Two or
three athletes, who stood erect on their boards as they swept
exultingly shorewards, were received with ringing cheers by the
crowd. Many of the less expert failed to throw themselves on the
crest, and slid back into smooth water, or were caught in the
combers which were fully ten feet high, and after being rolled over
and over, ignominiously disappeared amidst roars of laughter, and
shouts from the shore. At first I held my breath in terror,
thinking the creatures were smothered or dashed to pieces, and then
in a few seconds I saw the dark heads of the objects of my anxiety
bobbing about behind the rollers waiting for another chance. The
shore was thronged with spectators, and the presence of the elite of
Hilo stimulated the swimmers to wonderful exploits.
These people are truly amphibious. Both sexes seem to swim by
nature, and the children riot in the waves from their infancy. They
dive apparently by a mere effort of the will. In the deep basin of
the Wailuku River, a little below the Falls, the maidens swim,
float, and dive with garlands of flowers round their heads and
throats. The more furious and agitated the water is, the greater
the excitement, and the love of these watery exploits is not
confined to the young.
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