Hitstorical backup:
Journal of William Ellis p 264 year: 1827
“ As we crossed the head of the bay, we saw a number of young persons swimming in the surf, which rolled with some violence on the rocky beach. To a spectator nothing can appear more daring, and sometimes alarming, than to see a number of persons splashing about among the waves of the sea as they dash on the shore; yet this is the most popular and delightful of the native sports. There are perhaps no people more accustomed to the water than the islanders of the Pacific; they seem almost a race of amphibious beings. Familiar with the sea from their birth, they lose all dread of it, and seem nearly as much at home in the water as on dry land.
Fragments of Hawaiian History by John Papa Ii, who wrote for a Hawaiian language newspaper between 1866 and 1870. He wrote:
"Body surfers use their shoulders like surfboards. When the surf rises before breaking, it is time to slip onto the wave by kicking hard and working the arms. The contraction in the back of a surfer causes him to be lifted by the wave and carried ashore. The right shoulder becomes the board bearing him to the lift. Liholiho was most skillful in this sport."
