Pacific Passages: An Anthology of Surf Writing

Part II: Explorers, Missionaries, and Travelers (1769–1896)

Part II Explorers, Missionaries, and Travelers (1769–1896) [This page intentionally left blank.] Explorers Surfriding—in the form of Tahitians bodyboarding the stern of an old canoe—fell among the exotic sights Westerners first witnessed on Captain James Cook’s maiden voyage to the Pacific (1768–1771). Accounts from Cook’s third voyage to the Pacific (1776–1780) added information on variations of the sport: canoe surfing, and the first published descriptions of Hawaiians riding waves on surfboards. The detailed entries from this latter group—from Charles Clerke’s observations of tandem paddling to David Samwell’s description of a group of Hawaiian children surfriding— testify to the great novelty of surfriding for a group of men unsurpassed in their knowledge and respect for the ocean (at least in the West). Later accounts from William Bligh’s infamous voyage of the Bounty offer additional valuable information about surfriding from Tahiti: the equal skill of men and women in the surf, and the first description of islanders standing on surfboards. Peter Puget’s journal entry, from George Vancouver’s voyage to the Pacific (1791–1794), shows a similar expertise among women in the Hawaiian Islands. Reading these journal entries as a group offers a unique look at this critical juncture in the history of surfriding: the same fascination these explorers felt when they first observed natives riding waves continues to inspire millions of surfriders today. Prefacing the journals is an excerpt from John Papa ‘Αî’s Fragments of Hawaiian History. ‘Αî’s descriptions of surfriding provide a helpful context for the first accounts of the sport by Western explorers. The traditions, equipment, and popular surf locales he details under Kamehameha I would have been the same as those encountered by the crews of Captain Cook. Because these visitors generally remained only a very brief time, their conception of surfriding—like that of Polynesian culture in general—was necessarily narrow. ‘Αî gives us a much more culturally explorers, missionaries, and travelers | 51 integrated view of the sport, from the beach, as it were. We learn, among many other things, that surfriding was a skill practiced and refined by the highest-ranking members of the ruling class, including Kamehameha I and his favorite wife, Ka‘ahumanu. Beyond the simple “amusement” as recorded by Westerners, ‘Αî warns, “There are rules to be observed when riding on a surf.” Missionaries Catholic and Protestant missionaries followed on the heels of explorers to the Pacific. Two Spanish missionaries arrived in Tahiti in 1774, although they requested leave the following year. In 1797, the London Missionary Society established its first Protestant mission in Tahiti; in 1820, American Congregationalists from New England established their first mission on the island of O‘ahu. The popularity of recreational activities like surfriding greatly decreased during the years when the missionaries were most influential in Hawai‘i, from the time of their arrival in 1820 until the departure of their most prominent leader, Hiram Bingham, in 1840. Along with their bibles and school supplies, the missionary families brought an austere view of life that held little room for the many pastimes that had become integral to island culture. Ironic, then, that the writings of missionary William Ellis became the most influential narrative of surfriding for the rest of the century. Criticism of missionary activities, particularly their suppression of sports like surfriding, began to appear in travel writings in the 1830s and 1840s; two of those texts, by W. S. W. Ruschenberger and Charles Wilkes, appear in this part of the book followed by Hiram Bingham’s response in A Residence of Twenty-one Years in the Sandwich Islands. Although Christianity was not alone in diminishing native pastimes during the nineteenth century—depopulation through disease undoubtedly had the biggest impact—the missionaries have remained a traditional target of criticism within the surf community. Travelers Americans and Europeans began a steady stream of travel to Hawai‘i in the second half of the nineteenth century. Rather than exploration or conversion , these voyagers sought the pleasure of travel, improved health, or often material for articles and books. Herman Melville, Mark Twain, and Isabella Bird spun surfriding into adventure novels and romantic travel narratives. Along with hula dancing, eating poi, scaling volcanoes, and 52 | part ii visits to Captain Cook’s last stand at Kealakekua Bay, surfriding became known as the “national pastime” travelers read about in...