Anglo American attitudes

      I picked two quotes that I thought to be not only controversial views, but also intuitive marveling views towards the natives' love for the oceanic sport, "the surf." These quotes are from way in the beginning, these were ones that initially caught my attention and got my analytical juices flowing. The first view was that of David Samwell, he states in the very beginning "when the ship pulled into Kealakekua Bay in January 1779: "Thus these People find one of their Chief amusements in that which to us presented nothing but Horror & Destruction." Given that Samwell was a traditional European explorer, he felt impervious to the idea that one could be so close to ocean, something they associated with "disease and death," possibly from drowning. The other quote I chose was by Surgeon's Mate William Ellis who stated, "We never saw a people so active in the water, which almost seems their natural element." This one was my favorite because it was written in the light of admiration is the best way to put it. This person seemed very open minded, almost as if he were willing to go out and join the natives. I liked that he described observations over personal thoughts about it, or maybe they were just stated quite ambiguously because for me it seemed as if he left the judgment behind whereas David Samwell seemed judgmental and made the native sound as if they were inferior to Europeans. I really appreciated that there were observers who were open minded and wanted to report an experience like no other person had seen before in an exciting way. Although the first person's response to the native's surfing was a bit more of a culture shock, it was great to read that the second person's account of what was going on was full of marvel and passive enthusiasm, which is enthusiasm nonetheless.