Young Surfing Girl

Surfing was a central part ancient Polynesian culture. Surfing was first observed by Europeans at Tahiti in 1767, by the crew members the Dolphin. Later, Lieutenant James King wrote about the art when completing the journals Captain James Cook upon Cook's death in 1779. When Mark Twain visited Hawaii in 1866 he wrote,
"In one place we came upon a large company naked natives, both sexes and all ages, amusing themselves with the national pastime surf-bathing."
References to surf riding on planks and single canoe hulls are also verified for pre-contact Samoa, where surfing was called fa'ase'e or se'egalu (Kramer, Samoa Islands) and Tonga.