only that it is carried on on the grass instead of on the snow. The
performers stand bolt upright on a narrow plank, turned up in front,
and steered with a sort of long paddle. They go to the top of a hill
or mountain, and rush down the steep, grassy, sunburnt slopes at a
tremendous pace, keeping their balance in a wonderful manner. There is
also a very popular amusement, called _pahé_, requiring a specially
prepared smooth floor, along which the javelins of the players glide
like snakes. On the same floor they also play at another game, called
_maita_, or _uru maita_. Two sticks, only a few inches apart, are
stuck into the ground, and at a distance of thirty or forty yards the
players strive to throw a stone between them. The _uru_ which they use
for the purpose is a hard circular stone, three or four inches in
diameter, and an inch in thickness at the edge, but thicker in the
middle.

Mr. Ellis, in his 'Polynesian Researches,' states that 'these stones
are finely polished, highly valued, and carefully preserved, being
always oiled or wrapped up in native cloth after having been used. The
people are, if possible, more fond of this game than of the _pahé_,
and the inhabitants of a district not unfrequently challenge the
people of the whole island, or the natives of one island those of all
the others, to bring a man who shall try his skill with some favourite
player of their own district or island. On such occasions seven or
eight thousand people, men and women, with their chiefs and
chiefesses, assemble to witness the sport, which, as well as the
_pahé_, is often continued for hours together.'

With bows and arrows they are as clever as all savages, and
wonderfully good shots, attempting many wonderful feats. They are
swift as deer, when they choose, though somewhat lazy and indolent.