and
is SO named from the papa, or slcdge,
formerly used in a game called horua,
which exactly answered to the tobog.
gan Of the Canadians.-Gicago Int.
7lOr.