with a roar like heavy thunder. Although I was
horn by the shore of the open sea, and had seen boats
land in all kinds of weather, I never saw the most
daring sailors attempt it through such a surf as was
breaking before us. Every few moments the water
would rebound from the sand until it rose twice and
a half as high as the natives standing near it, at least
fifteen feet. One of our number could not conceal his
timidity, and declared that every one of us would
be drowned if we should attempt to land at that
time. The Resident, however, said he should try it,
and I assured him he should not go alone; and the
others concluded not to allow themselves to be left
behind. More than two hundred natives had now
gathered on the beach. They soon made a rude
skid or wide ladder, with large poles on the sides,
and small green ones with the bark torn off for the
rounds. This was laid down when the wave was
forming, and a heavy prau pushed on to it as the
wave broke, and a broad sheet of surf partially
buoyed her up. As this wave receded, she was successfully
launched. We were now ordered to change
from our boat into that one, and at once we ran in
toward the shore over the heavy rollers. Other natives
now appeared on the beach with a huge coil
of rattan an inch or more in diameter, and, two or
three of them seizing one end, ran down and plunged
headlong into a high wave as coolly and as unhesitatingly
as a diver would leap from the side of a
boat in a quiet bay. The end of the rattan was fastened
firmly to the front part of our b o a t; the other
was carried up a long way on the beach, and the na