before they can do that anything
respectably, so that they are as much at home in the sea as on the land.
Well, ye see, I 'spose they found swimmin' for miles out to sea, and
divin' fathoms deep, wasn't exciting enough, so they invented this game
o' the surf. Each man and boy, as you see, has got a short board or
plank, with which he swims out for a mile or more to sea, and then,
gettin' on the top o' yon thundering breaker, they come to shore on the
top of it, yellin' and screechin' like fiends. It's a marvel to me that
they're not dashed to shivers on the coral reef, for sure an' sartin am I
that if any o' us tried it, we wouldn't be worth the fluke of a broken
anchor after the wave fell. But there they go!"

As he spoke, several hundreds of the natives, amongst whom we were now
standing, uttered a loud yell, rushed down the beach, plunged into the
surf, and were carried off by the seething foam of the retreating wave.

At the point where we stood, the encircling coral reef joined the shore,
so that the magnificent breakers, which a recent stiff breeze had
rendered larger than usual, fell in thunder at the feet of the multitudes
who lined the beach. For some time the swimmers continued to strike out
to sea, breasting over the swell like hundreds of black seals. Then they
all turned, and, watching an approaching billow, mounted its white crest,
and, each laying his breast on the short flat board, came rolling towards
the shore, careering on the summit of the mighty wave, while they and the
onlookers shouted and yelled with excitement. Just as the monster wave
curled in solemn majesty to fling its bulky length upon the beach, most
of the swimmers slid back into the trough behind; others, slipping off
their boards, seized them in their hands, and, plunging through the
watery waste, swam out to repeat the amusement; but a few, who seemed to
me the most reckless, continued their career until they were launched
upon the beach, and enveloped in the churning foam and spray. One of
these last came in on the crest of the wave most manfully, and landed
with a violent bound almost on the spot where Bill and I stood. I saw by
his peculiar head-dress that he was the chief whom the tribe entertained
as their guest. The sea-water had removed nearly all the paint with
which his face had been covered; and, as he rose panting to his feet, I
recognised, to my surprise, the features of Tararo, my old friend of the
Coral Island!