Page:A pilgrimage to my motherland.djvu/24

Rh danger, the scene was magnificent—the huge "swells" chasing each other, and our little bark now riding victoriously on the crest of one, then engulfed in a deep chasm between two others, rising high on both sides. It is perhaps impossible for men to evince more dexterity than these natives in the control of their canoes, especially on approaching the beach. There were twelve men paddling with two others, one steering and the other in the prow watching the approaching surges and directing accordingly. When near the beach, the last, who is their head man, with much ceremony pours a few drops of rum on the water, and a great deal more down his throat, after which he very vehemently harangues, first I suppose the demon of the water to whom the rum was offered, and then his crew, cheering them for their work. There was another native on the beach who gave directions of some sort to the steersman by strange gesticulations; his appearance, as he stood above a group of companions, himself mounted on an inverted surf-boat with his loose garments waving in the air, presented a subject which would have delighted an artist, and was indeed wildly picturesque. It is necessary to watch carefully the regular successive rise and fall of the waves in order to prevent them breaking over the boat. Within a few yards of the beach they stop, "backing water" and